National Genealogical Society

Publications and Videos

NGS Current Publications

Current publications focus on topics of general interest to family historians—from how to start a family search quest, to finding and understanding evidence, to writing a family history. Some of the newer NGS publications are available as downloadable PDF electronic books in addition to traditional print form.

How-to Guides

Old favorites on timeless topics are revised and updated regularly to reflect current standards and new resources, keeping in print valuable guidebooks for researchers.

Numbering Your Genealogy

Numbering Your Genealogy: Basic Systems, Complex Families, and International Kin, by Curran, Coen, and Wray, was updated in 2008 by editor Elizabeth Shown Mills and republished. Order Numbering Your Genealogy from the NGS online store.

To learn how to research in a particular state, see the NGS Research in the States series.


Creating a Winning Family History

Whether you’re writing for your family, for posterity or to enter the NGS Family History Writing Contest, you want your family history to receive the attention and accolades your work deserves. Creating a Winning Family History helps you meet that goal by providing guidance and suggested resources.




NGSQ Reprints

Some theme issues of the National Genealogical Society Quarterly are so popular that NGS makes reprints available for sale as current publications. Examples are:

NGSQ: Genealogy and Genetics
NGSQ: Your Family Health History
NGSQ: Law and Genealogy
NGSQ: Reassembling Female Lives
NGSQ: Perspectives on the Family Bible
NGSQ: NGS Centennial, Special Edition (2003)

Limited numbers of some back issues of the National Genealogical Society Quarterly are also available for purchase.  To order any of the above special issues or other back issues, check the NGS online store. Don't forget—NGS members receive a discount on purchases.

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If the NGS online store doesn't carry an item, why not shop Amazon.com? You'll find what you want, and NGS will receive a small share of the sale.