[Genealogy-SIG] Genealogy News 6/23/06

[jotaito]

THE NIGHT THAT WAS; THE DAY THAT WAS


Last night was the monthly meeting night for the Genealogy SIG!  Yes, a few thunderstorms sprinted through the area and a few pansies stayed home.  However, some of us endured the threats of rain and storm and thunderclaps.  Let us just say, the meeting was not OVER-ATTENDED.  I did the best I could to get the notice out; it was late but the schedule has been set up for some time as to when meeting dates are:  fourth Thursday of every month.  

So what was so important about the "day"?  Well, Thursday was the day that the first searchable database on the U.S. Census went on-line, compliments of the Church of Jesus Christ, Latter Day Saints from Salt Lake City, Utah.  You'll find it at Ancestry.com.  It contains all the United States' census records from 1790 to 1930 (the latest census available).  Their holdings are now advertised as approaching some 5 billion searchable names, the largest genealogical database ever compiled.  

I went on-line today at the library to see what I could see.  I can tell you a little bit of what to expect.  When you log onto Ancestry.com, you cannot miss it.  If you scroll down a short distance on the main page, you will discover a green logo advertising a one-time offer to try out the new census database for three days for free.  So I took advantage of this offer and decided to look up my dad.  I chose him because I knew the important things needed to enter into their application page.  And I chose the 1930 census.

After you hit search, a counter appears that informs you of what percentage of the information has been loaded for you.  Some of what you need to use is off the page to the right and you have to scroll the screen to the left to see the "search" button.  But it eventually came up with a screen listing a number of suggested people that might be my father.  Sure enough, there he was; the first one.  However, his first name was misspelled but when I clicked on his name, a page opened and had some details on him that I recognized.  On that detail page is a sort of orange or yellowish logo that can be clicked to carry you to the original record (i.e. the original census entries). If you have not scrolled to the right you will hardly see it; so scroll right a little and you will see it. 

I clicked the logo (at their invitation).  And, a census sheet came up and I spent about 45 minutes trying to figure out how to "move" it.  There are no directions and I tried to roll the button to get it to scroll.  I searched for scroll bars.  I checked the visible names to see if I was only going to see the highlighted names which were not my father's name.  I finally gave up and tried some other names with the same result.  How the heck are you supposed to look further down the page?  It seemed to have no provisions for movement, page advance or whatever.  

Then on another attempt, I happened to "click and hold" on the document and move it at the same time and discovered that it works like the PDF documents (you know, the ones with the little "hand").  Having seen movement, I raced back to my father's location and "pushed" my way down the page to the bottom where he and his family were listed together at the bottom of the page, the last three people.

Having essentially used up all my time available that visit, I had to leave.

I thought this information might help some of you use your time more effectively with your first encounter with this database.  I liked what I saw.  I just wish they had said just a few words of instructions about how they had it set up.  And, as I noted with the mispelled name, it likely has a lot of errors, the products of so many different people working on the project, the fact that the originals are handwritten (sometimes poorly) and some transliteration was/is required.  Nevertheless, this will be an enormously useful resource!    

Jay 

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jotaito