Friday, April 20, 2012

RPL PHR Presentation - Newspapers

On Saturday, 21 April 2012 I am doing a two hour presentation in the film auditorium on using newspapers to further your genealogy and your family history. For those of you unable to attend, I decided to post my hand-out for this session here, on my blog. Copy and paste the links into your browser. Enjoy!!


Newspapers do more than provide genealogical researchers with birth, marriage and death announcements. They are often a “window into the past” by helping to explain what life was like at a specific point in time. Today, more historical newspapers are being digitized and made available for users to search for articles more easily.
• Why use newspapers?
- obits & BMDs:
- don’t forget to look for the anniversary or memorial of a BMD & check the recent online condolences set up by many funeral homes
- local history, social columns, ads, auction sales
- understand how your families fit into history
- look for your own birth or marriage notice
• Use what you find as clues. Be prepared to either prove or disprove the contents which will, almost certainly, have come from a secondary source
• Where Do We Find Newspapers?
- public libraries
- archives
- universities
- genealogy/family history societies
- the Internet

FREE Websites
Regina Public Library Prairie History Room http://www.reginalibrary.ca
Newspapers
• Complete run of the Morning Leader/Leader Post newspaper (microfilm) - 1883 onwards; note: last 3 months worth of newspapers are kept behind the reference desk
• Regina Standard (microfilm) - 1891 to 1906; Regina Daily Post (microfilm) - 1928 to 1930; and Western Producer (microfilm) - 1924 to 2000
• Historical Directory of Saskatchewan Newspapers, 1878-1983 (print) - 1984
• Saskatchewan Newspaper Indexes (print) - 1935 to 1981 (includes Regina Leader Post, Moose Jaw Times Herald, Prince Albert Daily Herald, Saskatoon StarPhoenix and Western Producer. Note: this index does not include birth, marriage and death notices.) This index is also available from http://library.usask.ca/sni
• Leader Post newspaper index (print) - 1883 to 1943
• Newspaper directories and indexes for other Canadian provinces can be found in the library catalogue by using the keywords newspapers and indexes in the subject field.
• Use the library edition of Ancestry or Heritage Quest to search for newspapers

Sask Archives Board http://www.saskarchives.com/ [newspapers, Threshold]

Saskatchewan Genealogical Society http://www.saskgenealogy.com/ [1514 11th Ave. Room 110 for 750,000 obits, onsite]

Legislative Library [http://www.legassembly.sk.ca/] search SK Leg onsite

Library Archives Canada www.collectionscanada.gc.ca [newspapers]

Family History Library Catalogue www.familysearch.org [catalog]

Local History Books [PHR] often have newspaper articles of interest included

Directories (under various names [Henderson Directory for SK] exist for all parts of the world. Allows you to locate your ancestor in a specific location at a specific date as well as giving occupation and family information.

Google Books www.books.google.ca/

Google Searches: Do try other provinces, states, and countries for newspaper collections held in local libraries, archives, genealogy societies, and even government repositories

Cyndi’s List www.cyndislist.com/newspapers


Pay for View
Genealogy Bank [USA] www.genealogybank.com

London Gazette http://www.london-gazette.co.uk [Edinburgh and Belfast too]

British Newspaper Archives http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk

One ‘tool’ is never enough to do any job! Use newspapers to find information that will lead you to a different record type, and then another, and another, and another, and so on.

One last thought - remember to add your source citation to every clipping you take - name of newspaper, date, page! Happy Searching Everyone,
Pat

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