Another way to cut the cost of research has bitten the dust. Ancestry.com has made a business decision to no longer offer remote access to their records through your public libraries. Which means you can't login from home for free. It is still available by visiting your library and using their computers. It's expensive to subscribe to otherwise.
Ancestry is a unique source for many unique records, especially those in the US such as draft records and census records. But don't forget, the Mormon's familysearch.org which has filmed so many European records, especially vital records and census.
