NEWSPAPER RESEARCH by Homer Thiel, Tucson, Arizona [email protected] Newspaper research is an often underutilized part of family history research. Many researchers limit their newspaper research to locating obituaries or perhaps announcements of marriages or anniversaries. This is often the case because newspapers can be difficult to locate, may not be available on microfilm or through interlibrary loan, and are usually not indexed or are incompletely indexed. Many researchers forego newspaper research because they don't have the time to read through hundreds of pages of text to find the occasional mention or story about their family. I have a strong belief that it is important to help make such virtually inaccessible records available for research. To do my part, I have been transcribing local news from a Traverse City, Michigan newspaper, the GRAND TRAVERSE HERALD, and placing the transcriptions online on my free RootsWeb site over the last few years. http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~jayhomer/Records.htm There are many important stories lost in the pages of newspapers: discussions of everyday life, notes about family visits, and descriptions of local social events. Together, these add life to family history. I encourage others to think about completing similar transcriptions. Even transcribing a few issues and posting them on RootsWeb will help researchers now and in the future to explore their past. -- Chrystie MYERS - ROOTSWEB.COM List Administrator - [email protected] BROOKOVER, COWGER, KRABAL, MOYERS, MYRES, SWECKER