GALILEO is there: Exploring Your Local History

In celebration of National Library Week, we are doing a series on how GALILEO is there supporting your community.

This week, we talked about GALILEO resources to help your career, to help you find your next favorite book, to help you research your family history, and to help students with homework.

Last, but not least, let’s look at what you can find out about your city or county history in GALILEO.

The New Georgia Encyclopedia is an authoritative resource on Georgia’s rich history, diverse culture, and still-unfolding story. To find the article about your county or city, click the Cities and Counties link on the left. Then, click the plus sign beside Cities and Towns or by Counties to see a list. All of the counties in Georgia are included, and many of the cities have articles as well. You can also search the New Georgia Encyclopedia for your city or county to see what you can find.

The Digital Library of Georgia is a gateway to Georgia’s history and culture, including books, photographs, newspapers, maps (including the Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps), and more. You can start by searching for your county or city, or you can try Browse by County to see collections in the Digital Library of Georgia that include items from your county.

GeorgiaInfo is the online almanac for Georgia. Choose the Counties or Cities sections on the left to see links to information on all counties and many cities in Georgia. Or, you can also use the search box in the upper right to see what you can find about your city or county.

There are a couple of ways to find local history information in HeritageQuest Online. We recently posted a tip on how to find historical state maps that show how county lines changed over time, which can help determine which counties existed (or not) in past years. You can also find local history books by choosing the Search Books section and searching for your city or county in the Places section.

To limit your search to Georgia information in Ancestry Library Edition, click the small all databases link at the bottom of the page. Then, scroll down to Filter by Location on the left of the screen to see collections from Georgia.

GALILEO recently provided a training on researching local history. Here are slides, handout, and the archived webinar as well as a training session outline for re-presenting this content.

Some links may not work off site. Log in to GALILEO first for access. Contact your local public library for assistance.

Outline Map from GeorgiaInfo