Newspaper research for non-urban-dwelling ancestors often means visiting a far-off library and scrolling through microfilm. Seattle-based SmallTownPapers is changing that. The company, which digitizes historical and current editions of small newspapers, has partnered with database site World Vital Records to post more than 160 newspapers online for free.

You'll find a list of available newspapers at <www.worldvitaIrecords.com/contentlisting.aspx>. More than 1 million pages dating as far back as the 1800s are online now; more are added each month.