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ABSTRACT
In 1992, Judaica Librarianship featured an article by Zachary Baker, entitled "What We Owe the Genealogists: Genealogy and the Judaica Reference Librarian." He followed it up in 2003 with an article in Slavic & East European Information Resources entitled "Resources on the Genealogy of Eastern European Jews." The present article provides an update on the resources available to Jewish genealogists today, with particular emphasis on print and online resources that are recommended for the smaller Judaica library. It lists some of the sources in Baker's article that have been updated and some that have gone online. It describes JewishGen, Routes to Roots, the Ackman & Ziff Family Genealogy Institute, the Family History Library, the International Tracing Service, and PERSI, the comprehensive index to genealogical serials. It emphasizes the importance of local genealogical societies and their newsletters.
PRINTSOURCES
In 1992, die pages of Judaica Librarianship featured an article by Zachary Baker entitied, "What We Owe the Genealogists: Genealogy and the Judaica Reference Librarian." Seventeen years later, the genealogical world has turned decisively to the World Wide Web. In the process, Jewish genealogists have "grown up." Even the novice genealogist usually has enough web savvy to perform a Google search first, rather than showing up at a reference desk with naïve questions.
Still, genealogists are a library-loving group, and Jewish genealogists are no exception. Many are accustomed to navigating research websites and traveling to libraries that specialize in genealogy, especially Latter Day Saints collections. Yet, there is a role for the synagogue and Jewish research library in the genealogical world. The basic print-source tools in Jewish genealogy are rarely available in the average public library. A Jewish library website can easily create a module with links to the main Jewish genealogy sites. A library can thus become a research and meeting site for genealogists in a community, increasing patronage and furthering the mission of Jewish literacy.
Building a print collection in genealogy is easy because there are only a few essential tools, and they almost all come from one publisher - Avotaynu (http://www.avotaynu.com)- which is responsible for the one and only international journal in the field, the eponymous Avotaynu (1985-present).1 As of September 2009, the first 24 volumes of this quarterly were available on...