“Newspapers are genealogy’s ‘hottest’ record group today and Cooke’s engaging writing teamed with helpful worksheets makes searching for them much easier.”
The above is just one of many positive comments given about Lisa Louise Cooke’s book Everything You Need to Know About… How to Find Your Family History in Newspapers. This book is a step-by-step instructional guide to using newspapers as a resource in genealogical research. In the first chapter, Cooke provides good reasoning for using newspapers in family research. However, she explains that some family historians “shy away” from using newspapers for the following three reasons:
- Newspapers are all over the place!
- Newspapers come and go!
- Newspapers are in so many different forms!
This may make newspapers appear too overwhelming a resource. Where does one go first? What can one expect to find, or not find? This guide was written to help answer these question. Cooke provides a “tried and true process,” a step-by-step guide to lead researchers to success. The readers will be taught the following skills, and more:
- Discover whether what newspaper, if any, existed at a particular time period for a given location
- Learn to locate available copies in whatever form they exist in (i.e. original print, microfilm, etc.)
- Learn to evaluate a paper, finding every bit of useful information within its pages
The book provides worksheets and checklists, lists free online resources, details a few worthwhile paid Internet resources, and a case-study to put the reader’s new found knowledge to the test. Each tool help move the reader further down the path of success. Take the following quote from Steve Luxenberg, Washington Post associate editor:
“As a veteran of research and libraries, I found all sorts of nuggets and new resources. Beginners will find an embarrassment of riches, including an impressive appendix with a comprehensive list of online routes to national, international and local newspapers. This is as close as you’ll get to one-stop shopping for learning about historical newspaper research”
Lisa Louise Cooke is the producer of two popular online radio shows, the Genealogy Gems Podcast and The Family Tree Magazine Podcast. She is also the author of The Genealogist’s Google Toolbox. She is also a renowned international speaker on research strategies and is an expert at interviewer. As a point of full disclosure, Lisa is a friend of the GenealogyBlog and to Leland. When asked what book did the genealogical community need at this time, it was Leland who provided the answer: Newspapers. Lisa took that to heart and Everything You Need to Know About… How to Find Your Family History in Newspapers, in the words of Bill and Ted, is the “most excellent” result.
Table of Contents
Chapter 1 – Newspapers: An Exciting and Exasperating Record Group
Chapter 2 – What to Look for in Newspapers
Chapter 3 – Top 10 Tips to Remember Before Starting Your Search
Chapter 4 – The Newspaper Search Process
Chapter 5 – How to Identify Newspapers that Meet Your Criteria: Start with the Big Picture
Chapter 6 – Online Digitized Newspaper Collections: Free and Paid
Chapter 7 – Portal Websites: The Key to Finding ‘Hard-to-Find’ Newspapers Online and Offline
Chapter 8 – Need More Help? Here’s Who You Should Ask
Chapter 9 – African American Newspapers
Chapter 10 – Caring for Newspaper Clippings
Chapter 11 – Putting it to Bed
Appendix A – United States Newspaper Websites
Appendix B – International Newspaper Websites
Appendix C – Heritage Quest Online Participating Libraries
To get your own copy of Everything You Need to Know About… How to Find Your Family History in Newspapers visit Family Roots Publishing; Item #: LU04, Price: $24.45.