How do you sign up for the free newsletter? thanks, Christine ----- Original Message ----- From: <Hdanw@aol.com> To: <VA-SOUTHSIDE-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Monday, February 06, 2006 11:01 PM Subject: [VA-SOUTHSIDE-L] Using Resources Other than Computer Databases > Dear Searchers, > > One of the recent Ancestry Daily News letters had this article from a > professional genealogist. > > Please remove the punctuation at the beginning and the end before cutting > and pasting into your search box [or whatever it is called] > > (_http://www.ancestry.com/rd/prodredir.asp?sourceid=20623&key=A1090706_ > (http://www.ancestry.com/rd/prodredir.asp?sourceid=20623&key=A1090706) ) > > This is an article by Paula Stuart-Warren, a professional genealogist who > lectures a good deal. She reminds us that NOT everything we seek is on > the > computer and she still uses *old-fashioned* methods, like interviews, > letters, > writing to relatives and courthouses. > > (In fact, when I was searching last week a certain digitized census for a > small county in Texas, I could not find in the index of that huge > database tje > surnames of some of my ancestors, who greatly populated this county. So, > having long ago searched the census the old-fashioned way by reading the > microfilmed census, I proceeded to seek the page [the online census] on > which these > folks with common surnames were most likely appear. Yes, they were on > the > census--but the index was incomplete. Someone had some months ago told > me > that the indexing of many of these large genealogical databases had been > outsourced--probably in a country where workers get about 25 cents an > hour. My > informant told me the error rate was huge.) > > My grandparents and great-grandparents spent their entire lives in rural > areas, areas not likely to show up on most computer databases, so this > means > using *old-fashioned* ways in genealogy to detect their activities and > migrations and other events in their busy but not notable lives. I have > to read > mostly the censuses and the county records, not many of them digitized for > the > rural areas where my people resided and spent most of their lives. > > By the way, a subscription to this daily newsletter is FREE. I enjoy > reading what professionals have to say about this intriguing hobby--which > causes > great clutter in my computer & genealogy room!!! > > Happy hunting! > > E.W.Wallace > > > > > > > > > > Five days a week there is an article by a professional genealogist, many > of > them worth printing and putting in your HOW TO notebook. > > This newlsetter is free to subscribers. I do not (yet) subscribe to > Ancestry.com but I have purchased many of their books in the past. > > E.W.Wallace > > > > ==== VA-SOUTHSIDE Mailing List ==== > USGenWeb Archives http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb > Do Not Flame other Members on List. > If you have problems or concerns with list posts, contact the List > Administrator. glh@naxs.com > > ============================== > Search the US Census Collection. Over 140 million records added in the > last 12 months. Largest online collection in the world. Learn more: > http://www.ancestry.com/s13965/rd.ashx > >