It is first in a series that is three-part offers tips and tricks to those people who are ready to move beyond online research.

Did you know many genealogists estimate that only 15 percent of this world’s records can be aquired online? So where is the other 85 percent? A portion that is large of that can’t be thought as “easy access” can be found in non-digital archives all over the globe. Searching these records may be an intimidating endeavor for the fair-weather genealogist, but digging around for informational treasures within the archives of the world is an exciting job if you are prepared to roll their sleeves up, get their hands dirty, and endure occasional rainy-day disappointments. The silver lining with this potentially overwhelming way of genealogy research is the fact that incredible discoveries in many cases are just waiting can be found.

Relating to D. Joshua Taylor, president associated with New York Genealogical and Biographical Society and popular presenter at the 2017 RootsTech conference, “the things that you can uncover in certain of these materials—they’re staggering.” Instead of just names, dates, and locations, you’ll be things that are discovering ballad songs, rhymes, games, personal letters, private papers, and fascinating factual statements about your ancestors and the ones who interacted using them.

If you’re ready to add archive research into the more basic research done on popular websites on the internet such as for example Ancestry, FamilySearch, FindMyPast, and MyHeritage, it may be extremely helpful to brush up on archival terminology.