James L. Hansen

James L. Hansen, FASG, has been since 1974 the reference librarian and genealogical specialist at the Library of the Wisconsin Historical Society, where he assists several thousand researchers a year in their genealogical and historical research. He has taught beginning and advanced genealogical research courses over Wisconsin's Educational Telephone Network.

Among his publications are articles on a variety of genealogical topics, a bibliography of territorial Wisconsin newspapers, and a guide to the library in which he works. He is a nationally known speaker, having lectured on genealogical topics around Wisconsin and at numerous conferences (national, state and local) in the United States and Canada. He was the 1994-1995 president of the Association of Professional Genealogists, and in 1995 was named a fellow of the American Society of Genealogists. In 2002 he was awarded the Filby Prize for Genealogical Librarianship at the NGS conference in Milwaukee. He co-wrote the "Newspapers" chapter in The Source: A Guidebook to American Genealogy.