Search tips for using PERSI in Heritage Quest

1. Searching PERSI in Heritage Quest
What is PERSI (Periodical Source Index)?
PERSI is an index of all the genealogical newsletters and magazines held by the Allen County
Public Library in Fort Wayne Indiana. It is estimated that ACPL owns 80% of all national
genealogical periodicals published in the United States.
What Kind of Information Might I Find in Genealogical Society Periodicals?
• Transcribed or Abstracted Records • Marriage and Obituary Abstracts
• Indexes to Vital Records • Transcribed Directories
• Indexes to Historical Books • Abstracted Diaries
• Census Indexes • Biographical Sketches
• Genealogical Queries • Naturalization Lists
• Family Histories • Transcribed Bible Records
• Pedigree Charts • Transcribed Probate Court Records
• Graduation Lists • Scrapbook Transcriptions
How is PERSI Searchable?
By SURNAME
By Country
By State
By County
By Locale
By Subject (Record Type)
By Article Title (Keyword Search)
By Periodical Title
What Will I Find in PERSI?
Article Titles
Name of Publication
Date of Publication
Issue and Volume Numbers
Publisher
Where Available
What Won’t I Find in PERSI?
• Full Text Articles – PERSI gives citations only. To read the article, visit a holding
library or request the article through Interlibrary Loan.
• Abstracts or Summaries – Beyond the title and indexing there is no further description
about the contents of the article.
• In-Depth Indexing – Indexing does not include every place or name mentioned in an
article.

2. People Searches in PERSI
Use this search to look for articles about a family. This search function will have limited use,
though, because unless your family is the main focus of the article, their names won’t be
indexed. Remember, PERSI does not have an everyname index to genealogy periodicals. If
your ancestor was simply in an article listing individuals buried in a certain cemetery, for
example, their name is not going to show up in the index.
* Place Searches in PERSI
Genealogists will find this the most useful search in PERSI. Use a place search to locate
genealogical records covering a town, county, state, or country. Limit your search by record
type for best results. For example, you can search to see if Vital Records were ever published in
a periodical covering McHenry County. Once you have the citation for this article, you can
request the article via Interlibrary Loan to see if your ancestor is mentioned.
“How To” Searches in PERSI
Find an article citation about how to research a certain topic.
Periodical Search in PERSI
• Browse Periodical Citations by Year and Issue
• View All Articles From a Periodical by Date
• Locate a Periodical’s Publisher and Subscribing Institutions
*Note: The list of subscribing institutions provided in Periodical Search is only a small selection
of libraries. For a more complete listing of library holdings, see www.worldcat.org.