Look for certain subjects or surnames in newspaper indexes. Metropolitan indexes are often published. The New York Times Index is commonly used. It is a popular source due to the mass of material it covers and the wide availability on microfilm in public libraries and universities nationwide. This index can help you narrow your search and find information more efficiently.

There are also published indexes that compile the locations of death and marriage information. Betty Jarboe’s Obituaries: A Guide to Sources, 2nd ed. (Boston: G.K. Hall, 1989), is one example of such an index.

Once you find the desired newspaper to research, it is helpful to understand the differences between large metropolitan and small local papers.

Large daily metropolitan editions concentrate on global, national and state events. Their purpose is to bring worldwide news to the community. If community news appears in the metro paper it is usually a significant event or incident occurring in that particular area. These papers often feature a recap of history for each year. This could help provide a compact guide to world events at that particular time.

News announcements of marriages and deaths are traditionally reserved for the more prominent people of society. Death notices were published for families that could not afford to place an obituary. Small town or county papers usually show more interest in individual people. Such information is useful for genealogists. Smaller publications usually have more room to print lengthy details involving marriages and deaths. In some cases those announcements are used to fill the news hole and not necessarily organized as tidily as they would be in a metropolitan newspaper. Instead of indexes, you really need to read the small paper from cover to cover.

Juicy tidbits and helpful clues are often found in local papers. The view of the town’s people are often represented and even written by the people themselves in smaller newspapers. This applies to those today and those back in history.

Social pages were a popular read for past generations. They often listed who visited whom on Sunday afternoons. Lost and found sections were offered there along with legal and business matters of a sometimes-personal nature.

The information you can find is really only limited to each newspaper’s editor and in some cases, the time period in which it was printed.

These local newspapers can provide a gold mine of information about your relatives and their community, revealing the people and times as they were. It is hard to find these details anywhere else.

When searching for old newspapers papers remember that, not only were the towns serviced by large metropolitan and local papers, but also by several other publications including those set out by ethnic, religious and civic groups. Do not over look these valuable sources.

A Catholic immigrant who only spoke Italian might have received only a couple of lines of his death announcement in the larger paper. Yet, a Catholic paper might have heralded him as an important member of the community.

These specialized papers also often included names of family and friends in the United States as well as in their countries of origin. For example, this might be the only source in which you find where in Italy this prominent member of the Catholic community was born.

These papers were very important to the specific groups they served, often linking them to their own people, culture, and tastes while struggling with new experiences in the U.S. This brings researchers to the information that will add flavor and depth to a relative’s family history.

If you do not have a birth date, you can look for birth announcements. These are sometimes scarce and hard to find. However, in the local paper you might find congratulations printed to the couple for the birth of their new bundle of joy.

Marriage announcements also vary depending on the publications and those getting married. Some announcements were written in length with many details of the event along with guests who attended and even lists of wedding gifts! Relatives are usually listed along with their relationships to the bride and groom, which can be very helpful. However, there are also wedding announcements just stating that there was a quiet ceremony in the bride’s parent’s home. This might not reveal many clues, but could be the only place to document a bride’s maiden name.

Because of strong ties among community members in small towns, local newspapers have often published obituaries at length. Some still do. A death occurring in the small community could have affected many. This is also the case, if the death was unnatural or if there was a scandal involved. Instead of the death appearing where the obituaries were normally placed, it might be front-page news.

When faced with blank pages in your family history, use the newspaper information to help build biographical sketches of your ancestors. Do not just take a history of the time period and try to apply it to your relatives. Accurate background information will require research. Instead, know exactly what happened by reading the newspapers.

Build a time line for each relative specifically adding their birth, marriage and death dates, as well as when their children were born. Add when they moved to different areas. Supply as much information as possible, which you have documented from primary and secondary sources. Add historical events from the larger papers. Notice how these events affected the particular community. Add all of the information you can find, including when your relatives opened their new meat market on Main Street or when they arrived back from vacation. Document your sources. Newspapers are not always correct. Documentation might save a lot of heartache later if you can quickly produce where you found your tidbit.

Do not forget to use other types of documents or applicable newsletters. In addition to the others previously mentioned, consider perusing employee newsletters from your ancestor’s place of employment. You never know what you might find. After researching the newspapers, you will be surprised at all of the information that has accumulated in your relative’s file.