The following messages comes from Caroline at [email protected] who must be a subscriber since she received the referenced article. You should be able to respond to her via the list. Also, Caroline, could you contact Vicki at: [email protected] , I would like to correct the address the computer has on file for you. Thank you! ----- Original Message ----- From: "gildent" <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Thursday, February 14, 2002 4:15 AM Subject: {not a subscriber} Re: About PERSI > I have gone to several sites where the PERSI index is noted. All that I have > been able to find so far is a volume number, name, year indexed. I haven't > been able to find a site that actually lets you read any of the articles on > line. Do you have any idea of a web site that lets you actually read on line > any of the actual PERSI articles themselves?? > THanks > Caroline > ----- Original Message ----- > From: Don & Vicki Stewart <[email protected]> > To: <[email protected]> > Sent: Wednesday, February 13, 2002 9:34 PM > Subject: About PERSI > > > > Here's another article by Michael John Neill that seemed noteworthy if you > have time to read it. > > > > Reprinted from Ancestry Daily News, 13 February 2002 > > > > "PERSI: SOME INITIAL THOUGHTS," by Michael John Neill > > =================================================================== > > > > Old genealogical society quarterlies are a goldmine of information. > > Unfortunately, the likelihood that they are all scanned and converted > > to searchable text anytime soon is remote. As a consequence, the > > information in these journals could easily remain buried for a long > > time. Searching these journals manually is extremely time consuming. > > Even for quarterlies that are indexed, the index only covers one > > issue or a year's worth of issues. Searching thirty years of a > > quarterly publication could mean viewing as few as thirty or as many > > as one hundred and twenty indexes. Multiply this times the number of > > magazines and the time required to search increases significantly. It > > makes a comprehensive search difficult. > > > > THE ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY COMES TO THE RESCUE > > > > For over a decade, library staffers have been working on an index to > > relieve genealogists of the burdensome task of manually looking at > > each index or journal separately. The library has created a topical > > index to articles contained in the many genealogical society > > quarterlies and journals housed in their collection, categorizing the > > articles by surname, geographic location, and article type. The > > resulting work is called the Periodical Source Index. Many know this > > work by the familiar name of PERSI. > > > > NOT EVERY NAME ON EVERY PAGE > > > > Let's clear up a misconception first. PERSI is not an index to every > > name on every page of every journal. You cannot perform a text search > > of every article's contents. However, it is important to remember > > that this source was created before the days of digitization and > > optical character recognition. It is also worth remembering that to > > digitize all these journals and put them in a searchable database > > would require the onerous task of obtaining permission from each and > > every journal and many individual authors. Many of the periodicals > > indexed in PERSI are under copyright and will be for some time. > > Obtaining reprint rights would be a nightmare and a significant > > additional expense. Consequently, PERSI is limited. However, it is > > still a wonderful source and provides many genealogists with access > > to materials they would not otherwise have. > > > > A NOTE ON SURNAMES > > > > Not every surname included in a given article is included in the > > surname section of PERSI. The main family being researched is listed. > > Individuals mentioned in passing in an article will not appear in > > PERSI. > > > > 1 MILLION REFERENCES AND 5,000 JOURNALS > > > > PERSI contains over one million references and includes articles from > > five thousand genealogical journals from the nineteenth century and > > beyond. The task is gargantuan. We will discuss some of the > > limitations of PERSI, however. These limitations are discussed not to > > minimize the importance of PERSI, but rather to avoid leaving the > > impression it is a panacea for every genealogical brick wall > > (although I have used it to break down a few of my own). The > > limitations are discussed because when genealogists are aware of them > > they are more likely to use the resource more effectively. > > > > FOR INSTANCE > > > > There is a PERSI reference to an article I wrote in 1995 for the > > Illinois State Genealogical Society Quarterly. > > > > PERSI actually lists the article twice. The references are as > > follows: > > > > Surname: BIEGER > > Article Title: Franciska Bieger Trautvetter, IL > > Periodical: Illinois State Genealogical Society Quarterly > > Volume: 27 Number: 2 (Summer 1995) > > > > Surname: TRAUTVETTER > > Article Title: Franciska Bieger Trautvetter, IL > > Periodical: Illinois State Genealogical Society Quarterly > > Volume: 27 Number: 2 (Summer 1995) > > > > The article appears in PERSI under the maiden and married names of > > the article's focus person. The article also contains significant > > information on surnames of other family members. One in particular is > > HAASE, the stepfather of the article's focus and the father of > > several of Franciska's half-siblings. The article is not indexed > > under the HAASE surname or any other surname contained in the > > article. Why? The reason for this is that it is extremely time- > > consuming to read every article for every surname and to enter that > > data in the index. Also (and I'm conjecturing here) because it likely > > becomes difficult to decide what families to include and not to > > include based upon the amount of information contained on any given > > collateral family or family member. Because of this limitation, the > > researcher should make certain to search PERSI for surnames of > > extended family members in addition to the direct line surnames being > > researched. Again: PERSI is not a full-text index to all the > > genealogical journals included in the index. > > > > LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION > > > > PERSI also has a location section where articles are categorized by > > their locality. It is worth noting that not all articles will get a > > locality categorization. The articles that obtain a geographic > > categorization are generally ones focusing on specific records, for > > example a cemetery transcription, some newspaper extracts, a > > historical article about life in a certain county, etc. The Franciska > > Bieger Trautvetter article does not appear in the locality section > > because it focuses on a specific family, even though the vast > > majority of the information referenced in the article is from one > > specific county in Illinois. > > > > Locality entries in PERSI are classified by the type of record the > > article includes. The more popular classifications are: > > --- Biography > > --- Cemetery > > --- Census > > --- Church > > --- History > > --- Land > > --- School > > --- Vital Records > > These classifications are to provide users with an idea of the > > content of the article as titles are occasionally deceiving. Those > > who do not find entries for their specific families in the surname > > section of PERSI should also consider doing searches in the locality > > section of PERSI for those areas where their ancestors lived. > > > > A quick search of PERSI's locality section resulted in an entry for a > > cemetery in which I was interested: > > > > Locality: U.S. States, Illinois, Hancock Record Type: Cemetery > > Article Title: American cemetery burials, Tioga, Al-Yo > > Periodical: Yellowjacket > > Volume: 24 Number: 4 (March 1999) > > > > PERSI can be a great way to locate cemetery transcriptions and other > > records that have not been published in book form, but have appeared > > in a serial publication. > > > > Another locality search turned up a reference for an additional > > location > > > > Locality: U.S. States, Illinois, Knox Record Type: School > > Article Title: Rio township school, 1852-53 > > Periodical: Knox County Genealogical Society Quarterly > > Volume: 21 Number: 1 (March 1993) > > > > If I had ancestors living Rio Township during that time period, the > > record may be helpful. It might assist me in determining how many > > children an ancestor had or whether or not a specific child of the > > ancestor had lived until 1852. > > > > NONE OF MY FAMILY IS IN THERE. > > MY LOCALITIES ARE NOT IN THERE EITHER. > > WHY SHOULD I BOTHER? > > > > It still may be to your advantage to search the methodology section > > of PERSI. I found several references to specific areas of Germany > > where various members of my family originated (and found no reference > > to my family members by the way). Additionally, I found a reference > > that may be particularly useful to those searching for members of the > > Jewish faith: > > > > Locality: Russia Record Type: History > > Article Title: Jewish patronymic-metronymic surnames > > Periodical: Avotaynu > > Volume: 7 Number: 4 (Winter 1991) > > > > While there are not many Russian records listed in PERSI, this > > reference may be especially helpful if I am researching Jewish > > families from Russia. Understanding the naming system may be key to > > avoiding pitfalls and making incorrect assumptions. This > > understanding comes from either lots of research on the families and > > noticing what happens or reading the article and getting a broad > > understanding before beginning research. Speaking from personal > > experience with other geographic areas, it is easier to read a how-to > > article first! > > > > SEARCHING PERSI > > > > Next week we'll discuss searching PERSI using the CD and the online > > version. There are differences and if you find many references in the > > online version you may wish to take advantage of the more > > sophisticated features of the CD. > > > > ___________________________________________________________________ > > > > Michael John Neill, is the Course I Coordinator at the Genealogical > > Institute of Mid America (GIMA) held annually in Springfield, > > Illinois, and is also on the faculty of Carl Sandburg College in > > Galesburg, Illinois. Michael is the Web columnist for the FGS FORUM > > and is on the editorial board of the Illinois State Genealogical > > Society Quarterly. He conducts seminars and lectures on a wide > > variety of genealogical and computer topics and contributes to > > several genealogical publications, including Ancestry and > > Genealogical Computing. You can email him at: > > mailto:[email protected] or visit his website at: > > http://www.rootdig.com/, but he regrets that he is unable to assist > > with personal research. > > > > Copyright 2002, MyFamily.com. > > ____________________________________________________________________ > > > > FOR A PRINTER-FRIENDLY VERSION OF THIS ARTICLE, e-mail it to a > > friend, or submit your feedback on it, just go to: > > http://www.ancestry.com/rd/prodredir.asp?sourceid=831&key=A527901 and > > click on the appropriate icon in the beige sidebar. > > > > > > > > > > ==== KYCALDWE Mailing List ==== > > RootsWeb Boards now allow you to pick the classification and expand all > the messages on the page at one time. > > > > ============================== > > To join Ancestry.com and access our 1.2 billion online genealogy records, > go to: > > http://www.ancestry.com/rd/redir.asp?targetid=571&sourceid=1237 > > > > > >