Old School

In the rush to find records online, you might sometimes neglect one old school research method that will help you build your family tree: using your resource-full public library.  If, like me, you’re old enough to remember microfiche and microfilm, you’re perhaps wondering whether your local library still has that kind of thing.  Chances are they do, but why not take a walk to your nearest branch and find out?  Or check out their website for details of their family and local history resources.

And while we’re on the subject, public libraries may also hold newspaper archives, gravestone inscriptions compiled by your local heritage society, census indexes and other publications specifically for your county or region – sources that you won’t find anywhere else.  And, of course, there’s always the trusty reference section with its trade directories, atlases, and gazetteers.

Before you grab your library card and dash off: while you’re there, ask the staff about their free digital resources.  Many libraries offer no-cost access to online services, such as Ancestry’s Library Edition, The British Newspaper Archive or the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (its entries cover the obscure and the bad, as well as the great and the good).  Now, what are you hanging about here for?  Get yourself down to the library before it closes!