Ancestry.com/NY is a collection of digitized family history records. Several New York State repositories have partnered with Ancestry.com to make these records available to New York State residents for free.

1. Learn to use
Ancestry.com/NY

2. Ancestry.com/NY is a collection of digitized family history records.
Several New York State repositories have partnered with Ancestry.com
to make these records available to New York State residents for free.
The collection is accessed through the New York State Archives website.
A link to this site is available on the library’s homepage under Quick
Links or by going directly to the Archives page.
http://www.portvillelibrary.weebly.com
http://www.archives.nysed.gov/research/res_ancestry.shtml

3. Enter your zip code and click “Submit”.

4. You are now at Ancestry.com. This page contains a search form at the top.

5. At the bottom of the page you’ll find a list of all the NYS Archive records that are available here.
You can search each of these records individually.

6. Type in the name of the ancestor you’d like to search.

7. Your ancestor’s name may be enough to get you on your way, but any other
information you know might yield more results. If entering a mother’s name use
her maiden name if known. Otherwise, use her married name.

8. Leave the “exact” boxes unchecked for your first search. The exception to this might be under the
birth year. If you are unsure of the exact year, type your best guess then check the “exact” box,
then one of the ranges. Selecting +/- 1 year will search the year you entered as well as the year
before and after and so on.
Find search tips here: http://search.ancestry.com/landingpages/searchtipsmod.aspx
Click “Search”.

9. The results
page shows
best matches
first, then ones
that are less
likely.
Start with the
best matches
first. Click on a
record you wish
to view.

10. If you have never had a guest (free) or subscriber (paid) account with Ancestry at any time, you will create one here. Fill in the
form and click “Submit”. Clicking “Show Password” allows you to see what you’re typing.
If you’ve ever had any type of account you do not need to fill in the information. Just sign into it here. Even if you aren’t
subscribed (paying) now your account will still be here.

11. A transcription of
information from
your chosen record
will appear here. In
most cases you may
also view an image
of the original
record. You can also
choose one of
several ways to save
the record or you
can save it later.

12. You can also save the record to an area
called “Your Shoebox”. This is for records
that you want to evaluate before adding
to your tree. Because you can only create
a tree and save one record to it with a
free account, consider choosing this
option. You can add the records from the
shoebox to a tree later.
If this is your first time here you’ll see a
button at the top and one under the
transcription that will allow you to save
the record and create a tree. You can
use either button.
If you already have a tree the button will
simply say “Save” and clicking it will give
you the option to save to your tree or
shoebox. Please note that you can only
save one record this way.

13. Clicking the “View” button will show you the original record. A “Save” button at the top of the original document
gives you the same options as on the previous page, plus the option to save the document to your computer. Please
note that the record cannot be copied from your computer to your tree on Ancestry. Ancestry will show you tips on
navigating around the document.

14. You can return to the search
results by clicking on the
back arrow from the
original document page or
the extract page.
Ancestry.com has a wealth of information that can be accessed with a guest
account. Go to HomeHelpLearning Center to see what’s available. Please stop
at the library or call us at 716-933-8441 on Tuesday, Thursday or Friday if you have
any questions.