I'll help you.
I started researching before online records - and remember well reeling through censuses on microfilm. Of course, if the person had moved far out of area, you hadnt a hope!
But I quite liked, in a funny sort of way, going through the big Birth Marriage and Death index books - quarter after quarter, year after year! But wouldnt go back to that really - a couple of clicks on freebmd or similar is much less hassle!
The downside that I have seen of having so much on the internet, is that often folk cease to see it as a 'tool', a bonus, but that lots of stuff is still out there that isnt on the net, that has to be searched by hand in person. Rather what is on the net is seen as conclusive, and research is often wrongly restricted to that, so if someone pops up on a search that vaguely matches, it is immediately deemed to be the right person. More in depth research often reveals that families do not always take a predictable pattern in their lives, so just because Mr A marries Miss B, doesnt necessarily mean either had that name at birth (remarriages, step parents etc), so an internet check may not be as reliable as a physical look through the parish records.
I waffle on - just ignore me!!!!!!!!
