FamilySearch Indexing
For the past two weeks I have been working on the FamilySearch
Indexing project. This is something that I read about at church and felt that
it would be an important program to participate in.
The FamilySearch Indexing project is being run by the LDS
Church and is one of the ways that they will be indexing all of the content that
they have digitized out of their vault. I have blogged in
the past about how excited I am to have this information made readily available to
everyone. For this reason I have felt that it is important for me to help out as much
as I can.
When participating in the project you download a software application that allows
you to do the indexing. You are given a choice of different
areas to begin indexing. Many of the areas deal with census data, but there are
some birth and death indexes as well. I have mostly been working on West Virginia
Births as it is a smaller database and a good place to learn how to read different
handwriting. The software displays your batch which consists of a single page image.
From this image you begin typing data into the project form. The software is easy
to use and gives you many tools to assist in deciphering the handwriting.
I received a message from the project yesterday saying that in January of 2006 there
were around 150,000 names entered. In January of 2007 there were around 3 million.
This is a tremendous increase and shows how involvement in this project is taking
off.
I would encourage everyone to help with this project. The faster that this data gets
indexed the faster it will be made available for us to do our research from the comfort
of our home without having to pay subscription fees.
Popularity: 73% [?]
Where to Write for Vital Records
The National Center for Health Statistics hosts a very
useful web page that provides the contact information for every state where you
can write to obtain vital records for births, deaths, marriages, and divorces that
have occurred in your family history. Application
Guidelines for obtaining vital records are also provided.
To obtain a certified copy of birth, death, and marriage certificates, write or go
to the vital statistics office in the State where the event occurred. Addresses and
fees are given for each event in the State concerned. Because all fees are subject
to change, a telephone number has been included in the information for each State
so you can verify the current fee. These pages also provide web page addresses of
each State’s vital records office(s).
Be sure to type or print all names and addresses in the letter.
Give the following facts when writing for birth or death records:
- Full name of person whose record is requested.
- Sex.
- Parents’ names, including maiden name of mother.
- Month, day, and year of birth or death.
- Place of birth or death (city or town, county, and State; and name of hospital, if
known). - Purpose for which copy is needed.
- Relationship to person whose record is requested.
- Day time telephone number with area code.
Give the following facts when writing for marriage records:
- Full names of bride and groom.
- Month, day, and year of marriage.
- Place of marriage (city or town, county, and State).
- Purpose for which copy is needed.
- Relationship to persons whose record is requested.
- Day time telephone number with area code.
Give the following facts when writing for divorce records:
- Full names of husband and wife.
- Date of divorce or annulment.
- Place of divorce or annulment.
- Type of final decree.
- Purpose for which copy is needed.
- Relationship to persons whose record is requested.
- Day time telephone number with area code.
Where to Write for Vital
Records
Click on State where birth, death, marriage,
or divorce occurred:A
C
D
G
K
(except New York City)
O
P
T
UUtah
Popularity: 56% [?]
Official State Archives for All 50 States of the U.S.
Here is a nice listing of the Official State Archives for all 50 states of the U.S. and 3 territories This listing includes the official department name, address, telephone numberr and web site address. One can research and find at these sites documents such as public records, registered maps, books, papers, directories, land records, and other writings and records which appertain to the political history and past administration of the state government. Typically, these are repositories for the state’s permanent governmental records as well as other materials documenting the state’s history. These types of items can help you find leads and provide more understanding when researching your ancestors and family history.
| Alabama Department of Archives and History 624 Washington Avenue P.O. Box 300100Montgomery, AL 36130-0100 Tel: 334-242-4435 www.archives.state.al.us/index.html |
Alaska Division of Libraries, Archives, and Museums 141 Willoughby AvenueJuneau, AK 99801-1720 Tel: 907-465-2270 www.archives.state.ak.us |
Arizona Department of Library, Archives, and Public Records 1700 West WashingtonRoom 442, State Capitol Phoenix, AZ 85007 Tel: 602-542-4159 www.lib.az.us/archives |
Popularity: 72% [?]