Census: Guidelines 
Submitted for the LAGenWeb Archives by :  Kelly Priestly
Date:  April 2000



**********************************************
Copyright.  All rights reserved.
http://usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm
http://usgwarchives.net/la/lafiles.htm
**********************************************

 

HOW TO SUCCESSFULLY USE ARCHIVES CENSUS SUBMISSIONS 

The permission by various companies to allow the USGenWeb to post images of census schedules 
has revolutionized online genealogy research. However, there have been many misconceptions as 
to how these census images are to be used properly. The following information is designed to 
be a guideline on how to successfully use online census images in conjunction with online 
census transcriptions and image indexes. Census submissions in the USGenWeb Project Archives 
should be thought of as the census transcription/image index being the old-fashioned book 
index and the census images equivalent to the microfilm. Dedicated volunteers have spent many 
hours preparing census transcriptions. Although all archives coordinators sincerely appreciate 
and respect their hard work, inevitably mistakes are made. Census microfilms are not only at 
times hard to read, but also it is very challenging to decipher that old- timey handwriting-
-and we all know that the census taker himself often made mistakes. However, online census 
transcriptions are absolutely vital to the archives for many reasons--the main reason being 
that persons from out-of-state or out-of-area may not have access to those microfilms in 
his/her local library. However, a person relying on an online census transcription may be left 
with the feeling "Is that REALLY what the microfilm says??" and long to have the opportunity to 
look at the actual microfilm. Posting of the actual census images allows any researcher to have 
the wonderful opportunity to double-check his/her ancestor's census information. 

The following are tips on how to successfully use the online census images in conjunction with 
the corresponding image index/transcription: 

1. First find the name of the person you are looking for in the alphabetical image index or 
the house-hold numbered transcription. 
Here is a tip to locate a name quickly and easily: 
   TIPS FOR SEARCHING RECORDS ON THE INTERNET 
   Netscape & Ms Explorer users: If searching for a particular surname, locality or date while 
   going through the records in the archives or anywhere....try these few steps: 
      1. Go to the top of the report you are searching. 
      2. Click on EDIT at the top of your screen. 
      3. Next click on FIND in the edit menu. 
      4. When the square pops up, enter what you are looking for in the FIND WHAT ___________blank. 
      5. Click on DIRECTION __DOWN. 
      6. And last click on FIND NEXT and continue to click on FIND NEXT until you reach the end of 
         the report. This should highlight the item that you indicated in "find what" every place 
         it appears in the report. You must continue to click on FIND NEXT till you reach the end 
         of the report to see all of the locations of the item indicated. 

2. After you have found the name of the person you are seeking, make note of the page number, 
ward number, post-office, township, house-hold number, etc. This information will be needed to 
locate the specific corresponding census image. Most census images are named according to the 
page number. 

3. Go to the archives directory where the census images are located and find the specific image 
that you need. File size restrictions make it impossible for archives coordinators to post census 
images of the same enhanced and enlarged quality that is found on the cd-roms. Therefore, you must 
save that image to the hard-drive of your computer (or diskette) and reopen the image in an imaging 
program. All images uploaded to the archives must be in either .JPEG (.JPG) or .GIF format; census 
images are usually in .GIF format because they are black-and-white and do not require the many colors 
available in .JPG format. Thus, you must have an imaging program that will allow you to view images 
in .GIF or .JPG format. Examples of programs that work well with these census images include, but 
not limited to: 
   1. Imaging for Windows by Kodak, 
   2. Corel Photo House, 
   3. Adobe Photo. By saving these images to your computer and viewing them in an appropriate image 
      program, you will be able to enlarge and enhance the image, as well as print the image for 
      your records. 
   4. Point your mouse over the name of the census image that you wish to download. 
      Right click on the file name. When the square box appears, drag down to and select 
      "Save link as..." or sometimes "Save image as..." Another square "Save as..." option 
      box will appear. In this box, you can select the directory on your computer hard-drive 
      or a floppy diskette in which you wish to save the image. The name of the file should 
      appear in the "file name" section as the same name that is in the archives directory. 
      However, if you wish to rename the file, you may do so. Then click "Save." 
   5. Open your appropiate imaging program and follow its instructions for viewing and printing images. 

#  #  #