{"id":46949,"date":"2018-12-20T09:49:39","date_gmt":"2018-12-20T14:49:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.genealogybank.com\/?p=46949"},"modified":"2023-08-04T11:39:08","modified_gmt":"2023-08-04T15:39:08","slug":"back-in-my-day-old-genealogy-techniques-you-should-be-using-today","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/back-in-my-day-old-genealogy-techniques-you-should-be-using-today.html","title":{"rendered":"Back in My Day: Old Genealogy Techniques You Should Be Using Today"},"content":{"rendered":"

Introduction<\/em><\/strong>: In this article, Gena Philibert-Ortega gives some genealogy advice based on her 20+ years of family history research. Gena is a genealogist and author of the book \u201cFrom the Family Kitchen.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Genealogy has changed quite a bit from when I first started doing serious research \u2013 over 20 years ago. Today, because of the Internet and digitization efforts, researchers have much more information available to them that can be accessed from the comfort of their home. As the way we access records has evolved, we have also changed how we conduct research. Reading microfilmed records at a library has given way to typing name, date, and place in a genealogy website search engine.<\/p>\n

However, despite the evolution in genealogical research, sometimes the old ways of doing things are the best ways. Yes, I love all that is available to us now, but in some cases the way we researched before technology and digitization is still beneficial to our research. Let\u2019s consider some of those \u201cold ways\u201d of researching and how they can help you today.<\/p>\n

\"Illustration:<\/a><\/p>\n

Use the Soundex<\/strong><\/p>\n

Have you used the Soundex? If you are new to genealogy, the Soundex might not be familiar to you. First, let\u2019s define the Soundex. Soundex is simply a coded index that takes into consideration how a surname sounds and not how it is spelled, allowing researchers to find surnames even if they were not spelled \u201ccorrectly.\u201d The 1900 U.S. census was the first Soundex project taken on by the Works Progress Administration (WPA).* If you\u2019re not familiar with the \u201clook\u201d of the Soundex code you can check out the web page Soundex System<\/a> on the National Archives website. For those who\u2019ve been researching their family tree for decades, you may be very familiar with the code for your own surnames, having used it to search the census on microfilm.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>
Credit: National Archives<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Genealogy website search engines allow you to search on a name in a variety of ways in addition to the way it\u2019s spelled. Along with wild card searches, one option may be Soundex. Now, in the \u201cgood old days\u201d we consulted charts to figure out our ancestor\u2019s Soundex code equivalent \u2013 but today, you can just check that option on the search engine, and it automatically does it for you.<\/p>\n

Remember to always read a website\u2019s FAQs to learn more about using the search engine to get the best results. You can find help for searching GenealogyBank here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Browse Records<\/strong><\/p>\n

Oh, the good old days of genealogy \u2013 when you picked the census microfilm for the place you thought your ancestor lived in, loaded the microfilm, then cranked the microfilm reel page by page and studied each line until that \u201caha!\u201d moment when you found your ancestral family.<\/p>\n

Sure, today it\u2019s much easier. Typing a few words in any number of online search engines you can (maybe) find your ancestor. No arm muscles required. But sometimes it\u2019s not that easy. Sometimes because of a bad transcription, or simply not finding your ancestor where you think they should be, the search engine doesn\u2019t help. When your ancestor doesn\u2019t just jump off the page with an online search, what should you do?<\/p>\n

First, try different variations of your search, including misspellings, wild cards, Soundex, and searching on another household member\u2019s name. If you know the place where they lived you could search the census page by page. It takes longer but sometimes that\u2019s what\u2019s necessary to find what you are looking for. In addition, you can also search the Social Security Death Index<\/a> for information such as date of birth, date of death, and age at death.<\/p>\n

While today we don\u2019t need to crank the microfilm for many of the records we use like the census, newspapers, and city directories, you can still browse records instead of searching. Most genealogy websites provide you a way to browse record sets, page by page.<\/p>\n

On GenealogyBank you can browse each page of the entire newspaper you\u2019re interested in instead of just looking at the article where your ancestor\u2019s name is found. From the Article Results Page, click on the link at the top left that says Pages. This will reveal all the pages from that particular issue of the newspaper.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a><\/p>\n

You can also browse through the entire newspaper by clicking the forward and backward arrows at the bottom of the screen.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a><\/p>\n

It Can Pay to Be Old Fashioned<\/strong><\/p>\n

It\u2019s great to have so many tools available to us at our fingertips \u2013 but in some cases, research demands more time and effort than just a simple, quick online search. Take some time to go beyond a website\u2019s search engine results to find what you need.<\/p>\n

__________________<\/p>\n

* \u201cThe WPA Census Soundexing Projects,\u201d Prologue Magazine (https:\/\/www.archives.gov\/publications\/prologue\/2002\/spring\/soundex-projects.html<\/a>: accessed 1 April 2017).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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