Forwarded with permission . . . The Wisconsin Historical Society is pleased to announce its Wisconsin Name Index (www. wisconsinhistory.org/wni), a new online tool to help genealogists research their Wisconsin ancestors. The Wisconsin Name Index leads to more than 100,000 obituaries, personal sketches, and other short biographies of Wisconsin people. These texts originally appeared in 150 county and local histories, dozens of professional directories and biographical encyclopedias, more than 60 scrapbooks containing 30,000 obituaries, and in Wisconsin magazines and newspapers. Thousands include portraits and other illustrations. Users can search the database with a last name, first name, maiden name, time frame, and various other details. Photocopies of biographical sketches, articles, and obituaries can all be ordered online through our online genealogical research service. The name index was created not by amateurs but by professional librarians at the State Historical Society. Starting about 1870, our staff made a catalog card for every biographical sketch in each new Wisconsin county history. They made a similar card for every obituary added to the scrapbooks they called "Wisconsin Necrology", and frequently added cards for magazine and newspaper articles about Wisconsin residents. After more than a century of such work, the data on the original cards was typed into a database and the Wisconsin Name Index was born. Best wishes, Melissa McLimans Administrator, Online Genealogical Research Service Wisconsin Historical Society http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/genealogy/ogrs/index.html