OLD BRIDGE – The Old Bridge Public Library will now offer patrons additional genealogical research tools with free access to Heritage Quest.
The online site contains ancestral and historical sources for more than 60 countries, with coverage dating to the 1700s. It offers birth, baptism, marriage, death and Census records from more than one billion names from the U.S., Canada, Europe, Mexico, Central and South America, the Caribbean, Africa and Asia, according to information provided by the library.
Cemetery and military records going back to the U.S. Revolutionary War are also available.
Users may access immigration and naturalization records from the U.S., Belgium, Brazil, Germany, Dominican Republic and Indonesia.
One of Heritage Quest’s unique features is the Map and Photo Collection which contains more than seven million names and 600,000 images from the Library of Congress Photo Collection dating from 1840-2000.
Heritage Quest will serve as a supplement to the Library’s Ancestry.com resource, which is utilized frequently at the Library since becoming available to patrons in June 2015.
Using Ancestry.com, patrons can research their family history, create family trees and view and post photographs by visiting the library’s central or Laurence Harbor branches and accessing the site on the public computers, according to the statement. Heritage Quest is able to be accessed remotely by logging onto the library website, www.oldbridgelibrary.org, and clicking on the link. Users will then be instructed to enter their library card number.
“We believe Heritage Quest will be a valuable addition to genealogical resources for the community,” Library Director Nancy Cohen said in the statement. “Patrons will be able to easily and conveniently explore this site remotely on their personal computer or mobile device and gain a more comprehensive understanding of their ancestry.”
The main branch is open seven days a week and is located at 1 Old Bridge Plaza at the corner of Route 516 and Cottrell Road in the Municipal Center. For more information, call 732-721-5600, ext. 5033.
The satellite Laurence Harbor branch is located at 277 Shoreland Circle. For more information, call 732-566-2227.
