Online Digital Surprises

Some of us like surprises, some of us don't. But whether we like them or not, the Internet is full of surprises. As genealogists we deal with information, some of us in huge quantities. We all appreciate the increased availability of the information we are seeking when that information becomes available online. I thought it would be interesting to point out some of the things I have run across in my ramblings around looking for genealogy pertinent stuff.  Warning: some of this material is really strange and you may have a really hard time figuring out what it has to do with genealogy. But I need to make an observation here. Most researchers I come in contact with have a rather narrow view of what is and what is not genealogically valuable material. I have a constant battle to convince people that reading local and county histories will help their genealogical research. There seems to be a general research myopia in the community.

Here are some of the surprises:

• Watson Family Diaries -- The online collection consists of his 12 travel diaries written between 1804 and 1858 of Joh Fanning Watson. 
• Missouri Digital Heritage -- More than 6.8 million records can be accessed through Missouri Digital Heritage, including the collections of the Missouri State Archives, the Missouri State Library and other institutions from across the state including 2.2 million death certificates.
• Indiana State Library, Genealogy Collection -- Cemetery locator and Indiana Marriages database 
• Library of Congress E-Resources Online Catalog -- a lot of stuff
• Oklahoma Digital Prairie -- The criteria for selection were particularly focused on a) materials difficult to access due to their rarity, b) materials with broad interdisciplinary application, and c) materials that are at a risk from a preservation point of view.
• Yale University, The Manuscripts and Archives Digital Images Database (MADID)
• University of Florida, George A. Smathers Libraries, Digital Collections -- The University of Florida Digital Collections (UFDC) hosts more than 300 outstanding digital collections, containing over 8 million pages, covering over 78 thousand subjects in rare books, manuscripts, antique maps, children's literature, newspapers, theses and dissertations, data sets, photographs, oral histories, and more for permanent access and preservation

I could go on, but here is a list of more than 250 online digital archives from every state in the United States entitled, "250+ Killer Digital Libraries and Archives."

Perhaps you aren't surprised at any of this. My daughter Amy of TheAncestorFiles related that she has a list of 150 sources that she searches for every person she researches. I believe her. But I am also a little sad that some researchers feel put upon to search the U.S. Census Records beyond a simple look up in Ancestry.com, MyHeritage.com or FamilySearch.org.