Searching the NYG&B Record

Continually published since 1870, the New York Genealogical and Biographical Record is the second oldest genealogical journal in the country and one of the most distinguished.  The entire run of The Record comprises more than 575 issues and forms the largest single collection of published material on families that lived in New York State.  Access to the digital version of The Record is available exclusively to NYG&B members. 

 

Many Ways to Search The Record

The Record is searchable by the following methods, which are often best used in tandem:

 

Worden’s Index to Family and Given Names

Mrs. Jean D. Worden painstakingly indexed over one million names that appeared in The Record between 1870 and 1998, providing an invaluable research tool that has been appreciated by genealogical scholars everywhere.   This index is updated every year after the fall release of the annual index by volunteers and interns and forms the basis of a Search Engine that will simultaneously search every issue of The Record since 1870.  

Advantages: The Worden’s search engine is particularly useful when searching for a name that is also a common word, such as Brown or Farmer.  The search results will provide the volume and page numbers wherever the name appears. Once you have completed your search in Worden's Index, note your results and go to the searchable collection page for The NYG&B Record in the eLibrary.

Please note: Mrs. Worden did not index such material as library accession lists, book reviews, society proceedings, and genealogical exchange (queries), which are covered in the volume indexes.  Nor did she index the names of witnesses to baptisms and marriages, which appear in the transcripts of church records. Therefore, the thorough researcher may want to use Advanced Search to identify any additional occurrences of a name.

Search Worden’s Index

 

Use the Search tools in the eLibrary

Each search page in the eLibrary is tailored to function in the collection it serves. Some collections may be searchable by geographic location or by date, others may not.

The search functions for The NYG&B Record have been specifically tailored for the journal. Users may search by keyword in the full text search, by publication year, by article title, and by volume, issue, and page number. Users are warned to not use the "Who" or "Name" search.

That search may not always locate names within lines of text or a paragraph, and is therefore unsuited to searching a journal like The NYG&B Record.

Please use the full text search for all keyword searching, even for names. Please ensure that you have properly selected your search terms. If, at the end of the search entry box, there appears the word "Browse", you will have to select your search term, either by opening the browse pop-up menu of terms, or by typing in your term and selecting it when it appears in blue below where you have typed.

You will know it has been selected properly when it appears in a bubble below the search entry box. This step is unnecessary for any search function that does not have "Browse" after it, such as page number, or keyword.

Search The Record

 

Indexes to The Record

An Annual Index to names in each volume of The Record has been released every October since 1870. The first 25 volumes were indexed only by surname, but from volume 26 on the indexes include every name. If you want to search the annual index for a particular volume, you can use Advanced Search to go to the volume and the select the issue.

In addition to the annual index, the NYG&B has published several specialized indexes to The Record through the years. While the following indexes vary in terms of their scope, they can be a source of useful information to the researcher trying to mine the rich body of information contained in The Record.

 

Worden's Subject Index 1870-1982

Published by Mrs. Jean D. Worden in 1983, this book is a subject index to articles that appeared in The Record from 1870-1982.  While it includes many index references to individuals, it is not meant to be a full name index.

Strengths: Index to articles by subject.  Includes a list of surnames which notes additions and corrections to articles.

Period covered: 1870-1982 (For subsequent years, see Harry Macy’s Subject Index, which follows.)

 

Macy's Subject Index (1983-2018)

This index is a continuation of Mrs. Jean D. Worden’s Master Index 1870-1982, compiled by Harry Macy Jr., FASG, FGBS. It consists of three parts: compiled genealogies and family records, indexed by principal surnames; source records and collective genealogies, indexed by location; and other articles, indexed by subject. 

Strengths: Index to articles by subject and location. Includes a list of surnames which notes additions and corrections to articles.

Period covered: 1983-2016. This index will be updated annually following the release of the Annual Index to The Record in October. (For previous years, see Mrs. Jean D. Worden’s Subject Index above.)

 

Index to Articles in The Record by Title

Covering articles published through 2001, this index provides a browsable and searchable list of titles of articles that have appeared in The Record from 1870-2015.

Strengths: A complete listing of articles sorted by the first word of the title; Additions and corrections are listed alongside the original article titles. Search tip: search for a family name or a place name by pressing Ctrl+F (or Cmd+F on Mac)

Period covered: 1870-2015.  

 

Index to Articles in The Record by Author

Covering articles published through 2001, this index provides a browsable and searchable list of names of article authors that have appeared in The Record from 1870-2015.

Strengths: A complete listing of articles sorted by the author's surname.; Additions and corrections are listed alongside the original article titles. Search tip: search for a family name or a place name by pressing Ctrl+F (or Cmd+F on Mac)

Period covered: 1870-2015.  

 

Standard Source Abbreviations

If you are reading an article published in The New York Genealogical and Biographical Record between 1933 and 1996, you will find that sources are cited in the text, and the citations use a standard set of abbreviations or acronyms for major New York sources.  Beginning in 1996, sources for Record articles are cited in footnotes.