There are some good suggestions for using US Census data in the latest Rootsweb Review that all list members should be getting. They suggest that all data be written down but they do not say anything about making a copy of a census record. In my opinon, having a true copy of the record as a reliable reference for your notes is the best way to go. When you use US Census records at a LDS Family History Center you have the option of making a print from the film or making a digital copy on a CD. FHCs have been installing Canon microfilm digital viewers for a couple of years. They tell us that eventually the computer viewers will be the only ones available although at present some may still have the old viewer-printers. It is a good idea to make a hard copy print from the computer image from a film as well as to copy the film image to a CD. Be sure to take your own blank CD to the FHC when you have a film to view. Ask when you arrive if they have the computer viewer. If they do, ask if you have to get in line to use it and how much time you will have to use it. Use your waiting time to view your films on the regular viewers and to mark the images you want to copy. There are small sticky tabs that are similar to postit notes -- they stick but they release easily and they can be used several times without damaging film. They should be available at any good office supply store. They may also be available at a photography shop. (Sometimes when you are the only patron in an FHC you will be able to use the computer viewer to go through your films and make your copy as you do that.) When it is your turn to use the digital viewer, load your marked films. If the on-screen image seems too small, ask the FHC volunteer if there is another lens that would magnify it more. Once you have the image you want on screen, insert your CD in the computer CD-RW and make your copy. The software at the FHC in my city is the Roxio CD burner. It uses "direct" or "drag and drop" options. It will create an icon on the lower left of the screen that has the round image of a disk on it. To burn a copy of an image you just have to click on the image and then drag the cursor to the icon of the disk. If you cannot find that icon, ask the volunteer what to do to make your copy. The first time you drag something to a new CD a message appears that says the disk is being prepared. The first image is also copied to the CD at that time. It is a good idea to verify just what you have saved before you continue. Access the CD by clicking on START at the lower left of the screen. Then click on My Computer and then on the CD drive on the next screen. If the image has been saved to the CD it should show as a JPG file. Right Click on the file. Click on Preview in the menu that appears. You should get a view of the image you have saved on screen. If you find that you have only saved part of the film image and you want to save more of it, close the preview screen to return to the screen of the image. Adjust the image to display the additional part you want to save and drag that to the Roxio disk icon. As you continue to save views of the microfilm pages, be sure to check every once in a while if you have actually saved everything. Sometimes it happens so quickly that there is no clue that an image has acrually been saved. Also having the printed copies of each image helps you to sort out the CD copies to be sure you have them all. If you do not have Roxio software on your PC at home you have to "close" the CD you create or you will not be able to read the disk at home. When you press the eject button on the CD drive a popup will tell you that you can choose to prepare the CD to be read on any computer or you can leave it as is. If you do not have a CD- or DVD-RW with Roxio software at home, choose the first option so that you can read the CD on your home PC. When the software has prepared the disk with whichever option you select it will eject automatically. I have never tried to add to a disk that was once "closed" by Roxio and I do not know if that is possible. List members who have that software might want to test it so they will know if they can add more images to a disk they have made at an FHC after they have "closed" it. If that does not work, it is necessary to take a new disk every time you visit the FHC. If you have a CD- or DVD-RW at home with Roxio software, you will be able to read a disk made at the FHC without closing it (by choosing the second option when you want to eject the CD from the computer-viewer drive). Then you can add to the same disk on subsequent visit to the FHC. Karen