Is your family published?

Finding works written about your ancestors is a good strategy for filling in gaps of information, corroborating the research you've done, or learning about where you might be able to do more research. Often, smaller works done by genealogical researchers are not held by libraries, making them hard to locate.

The four-volume bibliography of Genealogical & Local History Books in Print may point you in the right direction. Titles referenced range from works done on individuals of local or regional interest to books about the history of families in other nations. Each entry includes information on how to purchase the book from the vendor.

It must be noted that all of the references were submitted by the vendors, and included without evaluation, so no guarantee about the value of information can be made. It also cannot be called an exhaustive source for the same reason. Genealogical & Local History Books in Print is still useful, though, because the titles listed may not be available through other sources and the vendors are often genealogy search services that may be able to help you in your family history search.


Hoffman, M. (Ed.). (1996). Genealogical and local history books in print(5th ed.).Baltimore, MD: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc.