ChicagoCookGenealogy

GENEALOGY LOOK-UPS

NEWBERRY LIBRARY

For those of you not aware of this valuable genealogical resource I've included the url. Browse their fantastic site and find many resources you may not have known about before. These even include other state and countries. www.newberry.org

Their website states that they will do limited research for you. The process is two-staged with each stage taking 4-6 weeks. 1.) You request what you want; they respond with the costs. 2.)You pay the bill, they send the records.

I'm at Newberry about every two weeks and I am willing to do lookups of books that contain indexes. Since the catalog may not be explicit, we can try it. If the book is not indexed, I will have to stop the search as it would take way to long to read it. I cannot look through microfilm for that same reason.

It is important to realize that Newberry does not allow electronics AND they must make all the copies. It is a very manual process, but their staff is great and it does go very quickly. I must complete a request form for EACH book I want to look at. They pull the books I want, and I review them.  I then complete a separate form for EACH book detailing the pages I want copied. The books are sent to the bookstore for copying. I pay and pick them up later that day. I have NEVER had this happen, because I get there very early, but their website does state that there is a possibility that copies won't be ready the same day. In that case they would mail them to me.  

Newberry is an all day trip for me, with extra transportation necessary. There is a trip charge of $25, prorated among all people requesting assistance. If five people need help, five people split the charge. If the count goes below 5 I will give you the opportunity to delay the search or cancel it. In addition, I do charge $15 per hour, with strict controls over the time. You will NOT be charged for time  spent on other people. In my experience, 5-6 lookups can USUALLY be performed within an hour.  Newberry charges a per copy fee ofhich will be added to your bill.

If you decide you want materials from Newberry, please use this link:

http://chicagocookgenealogy.googlepages.com/newberrylibraryrequestform