Time to Try It, Illinois!

Our genealogists always look forward to fall, and not just because October is Family History Month. No, October and November are all about “Try-It! Illinois,” an opportunity to try out all kinds of databases that our library doesn’t subscribe to. Thanks to the Illinois State Library, you temporarily have free access to hundreds of subscription databases above and beyond the ones available to Cook Memorial card holders. Try-It! Illinois extends only until the the end of November, 2018. Genealogists will love digging into the newspaper and map databases, as well as the many other databases that are genealogy and history related.

Databases on a wide range of subjects, provided by major vendors including ProQuest, Ebsco and Gale-Cengage are available to anyone who has the secret login and password. They’re not really secret, but we aren’t allowed to publish them online. To find out what they are, just stop by one of our locations or call (847-362-2330) and ask for the Adult Reference Desk.

If your exploration leads you to a database you would like us to subscribe to in the future, let us know and we’ll be sure to consider it.