TROVE as a Major Research Tool

If I were looking for a birth place in Ireland for my family, and I knew a branch went to Australia, TROVE would be one of the first places I’d search. The family information found in sources such as obituaries can solve where in Ireland the entire family was from.

You can do a general search or a name search. If you know a more exact locality, you can narrow your search to newspapers for that town, state or territory. With common names, this feature is helpful. As with all databases there are some quirks you need to be aware. First of all, not all newspapers published every day. So once you know the newspaper you are interested in, and say you are looking for an obituary or marriage notice, then check to see what dates around the time you need that the newspaper published. The database will tell you. In this case extend your search to one or two newspapers after the death or marriage took place.  

The side bar index shows the types of articles in the newspaper. For example, if the newspaper had six pages, then the family data, such as marriage and obituaries might be listed on page four. Do not stop at the first page as the newspaper pulls up on the screen. Make sure you look at all the pages for the topic you are interested.

Yes, TROVE can be utilized for many other record types such as books, theses, journals, maps, diaries, letters and photographs. Currently, it contains over 100 million Australian and online resources. As a research tool TROVE is hard to beat.