Genealogy

Trace your family history and discover yourself.

Book a PRO: Genealogy @ West Oaks

Learn how to find your ancestors using library resources from one of our PROs.  Book a PRO can arrange a meeting with a genealogy specialist at our West Oaks branch to help with your genealogical research.

Frequently Used Call Numbers

Below is a quick guide to frequently used genealogy books in the collection with their call numbers. 

•    010-099: Bibliographies and Indexes

•    200: Religion

•    301.45: Black Genealogy (also 973.7)

•    325: Immigration

•    351: Pension Lists

•    929.1: Genealogical “How-To”

•    929.2: Family Histories

•    941: Scotland

•    942: England

•    943: Germany

•    970.1-.3: Native American

•    971: Canada

•    973: United States

•    974: Northeastern U.S.

•    975: Southeastern U.S.

•    976: South Central U.S.

•    977: North Central U.S.

•    978: Western U.S.

•    979: Pacific U.S.

Orlando Sentinel

The Orlando Sentinel newspaper on Microfilm is available at the Orlando Public Library 1911- present. Central Florida's most comprehensive local news source, the Sentinel is a rich source of genealogical information from obituaries and death announcements, legal notices, announcements of celebrations and commercial transactions, employment ads, and much more.

Genealogy and the Orange County Library System

The Orange County Library System's genealogy collection is located at the West Oaks Branch & Genealogy Center (1821 E Silver Star Rd, Ocoee FL 34761).  It includes an extensive collection of genealogy reference books organized by state as well as a sizable collection of donated family histories organized by surname. The core collection began as a gift from avid genealogist Captain Charles Albertson in 1923. Then in 1929 the Library became the official repository of the Florida State Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution. The collection now contains close to 40,000 books.  

 

Books

Wondering how to begin your genealogy research? Learn the basics with these books that can help you get started. 

The U.S. Census is the simplest place to begin looking for records. Use it to confirm what you think you know about your ancestors, and to discover new information.

These books are standard reference materials that every genealogist should be aware of. They include substantial information on the different record types, where to find them, and how to use them.

Tracing foreign born ancestors has its own unique set of challenges but the process of immigrating and obtaining citizenship creates many records. Learn to take advantage of that paperwork with these books.

Your research was going fine until you discovered records were missing, someone was listed under the wrong name, or an ancestor's father seemingly didn't exist. Overcome those challenges and more with these books.

When you begin your research you'll quickly find yourself with an abundance of information and that can become overwhelming. The key to preventing frustration is organization. Check out these book for tips on how to manage what you find.

Don't have time to come to the library? Try one of our ebooks!

OCLS Collaborative Projects

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Databases

These databases are free to you with your library card, and provide access to census records, passengers lists, military records, reference ebooks, and much more.

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