In trying to find "variants" of names i often find it useful to do a "scan for <the trailing> part" of a family name**... Say U need SAUTER as a name, well search for "_auter", and Bauter / Lauter / Rauter / Sauter etc. will be "hit" and the fun can begin... Once U find a "suspect" it's best to do some compares to data that may exists about the same people. Many databases contain more than one record for a particular family unit In many of the ERRATUM / ERRATA posts i have done , i have also provided the "correct" records for the names in question.* At this point i would like to encourage others who have found "variants" to share that information with the list members By posting BOTH , or multiple variants , U will make it easier for other researchers , who will also be able to "connect" * Generally i have tried to put the associated < and hopefully correct > records under "COMPARE: " ..... ** Partial scans are not always easy, and some trial and error may be needed to find something that will work for U! NOTE: It used to be possible to do ALL partial <trailing included!> scans directly on yODL(***) , but since the database has become an indexed database this is no longer possible. HOWEVER, U can always download an entire file from yODL to a local computer and then proceed to use "editting" or "browsing" tools that can help locate information in these files, thus locating data which otherwise may be "lost" to U! *** ye Odessa Digital Library ... Hope that this helps and clarifies a few things, ;j.