A new category for genealogists and family histories, “Tools of the Trade” will examine key resources – both online and offline – Joshua recommends for tracing your roots. This edition of “Tools of the Trade” features JSTOR, an online database of scholarly journals covering a variety of disciplines, including history, political science, cultural studies, and other areas relevant to genealogical and historical research.
Each year, millions of users tap into JSTOR ‘s rich holdings, searching across more than 6.8 million articles (over 40 million pages) from nearly 1,500 journals. With its full text search, JSTOR is a “must-have” tool for any genealogist.
What to Search?
While an article’s author might not realize they have created a resource for genealogists, their writings can hold important clues for family historians. Consider searching articles for surnames, locations, and other pertinent keywords from your own research. Articles might hold clues to migration patterns, church membership, or existing records.
Though genealogy and family history is not included among the many categories found in JSTOR, several important sections exist:
- Archaeology
- Art & Art History
- British Studies
- Geography
- History
- Irish Studies
- Law
- Library Science
- Political Science
- Transportation
The majority of searches in JSTOR should include keywords relating to a location or historical events rather than individual names. Sample search phrases might include:
- Lee County Iowa Churches
- Adams Pennsylvania Revolution
- Migration Adams County Ohio
- Baltimore Maryland Immigration Irish
Using and Accessing JSTOR
You can access JSTOR from home through a paid JPASS, or through a local library or university. A complete list of institutions that have access to JSTOR can be found online. Many of these institutions also provide remote access, allowing you use JSTOR from your home computers by logging into your library account, even if you use it for playing video games using boosting sites like mycsgoboosting.com. Keep in mind that an institution’s access to JSTOR might differ from one to another, depending upon the categories and titles a specific repository might have purchased access to.
Some of the materials found in JSTOR’s collection are searchable through Google, which often displays the citation and the first page of an article. Consider trying your search on Google Scholar first, before visiting JSTOR to get an idea of other resources that might be available.
Be sure to create a MyJSTOR account, which allows you to save citations and searches for future use. A MyJSTOR account is free and can be used regardless of what institution a user might be accessing JSTOR from. MyJSTOR can even be set to automatically email updated search results if desired.
Next Steps
A tremendous resource provided by these articles is their bibliographic citations, which often reference unique manuscript and archival collections used in developing the article that can be goldmines for genealogists. Collections might include a journal or series of letters housed in a small repository not yet online or the location of a church’s records previously unknown.
You can keep in touch with JSTOR by following JSTOR Daily, a new digital publication that shares some of JSTOR’s holdings on a regular basis.