Cheri On Internet, go to NYS LIbrary site. <www.nysl.nysed.gov> On the home page, scroll down just a little and you will see NYS Newspaper Project Click on that Next click on microfilm - you will be given 2 choices 1) newspapers on microfilm AT NYS LIBRARY (some go back to 1725) 2) newspapers on microfilm NOT AT NYS LIBRARY - AROUND NYS To see what is at NYS Library click on#1 To see what is at other places around NYS click on #2 #2 usually shows you local newspapers that are in libraries, historic societies, and other repositories in the local of where the newspaper was circulated BUT many of these are also available in collections at Cornell University Library, New York CITY Public Library, SUNY Binghamton, New York State Historical Society in Cooperstown and other large collections. You should know that many of these microfilms are available from NYS Library and many of these repositories thru inter library loan but they only go to a library. Some will only loan to libraries in NYS while some will send them to college libraries only (which is usually for study projects). This varies so much that it is a one-on-one contact to determine what policy is. You can usually find a website for these places and I have found that by going to GenWebPages for the counties, there are usually links to these repositories and their pages usually have instructions for loan. It is most fascinating to see how many newspapers were really published and have often thought that people over 150 years ago were illiterate but this has changed my thinking on that as these are loaded with articles from around the world, complete literary series which took up whole pages at a time each issue. Certainly people were reading a lot of newspapers. One thing that is very important to keep in mind is that there were many newspapers published by the ethnic groups and that may be the only place that you will find some of these people's obits. SO MANY local newspapers did not carry the obits for some groups unless they were very well known. The German newspapers were circulated to many of your major cities and any place where there was any concentration of German immigrants. This might be true of, say a NY City German publicaton. So someone in midstate NY might show up in a German publication that is not published in that area but circulated. There were a lot more newspaper subscriptions years ago and this is how these groups kept in touch with what was going on in their mother county in Europe. Takes some work, but could give some rewards for your efforts. I am gradually exploring these as I do estate searching for a firm and have had to pull a few of these but that is a project for another time. 2050 maybe. I have just written an article for Heritage Hunters newsletter (Feb-Mar) which is being compiled right now and I have discovered that newspapers from surrounding counties have quite a bit of Saratoga information that most does not appear in the Saratoga Springs and Ballston Spa newspapers. There are columns for towns in eastern Saratoga in Troy and other Rensselaer newspapers as well as Albany and Schenectady (even today). Western Saratoga county will be found in the Amsterdam and the Gloversville-Johnstown area newspapers. These carry all kinds of information about events and happenings in Saratoga County. By joining Heritage Hunters, you receive 5 annual newsletters that are 16 pages and just full of information, most to do with Saratoga. But we also interact with several other genealogical and historical societies and have a calendar which contains their events also. We currently have an index to the Surrogate's files which includes the names, dates and file numbers for all Testate, Intestate and Guardianships. We are up to about the J's right now and do have a few sets of 1999 newsletters left. We have had a series of the history of Saratoga Co. towns going which is complete. Our members and friends contribute to this newsletter and it is one of the best you will find. We have monthly meetings which have at least on speaker on topics to do with genealogy, history or how-to, what-to and where-to. This Saturday we start a morning series of beginning genealogy from Jan to May. Our monthly meetings are normally noon to 4pm. Our meetings are very informative and our members and guests take the floor and contribute more to help others find more answers. Have you visited the Saratoga GenWebPage which is maintained by the volunteers of Heritage Hunters? We can always use people (anywhere outside of Saratoga too) in compiling information for our newsletter and GenWebPage. Any volunteers out there? Visit our informative website <http://www.rootsweb.com/~nysarato/> You need to visit from time to time as there are frequent additions. For membership information contact Carol at [email protected] She only has a few sets left of the complete set of 1999 newsletters. Anyone wishing to help with other projects, please contact me and I will get that to the person in charge of the different projects. We have different kinds of projects and also need people to go to locations, including cemeteries, and copy them. Some cannot do that but have a computer and can do the data entry after they are copied. There are great projects going on at other places and we can help direct people to those. To contact our newsletter editor (to contribute for newsletter) contact Fletcher [email protected] God Bless Ruth Ann [email protected] ________________________________________________________________ YOU'RE PAYING TOO MUCH FOR THE INTERNET! Juno now offers FREE Internet Access! Try it today - there's no risk! For your FREE software, visit: http://dl.www.juno.com/get/tagj.