Introduction to Heritage Quest

by Jessamyn West, Outreach Librarian

Introduction - Who Am I?




Introduction - Who Are You?




Introduction - What is Heritage Quest?

"HeritageQuest Online is a collection of over 25,000 family and local histories, and content. Founded in 1983, HeritageQuest has been in business for over 20 years and brings a wealth of genealogy data to ProQuest who purchased HeritageQuest in August 2001.

HeritageQuest Online is designed specifically for patrons in public libraries who are either just beginning their family research or who after years of work are still uncovering their past. With over 25,000 books, the entire U.S. Federal Census, and other expanding collections, HeritageQuest Online gives any library the chance to tap in to one of the largest collections of genealogy material in the country."




Introduction - A quick word about PDF files




Starting Out - How do I get to Heritage Quest?

  1. Go to the Rutland Free Library web site at www.rutlandfree.org
  2. Click on the link at the top that says "databases"
  3. Heritage Quest is the top link on the page. You must get to it from this page.
Now let's see what we find there.....



Starting Out - What does Heritage Quest do?

Heritage Quest header image
The intro page to Heritage Quest has three sections. Which is right for you? What do they do?
  1. Search Census - in short, searchable census records from 1790-1930 more or less
  2. Search Books - 7922 family histories, 12035 local histories, 258 primary sources
  3. Search PERSI - the PERiodical Source Index. Free to search, costs $ to access items
Now let's go into more detail....



Search Census - What it Contains

Basic Search

Surname, Given Name, Census Year, State

Advanced Search

All the above, plus County *, Location* Age Sex, Race, Birthplace* [only for 1850 forward and NOT 1890]

* indicates browseable search field



Search Census - What you can search for

some locations, for example

VERMONT INDUSTRIAL SCHOOL
VERMONT SOLDIERS HOME
VERMONT STATE HOSPITAL FOR INS
VERMONT STATE HOSPITAL FOR THE
VERMONT STATE PRISON
VERMONT STATE SCHOOL FOR FEEBL




Search Books - What it contains

* indicates browseable search field, roughly 1000 titles




Search PERSI - What is that?

"The PERiodical Source Index is a comprehensive subject index covering more than 6,500 genealogy and local history periodicals written in English and French"




Advanced Searching - Tips




Advanced Searching - More Tips




More Resources

Thank you for coming! Any questions?