Resources

Research and Genealogy Hints and Tips

Getting Started

  • Start at home.  Look for vital records such as birth, death and marriage certificates.  Pull out your old family photos and scrapbooks  Talk to relatives and ask questions about your ancestors.  Write down everything you learn.
  • Create system for organizing your research or genealogy.  You will acquire documents, papers, notes, books and digital files as you grow your family tree. 
  • Check out social media.  You can let your contacts know you are interested in genealogy.  Your relatives might offer to share their research or put you in contact with other family members.  You can join genealogy interest groups and follow local records repositories like the Potsdam Public Museum.  We are on Facebook and Instagram (@potsdampublicmuseum)!
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  • Online Sources:
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  • Ancestry is a subscription-based genealogy research website and DNA product.  Ancestry has over 16 billion records available online.  www.ancestry.com (click here if you already have an account)
  •  NYS Archives: http://www.archives.nysed.gov/research/how-to-video-ancestry  (click here to use a free account through NYS Archives) 

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  • FamilySearch is a free, nonprofit family history organization with over 5 billion records available online.  www.familysearch.org
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  • New York Historic Newspapers  Free searchable digitized newspapers from all over New York State.  www.nyshistoricnewspapers.org
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  • New York Heritage Digital Collections  Digital records, images, yearbooks, city directories and more available from institutions (including the Potsdam Public Museum) Free access  www.nyheritage.org
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  • Find A Grave  Contains information about over 400,000 cemeteries in over 200 countries.  Free and searchable.  www.findagrave.com
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  • National trust for Historic Preseravtion hints on doing house history https://savingplaces.org/stories/preservation-tips-toolshomep-10-ways-r…
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  • National Archives and Records Administration  An independent agency of the United States government charged with preserving and documenting government and historical records.  Many records available online.  You can also visit NARA in Washington, D.C. or one of its records centers.  www.archives.gov
  • Internet Archive This site provides free digitized archives where you can view books page by page and search keywords. An excellent online resource! We recommend starting with a book like this one: https://archive.org/details/ourcountyitspeop00curt/page/n5/mode/2up
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  • Library of Congress  The largest library in the United States, located in Washington, D.C., Its original purpose was to provide research facilities for members of Congress; today it serves the public as well.  The library's catalog and some records are available online.  You can also visit the library in person at its Washington, D.C. location.  www.loc.gov
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  • Cyndi's List  A list of links for genealogy resources on the web, compiled and maintained by Cyndi Ingle.  www.cyndislist.com
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  • Geneabloggers Tribe  A list of links for almost 3,000 genealogy blogs.  www.geneabloggersTRIBE.com

 

Podcasts

 

 

Citation

 

Go to Carleton University Chicago Style site for formats on Images. *

Go to Chicago Manual of Style site for information on all other forms of citation. *

 

*- These are just examples of sites you can use. Chicago Style for citation when submitting a pin is preferred.