Well, here you have it. An excellent description by Kevin of the multiple features in addition to the transcription, which come with the BGS CD. I think it's appropriate (particularly since I'm not a member of BGS) to point out that the timing of Ancestry's release of its indexed 1861 images is somewhat unfortunate for BGS. The society is a nonprofit and has devoted a good bit of time, not to mention some expense, to producing what clearly is a fine CD of great use to Bucks research. I sincerely hope the timing of Ancestry's release of its indexed 1861 images does not dampen sales of the BGS CD. After all, if the nonprofit societies cannot through sales of publications recoup costs and (hopefully) accrue some seed money for future projects, then such projects likely will cease to be undertaken. Ancestry is a fine resource, but it is a multi-million dollar for-profit enterprise. That does not make it 'evil'; it simply is what it is. It is also pretty pricey for individual subscriptions....so many people access it through their libraries and/or LDS Family History Centers. It makes a great deal of sense to me to purchase the BGS CD, and then, when possible, to consult images of the originals (via film or a trip to the library to ck Ancestry images) for verification. Unfortunately for me, my lot left Bucks some 200 years before even the first census was taken. ;-( -Sandy On Saturday, April 30, 2005, at 02:44 PM, Kevin Quick wrote: > Although a primary use for many, I would also like to point out that > the BGS 1861 CD is not just a tool for finding a specific person or > family, however, a function for which we hope the accuracy of our > transcript and the powerful search engine makes it extremely proficient > (BTW the programme shows a list of all the surnames in the census and > where the transcriber had a doubt over an entry there are notes to > explain the doubt, with alternative possibilities - all of which > should make tracking down a person easier) > > The data can be searched on any census field and the results of the > search can be plotted to county and country maps in a number of > different ways e.g. by census place, by birth place etc. thus showing > the distribution and concentrations of names, distribution across the > county of occupations etc. The program also shows age and sex > distribution of search results etc. The CD contains a gazetteer of the > county, allows distance calculations, and shows hundreds and civil > registration districts and so on. > > I just thought it would be handy to point out some of the functionality > of the CD as all the discussion to date has concentrated on pinpointing > individuals. > > Regards > Kevin Quick >