{"id":86011,"date":"2022-08-09T10:41:05","date_gmt":"2022-08-09T14:41:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.genealogybank.com\/?p=86011"},"modified":"2022-08-16T06:58:55","modified_gmt":"2022-08-16T10:58:55","slug":"3-newspaper-search-mistakes-we-all-make-1-not-checking-back","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/3-newspaper-search-mistakes-we-all-make-1-not-checking-back.html","title":{"rendered":"3 Newspaper Search Mistakes We All Make: #1 Not Checking Back"},"content":{"rendered":"

Introduction<\/em><\/strong>: In this article \u2013 the first in a series of three \u2013 Gena Philibert-Ortega gives tips for searching newspapers by checking back for additions to the collection, in order to find articles about your ancestor you might otherwise have missed. Gena is a genealogist and author of the book \u201cFrom the Family Kitchen.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

It\u2019s easy to make mistakes when you\u2019re researching a collection of digitized newspapers. Sometimes we are so excited to look for an ancestor that we don\u2019t think through our research plan. I\u2019ll freely admit that I\u2019ve made mistakes that impacted whether I found an ancestor or not.<\/p>\n

\"Illustration:<\/a><\/p>\n

After talking to fellow researchers and thinking about my own research, I realized that there are (at least) three mistakes we all make. In a series of three articles, I want to go over each \u201cmistake\u201d and provide suggestions for how to better your newspaper search, which will result in finding your ancestors.<\/p>\n

When Did You Do That Search?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Research is more than just doing one search once, and then moving on to other records. Keep in mind that record collections change. For example, new content is continually added to GenealogyBank\u2019s Historical Newspaper Archives<\/a> \u2013 which means that what you didn\u2019t find today, might be found in the near future.<\/p>\n

I know that I\u2019m guilty of not repeating my searches and of not checking back to see what newspapers have been added to the website since my last search. A good way to remind yourself is to add a reminder to your genealogy software program or your research log. You can even make a to-do list for your future research.<\/p>\n

Check the Newspaper Titles<\/strong><\/p>\n

We search GenealogyBank for ancestral names by using the homepage search engine. But it\u2019s equally important, after we\u2019ve done our initial search, to come back later to see what has been added. The obituary you searched for in April might not have been there \u2013 but it might have been added with the additions made to the collection in June. Be sure to check.<\/p>\n

There are a few ways you can do this. When GenealogyBank adds new newspaper titles or additional year ranges to existing titles each month, that information is announced on the blog. Make sure to regularly read the blog to see what\u2019s new. You can see what are the latest additions for the month, like this recent example: https:\/\/bit.ly\/3zU619z<\/a><\/p>\n

\"A<\/a><\/p>\n

The other way to keep tabs of what newspaper titles have been added is by browsing the newspaper titles.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a><\/p>\n

At the website\u2019s top menu click on Browse and then you can look for:<\/p>\n