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Genealogy Research Guide

This guide is intended to assist genealogists in knowing what resources are available in the ISU Library and through the Internet. It also includes some information on genealogy resources at Ames Public Library and the Iowa Genealogical Society Library.

Newspapers

In addition, the ISU Library newspapers guide lists many Iowa newspapers that are available as part of library subscriptions.

The Media Center (Lower Level in Parks Library) has indexes to:
Ames Tribune (1955-1986),
Des Moines Register (1955 to the present)
Iowa State Daily (1955 to the present)
Some of these are old card indexes which have not yet been converted to an online format while some newer years are available online. Ask at the Desk for information on their location and help in using these indexes.
 

The Ames Tribune has changed names several times over the years and we have a few small gaps in what we have available in our collection. The following are all available on microfilm in the Media Center:

Ames Intelligencer: 1877-1885, 1890-1908
Ames Weekly Tribune: 1914-1916
Ames Tri-Weekly Tribune: 1918-1919
Ames Tribune: 1919-present day

The Ames Tribune is available full-text online in Access World News (covers 2000 to the present)

Iowa State Daily is available from 1890-present in microfilm in the Media Center. It is also available full-text online in Access World News from June 15,1995 to the present.

The ISU Library has a collection of historical newspapers on microfilm.There are a handful of Iowa newspapers (such as the Des Moines Register back to 1862), many Early American newspapers (such as the Virginia Gazette from 1736-1780), and some International newspapers (such as the London Times back to 1785). If you have a specific newspaper title, you can look it up in Quick Search to see if we own it on microfilm. The Media Center also has a browsable list of most of them available at their desk.

Beyond newspapers on microfilm, the ISU Library also subscribes to a number of historical newspaper collections. Below is a sampling. The full list is available on the Newspapers guide.

Many online genealogy sites offer newspaper searches. Some are fairly extensive while others contain bits and pieces. Read the "About" pages of the following sites carefully to determine what they do (or do not) cover.

Your Librarian

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Lorrie Pellack
Contact:
Head, Research & Instruction Services Dept.
150c Parks Library
Ames, IA 50011-2140
Phone: 515-294-5569