I was working and working my grandfather's birth record back to Ireland with no results, mostly using the Ancestry website. I had many documents, including census', Naturalization, and even his death record, but I could not pin down where he was born. On top of it, of the documents I had, he listed different birth dates with an 8 year span. Without the birth record, that meant I could not get back to my great-grandparents information. Frustrating.
I learned that the LDS had family research centers all over the country. I figured there would not be one in Alaska, but I looked them up anyway, and found one in the next town over. I called them, and they told me everything was free to use for research. Well, they had a subscription to the FindMyPast website. With ONE search on that website, I found the critical document that gave me everything I needed. In addition, when I saw that signature, I knew it was my grandfather...he had a very unique signature. I got back to his birth record, his siblings (which NO ONE knew he had), and his parents. WOOHOO! I guess I was just a newbie at the time, and didn't know about all of the LDS research centers around the world. Since then, I've learned to use a number of resources and databases. Yes, it takes time, but it may land you a treasure that blows open your research.