Open Library and Google Books for Geneaology Research

For many, our brick walls can come tumbling down by using online sources separate from "the usual suspects", i.e. ancestry.com, Family Search, etc. Obscure, hard-to-find, and out-of-print books covering a wide variety of genealogy, history, and specific family histories can be found at online sources. Here are a few that I have found very useful. Perhaps you will, too.

Open Library. Link: www.http://openlibrary.org

Open Library is both an excellent bibliographical resource as well as having numerous books available for free download. It has a database search , so you can find available books specific to your research needs. I have seen several OOP books of family histories, more general books on county, city, and district histories, as well as general and specific titles relating to historical records and to the field of genealogy.

GoogleBooks: Link www.http://books.google.com/

While most books available at google books may not be downloaded, they are available for online reading and most are searchable. Some pages of books, however, may not be available.

If you have success with these sites, please drop a comment here to inspire and encourage others to use these free resources.