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Periodical Collection

Genealogy Periodicals, published at regular intervals whether annually, quarterly, monthly or any other regular (or irregular) time frame have always been an important resource in genealogical research. Much of the information published in genealogical periodicals cannot be found elsewhere. County or state census records, cemetery readings, deeds, probate records, and even birth and marriage records are staple components of periodicals. Some are published by state or county genealogical or historical societies. Lineage societies, special interest groups (including ethnic), family/surname associations, and even for-profit corporations also are included in the list of genealogical periodical publishers.

MGC Periodical Holdings:

With over 500 current subscriptions and a total of well over 2,500 titles, the Midwest Genealogy Center has an ever-expanding periodical collection. There are numerous finding guides to help in your periodical search.

The periodicals at the Midwest Genealogy Center are shelved by category. Some categories have subdivisions. Each periodical title is in alphabetical order within their category or subdivision. The categories are:

  • Family 
  • Military/History 
  • International 
  • United States--Regional States 

Other Indexes:

Topical, subject, and surname indexes have been published for many genealogical periodicals.

Please note that none of the above indexes are "every name" indexes.

Most long-running genealogical periodicals publish their own annual indexes. Several have compiled comprehensive, cumulative indexes. These are shelved with the title they index. There are a few statewide indexes providing subject/name coverage for many periodicals within their state. They are shelved by Dewey Decimal number in the Reference Collection.

Titles Not Held By MGC:

Should you discover an article reference that is unavailable in our library, you can ask a staff member to complete an interlibrary Serial Request (the first 30 pages are usually free.) If this fails to produce your article, you can get information from the periodical staff about how to order it from the Allen County Library Genealogy Center for a fee.

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