Personal computers and the internet have made information on many subjects more readily accessible to researchers than in years past. People no longer need to leave home to find information. Instead, research can be conducted from the comfort of the couch – hence the term ‘armchair researcher’.
Carolyn Weber is the Assistant Director of Deadwood History, Inc. at the Homestake Adams Research & Cultural Center in Deadwood. She says her office receives inquiries from armchair researchers across the globe and the Center’s online database can be a good starting point.
“Here at the Homestake Adams Research & Cultural Center we have a few of our finding aids for some of our collections online - and that will give you a better idea of if what you’re looking for is here so you’re not wasting a trip,” says Weber.
Weber says many of the researchers she speaks with are looking for information on ancestors who may have settled or worked in the Black Hills. She says plans are in the works to make the Center’s historical photo collection available online as well.