UCF Research Guides: Genealogy: Databases

Genealogy Databases

The UCF Library does not have access to any of the databases focused on genealogical research. Some of the local public library systems provide access to those databases. For example, see the description of Ancestry Library Edition and HeritageQuest Online available from the Orange County Library System.

International Index to Periodicals (1802+)

Poole's Index to Periodical Literature
Reference AI 3 .P7 (1802-1906)

International Index to Periodicals
General Collection AI 3 .R49 (1907-1965)

Social Sciences & Humanities Index
General Collection AI 3 .R49 (1965-1974)

Social Sciences Index
General Collection AI 3 .R492 (1974+)
Online version (Indexing 1983+, Abstracting 1984+, Full text 1994+)

Humanities Index
General Collection AI 3 .R493 (1974+)
Online version (Indexing 1983+, Abstracting 1984+, Full text 1994+)

Social Sciences Index (H.W. Wilson) (1974-2004)
[online access cancelled due to budget cuts]
paper index available: UCF ARC Main General Collection -- AI3.R492
"Subject coverage includes addiction studies, anthropology, community health & medical care, communications, economics, environmental studies, ethics, family studies, gender studies, geography, international relations, law, mass media, minority studies, political science, psychiatry, psychology, public welfare, social work, urban studies and much more."
"includes full text of articles from some 215 journals dating as far back as 1995 and indexing and abstracts of over 625 periodicals dating as far back as 1983, nearly 400 of which are peer-reviewed covering the latest concepts, theories and methods from both applied and theoretical aspects of the social sciences."
See also the print indexes, General Collection AI 3 .R492 (1907-2004) - International Index to Periodicals / Social Sciences & Humanities Index / Social Sciences Index -- and the online version: Humanities & Social Sciences Index Retrospective (1907-1984)
Humanities & Social Sciences Retrospective (H.W. Wilson - EBSCOhost) (1907-1984)
"a broad range of subject coverage in the humanities and social sciences with high-quality indexing of more than 1,300,000 articles in nearly 1,100 periodicals, dating as far back as 1907, as well as citations of over 240,000 book reviews."
"Topics covered include communications & mass media, criminal justice, anthropology, economics, art, film, environmental studies, archaeology, international relations, law, literary & social criticism, literature, music, performing arts, planning & public administration, political science, sociology, religion & theology, gender studies, gerontology, psychiatry & psychology, addiction studies, urban studies, and much more."
See also Humanities Source
Print Indexes - UCF Main Library - 1st Floor:
- International Index to Periodicals (1907-1965) - General Collection AI3.R49
- Social Sciences & Humanities Index (1965-1974) - General Collection AI3.R49
- Social Sciences Index (1974-1984) - General Collection AI3.R492
- Humanities Index (1974-1984) - General Collection AI3.R493

Daughters of the American Revolution

DAR Genealogical Research System (GRS)
a collection of databases that provide access to the many materials amassed by the DAR since its founding in 1890

Other Databases

African American Biographical Database CEASED
CEASED and access discontinued as of summer 2023.
Absorbed into Black Studies.
Biographies of over 30,000 African-Americans from Chadwyck-Healey’s acclaimed Black Biographical Dictionaries 1790-1950.
America: History & Life (EBSCOhost)
America: History and Life provides information about American history of the United States and Canada from prehistory to the present.
American Periodicals (ProQuest) (1741-1940)
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A full text collection of American magazines and journals.
Biography and Genealogy Master Index (Gale)
UCF ARC Main General Collection -- CT 213 .B53
Identifies 12.7 million biographical sketches in more than 3,400 current and retrospective reference books, covering contemporary and historical figures throughout the world.
"indexes current, readily available reference sources, as well as the most important retrospective works that cover individuals, both living and deceased, from every field of activity and from all areas of the world.... BGMI indexes only reference works containing multiple biographies; it does not index periodical articles or books of biography about a single individual. Sources...are of several types:
- Biographical dictionaries and who's whos, which supply information on a number of individuals.
- Subject encyclopedias, which include some biographical entries.
- Volumes of literary criticism, which may contain only a limited amount of biographical information but give critical surveys of a writer's works.
- Indexes, which refer the user to a body of information found elsewhere."
Biography (Gale In Context)
combines Gale biographies with related full-text articles from magazines and newspapers, thousands images, and links to vetted websites.
People included are from throughout history, around the world, and across all disciplines and subject areas. Search by name, birth and death years and places, nationality, ethnicity, occupation or gender.
- List of Sources included, such as the Dictionary of American Biography is available on the Gale Support - Title Lists for the database "Gale in Context: Biography"
Biography Index (H.W. Wilson) (1946-2010)
[online access cancelled due to budget cuts]
Reference CT 100.B48
"cites biographical articles appearing in any of more than 3,000 periodicals indexed in other Wilson databases, plus select other titles...some 2,000 current books of individual and collective biography are cited each year, as well as biographical material in otherwise non-biographical books."
Biography & Genealogy Master Index identifies entries in Biography Index from the first print volume in 1946 forward.
"Besides biographies and autobiographies, you’ll find citations to interviews, obituaries, collections of letters, diaries, memoirs, juvenile literature, book reviews, bibliographies and exhibition reviews. People covered range from antiquity to the present and represent all fields and nationalities."
Executive Branch Documents (EBD) (ProQuest) (1789-1939)
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EBD provides a comprehensive collection of U.S. federal agency publications.
HarpWeek: The Civil War Era Reconstruction I & II (1857-1912)
The 56 years of Harper’s Weekly provide a continuous record of what happened on a weekly basis from 1857 through 1912.
- Civil War Era: 1857-1865
- Reconstruction: 1866-1871 & 1872-1877
- Gilded Age: 1878-1912
Historical Abstracts (EBSCOhost)
Indexes over 2000 journals, as well as some books, collections, and dissertations, related to world history events from 1450 to the present (except the U.S. and Canada) published since 1955.
Index to 19th Century American Art Periodicals (EBSCOhost)
Index to art periodicals that were published in the US during the 19th century. Entire journal contents are indexed: articles, art notes, illustrations, stories, poems, and advertisements.
JSTOR
Full text of research journals and eBooks from numerous publishers. For most of the journal content, we can access all but the 3 to 5 most recent years of the journal.
New York Times, Historical (ProQuest) (1851-2017)
Complete text and images of the New York Times.
See also:
- New York Times (ProQuest) (1980+)
ProQuest Congressional (1789+)
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access to vast and varied information published by and about Congress, including full text of almost all Committee Reports from 1990 forward and Congressional testimony from 1988 forward.
formerly called "LexisNexis Congressional"
Contents include:
- Legislative Histories, 1969+
- Bills & Laws, 1987+
- Committee Prints & Misc. Publications, 1789+
- Congressional Record & Predecessors, 1789+
- CRS Reports, 1916+
- Hearings, 1824+
- House & Senate Documents, 1789+
- House & Senate Reports, 1789+
- Executive Branch Documents, 1789-1939
ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global (1637+)
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"Each dissertation published since July, 1980 includes a 350-word abstract written by the author. Master's theses published since 1988 include 150-word abstracts. Simple bibliographic citations are available for dissertations dating from 1637. Where available, PQDTGlobal provides 24-page previews of dissertations and theses."
For abstracts from 1938-1980 see the print volumes of Dissertation Abstracts International
"ProQuest Dissertations and Theses: Global (PQDTGlobal) is the world's most comprehensive collection of full-text dissertations and theses. As the official digital dissertations archive for the Library of Congress and as the database of record for graduate research, PQDTGlobal includes millions of searchable citations to dissertations and theses from 1861 to the present day together with over a million full-text dissertations that are available for download in PDF format. Over 2.1 million titles are available for purchase as printed copies. The database offers full text for most of the dissertations added since 1997 and strong retrospective full-text coverage for older graduate works. It also includes PQDT UK & Ireland content."
Women Writers Project (Northeastern University) (1500-1800)
Full text of Pre-Victorian early modern women's writing. Currently has the electronic full text of over 200 texts from 1526 through 1850, a subset of which is Renaissance writers. The database will continue to grow in the coming years.
WorldCat (FirstSearch)
Catalog of library collections from the U.S. and around the world. The world's most comprehensive bibliography, with millions of records for books, periodicals, and other materials in 370 languages and covering information from 4,000 years of knowledge. Includes RLIN catalogs and the Union List of Periodicals.