Given the wide variety of genealogical periodicals, and possibility of finding an article about an immigrant almost anywhere (such as a Pennsylvania German immigrant discussed in a Sun City Arizona newsletter), indexes are the only efficient way to access this crucial literature.

The Periodical Source Index (PERSI) is the first place to turn for finding articles in English-language genealogical periodicals. This major reference tool indexes all issues of virtually every genealogical magazine, journal, or newsletter. However, it is not an every-name index. Rather, it indexes the subjects of various articles. It has two primary divisions, both of interest to the researcher. Use the Surname section to search for articles about specific persons, such as your immigrant. Use the Locality section to search for transcripts and abstracts of records for a specific locality, such as naturalization records of Sullivan County, or Freemen of Worcester, Massachusetts.

Once you find a citation, you may find that article at your local research library, or a library near where the periodical was published. Or, contact the Allen County Public Library (Fort Wayne, Indiana) where PERSI is created.

You can access PERSI at major libraries or online at ProQuest or at Ancestry.com. Most Family History Centers have an older edition of PERSI on microfiche. The Monterey California Family History Center has a printed published set of volumes, a microfiche set, and access to Ancestry.com’s index. MPC college has the latest computerized version available through ProQuest-Hertiage Quest using your MPC library card.

There are some limitations to the PERSI index. Your ancestor will most likely not be listed by his/her name. It is best to search these subject topics:

You will need to know the location of the ancestor when a certain event occurred in order to take best advantage of the index, and then use the subject topics listed above.

The actual periodicals are not as yet linked to the index, so you must request copies of the periodical pages from Allen County Public Library unless a copy of that periodical is found in the local Family History Center. Use the form at this link to order the actual copies of the periodical pages

http://www.acpl.lib.in.us/database/graphics/order_form.html

There are hundreds of bound periodicals in the Monterey California Center. There are also thousands of periodicals at the Sutro Library in San Francisco. And there are thousands in the Family History Library in Salt Lake City.

The Allen County Public Library has the back issues of all periodicals indexed in PERSI. You may contact the library for copies of the articles at the following address, but to order copies of specific publications it is easier to use the form cited above.

In June of 2003, ProQuest announced that it had acquired exclusive rights to the PERSI index from the Allen County Public Library in Ft. Wayne, Indiana. “We intend to include the PERSI index in the HeritageQuest Online product (which is sold to libraries on an annual subscription basis) as well as continue to publish the database both online and on CD-ROM to individuals. Ancestry.com has been offering the PERSI index as part of it's consumer web site for the last several years and we are working with the folks at Ancestry.com so that this access may continue.”

To find it at Ancestry.com look under “Reference & Finding Aids” and then under the topic Periodical Source Index.

If looking for Edward Allen, you could put Allen in the Surname field and Edward in the Keyword field. That brought up eleven options. Or, if Edward Allen was in Massachusetts, you could put that in the keyword search, but you would miss other places he might be listed. When it comes up, click on the Periodical Title and it will tell you libraries where the periodical can be found.

Remember, as a subject index, PERSI does not serve the function of an every-name index.