GRAB BAG SPECIAL

Tip # 28

Sometimes, by taking all you can scoop up some good deals!

One day as I sat absolutely frustrated in my researching I just decided I would see just what I could glean from the Owen county Library.

I sent an email to the Genealogy Librarian asking simply for a listing of what they had for about eight different surnames that I was researching. I had also asked what the procedure was for obtaining said info. (costs, shipments, etc).

The Librarian was able to email me back with an accounting by surname listing the amount of pages for a given name and just a rough mention of what those papers included; some had family charts, others news clippings, some obits. Not all surnames contained the same things. She also stated that the cost was 10 cents per page plus postage.

Problem was I was looking at over 800 pages of collected data from all the eight surnames. What I did was to look at the surnames that I had the least on or maybe nothing on and ordered those from the list..basically pick and choose.On the names that I am just saturated with, I left those for another time as I felt that the info could add little to my own.

I knew I may well gain some items that I had no idea who or what it was, or that I might order some info from a line not connected to my own; but I felt it was still worth it. I also knew if I was able to glean just one obit telling a family of children then it was worth the effort/cost.

Some of the items received were indeed useless to me (or at least at this time). But others were just priceless in their info content. Now I no longer need to wonder if "perhaps the library has something I don't know about". I also saved the listing she sent me and periodically order the info from the other surnames as I go along.

Of course, this may not be your way of researching but I think of it this way;

If a picture is worth a thousand words...then a good obituary is worth at least 500. (Only a genealogist thinks that way).