Review: Legacy QuickGuide on Using Historical Newspapers for Genealogy Research

Legacy Family Tree has commissioned a series of four-page booklets on various aspects of genealogical research.  Each laminated guide contains four pages of valuable information covering a variety of genealogy research topics. Legacy QuickGuides are written by genealogists and family historians who are experts in the subject areas.  These QuickGuides are oriented towards the online researcher - there are several pages of website links on selected subjects for the specific topic covered by the QuickGuide.

You can see the list of available Legacy QuickGuides at http://www.legacyfamilytreestore.com/SearchResults.asp?Cat=71.  They are available as laminated four-page folders ($7.95 each) or as downloadable PDF files ($2.95 each).

The Using Historical Newspapers for Genealogy Research was written by Julie Tarr. 

The Introduction to this QuickGuide says:

"Newspapers can be a goldmine for genealogists. Serving as the gateway to the past, historical newspapers help genealogists learn about the events and perceptions that affected a community. The Using Historical Newspapers for Genealogy Research Legacy QuickGuide™ contains useful information designed as an introduction to the wealth of information to be found in historical newspapers and how to overcome the challenges associated with newspaper research. This handy 4-page PDF guide can be used on your computer or mobile device for anytime access.

The subjects covered in the Using Historical Newspapers for Genealogy Research  includes (4 pages):

*  Overview - resources where you may find published newspapers
*  Best Uses  - what you may find in historic newspapers

*  Locating Newspapers - finding out what newspapers were published in a place and time
*  Searching Microfilm - guidelines for searching microfilms of newspapers

*  Searching Digital Images - guidelines for dealing with Optical Character Resolution and search engines
*  Source Citations - examples of source citations for newspaper articles in different media

*  Toolkit - links to online collections of digitized newspapers
*  Further Reading - a list of print books about newspaper resources

For the Toolkit subject, the items listed are website titles with links to the websites.  In some cases, there are shortened URLs for websites with long eddresses.

This Legacy QuickGuide is very useful for beginners and seasoned researchers alike.  The Toolkit list of online resources is especially helpful.  The other subject areas provide information for all researchers. I am sure that I will use this QuickGuide to help me find newspaper records of my ancestors.

The laminated version of this QuickGuide is very handy for researchers going to repositories or society meetings - it is light and easy to carry in a briefcase or computer case.  I much prefer the PDF version because I can save it to my computer (and laptop, tablet, and smart phone using Dropbox or another cloud service) and have it available in digital format for instantaneous usage by clicking the links provided rather than typing the links into my web browser. 

Order you copy of the Using Historical Newspapers for Genealogy Research QuickGuide (PDF only) at the Legacy Family Tree Store.

Disclosure:  I was provided a complimentary copy of the PDF version of this Legacy QuickGuide on the condition that I provide a timely review of each QuickGuide provided.  Look for more in the near future!

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Copyright (c) 2013, Randall J. Seaver