Newspaper Research Academy

The Newspaper Research Academy grew out of my interest – some might even call it an obsession – in newspaper research for my personal genealogy. Back in 2003, when I first started this journey, my focus quickly shifted beyond just finding names and dates. What I truly wanted was to discover the lives of my ancestors. With only a handful of older relatives who held just bits and pieces of family stories, it was newspapers, with all their vibrant accounts, that intrigued me. So, newspaper research and developing specific techniques to navigate it quickly became a core part of what I offered on The Ancestor Hunt website, which I launched in 2012.

Now, with The Newspaper Research Academy, my mission is pretty simple: I want you to become a more skilled newspaper researcher.

You’ll find the Academy structured into three main areas, designed to help you wherever you are on your research path:

  • Free Resources: This is where you’ll find a treasure trove of websites, tutorials, quick reference guides, and other valuable tools. I’ve gathered fantastic resources from others, including various newspaper databases and fellow professionals who create incredibly useful articles, instructional videos, and guides.
  • Subscription Resources: If you’re ready for a deeper dive, the Subscription option in the Academy unlocks comprehensive Research Guides, exclusive Video Guides, and the Newspaper Keyword Compendium – all created specifically by The Ancestor Hunt. I guarantee that if you use the techniques available to Subscribers that you will significantly improve your research results. Plus, you get an ad-free experience on all of The Ancestor Hunt pages.
  • Premium Resources: For those looking for even more specialized content, this section highlights top-tier resources like books, advanced research guides, courses, and webinars offered by leading newspaper database vendors and other expert genealogy professionals.

Caution: This is a very long webpage because there are a lot of resources of all types

The list of resources is not static – it will continue to grow over time

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Below is a list of all the resources that are available from the Newspaper Research Academy. The Free Resources have live links. The Premium Resources also have links to detailed descriptions and purchase information.

The Subscription resources are also listed. If you should decide to subscribe, this will unlock all of the resources available, which at this time number 74 items. The Subscription-only resources will be on separate pages, which are only accessible to Subscribers. Subscribers not only receive access to Research Guides, Video Guides, and the Newspaper Keyword Compendium, but also receive an ad-free experience on the entire The Ancestor Hunt website.

Newspaper Research Subscription Resources

Research Guides

If you are familiar with the Quicksheets that I have published over the last 5 years, the Research Guides are similar in form, but they have much more detail and contain a significant amount of information. They generally range from 2 to 26 pages in length.

(Click on the + sign to view the description of the Guide)

Obits are important because their content is so valuable to genealogists. They contain a mini-family tree of the person, in addition to information about what the deceased accomplished in their life. This Research Guide presents several techniques to find obituaries in newspaper databases, indexes, clipping scrapbooks, and other types of collections.
This Research Guide presents 40 distinct online techniques that will significantly enhance your ability to find more newspaper articles. There are Searching and Browsing basics, and Tools, Techniques, and Tips.
Using nicknames as well as formal given names will produce a considerable percentage of added research results. This Research Guide provides over 1,000 nicknames and their corresponding formal given names in 13 languages.
In newspapers, you are likely to find abbreviations of given or first names, as well as other types of words, including titles and geographical terms. Abbreviations were heavily used in old newspapers to save space. It is the best technique to boost the number of pertinent search results. In this Research Guide, you will find over 1,500 abbreviations in 13 languages.
Optical Character Recognition (OCR) does its best to convert minute black dots in generally poor quality old newspapers to letters and words. One can overcome this by deliberately misspelling words. This is done by swapping letters in the OCR’s index for letters of similar shapes in your search criteria. This Research Guide provides a list of over 100 letter pairs.
This Research Guide presents all the details that you should capture in a log as you are searching online. There is a downloadable PDF and an Excel spreadsheet with detailed descriptions of the fields that you can use.
If you are searching newspapers before 1963, and your search criteria includes a U.S. state, you need to use “old” abbreviations rather than the current two-digit code. This Research Guide presents the old abbreviations for each state..
Just searching for surnames or full names will not find as many articles that are available. You need to conduct what I call “Combination Searches”. Consider including a property or legal term with the surname to achieve more results. This Research Guide presents 160 property and legal terms (e.g., deed, probate, etc.) to include in the search.
Hyphenated words were primarily used to save space by inserting a hyphen at the end of a line. They were also used frequently for words like “mother-in-law”. Fortunately, the “in-word” hyphens have mostly disappeared over time. Both styles of hyphen use exist in old newspapers – a lot. We need to be aware of this and customize our searches to consider hyphens. This Research Guide presents some pointers regarding using hyphenated words in your searches.
Are you trying to find an obituary for an ancestor and having difficulty? Try using an obituary word (e.g., beloved, loving, funeral, etc.) with the surname to direct the search results to an obituary. This Research Guide presents 90 “obituary words” to use in your search criteria.
To succeed at newspaper research, you must search in the right location, and you must search in the appropriate date range. You must know where to find the titles to match the correct locations and date ranges. This is true in searching both free databases and subscription databases. This Research Guide will provide the URLs for 20 of the largest newspaper databases available in the U.S., Canada, Ireland, and the UK.
The “news of the day,” in which articles are published discussing the latest events in the geographical area that the newspaper title covers, is what people think most about when discussing what is in a newspaper. Of course, those articles are extremely useful to any researcher. However, there is so much more in a typical newspaper. This Research Guide discusses over 50 different types of articles that are extremely important.
The capabilities of newspaper database software, independent of the size and quality of their scanned collections, break down into two parts: How do you search the site and find “stuff”; and, how do you download and save the articles that you find? This Research Guide is all about the second part – how do you download and save articles, so that you capture the article in the proper format, and capture the source citation.
This Research Guide discusses the different characteristics you should consider when choosing to purchase a paid newspaper database subscription. It’s not all about how much it costs.
The Vitals section of the newspaper is the most pursued by genealogy newspaper researchers, primarily because that is where death notices and obituaries reside. But there are more than just obits in this important section. This Research Guide discusses the keys to getting the most for your family history research out of the Vitals Section and how to analyze the content of the articles that you find.
Finding information and articles in newspapers about your ancestors is incredibly rewarding. And the amount of information about your ancestors in old newspapers is likely more than we can ever find. If you are not careful, you can make assumptions about what is in ink on the newsprint and foul up your research because of poor conclusions. This Research Guide discusses the traps that you can fall into.
Not all digitized newspapers are free. Many are behind a paywall, i.e., they require a subscription. But, there are ways to either reduce the cost or even eliminate it. This Research Guide discusses ways to save money on your subscriptions.
Another rewarding strategy in newspaper research has to do with immigrant ancestors’ surnames. Errors by clerks, census takers, or newspaper typesetters are incredibly common. This Research Guide includes a list of 100 common surnames, primarily of European origin, and their likely English equivalents that you might encounter in old newspapers due to phonetic spelling, anglicization, or misinterpretation.
Just searching for surnames or full names will not find as many articles that are available. You need to conduct what I call “Combination Searches”. Consider including a life event term (e.g., birth, marriage, etc.) with the surname to achieve more results. This Research Guide includes 200 Life Event terms to include in the search.
Just searching for surnames or full names will not find as many articles that are available. You need to conduct what I call “Combination Searches”. Consider including a business or occupational term with the surname to achieve more results. This Research Guide includes 50 Business and Occupational terms to include in the search.
Online newspapers are generally categorized by geography, e.g., country, state, city, province, etc. But not all published newspapers are organized that way. What about student newspapers, farming, religious, and foreign language newspapers? There are also very specialized newspapers, like Japanese Internment Camp newspapers and CCC newspapers. This Research Guide presents links to all these types of newspapers that have been curated by The Ancestor Hunt.
Are you trying combination searches (Name plus occupation) and having difficulty? Like a lot of words, in the “old days,” there were different names for occupations in the U.S. and the U.K. In this Research Guide, you will find 350 names of occupations and their meanings.
Are you searching in the Community or Local News for interesting tidbits about local residents? Often, if they are down with an illness or hospitalized, their illness might be published. Having difficulty? You might consider that in old newspapers in the U.S. and the UK, illnesses had different names in the “old days”. In this Research Guide, you will find 150 names of illnesses and their meanings and/or modern equivalents.
HathiTrust is well known for it's outstanding book collection. There are newspapers and journals as well. HathiTrust provides a full-text search function. This Guide shows how to use the full-text search capability.
The Internet Archive has a massive amount of digitized newspapers. This Guide shows you how to perform full-text searches.
Google Books is well known for it's outstanding book collection. There are newspapers as well. This Guide shows how to use the full-text search capability to search newspapers. The old Google News Archive has not been adding new titles since 2011, and its search capability is dicey. But all of the Google News Archive content can be searched with the full-test search capabilities of Google Books.
What is Proximity Search? It is quite simple. It asks the search engine to search for occurrences where Word1 is within X words of Word2, where X is a number. This Research Guide provides a detailed explanation of proximity searches and discusses the various nomenclatures used to facilitate their use in newspaper research software.
There are lots of things to consider when researching historical newspapers online. It starts with which online database you choose to search, to how you download and store article clippings, as well as what you do with searches where you don’t find anything. This Guide provides some insight into what you should do and what you shouldn’t do.
Boolean operators (AND, OR, NOT) are powerful tools for online newspaper research. They allow you to control how search engines or databases interpret the relationship between your keywords. This Guide shows you how to optimize your search criteria using Boolean operators.
Wildcards (* and ?) are powerful tools to account for spelling variations, misspellings, or uncertain characters in names or keywords. This guide shows you how to use wildcard searches to obtain more results.
Newspaper articles can be found in libraries and genealogical society collections that do not reside in a historical newspaper database. These instututions have created newspapetr indexes, clipping files and scrapbooks, transcriptions that have been uploaded to websites, and abstracts. This Guide discusses each one.
Researchers of online newspapers often get hung up on searching for names only, possibly combined with an occupation, a club or lodge, a church, or a business, just to name a few. Yet there is something that every person had – a residence or a place of work. And these had something in common – an address. Thus, searching for an address or a street name can provide many more articles than one might imagine.
By carefully reviewing advertisements and classified sections, you may uncover valuable details such as full names, dates, family connections, locations, occupations, and personal anecdotes that contribute to building a more comprehensive family tree.
The amount of information in newspaper Legal Notices is phenomenal. It requires careful analysis to extract genealogy clues. These public announcements are mandated by law to ensure transparency in legal and government affairs. A wide variety of notices can be found in this section, often providing crucial clues for researchers. This Guide discusses the type of legal information that can be found and the genealogy data that can be extracted.
Society and community pages may once have been considered “light reading,” but to genealogists they are a goldmine of human detail. They transform dry facts into living stories, connecting names, places, and events into narratives that illuminate both individual ancestors and the communities in which they lived. This Guide presents the types of articles in these newspaper sections, and the genealogy information that can be obtained from these pages.
When one thinks of what types of school-related articles are in old newspapers, graduation lists and sports-related articles typically come to mind. But there is so much more. This Research Guide presents all the different types of newspaper articles about Schools and Students.
Crimes committed in the community are a popular type of article that gets newspaper readers’ attention. There are much more court-related articles in old newspapers that provide genealogy information, as well as content that can contribute to ancestor stories. This Research Guide discusses these types of newspaper articles and the genealogy information that can be extracted from the articles.
A category of newspaper articles that contains a significant amount of genealogical value are articles about business and commerce. There generally was a Business section in many old newspapers, yet these types of articles also tended to appear throughout the entire paper. This Guide discusses the various types of articles about business and commerce, and the genealogy information that can be found in these articles.
Accidents, fires, floods and many other events happened almost every day, and the local newspaper was the media organization that published the story. Unfortunately, almost every family suffered through these events once or more in their lives. Sometimes the results were minor, but more than likely, they were devastating and had a lasting effect on a person or their family. This Research Guide discusses the various types of disasters and accident articles, and the genealogy information that can be obtained from these articles.
Depending on the location of the newspaper, you may or may not find immigration-related articles. However, naturalization occurred in all locations, so the likelihood of these types of articles increases. You won’t discover all of the information that you would find in a Declaration of Intent document, but a subset might be published. This Research Guide discusses the types of articles and genealogy information that can be extracted from these articles.
Typical birth announcements are generally pretty vanilla, with language such as “Born to the wife of John Smith, of Podunk, a baby boy on July 15, 1923”. But there are a lot more types of birth and adoption related articles. This Research Guide discusses the various article types, as well as the genealogy information that can be extracted from these articles.
Almost all of your ancestors belonged to a church or temple during their lives. As one might expect, there were an abundance of newspaper articles written about these institutions and the people who worshipped there, as well as the pastors, rabbis, and other religious leaders who served the church, temple, and their congregants. This research Guide discusses all of the types of articles that were written, as well as the types of genealogical information that can be gleaned from these articles.
Why are these types of articles important? 20% of men in 1900 belonged to a lodge or club. Their membership was often cited in obituaries. Knowing of their membership in a society helps complete their family “story” and possibly understand them better.
Real estate and land transactions are memorialized in newspaper articles. They deliver a significant amount of genealogical information and clues. Although many of our ancestors were not landowners or owned other types of real estate, a considerable number did. This Research Guide is all about these important newspaper articles.
No matter what our ancestors “did for a living”, it is likely that many or most of them had their occupation mentioned at one time or another in a newspaper. If they were a professional, such as a doctor or lawyer, they likely had ads or were in a directory that included their name and profession. Business owners showed up in directories that were often published in newspapers, and they likely purchased advertisements that were run in the local paper. This Research Guide shows you what types of articles one can look for, and what genealogical information can be gleaned from these types of articles.
Newspapers tracked those in or about to be in military service, Whether wartime or not, information about our ancestors’ military life was captured in newspaper articles. In wartime, daily reports of battles won or lost were always captured in newspapers, and relatives of those in the military could track their service. This Research Guide highlights all the various types of military news and the genealogical information that can be extracted from those articles.
Our ancestors did not just work all the time. Besides work, family, and religious activities, there may have been what we now call leisure time. In that time, they often viewed what we now call entertainment, and also took part in community cultural activities, including local, county and state fairs. It is always fun to find out that your ancestor won a blue ribbon at a fair for an activity or hobby that you knew nothing about. This Research Guide discusses all of these activities. Who knows, you might discover a magician, an actress, a quilter, or an athlete in your family tree.
Politics news, activities of city councils and state legislatures, not to mention the federal government  were a mainstay usually found in the first couple of pages of every newspaper. This information is useful in understanding the environments that our ancestors lived through. You might find out that you have politicians in your family tree, or a poll worker or precinct captain. This Research Guide discusses all the types of political news and election articles and the corresponding genealogical information that can be extracted.
Over 35% of American families were involved in agriculture in the late 19th century. It is down to less than 5% today and certainly higher than 35% prior to 1899. The stories of farmers and their families were recorded in local and county newspapers. This Research Guide discusses the various types of articles about farming and ranching, as well as the genealogical information that can be gleaned from these articles
Newspapers frequently recorded the comings and goings of travelers, immigrants, and visitors, often in surprising detail. Before comprehensive government passenger lists or hotel records were centralized, local newspapers filled that role by publishing ship arrivals, travel itineraries, and hotel guest lists. These articles documented migration, business trips, tourism, and family visits—revealing where people were at specific times and why they traveled. This Research Guide outlines the newspaper article types that capture travel and lodging information and the genealogical insights that can be extracted from them
Newspapers served as the heartbeat of community life, recording the activities and social engagement that defined a town or city’s character. Coverage of clubs, volunteer organizations, cultural groups, and charitable events reflected how people interacted, contributed, and built reputation within their communities. For genealogists, these social notices help reveal not just where ancestors lived but how they lived—illuminating networks, causes, and participation that rarely appear in official records.
If you’ve ever searched for an ancestor and thought, “How did the OCR mangle that name?”, you’re not alone. The short answer is: the systems that turn old newspaper images into searchable text are doing their best with imperfect raw material. The longer—and more useful—answer is that the history of how newspapers were made, stored, copied, and digitized explains today’s messy search results. This guide addresses the whys and also what to do about it.
Marriage, engagement, and anniversary notices are among the most personal and revealing articles found in newspapers. They document not only a vital event but also the social networks, family relationships, and community standing of those involved. Beyond the basic facts of who married whom, these announcements often identify parents, siblings, residences, occupations, and migration details. This guide outlines the different forms of marriage-related articles and shows how genealogists can extract valuable family information from these celebratory and commemorative reports.
Editorials, letters to the editor, and opinion columns capture the thoughts, debates, and convictions that shaped a community’s identity. They often reflect social attitudes, local controversies, and individual voices—sometimes including those of your ancestors. These pieces can identify civic engagement, political leanings, occupations, and organizational ties. This guide explains how genealogists can locate and interpret editorials and reader letters to better understand the social values and community roles of their forebears.
Sports coverage in newspapers goes far beyond game scores—it records the names, achievements, and community involvement of countless individuals. From local baseball clubs to school track meets, athletic articles reveal participation, teamwork, and even employment ties to sporting organizations. These stories provide genealogists with insights into youth activities, education, health, and community reputation. This guide identifies the types of sports related newspaper articles and shows how to extract valuable personal and family information from them.
Tax and financial notices in newspapers offer much more than fiscal information—they document property ownership, business activity, and community presence. Whether listing delinquent taxpayers, announcing property auctions, or publishing annual assessments, these records help genealogists trace land holdings, financial status, and family transitions. This guide outlines the major types of tax and financial notices found in newspapers and explains how to extract genealogical evidence about occupation, residence, and inheritance from these often-overlooked sources.
Notices about missing persons, lost items, and unclaimed mail appear frequently in historical newspapers and can provide surprising genealogical leads. These brief entries document movement, separation, and attempts to reconnect across time and distance. Whether an individual disappeared, failed to claim a letter, or lost property in transit, such notices offer clues to residence, relationships, and migration. This guide explains the different types of “missing and lost” announcements and the valuable personal information that can be extracted from them.
I have been an aficionado, an evangelist, and an educator, trying to encourage more genealogy researchers to incorporate historical newspaper research into their research repertoire… for years. I have strongly encouraged people to understand that the challenge of searching old newspapers is a significant one, primarily because of the quality (or lack thereof) of 100- or 200-year-old papers. But there are finer points, and this is the reason for this Guide. Let’s look at three barriers to a fulfilling newspaper research experience.
Transportation and infrastructure news in newspapers chronicled the growth and modernization of communities. Reports on roads, railroads, bridges, canals, and public works show how people and goods moved—and where new opportunities emerged. For genealogists, these articles document employment, migration, and civic involvement, often linking individuals to transportation companies, labor unions, and local government projects. This guide outlines how to locate and interpret these transportation-related articles to uncover historical and family connections.
Weather has always been newsworthy, and historical newspapers recorded it in remarkable detail. From daily forecasts and crop conditions to blizzards, floods, and heat waves, weather reports reflect the environmental challenges that shaped community life. These articles help genealogists understand the context of ancestors’ experiences, the storms they endured, the droughts that forced migration, and the disasters that tested their resilience. This guide outlines how to locate and interpret weather and environmental reporting in newspapers for genealogical and historical insight.
Not every death was marked by an obituary, but newspapers recorded death-related information in many other forms. Brief death mentions, funeral notices, and memorial articles often appeared in local columns, society pages, or church reports. These items can reveal dates, relationships, residences, and burial details that fill the gaps left by missing or minimal obituaries. This guide outlines the types of death-related articles beyond obituaries and explains how to extract valuable genealogical information from them.
Public health and disease reporting in newspapers reveals how communities faced illness, epidemics, and medical advances. From cholera and influenza to smallpox and polio, these articles documented both local outbreaks and public responses. Notices about hospitals, quarantines, and mortality lists can identify ancestors as patients, caregivers, or victims. This guide outlines the different types of health and epidemic articles in newspapers and explains how to extract valuable genealogical and social context from them.
Most online newspaper researchers make the same mistake — they type in an ancestor’s full name and stop there. That’s like searching a library by first name only! Newspapers were written by humans, and humans use variety: nicknames, abbreviations, occupations, and context words. To uncover the full story, you must learn to pair names with keywords — what I call Combination Searches.

There will be additional Research Guides in the future, so check back often.

If you wish to subscribe ($39.99 for the first year, $19.99 for annual renewal), please go to the Subscription Page. Subscriptions include all Research Guides and all Video Guides, the Newspaper Keyword Compendium, plus an ad-free experience.

Check out the new Research Guide Bundle. Get all Research Guides now and forever for $20.00. All the details at Research Guide Bundle

Check out the new Newspaper Keyword Compendium. Get over 5,000 keywords used in newspapers in 36 categories now and forever for $9.95. All the details at Newspaper Keyword Compendium

Video Guides

All of the videos can be found on the Newspaper Research Academy Video Guides page. You can view them any time that you wish, as often as you like.

(Click on the + sign to view the description of the Video Guide)

This Webinar discusses the most powerful techniques to maximize our search results.
This webinar shows the viewer how to use the Directory of U.S. Newspapers in American Libraries provided by the Library of Congress and where to find non-digitized historical newspaper titles in U.S. libraries and other institutions.
This webinar discusses 95 of the best tips and techniques to get the most from your online historical newspaper research.
This webinar shows the viewer how to use the Advanced Search capabilities of Chronicling America, and how to use filtering to home in on results, as well as how to handle images presented with the results.
This webinar discusses the many varied ways to find obituaries, whether they be found in online newspapers, indexes, clipping books, etc. The viewer will also learn tips on how to best analyze obituary contents so that proper conclusions can be derived.
This webinar shows the viewer how to apply the absolute best techniques for searching for and obtaining ancestor newspaper articles.
This webinar focuses on using abbreviations and nicknames as a primary technique to gather more positive search results.
This webinar shows the viewer how to overcome the common OCR errors and how to structure search criteria to overcome these errors.
This webinar helps the beginner understand processes for handling old newspapers and converting them to digital form. It discusses why online newspaper research is such a challenge and how to overcome these challenges, so that they can become proficient researchers.
Coming Soon!
This webinar shows the viewer how to find all the titles that are in the Chronicling America newspaper database.
This webinar shows the viewer how to find all the titles that are in the Newspapers.com newspaper database.
This webinar shows the viewer how to find all the titles that are in the NewspaperArchive newspaper database.
This webinar shows the viewer how to find all the titles that are in the GenealogyBank newspaper database.

There will be additional Video Guides in the future, so check back often.

If you wish to subscribe ($39.99 for the first year, $19.99 for annual renewal), please go to the Subscription Page. Subscriptions include all Research Guides and all Video Guides, the Newspaper Keyword Compendium, plus an ad-free experience.

Newspaper Research Free Resources

Advantage Archives

African American Newspapers – Tim Pinnick

Allen County Public Library

Ancestry by Aimee – Aimee Cross

Are You My Cousin? – Lisa Lisson

Artificial Intelligence

British Newspaper Archive

Family History Fanatics

Family Tree Magazine

FamilySearch

FindMyPast

Fulton History – Jeanette Sheliga

Genealogy Gems – Lisa Louise Cooke

GenealogyBank

Irish News Archives

Library of Congress – Chronicling America

NewspaperArchive

Newspapers.com

OldNews.com

Our Digital World

Veridian

Newspaper Research Premium Resources

These resources are provided by others and have a price tag.

Newspaper Research Books on Amazon

  • Finding Your Ancestors in Historical Newspapers: A Practical Guide to Improving Your Online Newspaper Research Results (Kenneth R. Marks, 2024) – https://amzn.to/40VXYGy
  • The Family Tree Historical Newspapers Guide: How to Find Your Ancestors in Archived Newspapers (James M. Beidler, 2018) – https://amzn.to/40SSKLN
  • Searching For Your Ancestors in Historic Newspapers (Claudia C. Breland, 2014) – https://amzn.to/4mpIdQo
  • How to Find Your Family History in Newspapers (Lisa Louise Cooke, 2012) – https://amzn.to/455vv3v

Genealogy Gems

Storied