I agree that using the internet has helped my search immeasurably, especially with the research "across the pond" there in England. While I went to Cornwall to research on a vacation, my wife was extremely generous for only a certain amount of time. For some reason, she believes that if we spend a lot of money on a vacation, she should actually see the country and not the inside of a records office. The other thing that I have found is that it provides information that may have been missed before, like the second person who had your ancestor's name born eight months before or after your ancestor. Now, instead of taking the first person you find and running with it, only to discover your mistake later, you are able to document all of the information and try to determine which person you really belong to before you leave. I also appreciate finding others with the same family. While you do have to validate their research methods, this has helped me greatly with my mother's family. Three of us are working together, with one almost always able to find the information we need. In this way, we were even able to find some great uncles that left the family in anger and had not been heard of since.
David
