The records in old family Bibles are often "shortcuts," while other family papers, if old, frequently have a special value. The records on tombstones are a resource apparent to all. The Pension Bureau at Washington has records of the soldiers of the Revolutionary and later wars who drew pensions. Early warrants for the survey of lands are recorded at many State Capitals. A large miscellaneous collection of historical manuscripts, many of them containing genealogical information, will be found in the custody of historical and genealogical societies. The resources in libraries are almost endless. The genealogical works already published are a host in themselves, to which we must add the genealogies given completely, or in part, in periodicals. The line we are interested in may have appeared in one of them, or may be referred to in their pages. Certain indexes in book form help us to find them, and should be consulted at the outset. Many States have published their archives, and of town and county histories there are not a few. A number of important church registers can be consulted in print, and even the tombstone inscriptions have, in some cases, been published. The Revolutionary records of most of the States are now accessible in printed form, as are many of the valuable papers held by historical and genealogical societies. In certain libraries can be found a large collection of exceedingly valuable genealogical and heraldic works covering the countries which contributed the bulk of early emigration to the American colonies and States--Great Britain, the Netherlands, France, and Germany. The publishers of this book have arranged a means for placing these and other library sources at the service of those who do not have access to them, or who have not the time or disposition to consult such authorities for themselves. This plan is described at the end of the chapter. Having learned all that relatives can tell us about our family, we are ready to turn to these other sources. All systems of gathering information are systems of taking notes. Thus the question of proper notebooks presents itself. This matter, however, we relegate to other chapters, in connection with the two plans for genealogical works, for each plan has its suitable notebook. But here we simply remark that the question is all-important. Upon its solution depends our escape from the old task-master, Drudgery, who stands ready to burden the pleasure of our pursuit with pains and toil if we do not circumvent him. Use plenty of paper, writing on one side only, in a plain hand. Write with pen and ink where possible. A good fountain pen is a handy friend, though some libraries do not permit its use when consulting books. In such cases a lead pencil must be employed. We prefer a moderately soft one, which makes a heavy black mark without tiring the hand by requiring much pressure, and we carry several, well sharpened, with a knife to keep them so.