Since research takes many forms and can cover a wide range of records, let us first review the common records that researchers look at and then look at the newer resouces that empower us to dig deeper into the past.

   Primarily, our research in title is focused on the various Official Records of the County or Parish in which the property is located. Typically, a Grantor-Grantee (“-tee / -tor”)-style general index of Official Records is maintained by the elected or appointed “Recorder” for the county. This index will hold the deeds, liens, encumbrances, claims, notices, covenant and related matters regarding the land and property. The Property Tax Rolls are also integral public records which should be checked for current tax matters. The Assessors Rolls are public record and should be reviewed by the astute researcher for the period of time available thereon as they may offer insight into ownership matters. The relatively new Geographic Interface Systems (“GIS” portals) being rolled out across the land can provide insight into zoning, mapping, usage, ownership, claims easements and other matters that a researcher should take into account. The Assessors Parcel Maps can be helpful in understanding the current configuration, lot lines and location of land. Court cases can also be critical to understanding nontitle claims against the property and should be reviewed in the court indices during the course of research. In some states, municipal records for assessment districts, city taxes and zoning matters may require research too.

   Within the context of title research, some other records to consider reviewing include the historical / deadfiled Assessors Parcel Maps which can go back for decades, and might offer deed references written in pencil thereon for ease of use by the Assessors Office. This was a common practice up through the 70's in many areas when more modern copy and mapping technologies began to enter into their own. In some counties, old maps back into the 1950's and 1960's hold deed references that are quite helpful in guiding research.

   The historical tax rolls provide names of tax-assessed owners. They go back to the mid-1800's in California and provide great information. Historical societies, museums and librarires will variably maintain such archives, depending on the county. Some are well-indexed and others have no index, creating a longer hit-and-miss research project.

   The historical assessors rolls, sometimes folded into as part and parcel to the old tax rolls, can offer added insight into property histories. Sometimes the rolls will reflect building dates, usage changes, or value shifts from one year to the next, each of which offers valuable insight as to changes on the property which may be of significance to your client.

   In many states, filings with the Secretary of State's Office establish the legitimacy of corporations, limited liability companies, limited partnerships, limited liability partnerships, and some general partnerships to do business within the state. Reviewing these records may reveal names of agents, officers, and others who are related to the firm and can lead to further research leads.

   HOWEVER, none of the above is meant to be included in anything except traditional and customary research. The first paragraph deals with regular records that always need checking, while the subsequent material was obvious follow-up resources that any researcher should avail themselves of.

   The secondary research data which are “new” resources to some researchers include the following:

Wikipedia.org - use it to find establishment dates of public agencies and towns

GoogleMaps - get satellite views of property (and aerial views now too), plus street level photos, coordinates, & lists of business associated with that address

Ancestry.com - use the federal census data to find people and addresses.

VitalCheck.com - bith, death, marriage records

Spokeo – locate people through social network site searches done in an easy-to-use single interface

Zabasearch.org - confirm ownership addresses, phone numbers and names of other parties in possession who are listed at an address

Zillow.com - find construction date, property and unit size, value assessments, neighborhood statistics and more

Better Business Bureau and Dunn & Bradstreet sites for more information on registered officers for commercial firms

Guidestar.org - to review nonprofit corporation data

County and City building and planning departments for permits and applications over the years; some show ownership data on them

NewspaperArchive.com - obituaries and marriage announcements can help you establish ownership interests of spouses or heirs

   Most of the above resources are wholly free or have a free or cheap component to them. They are easy to use and offer a mostly-modern check for ownership ties that can lead you backwards in time by a few more years if you are good at logical inference. If you are not good at logic, then go to your nearest library or bookstore and speak with a clerk about finding books on reasoning. A few dollars spent on some paperbacks with logic games will serve you well in all walks of life.

   The Library of Congress will be storing all public twitter feeds since 2007 for datamining and you can download a 15GB file containing all of 780,000 documents of Gopherspace, which was a precursor of the modern internet. Obscure, but interesting and who knows how useful such things might oneday become when you go to search your harddrive for a client, or property, or other marker and hit paydirt.

   As I've mentioned previously, get a copy of an encyclopedia, a copy of a dictionary, a copy of maps for your research region, a copy of Wikipedia, a copy of research reference guides and manuals. Store them on your hard drive as a backup for when the power goes out, for when the internet is unavailable, for weekend,evening and holiday times while public servers are down, or for when you are out of range of web access. Also, always backup your data and do so on multiple computers and systems; this includes copying your bookmarks file from your internet browser, so that those reference sites are available on any other computer you might use and also put them on a flash drive for future use if you find yourself on an unfamiliar laptop.