Rediscovering NY:

Using Historical Records

The Internet makes locating historical records easier than in the past, but it will still take careful thought and digging to find what you want.

• Think carefully about who might have the information you want and then explore what's available  through the Rediscovering webpages, search engines, and website and online catalog compilers.

  • Remember:  historical records might be found at colleges, historical societies, county clerks’ offices, local historians' offices, business archives, or libraries .

• Be aware that records on the same topic, geographic region, family, etc. may be located in several different places
  
  • For example, for any one family there may be:   naturalization records at a county clerk’s office; birth, death and marriage records at the New York State Department of Health’s Bureau of Vital Records; baptism records at the family church; records documenting individual members' educational or employment histories at historical societies, manuscript repositories, or college archives.

Tips for researchers about using historical records.

Follow the links for Document-based questions and then browse through Course One to find out how to use historical records in the classroom.