Kick-off your fall research season with the Try-It! Illinois Database Trial! If you’re an Illinois resident with internet access, you are eligible to access the immense amount of information available during this year’s trial. Thanks to the generous sponsorship of the Secretary of State and State Librarian Jesse White and the Illinois State Library, Try-It! Illinois offers librarians and patrons an opportunity to survey a wide variety of eResources. This free trial is available until Monday, November 30.
The login and password can be requested on the main page, or you can pick it up from our 3rd Floor Service Desk.
Due to the user agreement with the State of Illinois, electronic copies of the username and login cannot be posted online or shared electronically through email or social media. Please do not share the username and password with non-Illinois residents. This violates the user agreements between the State of Illinois Library and the individual database vendors.
You can search for databases by product name or under the genealogy subject heading.
Genealogy database highlights
These databases work (as of 10/1):
- African American Newspapers: The 19th Century
- America and World War I: American Military Camp Newspapers
- American County Histories
- Ancestry Library Edition
- Digital Sanborn Maps
- Ethnic NewsWatch NEW
- FOLD3 Library Edition
- Historical Chicago Defender (1909–1975)
- Historical Chicago Tribune (1849–1996)
- Historical New York Times (1851–2016)
- Historical Newspapers: Iowa Collection NEW
- Historical Newspapers: New York Times with Index
- Historical Newspapers: North Central Regional Collection
- Historical Newspapers: St. Louis Post Dispatch
- Historical Newspapers: U.S. Midwest Collection
- Historical Newspapers: Washington Post
- History Vault Struggle for Women’s Rights NEW
- National Anti-Slavery Standard
- Newspapers.com Library Edition (Proquest lists this as Newspapers.com World Collection) NEW
- Pennsylvania Gazette
- Pennsylvania Genealogical Catalogue
- Pennsylvania Newspaper Record
- South Carolina Newspapers
- Virginia Gazette
- Vogue Archive
- Women’s Magazine Archive
- Women’s Suffrage Collection
Check out our genealogy eResources
These databases do NOT work (as of 10/2):
- America’s GenealogyBank
- America’s Historical Newspapers
- America’s Obituaries & Death Notices
- American Indian Newspapers
- MyHeritage Library Edition
Accessing a Database
Each database has a separate login area. It might take some time to log on, but the information on the site is well worth the effort. Let’s try to log on to Newspapers.com Library Edition. First, scroll down the product page and click Newspapers.com Library Edition. You will be transferred to an information page.
When clicking the link, a new window will be added to your web browser. For Newspapers.com, you do not need to enter a username or password. Follow the “I am not a robot” verification step, scroll down the page and left-click on the database you want to use.
A new window will be added to your web browser. You will arrive on the Newspapers.com Library Edition page and can begin using the website.
While you are trying out this year’s list of databases, please send us your feedback and recommendations periodically throughout the trial period. We always appreciate reading your submissions and seeing what databases you would like us to add to our collection.
Need help navigating Try-It! Illinois? Set up a one-on-one appointment via Zoom! We can walk you through how to use the website and offer some suggestions to help with your research. Call 630.685.4201 to schedule an appointment!
See you at the library!