Hi Chris & other researhers, You can get a copy of a birth certificate in Albany, NY if your person was born after 1881. The ones they have are indexed by year, then by surname, so it really helps if you know the year of the event. The NY ACHIVES has the yearly indexes on microfiche, which the general public can view at their facility, which is on the top floor (11th) of the Empire Plaza Museum Building in Albany. The index will give you the date of birth, death or marriage and the certificate number. Then you fill out a short form and submitted it to an office in the concourse level of the Empire Plaza. The Certificate Number is the key to getting your certificate in about 2 weeks, without it you could wait 6 months or more and then find out that there is no record. The marriage records work pretty much the same as the death and birth, but there are two entries on the index cards, one for bride and one for groom. It pays to check both names, if known, to make sure the certificate numbers agree before purchasing the certificate. It would be nice if someone would take the time to make a overall surname index of all the records available, but no kind soul has done that yet, that I know of and it would be a large project. Good luck to all you researhers. Dave in PA