by Shannon Combs-Bennett, student

 

I think one of the most overlooked sources for genealogy research are newspapers.  Where else can you find information on current and historical events, your ancestors, and history all in one place?  Even before I started researching my family history I admit that newspapers were a bit of a fascination for me.  Old newspapers are intriguing, and hold so many stories just waiting to be uncovered.

When I learned that one of the required classes for an American Records certificate from The National Institute for Genealogical Studies  was a course on  newspaper research I was very excited.  I really, really hoped when I saw that I would learn some cool new tips about newspapers.  From my experience, and you probably have read this before in my past blog posts, I just knew that there was more to learn.

By looking at the syllabus for the US: Newspaper Records course you can see that a lot of different aspects of newspaper research are covered.  Particular importance is paid to learning how to dissect information out of stories as well as module after module on what information can be ferreted out of said articles.

I am looking forward to learning more about the information I will find in newspapers.  However, I know that I can always brush up on my search technique which means Module 6 will most likely end up being the one I find the most helpful.

On that note, off I go to learn about newspaper research.  See you online!