Many articles have been written about following up genealogy leads with original records, but many of us do not live in areas where our ancestors lived. Others may have difficulties getting to repositories. Those with small children at home, people with disabilities, people who don't drive, people living in remote areas where resources are scarce or non-existent, and others with a multitude of other impediments may have a more difficult time obtaining the original records we need for sound research.

So what options are available to those of us that live far from our ancestral origins and can't get to the library as much as we'd like? Let's talk about a few.

Images Online
As you're probably aware, Ancestry.com is bringing U.S. census images online, with the 1790 census already available to Ancestry.com subscribers for a limited trial period. Civil War pension cards are also available, and images of other records will follow as the Images Online(tm) collection continues to grow, bringing original records into our own homes via the Internet. More information on Ancestry.com's Images Online project is available.

Other agencies and repositories are also posting images of original documents online as well. The Bureau of Land Management has images of land patents for several states on its Web site. The BLM site offers images of the original patent, and using the accession number on the patent, land entry case files can be ordered from the National Archives, which may contain more information.

The Library of Virginia's Digital Library Program also has several digital indexes available, including Virginia colonial records, land office grants, Bible records, and more. Using information from the indexes, copies of the documents they pertain to can be ordered by mail.

More Records by Mail
Many government agencies, including many vital records agencies, are also posting downloadable forms for requesting records. Illinois and Texas are good examples. Both of these pages were located by doing a search for "vital records [state name]" in a search engine. These sites are also included at Vitalrec.com, but for the most recent fees and to download the forms, it is best to go directly to the agency's official site.

For records available only at the county level (such as some births, marriages, and deaths), links and addresses for all U.S. counties are available from the National Association of Counties.

Fees for obtaining copies of these records by mail are typically quite reasonable, ranging between about $5 and $15.

If you know your ancestor's religious affiliation (this information can often be found in death and sometimes marriage records), you can also request copies of these records, in return for a modest donation, by writing to the church itself or to the denominational archives.

Library Catalogs and Interlibrary Loan
Libraries very often maintain their own Web sites, and more and more facilities are putting their catalogs online. Even if your library doesn't have a genealogical collection that supports your research, it may participate in InterLibrary Loan (ILL), and you may be able to request materials from libraries in the areas where your ancestor lived through this program. Even if the materials in question are not available via ILL (genealogical materials often are not), you may be able to request that someone else look up the information you need from a particular publication in this way and get copies of the information you seek. Policies will vary from library to library, but you may be able to learn of the availability of such a service on the library's home page.

Even the knowledge that a particular publication exists may be helpful to you. You may be able to purchase it online in a bookstore or possibly even at an online auction site at a bargain price.

Genealogical Societies
Genealogical societies can also be very helpful when researching from a distance. Their print publications often contain materials unique to the area that may be otherwise difficult to access. Circulating or lending libraries are sometimes available to members out of state, and some societies now maintain members-only databases online. In addition to these benefits, discounts on society publications and research services may also be included with membership.

By joining the society, you will in turn help support the efforts of the organization, which may include transcribing more records, preserving materials and cemeteries that may otherwise be lost, and possibly even encouraging legislation to open up records access.

To locate a society in your area of interest, visit the Federation of Genealogical Societies' Society Hall.

Family History Centers
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' (or the LDS Church) Family History Library is home to the largest genealogical collection in the world. Its satellite libraries, called family history centers^TM are located around the world and have access to most of the main library's materials. The Family History Library's catalog is available online, and so is a list of family history centers^TM.

Asking Online Researchers to Share Sources
In cases where information is located via online connections with other researchers, it is best to be considerate in requests for information. Manners count, and if you are asking for a large amount of material, you may get better results if you offer to pay for copies of the documents and/or reimbursement the person for time spent.

In the End
As time goes by, more and more original records will be available to us in our own homes via the computer. Mega-databases with global searches like those at Ancestry.com allow us to search huge amounts of data for links that can lead us directly to the sources we seek, saving us from having to manually search in different locations and possibly even different states. Once we locate our ancestors, with a little detective work and investigation in reference materials, the Internet can also help us pin down the original materials we seek and tell us how to have them delivered.

Juliana Smith is the editor of the Ancestry Daily News and author of The Ancestry Family Historian's Address Book. She has written for Ancestry Magazine and Genealogical Computing. Juliana can be reached by e-mail at: editor@ancestry-inc.com, but regrets that she is unable to assist with personal research.