In the growing list of delights emerging form our state's three-year bicentennial, the Alabama Public Library Service (APLS) has acquired a statewide subscription to Ancestry Library Edition, making this database available for free at every public library in Alabama through 2019. This modified version of Ancestry.com gives library patrons free access to more than 30,000 databases of name-rich world-wide records, containing billions of historical documents and millions of historical photos. The library edition offers many of the same resources available in the paid version of Ancestry.com, without the tree-building technology. It presents a great way to get started in family history research before you are ready to invest in the paid edition of the genealogy powerhouse that Ancestry.com has become.
The APLS funded the database with a grant from the Institute for Museum and Library Services—the nation’s primary source of federal support for around 120,000 libraries and 35,000 museums. Dr. Nancy Pack, APLS’s director, said, “We know from experience that people—and quite frequently people from out of town or out of state—will look for information on their family history at the local public library.” Recognizing that interest in family history will likely escalate during the bicentennial years and that many local libraries do not have the budget to afford the database, Pack pursued the grant on their behalf. It assures the availability of this resource through the end of the bicentennial. If the Alabama public makes use of the database and future funding allows, Pack hopes to continue the availability indefinitely.
Wherever you are documenting your family tree—on paper, in genealogy software, or in online tree sites—you have an excellent chance of finding records kept by or about your ancestors in this resource. The Ancestry Library Edition includes a robust subset of Ancestry’s domestic and international databases, so you can find family in other parts of North America and further afield. It includes collections from Europe, Asia, Australia, South America, and Oceania. And the record sets grow constantly thanks to worldwide scanning projects.
You must be in the library to use Ancestry Library Edition. As you find treasures related to your family, however, you can email them to yourself. Ancestry Library Edition offers an online learning center with tips for getting started on working with various document types and the creation of timelines for your family. The site offers a number of charts and forms for creating genealogical records in the traditional paper form. It also offers access to message boards where you can ask questions, seek relatives, and share stories. Ancestry.com sends libraries notice of webinars and other resources that can train patrons on genealogical research and the use of Ancestry material.
Wherever you are documenting your family tree—on paper, in genealogy software, or in online tree sites—you have an excellent chance of finding records kept by or about your ancestors in this resource. The Ancestry Library Edition includes a robust subset of Ancestry’s domestic and international databases, so you can find family in other parts of North America and further afield. It includes collections from Europe, Asia, Australia, South America, and Oceania. And the record sets grow constantly thanks to worldwide scanning projects.
You must be in the library to use Ancestry Library Edition. As you find treasures related to your family, however, you can email them to yourself. Ancestry Library Edition offers an online learning center with tips for getting started on working with various document types and the creation of timelines for your family. The site offers a number of charts and forms for creating genealogical records in the traditional paper form. It also offers access to message boards where you can ask questions, seek relatives, and share stories. Ancestry.com sends libraries notice of webinars and other resources that can train patrons on genealogical research and the use of Ancestry material.
Nearly eight hundred of the Ancestry Library Edition’s collections contain records of people who were born or lived in Alabama.
Nearly eight hundred of the Ancestry Library Edition’s collections contain records of people who were born or lived in Alabama. Federal and state censuses, which form the bedrock of US family history, can be found here. Freedmen’s Bureau records provide remarkable detail of black and white families in the Reconstruction Era. Church records are available for Alabama ancestors connected to Presbyterian, Evangelical Lutheran, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, Quaker, and Episcopal organizations. You may discover ancestors who applied for passports or were engaged in ship travel as passengers or crew. You may find an ancestor’s will, learning much from the long-ago settlement of an estate. You might discover the crime that sent your ancestor to prison or the act of heroism that earned a military honor. The Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, 1861–1865 are available—digitized and searchable. You can even find a fully digitized version of the Sears Catalog you relished as a child, as you planned for a visit from Santa. You may find a yearbook image of an ancestor—a photo the family has never seen. The resources will enhance the picture you are building of your heritage, restoring priceless elements of the rich detail often lost to memory.
If you grow to the point in your family history that you are aggressively researching on a regular basis, you will find that it is well worth the investment to get the paid version of Ancestry.com, taking advantage of all the wonderful ways it will save you time and money. But until that day comes, every man, woman, and child in Alabama with access to a public library can start the journey.
If you grow to the point in your family history that you are aggressively researching on a regular basis, you will find that it is well worth the investment to get the paid version of Ancestry.com, taking advantage of all the wonderful ways it will save you time and money. But until that day comes, every man, woman, and child in Alabama with access to a public library can start the journey.
Author
Donna Cox Baker has served as editor-in-chief of Alabama Heritage since 2002. She co-chairs the Statewide Initiatives Committee of the Alabama Bicentennial Commission and blogs at the Golden Egg Genealogist (gegbound.com).