Ships play a critical role in genealogical research—not only as a means by which our ancestors emigrated, but also as places where they worked, served, played, or traveled. Researching vessels can lead to meaningful insights into our ancestors’ lives: learning the history of a naval ship on which an ancestor served—even if the ancestor is not mentioned by name—can reveal important details about their experiences.
Ship research can be challenging, however, especially when many vessels share the same name. Peter McCracken, who holds an MA in Maritime History and an MS in Library Science, will demonstrate a variety of methods for finding information about ships, from his ShipIndex.org website to historical newspaper databases and beyond. He will also show how to locate books and journal articles about ships (or any subject), even when you don’t have access to large subscription databases.
This is a free online webinar, but registration is required.
About the Presenter
Peter McCracken is co-founder of ShipIndex.org, which he started with his brother in 2009. Since 2016, he has been an e-resources librarian at Cornell University; since September 2025 he has served as Interim Director of Acquisitions and E-Resources Licensing. Peter earned a BA from Oberlin College, an MS in Library Science from the University of North Carolina, and an MA in Maritime History from East Carolina University. He worked as a reference librarian before starting a groundbreaking library services company called Serials Solutions in 2000, which was acquired by ProQuest in 2004. He has published multiple scholarly articles in librarianship and wrote a quarterly column about maritime history research online in Sea History magazine for 12 years.