When researching anything, be it family, local or national history, then a very useful first port of call should be your local library service. While this may be an obvious choice for books on a chosen subject, they also offer other services. Most subscribe to a genealogy website, while others include a subscription to online newspaper archives and websites of local interest.

Access is free to holders of a current library card, but most require booking time at one of the terminals. Many libraries offer in-house training sessions and talks on using these websites, so it is worth checking the county library website for what is available. Additionally, many libraries have specific archives that are useful to the history researcher, and organise special events based around these. As many books are now published as e- books, libraries provide a downloading facility of these onto your computer. Their website may also offer free guides to using the facilities and what is available within the county.

Check out the website of your local library and be aware that most now provide information via Twitter and Facebook. Making use of IT resources allows you to see specific sites before you subscribe to them, plus library-based training can be very useful.