21 Online Newspaper Research Do’s and Don’ts

There are several ways to enhance your ability to find what you are looking for in an online newspaper collection.

Then again, there are also several ways to screw it up. Here’s a list of Do’s and Don’ts, that if followed, will improve your success rate.

DO’s

• DO Misspell search criteria words on purpose. The OCR process tries to create letters from dots, not words
• DO Search in the nearest big city or county seat
• DO Add the word (s) beloved, dear, or loving to help find obituaries
• DO a search with syllables rather than whole words to take advantage of the significant use of hyphenated words in older newspapers
• DO take advantage of free trials with subscription newspaper sites before you buy
• DO use abbreviations, such as Wm,  Jos, Eliz, Ave, or Sgt, etc. in your search criteria
• DO search for husband’s name with Mrs. for married women
• DO a search for a few weeks prior to death date in the newspaper for hospitalization, illness, or accident – helps determine the cause of death
• DO try to exchange a “b” for an “h”, or a “c” for an “e’ and many other combinations since they are very similar to the OCR process many times
• DO search for a street address. You might be surprised.

DONT’s

• DON’T just select a newspaper subscription database just because it’s on sale
• DON’T assume that the newspaper collection has what you want just because the title is from your chosen city or town. Check the collection’s date range
• DON’T assume that the cemetery stated in the obituary has not changed since the obituary has been published
• DON’T assume that the published obituary location is  only published in the newspaper where the death has occurred
• DON’T search just surnames
• DON’T just search U.S. newspapers based on ethnicity. Search newspapers in the ancestor’s homeland
• DON’T rush out and purchase a subscription to newspaper collections. Libraries often subscribe to the same pay sites and if you have a library card, you may be able to search from home!
• DON’T assume that a wedding happened because your ancestor is listed in the Marriage Licenses Issued section. Cold feet do happen!
• DON’T assume that because an obituary states someone is a “native of”, does not mean they were born there.
• DON’T – Ever. Give. Up.

DO Have fun.  It’s rewarding to find out that your great-uncle was shot at.

Download the Quicksheet PDF

These tips are presented as a Quick Reference Guide. To download the 21 Do’s and Don’ts Newspaper Research Quick Sheet PDF, click on the Download button below:

For all the previously published Quick Reference Guides, click on QuickSheets. 

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