Your Library Has Databases- Tuesday Tip

I am in the process of determining which databases, magazines, journals, and societies that I am going to remain attached to at this time of increasing gas prices, food, and the need to keep a child in college. I also would like to go to one of the major conferences this year- God willing!

Can you imagine how surprised I became at myself when I discovered or rediscovered that my local genealogy library had its own subscription to one of the newspaper archive databases that I could use at my leisure from home instead of paying a monthly fee? All I need to do is enter my library card code whenever I want to use it.

My local public library also has access to other databases that will assist in cutting my costs and allow me to allocate those funds to other priorities (including some late fees, darn it). For example, there was an obituary from our local newspaper a year old that would cost a fee to acquire through Scrips, but by accessing the local library and checking its databases I was able to obtain the obituary for free.

January might be a good time to check your local repositories to see which databases you can access for free. Also, many genealogy societies provide access to other online databases through your membership. That might be a way to consolidate as well.

Good luck! Just wish I would have caught this one sooner!

Tuesday Tip- Don't Overlook Name Variations

While I have been off the page completing some goals of mine around my home and with my genealogy, there has been some changes in the blogging world as well. Instead of one daily theme, now there are several for each day of the week, and their explanation is at Geneabloggers. I am sure in the coming weeks I will utilize several of them, but for today, writing about one of the items I keep in my research binder whether I am working at a repository or at home is the most appropriate.

I keep a list of all the surnames that play a role in my family in my binder in alphabetical order. I also write a brief note next to some of the surnames to remind myself of their place in my family. Believe it or not, once there are 1,000 people in your database, some names get lost in the confusion.

This may seem easy enough, but do not stop there. I include all the spelling variations that I have encountered over time for each surname as well. This I consider to be critical because it can become too easy to overlook an important record otherwise. Here are some of the examples for my ancestors:

Raley- Raily, Railey, Reily, Reilly, Ryley, Reyley, Reighley, Riley

Cozart- Cozad, Cossart, Cossairt, Cozort, Cassat

Cannan- Canan, Cannon, Canon

Eckardt- Ekert, Echardt, Eckart, Eckhart, Echart, Echert

McDonald- McDonell, McDonalds

Munsey- Munsy, Muncey, Muncy

Schnacke- Schnake, Shnacke

This is a very small list, but examples for some of my surnames,and the list grows on a regular basis, which keeps the detective in me on my toes.

Good hunting!