Pat: What a trip down "Memory Lane". "Been there; done that". My shelves are filled with some of that "paper" trail. Sometimes it's: "I know I have/found that" but "where did I file it?". Or; "I remember reading something about that, but where was I then?" now that I need it. And, I agree; it is faster now; searching for information/records. colleen ----- Original Message ----- From: <ChekWriter@aol.com> To: <MILLS-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Wednesday, October 05, 2005 10:16 PM Subject: [MILLS] May 1988 Microfiche To Bill and List: Back in the day before we were totally on computers( probably it is a long time ago, since not all of us began our research around 1977 forward.) Different methods, too. The IGI were on little 5 x 5 microfiche film that you put in a reader. Everything else was on microfilm that you had to order/rent either for 2 weeks, or 6 weeks/permanent loan to my LDS FHL Center, West Los Angeles, Ca. (Last time I ordered one, was about $3.50 for permanent loan.) As such on and after May 1988, I was in the West Los Angeles, Westwood, Ca. LDS FHL Center by U C L A, and was only acquainted with certain names. Richard, William, John, Julia, Phoebe, Phebe, Jonathan, etc. So I began looking at the various states around Ohio. Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, New Jersey, North Carolina, for MILLS, HEFFNER, REEDER, STITES, and those given names that I found on the census record microfilms. Each state was on a (IGI) "fiche" as they were called. Alphabetical, by ancestor. (Name, father/mother, birth/death date, marriage, christening, census, will, place, LDS designations of B, E, S, Source/Batch/Serial Sheet. Also on "fiche" were a listing of books or microfilms of various subject, and then by region, country, state, county, parish, or whatever the designation, of films that were available to be read through looking for ancestors.(Recordak Readers) Birth, death, marriage, christenings, baptisms, land records, mortality schedules by county/state, tax duplicates, family genealogies, county histories, abstracts of cemetery records, etc. My library also had a lot of information on card index files, just like in a regular library, by books, films, etc. Of course, now that we have computers, the information is searched and sorted by name, spouse, father, mother, region, country, state, year, range. So it is a lot faster to find what you are in search. pat cw This email was cleaned by emailStripper, available for free from http://www.papercut.biz/emailStripper.htm