A few years ago, General Registration, census returns and parish records were the main sources used within family history. There were other, less used, records consulted at local record offices such as parish chest material. But now in this digital age there is increasing digitisation of little known records, which can add that extra information about our ancestors lives, that a birth certificate or census return simply cannot provide.
One example is the recent release of Irish dog licence registers. As well as an address and date of licence, information on the dog breed, colour and sex is also given. Without knowing that an ancestor had a dog at a particular time, these records would not have previously been examined But now they are easily searchable, and provide that extra information on our ancestors' lives.
Another example of the revolution in genealogical research with the digital age are newspaper records. Previously it would simply not have been appropriate to browse such records, unless a specific date was know regarding a particular event - such as a date of death to search for an obituary. Even then, it could be that several editions of a newspaper needed to be examined. Increasingly digitisation of newspapers from all over the British Isles, means that speculative searches can now be undertaken. For example, petty sessions were usually reported in newspapers, along wish family announcements, and other local events such as vegetable competitions, farm sales and much more.
