Bill and others, I retired and thought I could perhaps take day trips (once per week?) around central NY to visit all the small towns where ancestors likely lived. Then I started babysitting my toddler granddaughter, so that project will take a back seat for a couple years. I have only made one day trip researching with a friend in almost a year. I do appreciate what is on line and online materials have helped me significantly. However, online material DOES NOT replace going to the actual towns and historical societies. Many of them have files of correspondence, cemetery lists, old town histories, etc. Some even have notes in them that other researchers have left adding to what is published in the book. Even whole books used online do not replace holding a book in one's hand and leafing through it. One sees so much more looking through materials and pondering what one sees, than jumping to a name from a search engine. There is an added dimension to the research trips when one can walk in the cemetery or go to where the family farm was located and actually "feel" the presence of those that you search. Margaret Scheffler