Databases @ Libraries

Databases useful for doing genealogy and local history, and libraries that own them:

A to Z Databases

  • Cary

  • Cook Memorial

  • Mount Prospect

  • St. Charles

Access World News (Newsbank)

Use this archive to view, save and print articles dating from 1759 to 1977 from smaller newspapers across the country. Use the Advanced Search to see if a newspaper from a specific city is included.

  • Cook Memorial

  • Ela Area

  • Schaumburg Township

Algonquin Area Obituaries Index

  • Algonquin

American Ancestors (in library use only) Formerly New England Ancestors)

Hundreds of searchable databases including vital records, cemetery transcriptions, marriage and death indexes, family histories and more.

  • Cook Memorial

  • Schaumburg Township

  • Wheaton

America's Newspapers (Chicagoland Edition)

  • Arlington Heights

  • Ela Area

America's Obituaries & Death Notices (Newsbank)

(A collection of newspaper obituaries and death notices from newspapers across the country)

  • Arlington Heights

  • Barrington

  • Batavia

  • Glenview

  • Indian Trails

  • Palatine

  • Schaumburg Township

  • Wheaton

Ancestry Library Edition:

  • Algonquin

  • Antioch

  • Arlington Heights

  • Barrington

  • Batavia

  • Belvidere

  • Cary

  • Chicago

  • Cook Memorial

  • Crystal Lake

  • Des Plaines

  • Downers Grove

  • Ela Area

  • Glenview

  • Highland Park

  • Huntley

  • Indian Trails

  • Joliet

  • Morton Grove

  • Mt. Prospect

  • Niles

  • Oak Lawn

  • Palatine

  • Poplar Creek

  • Schaumburg Township

  • St. Charles

  • Town and Country Library (Elburn)

  • Wauconda

  • Wheaton

  • Wilmette

  • Zion Benton

Aurora Beacon (microfilm - 1848-1901, 1902-1916, 1916-1917)

    • Batavia


ArchivDigital (Swedish Genealogy Records

  • Cook Memorial


Batavia Chronicle (1976-1990 - microfilm)

    • Batavia


Batavia Herald (1893-1976 - microfilm)

    • Batavia


Batavia Republican (June 14, 1990-March 9, 1995 - microfilm)

    • Batavia


Biography In Context

  • Arlington Heights

  • Chicago

  • Cook Memorial

  • Downers Grove

  • Ela Area

  • Palatine


Biography Resource Center:

  • Algonquin

  • Glenview


Biography Virtual Reference Library

  • Ela Area


Black Life in America

  • Huntley

Chicago Area Newspapers:

  • Algonquin

  • St. Charles


Chicago Community Coverage (Newsbank)

  • Wheaton

Chicago Tribune Current

Covers 1985-Present

    • Barrington

    • Chicago

    • Cook Memorial

    • Des Plaines

    • Downers Grove

    • Ela Area

    • Glenview

    • Mt. Prospect

    • Oak Lawn

    • Palatine

    • Poplar Creek

    • Schaumburg Township

    • St. Charles

    • Wilmette


Chicago Tribune Historical (Proquest)

Covers 1849-1991

  • Arlington Heights

  • Barrington

  • Cook Memorial

  • Batavia

  • Des Plaines

  • Downers Grove

  • Ela Area

  • Glenview

  • Highland Park

  • Indian Trails

  • Mt. Prospect

  • Niles

  • Palatine

  • Schaumburg Township

  • St. Charles

  • Wheaton

  • Wilmette

Chicago Tribune Historical Archive:(Newsbank)

  • Algonquin

  • Chicago

  • Cook Memorial

  • Des Plaines

  • Morton Grove

  • Oak Lawn

  • Schaumburg Township

Chicago Tribune On Digital Microfilm (Proquest)

  • Des Plaines


Chicagoland News Source (Newsbank)

    • Indian Trails


Daily Herald (1995-present)

    • Barrington

    • Cook Memorial

    • Des Plaines

    • Ela Area

    • Glenview

    • Palatine


Daily Herald Digital Archive (1901-2013)

    • Mount Prospect

    • Wauconda


Downers Grove Obituary Index

  • Downers Grove


Downers Grove Reporter 1895 – 1922 Digitized

  • Downers Grove


Downers Grove Reporter 1895 – 2018 Microfilm

  • Downers Grove


Find My Past

    • Arlington Heights

    • Town and Country Library (Elburn)

    • Wilmette


Fold 3

Valuable and unique content that consists of more than 60 million pages of historical documents and personal histories; includes millions of records available from the National Archives and other institutions. These digital images of records represent a growing collection of historic documents.

  • Arlington Heights

  • Barrington

  • Cary

  • Cook Memorial

  • Ela Area

  • Glenview

  • Huntley

  • Mt. Prospect

  • Palatine

  • Schaumburg Township

  • St. Charles


Genealogy Bank

  • Indian Trails

  • Schaumburg

  • St. Charles

  • Town and Country Library (Elburn)


Glenview Obituary Index

  • Glenview


Hanover Township

  • Hanover Township Treasurer & Schools, 1850-March 1978. Microfilm only

  • Hanover Township Town Records, 1850-1978. Microfilm only


Heritage Hub

  • Huntley

  • Mount Prospect


Heritage Quest Online

  • Algonquin

  • Antioch

  • Barrington

  • Arlington Heights

  • Barrington

  • Batavia

  • Belvidere

  • Cary

  • Chicago

  • Crystal Lake

  • Deerfield

  • Des Plaines

  • Downers Grove

  • Ela Area

  • Glenview

  • Highland Park

  • Huntley

  • Indian Trails

  • Joliet

  • Mt. Prospect

  • Morton Grove

  • Mount Prospect

  • Niles

  • Oak Lawn

  • Palatine

  • Poplar Creek

  • Schaumburg Township

  • St. Charles

  • Town and Country Library (Elburn)

  • Wauconda

  • Wheaton

  • Wilmette

  • Zion Benton


Historic Elburn Newspapers

    • Town and Country Library (Elburn)


Historic Map Works

    • St. Charles

    • Town and Country Library (Elburn)

Illinois Public Records

  • Antioch

  • Barrington

  • Chicago

  • Cook Memorial

  • Downers Grove

  • Morton Grove

  • Palatine

  • Schaumburg Township

  • St. Charles

  • Wauconda


Kane County Chronicle

    • Batavia (1990- present)

    • St. Charles (1990-present)

    • Town and Country Library (Elburn)


Lake Zurich Courier (1995-current)


  • Ela Area



Libertyville Newspapers (Link to VITA Page)


  • Cook Memorial


Milestone Documents in American History

Primary source documents pertaining to the history of the United States


MyHeritage Library Edition

    • Des Plaines

    • Downers Grove

    • St. Charles


New York Times (June 1, 1980 - Present)

  • Downers Grove

  • Cook Memorial

  • Ela Area

  • Palatine

*New York Times Historical Archive

The complete paper--cover-to-cover--from its first issue in 1851 to 2002.

  • Barrington

  • Cook Memorial

  • Des Plaines

  • Highland Park

  • Schaumburg Township

  • St. Charles

  • Wilmette

New York Times On Digital Microfilm (Proquest)

  • Arlington Heights

  • Des Plaines

Newsbank: America's Newspapers

  • Arlington Heights

  • Barrington

  • Glenview

  • Deerfield

  • St. Charles


Newspaper Archive

    • Mt. Prospect

    • Palatine

    • Schaumburg

    • Wheaton


Newspapers.com

    • Belvidere

    • Ela Area

    • Glenview

    • Huntley

    • McHenry

    • Mount Prospect

    • Palatine

    • Wauconda

    • Wilmette


Newsstand (Proquest)

    • Des Plaines

    • Indian Trails


Oak Lawn newspaper index

    • Oak Lawn


Obituaries (Proquest)

    • Des Plaines

OCLC FirstSearch

  • Algonquin

  • Barrington

  • Batavia

  • Cary

  • Downers Grove

  • Glenview

  • Indian Trails

  • Wauconda


Reference Solutions (formerly ReferenceUSA, Now Data Axle)

  • Algonquin

  • Barrington

  • Batavia

  • Chicago

  • Glenview

  • Deerfield

  • Des Plaines

  • Downers Grove

  • Ela Area

  • Highland Park

  • Indian Trails

  • Morton Grove

  • Niles

  • Palatine

  • Schaumburg Township

  • Wauconda

  • Wheaton

  • Wilmette

Sanborn Maps of Illinois

Large scale plans of a city or town drawn to the scale of 50 feet to an inch. Search the archive of maps from 1867-1970.

  • Chicago

  • Cook Memorial

  • Wheaton


St. Charles Chronicle/Kane County Chronicle (1842-1993)

  • St. Charles (Called Local History Newspapers on their website)


US Newsstream

  • Glenview

Who's Who

  • Arlington Heights

  • Wilmette


Wilmette Beacon (2011-ongoing)

    • Wilmette (In house use only)


Wilmette Life (2008-ongoing)

    • Wilmette (In house use only)


Wilmette Local History records (local papers and indexed obituaries)

    • Wilmette


World Cat Discovery

  • Cary

  • Downers Grove

  • Mount Prospect

  • Wilmette