Genealogy is largely the process of answering two questions:
1. What do I want to know?
2. Where can I find the answer?
A few months ago, I was helping a client find a deceased person’s next of kin. Having exhausted other options, we worked on finding obituaries. The newspapers and obituaries we wanted were not online! So, I contacted the local library where the person died (Hemet, California). The librarian there pointed me to the California State Library at Sacramento. A few good old fashioned phone calls and very helpful library staff told me which local newspapers existed and were available on microfilm.
To sum it up:
- I was looking for next of kin.
- The obituary I wanted was not available online on sites like genealogybank.com, newspapers.com, or newspaperarchive.com.
- I made some phone calls.
- I talked to the California State Library at Sacramento.
- They told me which newspapers they had for Riverside and Hemet, California.
- I contacted my local library.
- My local library requested the newspapers and dates I wanted.
- After a few weeks, the newspapers I wanted arrived in the form of microfilm.
- I searched the newspapers page by page using a microfilm reader.
- I found obituaries and death notices that helped answer our question!
#microfilm #obituaries #interlibraryloan #nextofkin