GenealogyBank: A Comprehensive Genealogy Resource

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GenealogyBank is a treasure trove for family historians. With over 20 billion records, it's one of the largest online genealogy collections available.

The database is vast, covering over 330 years of history, with records dating back to 1690. GenealogyBank's collection includes historical newspapers, books, documents, and other resources that can help you uncover your family's past.

Whether you're a seasoned researcher or just starting out, GenealogyBank offers a wealth of information to explore.

Expand your knowledge: Genealogybank Com Newspapers

Search Options

GenealogyBank's search options are incredibly powerful and flexible, making it easy to track down the information you need.

You can search each of their collections separately or all at once, giving you a lot of control over your search.

To focus your search, try adding keywords to your search, such as a person's occupation, place of residence, or company name, surrounded by quotation marks to make it a phrase search.

Searching on a person's last name with keywords like bigamy or divorce can also turn up some surprising and interesting results.

A unique perspective: Search Engine Watch

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GenealogyBank's advanced search options allow you to limit your search by a specific date or range of dates, which is especially helpful when searching through large collections of historical documents.

You can also add keywords to your search and remove keywords to narrow down your results.

The site makes it easy to search multiple locations or newspapers at once, saving you a lot of duplicated effort.

GenealogyBank's advanced search page is also very clean and intuitive, making it easy to use, even for those who are new to genealogy research.

Search Features

GenealogyBank's search features are quite impressive, and I've found them to be very helpful in my own research. You can search each collection separately or all at once, which is great for covering a lot of ground.

One of the most useful features is the ability to limit your search by a specific date or range of dates. This is especially helpful when you're looking for information about a specific event or period in your ancestor's life.

You can also add keywords to your search, which can help you find articles that mention specific names, places, or occupations. For example, searching for a person's first and last names as a phrase surrounded by quotation marks, like "John Pennington", can be very effective.

Filter by Location and Date

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GenealogyBank lets you limit your search by state, and then by city within that state. This can save you a lot of time and effort.

To start, click on the Newspaper Archives link on the home page. From there, you can check boxes to limit your search to certain states. For example, if you're researching ancestors from Pennsylvania, you can select that state and then narrow it down to specific cities.

GenealogyBank's search form also allows you to limit your search to cities from a single state. However, you can't narrow to cities from more than one state at a time.

You can also search a single location or a single newspaper, but GenealogyBank makes it easy to search two or more states at once, two or more cities within a single state, or two or more specific newspapers. This extra power can save you a lot of duplicated effort.

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Newspapers.com also allows you to search by place and date, but the process is a bit more complex. You can click on the Newspaper Archives link and then select a state, but you can't narrow to cities from more than one state.

GenealogyBank's coverage is excellent within the U.S., but it only includes newspapers from the U.S. and its territories. Newspapers.com, on the other hand, includes newspapers from the U.S., Canada, England, Wales, Scotland, Ireland, Northern Ireland, and Panama.

If you're looking for coverage from a specific date range, both GenealogyBank and Newspapers.com have you covered. GenealogyBank provides excellent coverage from about 1800 to about the 1960s, while Newspapers.com has full article coverage all the way up to 2018 for a wide range of newspapers.

Search Ethnic Newspapers

Over 95% of the content on GenealogyBank.com is unique to their site and can't be found elsewhere online, making it a great resource for newspaper articles that are not available at other genealogy sites.

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GenealogyBank.com has a vast collection of over 9,600 newspapers, with 95 percent of them not available anywhere else online.

Many of the newspapers in GenealogyBank.com's collection are older papers from the 18 and 19 centuries, which means they've scanned full newspaper pages from these older newspapers.

However, GenealogyBank.com has fewer articles overall compared to Newspapers.com because many of the newspapers in their collection are older and have fewer pages.

GenealogyBank.com focuses on obituaries, which is reflected in their collection, and for many modern newspapers, only obituaries are available through their site, not the rest of the articles.

FamilySearch Obituaries Index

FamilySearch Obituaries Index offers 288 million obituaries and death notices from over 13,000 newspapers.

The index is a result of a partnership between FamilySearch and GenealogyBank, allowing you to search the obituaries on either site.

The FamilySearch index, specifically the United States, GenealogyBank Obituaries, 1980-2014 collection, covers every name mentioned, not just the deceased individuals.

This means you can search for anyone whose name might appear in the obituary you want, giving you key facts.

You'll need to search again on GenealogyBank with the deceased person's name to view the complete obituary.

A subscription to GenealogyBank is required to access the complete obituary.

Content Sources

Credit: youtube.com, Newspapers: Essential to Genealogy Research

GenealogyBank.com is a fantastic resource for newspaper articles that can't be found elsewhere online, with over 95% of its content being unique to the site.

The site's primary focus is on obituaries, which is reflected in their collection of more than 9,600 newspapers. These newspapers are mostly from the 18th and 19th centuries, which means many of the pages are from older newspapers that have been lost forever.

You can find a vast number of newspapers that are not complete runs, with only obituaries available through GenealogyBank.com. Each record is different, but every one of them has something useful to offer.

Newspapers

Newspapers are a treasure trove for genealogists, offering a wealth of information on our ancestors' lives. Over 95% of the content on GenealogyBank.com is unique to their site and can't be found elsewhere online.

Both Newspapers.com and GenealogyBank.com have impressive collections, but they differ in their core focus. Newspapers.com has a broader collection of articles, while GenealogyBank.com focuses on obituaries.

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GenealogyBank.com's collection covers more than 9,600 newspapers, with an incredible 95 percent of them not available anywhere else online. This is because many older newspaper pages have been lost forever, destroyed either right away or at some point over the last couple hundred years.

GenealogyBank.com includes a number of short-run newspapers, which means lots of newspapers covered, but not as many total pages. Many modern newspapers are not complete runs either, with only obituaries available through GenealogyBank.com.

Historical Books

Historical books are a treasure trove for genealogists. They're written by people who want to preserve their history and leave a lasting legacy.

You can find thousands of genealogies and family histories in these books, which can save you countless hours on your research. They provide a framework to help you discover connections to your ancestors.

Many towns and cities have produced books about themselves, especially in the late 1800s and early 1900s. These books often include lists of names and biographies of prominent citizens.

These books are a great resource for learning about the area and its history. They can also provide valuable information about your ancestors' lives.

Some historical books may contain sermons and eulogies, which can give you insight into your ancestors' values and way of life.

Social Security Death Index

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The Social Security Death Index (SSDI) is a valuable resource for finding important facts about your ancestors. It's more impersonal than other resources, but it can still be a great help.

The SSDI is a database of information from the United States Social Security Administration. You can find it at GenealogyBank.

If you're looking for key facts about someone, the SSDI might be a good place to start.

You might enjoy: Social Catfish

GenealogyBank's Advanced Search is a powerful tool that can help you find the information you need.

You can add keywords to your search in the Include Keywords box. Try searching for a person's first and last names as a phrase surrounded by quotation marks, like "John Pennington." This helps ensure you're searching for the exact name.

Searching for terms closely associated with your target person can also be helpful. For example, searching for "South American Transportation" (in quotation marks) and places like Bogota, Colombia, and "South America" can turn up relevant articles.

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Advanced search options at GenealogyBank include limiting your search by a specific date or range of dates. This can be a big time-saver if you're looking for information from a specific time period.

You can also search multiple locations or newspapers at once. GenealogyBank makes it easy to search two or more states, cities, or newspapers, which can save you a lot of duplicated effort.

Removing keywords from your search can be helpful when you're finding too many irrelevant results. For example, if you're finding articles from Philadelphia when you know your ancestors lived in western Pennsylvania, you can remove the keyword "Philadelphia" to get more relevant results.

Access and Subscriptions

GenealogyBank offers a Plus Access plan for $49.97/year, which includes all Premium Articles, a Digital Magazine from 2005-Present, and Exclusive State Guide Cheat Sheets.

You can subscribe to GenealogyBank by the month or by the year, with a significant discount for the annual subscription. The monthly subscription is pricey, but you can get a 30-day trial subscription for half off the regular monthly rate.

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GenealogyBank's subscription model is straightforward, but Newspapers.com offers more flexibility with both monthly and six-month subscriptions.

Newspapers.com has two subscription levels: Basic and Publishers Extra. The Basic package includes over 100 million digitized pages from thousands of newspapers, mainly suitable for historic newspapers prior to the 1960s.

The Publishers Extra package gives you access to all 400 million pages from 8,700 newspapers up to today.

Newspapers.com offers a free 7-day trial to their Basic package, allowing you to test their service before committing.

If you're an Ancestry.com user, you may already have access to Newspapers.com's Basic package through your subscription, but you'll still need to pay for the Publishers Extra package separately.

In terms of subscriptions, it's worth noting that GenealogyBank and Newspapers.com have different strengths and weaknesses. GenealogyBank has a more impressive collection of rare older newspapers, while Newspapers.com excels at providing full access to modern newspapers and those from the UK and Canada.

Danny Orlandini

Writer

Danny Orlandini is a passionate writer, known for his engaging and thought-provoking blog posts. He has been writing for several years and has developed a unique voice that resonates with readers from all walks of life. Danny's love for words and storytelling is evident in every piece he creates.

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