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A Beginner's Guide to Archives is a guest blog post by Alistair McGowan, professional genealogist and owner of bespokeGenealogy.com. Originally from the UK, Alistair now lives in Ontario, Canada, where he runs his genealogy business & research services. Alistair is a member of the Association of Professional Genealogists and has a Postgraduate Certificate in Genealogical, Paleographic and Heraldic Studies from the University of Strathclyde in Scotland.  If you have any UK ancestry, be sure to follow Alistair on Pinterest, where we connected. His images are beautiful and his posts are filled with useful family history resources, travel tips, and such detail it's hard to believe he spends any time in Canada. His blog and Pinterest images have inspired me to plan a Heritage trip to the UK!  My thanks in advance to Alistair for his willingness to share his knowledge. Now, on to his guest post, A Beginner's Guide to Archives.   It used to be that the only way you coul…