Family documents such as letters, diaries, and even original land deeds, like the one pictured, are hiding among the manuscript collections held by archives, university libraries, historical societies and other repositories around the world. Since they are generally not easily accessible, especially online, many people overlook this wonderful family resource.

Related Resources:
U.S. State Archives Online - Record Collections, Finding Aids, and Catalogs
10 Questions to Ask a Research Facility Before You Visit

Two new free online study group options are now available for discussing and learning from the book Mastering Genealogical Proof by Thomas W. Jones, PhD, GG, CGL, FASG, FNGS. This book is published by the National Genealogical Society (NGS) and is now available. It can be ordered directly from the National Genealogical Society here, and will also be available at next week's NGS Family History Conference.  I blogged about this book last fall under its then working title, after taking a course taught by Dr. Jones at the British Institute based on exercises from the pre-press copy. The press release from National Genealogical Society also describes the new book:

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I'm excited to be presenting at and attending the 2013 National Genealogical Society (NGS) Family History Conference next week in Las Vegas, Nevada. For those of you who will also be attending, I've highlighted a few tools to help you plan and make the most of your experience:

1) The 2013 NGS Conference Syllabus is now available online for registered attendees. I encourage you to browse through it now so you can start thinking about which sessions you most want to attend, and either print pages for the sessions you wish to attend, or download a copy to your tablet, computer or other device if you desire. To view and download the syllabus, log in to the NGS website at http://www.ngsgenealogy.org/cs/2013syllabus. Please allow up to 10 minutes for the download to complete as the file is very large. Attendees will also receive a digital copy of the syllabus at conference check in. You can prepare for the conference before you leave home by viewing and printing syllabi for the sessions you would like to attend. NGS will not have syllabus printing stations at the conference, although you can print from your flash drive syllabus at the LVH business center for 30 cents per page in black and white, plus an additional $1 to open a file and print from a CD or flash drive.

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From the Naturalization Act of 1790 through the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952, a large number of laws placed restrictions on naturalization and immigration in and to the United States. A knowledge of the laws that regulated immigration and citizenship is important for understanding the conditions under which your ancestors may have been granted or lost their citizenship, or records which may have been created based on their alien or citizenship status.

This Timeline of Major U.S. Immigration & Citizenship Laws is not exhaustive, and does not include all acts that temporarily extended the provisions of earlier acts, or affected a small segment of the population.

Related Content:
Timeline of Major U.S. Public Land Acts
United States Statutes at Large: A Researcher's Guide