Think about the genealogical societies you have joined. Do they publish quarterly journals or newsletters? What kinds of materials are published by societies? Usually a genealogical or historical society will try to publish materials that help researchers. This might be painstakingly reproduced county records, contributed Bible records, or tips on improving your research techniques. Now multiply the societies to which you belong by at least a factor of 50 (one for each state, not even counting each county), and you will begin to see the potential wealth of information available for searching if only you knew where to look for it.
Happily, the Allen County Public Library in Fort Wayne, Indiana, recognized the need for finding information published in genealogical periodicals. In 1986, they debuted their annual PERiodical Source Index, better known as PERSI. PERSI is an index to the over 2,000 genealogical periodicals held by the Allen County Public Library. In 1988, they began adding a retrospective edition covering 1847 to 1985. Published in sets of four volumes, the retrospective edition is planned to span 16 volumes.
PERSI is divided into five sections: U.S. Places, Canadian Places, Other Foreign Places, Research Methodology, and Families. Within the locality and methodology sections are further categories by types of records: biography, cemetery, census, church, court, deeds, directories, history, institutions, land, maps, military, naturalizations, obituaries, other, passenger lists, probate, school, tax, vital records, voter, and wills. The information given for each article is a brief description (called the title, but not always the article title), the journal abbreviation, volume number, issue number, month and year. Bear in mind that what is indexed is the subject of the article. Individual names within an article (cemetery lists, census, etc.) are not indexed. Articles indexed by surname in the Families section are those specifically focusing on that family or surname. Family surname periodicals, queries, ancestor charts, and family group sheets are excluded.
Using the locality and surname indexes is easy and rewarding. If you are searching by locality, look first by state and then by county for U.S. locations, by province for Canadian locations, and by country for other foreign locations. The Families section is arranged simply alphabetically by surname. Be sure to check each set of the retrospective volumes as well as each annual volume for a complete search.
Tracking down articles on research methods is much more frustrating. At first glance, it even appears that the methodology section is not in the retrospective volumes. Only upon closer inspection do you learn that this section is included in the back of the second locality volume of each set. The categories for methodology are so broad that most of the articles are lumped under the heading “Other.” This means you will have to read every listing in the hope of finding your topic.
Once you have located an article that looks interesting, the next step is to identify the journal name. The journal titles are abbreviated as four-letter codes, which are listed in a separate part of the index. Armed with the complete journal title and the publication information from the index, you can now look for the article. If Clayton Library does not own the journal, you can order up to eight articles at a time from Allen County Public Library. The instructions and fee for ordering are given in the introductory material.
The major drawback of PERSI is that no page numbers are listed in the citations. Unless you can find the journal at Clayton Library or order it from Allen County Public Library, you will have trouble getting the article through interlibrary loan without page numbers.
Your genealogical research is not complete until you have taken a look at PERSI. Recently, I have been researching Limestone County, Alabama, a notorious “burned county.” PERSI’s retrospective first series alone lists 148 articles for Limestone County! Subjects covered are cemeteries, census, court records, deeds, history, obituaries, and vital records. Well worth following up on! And, because of this research, while I was examining the periodical in question, I also happened to find the first reference I have ever seen to help me verify my great-great grandfather’s death date. Periodicals are secondary sources, but they can be vital clues to the original records. Check out PERSI in the USA section of Clayton Library.
PERiodical Source Index, Annual Volume. 1986-. Fort Wayne IN: Allen County Public Library Foundation, 1987-. (USA/GEN 016.929 P445 USA)
PERiodical Source Index, 1847-1985. 12 volumes to date. Fort Wayne, IN: Allen County Public Library Foundation, 1988-. (USA/GEN 016.929 P445 USA)
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