It seems the prices of everything is rising, including document fees for records genealogists wish to obtain. Is there something you can do about this? Yes! Shop around a little to see where you can get the best deal.
Search for records on your own
Start by checking university library archives. Places such as the Illinois Regional Archives Depository (IRAD) in Illinois, have many of the same records that can be found in various County office and the National Archives. If you can go in and search for yourself or send a letter, the copy fees are almost nothing for the records.
For example, the IRAD in Chicago holds Cook County Records. They hold some Naturalization records from 1874-1929. Let's say there are three pages to copy, Declaration of Intention and two pages for the final Naturalization documents. Copies are less than 50 cents each so even at 50 cents you pay $1.50. If you go to the Cook County Archives, you will pay at least double that in copy costs. The same goes for early vital records held at the archives versus the county. Costs are cheaper through the archives.
Check your local libraries and area research libraries. They may have records on microfilm or in books that you can use for the price of a photocopy.
Search online databases such as FamilySearch.org for free records. Every day more records from around the world are made available. The vital records I might have paid for at the university archive may now be free through FamilySearch.
Find someone to locate records for you
Use Random Acts of Genealogical Kindness (RAOGK) to locate records. RAOGK is a website listing volunteers who will look up and obtain records for you. You can also try various volunteer organizations like genealogy societies or GenWeb which may have a roster of volunteers to contact.
Trade favors with a genealogist in another town or country. Get on FaceBook or Ancestry.com or other social networking and research sites and locate someone researching in the same area or even surname. Contact them and ask if they might be able to do a look up for you if you would do one for them.
This works for other countries as well. Recently I connected on Ancestry.com with an Italian professional genealogist working on the genealogy of a town in Italy. I was interested in obtaining birth records for a few people in my tree, that were also in the one she was creating. She was interested in tracking some of the families that left this town and came to Chicago. In exchange for birth records, I was able to send her photos of grave sites and cemetery information along with some scanned death certificates.
Was it an even trade of time/money versus what we each got? Maybe, maybe not. But I built a new relationship and am conducting research that is different than some of my own so I'm gaining new experience. For me, that is a win-win situation.
Hire a professional researcher to obtain the records. You may wonder why this option is in this article if one is looking for ways to cut expenses. There are websites and researchers that both offer professional research services and look up options. Just shop around to find a researcher who offers both.
The best way to obtain inexpensive genealogy records is to shop around. Do not just order a record or go to the first repository you find that offers it unless you need it immediately. If you can wait a little, try to find the record for a less expensive price.
Jennifer Holik-Urban - Jennifer Holik-Urban, a professional genealogist, has been writing professionally since 2009.
