Is the local library always a regular part of your research? It doesn’t matter how long your person of interest lived in a certain locality, it’s possible that a library (or their special collections department) has something that could help you with your research. It doesn’t hurt to look at their website or even reach out to their staff with questions.
Just tell them as much as you know about the person who lived in their area—but be succinct when doing so and focus on details that might help them determine if they have special collections or materials that could help you. This includes: education, type of work they did, religious affiliation, ethnic background, etc. They do not need to read three paragraphs about how long you have been researching this ancestor [grin].
2 Responses
As a librarian in our genealogy library for the last 10 years, I appreciated your recognition of what can be available at a library. Also, worldcat is a resource. While library research is common knowledge to many of us born in the 1950’s, we need to remember that sadly, not everyone knows how to search a library.
I’m also a genealogy librarian and if someone’s ancestor lived in the area where I am, there are several different local resources I can (or show the patron how to) use. I have a lot of local yearbooks for the area, that are popular. Then there are city directories and the local newspaper that has been digitized, which is a wonderful resource!