Port library now offers Ancestry.com

Amateur genealogists  have another tool in their box of resources to investigate the past — the Niederkorn Library in Port Washington has a subscription to Ancestry.com that’s open to the public.

“What you can do with it is really cool,” Adult Services Librarian Alyssa Strzyzewski said.  “There are tons of collections you can access.”

Those collections include such things as census, immigration and military records, newspaper obituaries, wedding announcements and yearbooks, she said.

People using the system can search for specific family members throughout all collections or search each collection for more general family information, Strzyzewski said.

“There’s unlimited access to those things,” she said.

The only thing that patrons of the library can’t do that people who subscribe to Ancestry.com can privately can do is get a DNR analysis, she said.

The library’s subscription to Ancestry.com began Aug. 1, and can only be accessed at the library, 316 W. Grand Ave.

To access it, patrons can log onto Ancestry.comlibraryedition, which will log them in, and then can search the records.

The library has two manuals about Ancestry.com that can be checked out from the front desk to help them use the system.

Information found can be downloaded and printed at the library, saved to a flash drive or emailed, Strzyzewski said.

The library decided to obtain the Ancestry subscription because numerous people asked for genealogy information and librarians realized they didn’t have a large number of resources for them.

“It’s something that interests a lot of people,” “ she said. “Just the fact we have this has piqued some people’s interest.”

Even if people aren’t serious about genealogy research, she said, they often unearth family trivia that’s interesting.

“I encourage people to try it,” Strzyzewski said, adding that if they want to delve further into their family history the library can offer them other resources.

Anyone interested in the system can schedule an appointment with Strzyzewski to learn the ropes by calling the library at (262) 284-5031.