Tuesday Tip: Let Your Fingers Help the Brain in Searching Newspapers

For a number of years, a great group of volunteers had been indexing the deaths and marriages from the old Pittsburgh newspapers.  The extra added treat was links to the newspaper itself.

Just this week, someone had stumbled across our index and then said they couldn't search google for the old newspapers.  Had they gone to main site where we linked the newspapers to the dates the notices were published, they could have used their fingers to navigate around and find the information they were searching.  In fact, another kind soul, ok, he's a cousin of mine, easily found the link to the newspaper and sent it on to the seeker of the past.

Here is an example:

Search for the name of your dearly beloved
Click "Quick Links to Newspapers in these indexes"

Click on Submitted Dates

Find your newspaper and date
Click and spend a few minutes reading the past

Another recent incident occurred when a different person just couldn't figure out why the great grandparents weren't listed in a particular listing of deaths.  And then, the seeker noted the great grandparents died before the listing started.  Another case of smacking the hand against the head in an effort to engage the brain to understand what it sees.

Tip:  Slow down.  Read.  Comprehend.  It may make your task easier.

Ahh, genealogy.  Another day in the life of the original Tired FinFan Club.



Sources:
http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~paallent/
http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~paallent/page5/page5.html
http://www.usgwarchives.net/pa/allegheny/death-index.htm