I found my husbands grand uncle and his family who had moved from Scotland to North East England in an article in the NE Family history society magazine and from that made contact with a new branch of the family.
I used PERSI in college a thousand years ago! I'm 70 now! You had to go to the library, haul huge volumes from a research shelf,look through that volume and be prepared to repeat the process! This sounds heavenly!
This isn't the same thing that we used in college (that was the Reader's Guide to Periodical Literature), but the concept is the same, just focused on genealogy. For genealogy research, it's invaluable!
I don't know how you do it, but you explain things in such a clear way that I can understand and then turn around and apply to my genealogy searches! Thank you for your videos! I've learned so much! Ok, now I'm off to go do some PERSI searches! :)
Not every site has a "bread crumb navigation." I'm in the habit of always opening links in a new tab. That makes it easy to go back to any point along my way.
Thanks Amy. I used PERSI years ago, but had "forgot" about it. For my local genealogy society, we try to come up with more creative headlines for our newsletter and journal articles, like "grandpa forgot his teeth" . . . but we may be working against ourselves by not keeping them more subject oriented for just such indexing.
They try to determine what the article is about, but having a clear title is always helpful. You could combine the two with a title and subtitle: "Grandpa Forgot His Teeth: John Smith of Hopewell Township." (That could also help your readers as they skim through the periodical. As much as we don't like to think about it, not everyone reads the periodicals word-for-word, cover-to-cover!)
I watched your video about WorldCat last night and tried searching for my family name in Canada. Within ten minutes, I'd nudged a brick wall big time (didn't learn everything but have a lot more!). Thank you!
As I’ve been watching your videos, I kept thinking “I wonder if she did one about PERSI”? ❤️❤️❤️ This has fascinated me for years and I pray this gives me tips and how to access it. I need a private lesson 🤣🤣🤣
I live in Fort Wayne Indiana! Great library! Have to admit I haven't done much genealogy since the 80s- have 3 grandparents born in the UK and had trouble researching their genealogy - should revisit trying PERSI.
Definitely revisit PERSI! Also, if you haven't already, explore what the Genealogy Center has for UK resources. And ask to talk with one of the librarians. They are so knowledgeable and willing to help!
This is a wonderful video Amy. Thank you so much. I’ve used PERSI in the past, but it’s been years and I wasn’t good at using it. Guess what I’m doing today? You rock! 😍👍🏻
Thanks for this great video. It helped me learn so much more about PERSI. Your instructions were clear and easy to follow. It is something I definitely want to explore! How great that you can order the articles right from the search pages. I really appreciate your work!
Interesting. I was just in Ft. Wayne a few weeks ago on a business trip and walked right by the library. Next time I'll add some time to actually go in.
Half my family is Ramsey, our Higginbotham reunions in Nahunta had loads of them. Considering my brother and I are the only Higginbotham’s left with the name from our line.
I have relatives who moved to United States from Germany, I believe right after WW1. The lady was my grandmothers aunt. She and her daughter than granddaughter corresponded with her for years. The last letter and card I have was in the late 1950s. I would love to find out what happened to them
Look for marriage of the granddaughter. Also her death notice (both would be announcements in the local paper). The obit would list possible children and other relatives. Look at City Directories to follow up on all relatives listed. Find marriages of children……Also old phone books may help. Good luck.
These days Family researchers from anywhere in the world can watch videos also made anywhere in the world. As I'm in the UK is PERSI of any use to me looking for non US material? It would be helpful to clarify whether it is specific to a particular country or not. Thanks for your help on this as I got a bit excited that it might be of use to find a particular Training school for lads wishing to go to sea from West Wales. Somehow my instinct is that is not.
Great question! Yes, PERSI has materials from all over the world. The bulk is US, Canada, and the British Isles, but it worth taking a look regardless of where your ancestors are from.
I give up on finding anything on my father. All I've ever found is his death index search results and his grave marker stating he was in the navy. My mother told me where he went to highschool but I've not found anything. I've never seen a picture of him. I first found his grave in Brandon Mississippi (my name is Brandon not Fred). My last name was changed a year before his death so he would have only known my first name. I think that's why he had a plot there. His grave was moved after I found it to Michigan by unknown persons. There are a lot of strange things about this. I've spent 30 years searching to no avail. His name was Howard Richard Shirley from White County Arkansas or Van Buren not sure. Supposedly graduated from Searcy Arkansas around '69 or so but I can't find him in any class for years in both directions. I suspect money has motivated some to hide things. I actually found a family tree posted online years ago and I was listed as the "unknown Shirley" (born '73)but that has since been removed.
Cemeteries often have maps showing who owns each plot. If you can find the one from the cemetery his grave was moved to, it will show who purchased that plot, thus who paid for the move. Look at who owns all the Shirley plots in that cemetery. Also, your mom might have known his legal name, but he went by another name that she doesn't know.
8:20 Can PERSI do a specific location (county) search for any country, or just USA? Can it search for city / town names? Oops! Should have watched more before asking: you’ve just shown how. Thanks!
It's funny you should mention that. I spoke at an Ontario Genealogical Society conference in Guelph a few years ago. I tried to remember how it was pronounced when I was there. "Gwelf" popped into my mind, but I thought, "No, that can't be right." Shouldn't have second-guessed myself!
If she was living in/near a large city (like Chicago), take a look at city directories. However, it's likely that she just "went away" for awhile, possibly to a distant relative or friend who lived out of the area.
My great grandfather migrated from Scotland to Nova Scotia with two cousins. I cannot find anywhere they keep ships manifests. If I could find a good site I would be grateful. It doesn't help his name was Alexander MacDonald and theres a billion of them.
Port of Halifax Nova Scotia ships manifests are available online back to at least 1735. The historical society of Nova Scotia is happy to point people in the right direction, but their genealogical society is stellar. They do get a lot of requests like this though, so be patient when contacting them and provide the most specific information you have, including full names and dates of birth if you can. Immigration recorded the intended final destination of every immigrant who passed through Halifax, so if you know where their children were born, you can maybe match those records to town names on their Immigration papers.
You have to get a copy of the article, yes. They aren't online. You can contact the publisher; many societies have them on their websites or will send a copy for a small fee. You can see if a library near you has that periodical. You can also order it from the Genealogy Center at ACPL.
Not at all. It’s a good way to search across countless issues of periodicals. What would be a needle in a haystack would be picking up each issue of each periodical and reading the headlines of all the articles. With more than 3 million articles indexed in PERSI, you’re bound to find something of interest.
Not directly. I recommend contacting the society/publisher; they often have back issues in their website or will make a copy for you. Look in libraries near you to see if they have that periodical. If those don’t work, you can order copies from the Genealogy Center. The link to the order form is on each results page.
PERSI provides the index for free. It cannot digitize the articles without permission of the hundreds of publishers involved. Although the Genealogy Center does have a fee for ordering article copies, you can often contact the publisher directly (many make older issues available on their websites!) or you can see if a library near you has the periodical you're interested in.
@@AmyJohnsonCrow , I do look at all of them, some good, and some not so good. I just find it annoying that I cannot delete them when I am done with them.
When you're on a person's hints page, you could just click "Ignore" on all of them. It doesn't delete them, but it does get them off of the page. (I'd advise at least looking at the ones that seem close, though, and review if it's actually for your person.)
I'm not quite sure what you mean. All of the articles that are included in PERSI are ones that are in genealogy and local history periodicals. The website itself is part of the Genealogy Center at the Allen County Public Library. You don't need to register or give your email address to use it.
The index is free. If you can find the periodical you’re interested in at a library or through the publisher/society, you can often get it for very low cost. (Often just the cost of photocopies.) As for spending money on articles that do not relate to your ancestry, that’s true with many things we order. Over the years, I’ve purchased copies of vital records and pension files that turned out not to be for my relatives.
This is only for Americans. It is of limited value to Australians who, according to Americans, do not exist! I have an index of Australian sources on CD.
There are several thousand references to Australian articles in PERSI. It isn't the largest country represented in there, but you never know what hidden gem you'll uncover.
Ok, I will "bite" on this reply: What are you talking about with the "abandoned basic decencies that their ancestors brought across from England" statement?
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I found my husbands grand uncle and his family who had moved from Scotland to North East England in an article in the NE Family history society magazine and from that made contact with a new branch of the family.
I used PERSI in college a thousand years ago! I'm 70 now! You had to go to the library, haul huge volumes from a research shelf,look through that volume and be prepared to repeat the process! This sounds heavenly!
This isn't the same thing that we used in college (that was the Reader's Guide to Periodical Literature), but the concept is the same, just focused on genealogy. For genealogy research, it's invaluable!
I don't know how you do it, but you explain things in such a clear way that I can understand and then turn around and apply to my genealogy searches! Thank you for your videos! I've learned so much! Ok, now I'm off to go do some PERSI searches! :)
Thank you for the kind words! I'm so glad the video was useful to you!
“Bread crumb navigation” - perfect description! 👍
I wish I could take credit for naming that style of navigation that!
Not every site has a "bread crumb navigation." I'm in the habit of always opening links in a new tab. That makes it easy to go back to any point along my way.
Thank you so much for this! Never heard of PERSI! I can’t wait to search this weekend.
You're welcome! I hope you have fun (and make some cool discoveries!) with it 😊
Thanks Amy. I used PERSI years ago, but had "forgot" about it. For my local genealogy society, we try to come up with more creative headlines for our newsletter and journal articles, like "grandpa forgot his teeth" . . . but we may be working against ourselves by not keeping them more subject oriented for just such indexing.
They try to determine what the article is about, but having a clear title is always helpful. You could combine the two with a title and subtitle: "Grandpa Forgot His Teeth: John Smith of Hopewell Township." (That could also help your readers as they skim through the periodical. As much as we don't like to think about it, not everyone reads the periodicals word-for-word, cover-to-cover!)
I watched your video about WorldCat last night and tried searching for my family name in Canada. Within ten minutes, I'd nudged a brick wall big time (didn't learn everything but have a lot more!). Thank you!
That's wonderful! Thanks for sharing!
Oooooooh! This opens out a whole new approach.
I am so glad I found you. Wish it would have been a few years earlier. Love what you are doing. Thank you.
Great info. Thanks so much. Lots of brick walls in the SHenandoah Valley due to the CIvil War.
The Allen County library is superb
As I’ve been watching your videos, I kept thinking “I wonder if she did one about PERSI”? ❤️❤️❤️ This has fascinated me for years and I pray this gives me tips and how to access it. I need a private lesson 🤣🤣🤣
I live in Fort Wayne Indiana! Great library! Have to admit I haven't done much genealogy since the 80s- have 3 grandparents born in the UK and had trouble researching their genealogy - should revisit trying PERSI.
Definitely revisit PERSI! Also, if you haven't already, explore what the Genealogy Center has for UK resources. And ask to talk with one of the librarians. They are so knowledgeable and willing to help!
This is a wonderful video Amy. Thank you so much. I’ve used PERSI in the past, but it’s been years and I wasn’t good at using it. Guess what I’m doing today? You rock! 😍👍🏻
As I described it the other day to someone, PERSI is the good kind of genealogy rabbit hole! I hope you find lots of good stuff!
Thanks for showing us so many ways to combat our roadblocks. It does help.
Thanks for this great video. It helped me learn so much more about PERSI. Your instructions were clear and easy to follow. It is something I definitely want to explore! How great that you can order the articles right from the search pages. I really appreciate your work!
Glad it helped! Thanks for the kind words 😊
Very helpful videos from fellow Pennsylvanian. Thank you
Thank you for this information, I never would have known about this! I really appreciate how you demonstrate how this website works, very helpful!🇨🇦
Interesting. I was just in Ft. Wayne a few weeks ago on a business trip and walked right by the library. Next time I'll add some time to actually go in.
You definitely need to go! It is an incredible collection and the librarians are top-notch.
The library in Fort Wayne is super
Isn't it, though?! I love going there!
Really interesting. Never knew that PERSI existed.
It is *so* much fun to explore! I hope you find some neat articles!
WOOT! This is great - I'm diving in now. Thanks
Half my family is Ramsey, our Higginbotham reunions in Nahunta had loads of them. Considering my brother and I are the only Higginbotham’s left with the name from our line.
Great tips on something that I know I don't use as much as I should.
Thank you! There are so many things to find in PERSI... it's the good kind of genealogy rabbit hole 😊
I have relatives who moved to United States from Germany, I believe right after WW1. The lady was my grandmothers aunt. She and her daughter than granddaughter corresponded with her for years. The last letter and card I have was in the late 1950s. I would love to find out what happened to them
The word than in your post makes no sense at all.
Look for marriage of the granddaughter. Also her death notice (both would be announcements in the local paper). The obit would list possible children and other relatives. Look at City Directories to follow up on all relatives listed. Find marriages of children……Also old phone books may help. Good luck.
Youre amazing. This is so well presented.
These days Family researchers from anywhere in the world can watch videos also made anywhere in the world. As I'm in the UK is PERSI of any use to me looking for non US material? It would be helpful to clarify whether it is specific to a particular country or not. Thanks for your help on this as I got a bit excited that it might be of use to find a particular Training school for lads wishing to go to sea from West Wales. Somehow my instinct is that is not.
Great question! Yes, PERSI has materials from all over the world. The bulk is US, Canada, and the British Isles, but it worth taking a look regardless of where your ancestors are from.
Great video Amy!
Thank you! I'm glad you liked it!
12:02 Bavaria is just by accident still part of Germany. All others don't wear Lederhosen.
I give up on finding anything on my father. All I've ever found is his death index search results and his grave marker stating he was in the navy. My mother told me where he went to highschool but I've not found anything. I've never seen a picture of him. I first found his grave in Brandon Mississippi (my name is Brandon not Fred). My last name was changed a year before his death so he would have only known my first name. I think that's why he had a plot there. His grave was moved after I found it to Michigan by unknown persons. There are a lot of strange things about this. I've spent 30 years searching to no avail. His name was Howard Richard Shirley from White County Arkansas or Van Buren not sure. Supposedly graduated from Searcy Arkansas around '69 or so but I can't find him in any class for years in both directions. I suspect money has motivated some to hide things. I actually found a family tree posted online years ago and I was listed as the "unknown Shirley" (born '73)but that has since been removed.
Cemeteries often have maps showing who owns each plot. If you can find the one from the cemetery his grave was moved to, it will show who purchased that plot, thus who paid for the move. Look at who owns all the Shirley plots in that cemetery. Also, your mom might have known his legal name, but he went by another name that she doesn't know.
@CricketsBay thank you. I'll try finding out who purchased it.
This is a great video! Thank you for the information! It looks like we'll be taking a trip to Fort Wayne now.
Thank you for the Super Thanks! (BTW, it's always a good time to take a trip to Fort Wayne!)
8:20 Can PERSI do a specific location (county) search for any country, or just USA? Can it search for city / town names? Oops! Should have watched more before asking: you’ve just shown how. Thanks!
Excellent video - so very helpful. One trivial point (I hope you don't mind) The word is pronounced GeneAlogy and not geneOlogy
Thanks, Amy. Great video. But, you should make a little attempt on how to pronounce unfamiliar names, like Guelph (pronounced Gwelf)
It's funny you should mention that. I spoke at an Ontario Genealogical Society conference in Guelph a few years ago. I tried to remember how it was pronounced when I was there. "Gwelf" popped into my mind, but I thought, "No, that can't be right." Shouldn't have second-guessed myself!
This is new to me. Thanks for the video.
You're welcome! Thanks for watching!
Thanks for the information.
Thank you. Very interesting.
Glad you enjoyed it!
Thank you for this information!! How would I search for girls homes where under aged/ unwed girls went to have babies around 1869-1870 in Illinois?
If she was living in/near a large city (like Chicago), take a look at city directories. However, it's likely that she just "went away" for awhile, possibly to a distant relative or friend who lived out of the area.
My great grandfather migrated from Scotland to Nova Scotia with two cousins. I cannot find anywhere they keep ships manifests. If I could find a good site I would be grateful. It doesn't help his name was Alexander MacDonald and theres a billion of them.
Port of Halifax Nova Scotia ships manifests are available online back to at least 1735. The historical society of Nova Scotia is happy to point people in the right direction, but their genealogical society is stellar. They do get a lot of requests like this though, so be patient when contacting them and provide the most specific information you have, including full names and dates of birth if you can. Immigration recorded the intended final destination of every immigrant who passed through Halifax, so if you know where their children were born, you can maybe match those records to town names on their Immigration papers.
nice. thank you.
On Persi you can't see the record unless you order it?
You have to get a copy of the article, yes. They aren't online. You can contact the publisher; many societies have them on their websites or will send a copy for a small fee. You can see if a library near you has that periodical. You can also order it from the Genealogy Center at ACPL.
I forgot about PERSI. Is it free or subscription?
It is absolutely free on the Genealogy Center's website.
Thanks!
From what I gathered from your video concerning PERI, using that index would be compared to searching for a needle in a haystack. Just saying. { 8>)
Not at all. It’s a good way to search across countless issues of periodicals. What would be a needle in a haystack would be picking up each issue of each periodical and reading the headlines of all the articles. With more than 3 million articles indexed in PERSI, you’re bound to find something of interest.
Can we access the articles from this site?
Not directly. I recommend contacting the society/publisher; they often have back issues in their website or will make a copy for you. Look in libraries near you to see if they have that periodical. If those don’t work, you can order copies from the Genealogy Center. The link to the order form is on each results page.
You take us to the list, but none of them have hot links. You do not tell us what to do once we have the list.
Contact the publisher for a copy or contact the Genealogy Center. You can also look to see if a library near you has a copy of the publication.
it wants to charge me for each article?
PERSI provides the index for free. It cannot digitize the articles without permission of the hundreds of publishers involved. Although the Genealogy Center does have a fee for ordering article copies, you can often contact the publisher directly (many make older issues available on their websites!) or you can see if a library near you has the periodical you're interested in.
@@AmyJohnsonCrow thanks for your quick reply. I suppose I was hoping to get a little snippet to figure out if it’s pertinent.
The cost of copies have gone up alot
Is there a way to delete all the hints on Ancestry??
No. Plus, there will always be more. They don’t give all of the possible hints all at once.
@@AmyJohnsonCrow , I do look at all of them, some good, and some not so good. I just find it annoying that I cannot delete them when I am done with them.
When you're on a person's hints page, you could just click "Ignore" on all of them. It doesn't delete them, but it does get them off of the page. (I'd advise at least looking at the ones that seem close, though, and review if it's actually for your person.)
@@AmyJohnsonCrow, okay, that sounds like a plan. Thank you!!!
❤️
😢
Is PERSI Spam free?
I'm not quite sure what you mean. All of the articles that are included in PERSI are ones that are in genealogy and local history periodicals. The website itself is part of the Genealogy Center at the Allen County Public Library. You don't need to register or give your email address to use it.
It's not "Free" if you have to order the article and pay for it. You could be spending money on articles that do not relate to your ancestry.
The index is free. If you can find the periodical you’re interested in at a library or through the publisher/society, you can often get it for very low cost. (Often just the cost of photocopies.) As for spending money on articles that do not relate to your ancestry, that’s true with many things we order. Over the years, I’ve purchased copies of vital records and pension files that turned out not to be for my relatives.
This is only for Americans. It is of limited value to Australians who, according to Americans, do not exist! I have an index of Australian sources on CD.
There are several thousand references to Australian articles in PERSI. It isn't the largest country represented in there, but you never know what hidden gem you'll uncover.
Americans assume that they are the world and everything they see or hear tends to reinforce that view. The rest of us can only learn to work with it 😔
Is Amy a Mormon by any chance
Not that it matters, but no, I’m not.
Why? Are you trying to prove where and why Americans abandoned the basic decencies that their ancestors brought across from England?
Ok, I will "bite" on this reply: What are you talking about with the "abandoned basic decencies that their ancestors brought across from England" statement?