Nebraska Archives and Libraries

The archives, libraries, and societies listed below have major collections or services helpful to genealogical researchers.

Nebraska State Historical Society Department of Reference Services 1500 "R" Street Lincoln, NE 68501 Telephone: 402-471-3270 Fax: 402-471-3100 Internet:http://www.nebraskahistory.org

Mailing Address: P.O. Box 82554 Lincoln, NE 68501

The Department of Reference Services includes two divisions of particular interest to genealogists—the Library Division and the State Archives. The Library Division houses printed materials, whereas the State Archives maintains Nebraska government records, newspapers, and other historical documents.

The state of Nebraska is actively microfilming records. Most of the state and many of the county records described in this outline are available on microfilm at the Nebraska State Historical Society. They cannot be borrowed by interlibrary loan, but most are available for purchase.

A useful guide to records at the State Archives is A Guide to the Manuscript Division of the State Archives, Nebraska State Historical Society(Lincoln: Nebraska State Historical Society, 1974; Family History Library book 978.2 A3n No. 5; includes a 1983 supplement).

The Nebraska State Historical Society has also published a series of helpful leaflets describing genealogical sources in Nebraska. You can write to the society for copies.

National Archives—Central Plains Region (Kansas City) 2312 East Bannister Road Kansas City, MO 64131 Telephone: 816-268-8000 E-mail Address: [mailto:kansascity.archives@nara.gov kansascity.archives@nara.gov] Internet site

Nebraska State Genealogical Society P.O. Box 5608 Lincoln, NE 68505 E-mail Address: [mailto:fitzfp@aol.com fitzfp@aol.com] Internet site

Nebraska Libraries
The Nebraska Library Commission provides a comprehensive list of websites for the libraries within Nebraska :

American Historical Society of Germans from Russia 631 "D" Street Lincoln, NE 68502-1199 Telephone: 402-474-3363 Fax: 402-474-7229 E-mail Address: [mailto:ahsgr@ahsgr.org ahsgr@ahsgr.org] Internet site

To learn more about the history and record-keeping systems of Nebraska counties, use the seven inventories of county archives published by the Historical Records Survey around 1940. The Family History Library has copies of these.

Computer Networks and Bulletin Boards
Computers with modems can be useful tools for obtaining information from selected archives and libraries. In a way, computer networks themselves serve as a library. The Internet, certain computer bulletin boards, and commercial on-line services help family history researchers:


 * Locate other researchers
 * Post queries
 * Send and receive e-mail
 * Search large databases
 * Search computer libraries
 * Join in computer chat and lecture sessions

You can find computerized research tips and information about ancestors from Nebraska in a variety of sources at local, state, national, and international levels. The list of sources is growing rapidly. Most of the information is available at no cost. You can use Internet search engines to help locate information.

Addresses on the Internet change frequently. As of March 2007, the following sites are important gateways linking you to many more network and bulletin board sites:

USGenWeb
This site is a cooperative effort by many volunteers to list genealogical databases, libraries, bulletin boards, and other resources available on the Internet for each county, state, and country.

RootsWeb
RootsWeb is a useful list of sites and resources. Includes a large, regularly updated research coordination list.

For further details about using computer networks, bulletin boards, and news groups for family history research, see the United States Research Outline, 2nd ed., "Archives and Libraries" section.

FamilySearch™
The Family History Library and family history centers have access to FamilySearch on the Internet. This is a good place to begin your research.