Recording And Digitizing Old Census Information
In recent years, there has been a considerable increase in the amount of people researching their family history, particularly recently with the release of the 1940 census for the United States.
As you progress through your research you will collect lots of records and information from the census and you may start to look at how you can record it all to share with your family or preserve it for future generations.
A good way to do this is through a family history evaluation from which you can create a family history book or CD.
In order to record your family history, you firstly need to decide how you would like to achieve this, whether you would like to record it on paper or digitally and what records you wish to include as well as the census.
As the census is the most valuable source of information for your family history, you may wish to only document this on its own or you may want to include every record you have found on your ancestor(s).
From your information you could create a CD, a DVD, an audio recording, a printed book, newsletter or magazine.
The ideas for recording your family history are endless.
After you have decided how you would like to record the information you need to decide in what order you wish to record it.
If you have collected lots of census records for every ten year period, for each of your ancestors you may wish to start from 1940 and work backwards or work as far back as your ancestors appeared on a census and work up to 1940.
Alternatively, you could use the 1940 census as a starting point to begin an analysis of your family tree.
You could then create an eBook, a website, a newsletter or magazine containing your findings, linking in other records as necessary which relate to the ancestors listed in the census return from 1940.
As the internet is becoming even more popular, you may decide to set up a website to share your information.
You could include historical information on your surname, the places where your ancestors lived and the occupations they did at the time as well as a transcript of the census record from 1940.
Another area you may be interested in is collecting all of the census data for every single resident in a particular area in 1940.
This information could then be collated into an eBook and published online for people who are researching their family history or place history.
You could include photographs of the neighborhood then and now, along with links to copies of the census records.
You could write about notable people who resided in the town, any major events which occurred, how they participated in the war effort and much more.
If you are undertaking a one name study, you may wish to collect all of the census information area by area on particular names and create chapters relating to each state, county or territory and then include the information obtained from the census record.
If you decide to create an eBook or printed family history book, decide how many chapters you want to include and think of some chapter titles.
There are many websites available which provide useful hints and tips on writing your family history or you can even commission companies to write family histories for you.
Within your book you could include photographs of your ancestors, vital records and aspects of social history.
You could split the book up into generations and write about each generation separately, all the time linking the information back to the 1940 census.
As you progress through your research you will collect lots of records and information from the census and you may start to look at how you can record it all to share with your family or preserve it for future generations.
A good way to do this is through a family history evaluation from which you can create a family history book or CD.
In order to record your family history, you firstly need to decide how you would like to achieve this, whether you would like to record it on paper or digitally and what records you wish to include as well as the census.
As the census is the most valuable source of information for your family history, you may wish to only document this on its own or you may want to include every record you have found on your ancestor(s).
From your information you could create a CD, a DVD, an audio recording, a printed book, newsletter or magazine.
The ideas for recording your family history are endless.
After you have decided how you would like to record the information you need to decide in what order you wish to record it.
If you have collected lots of census records for every ten year period, for each of your ancestors you may wish to start from 1940 and work backwards or work as far back as your ancestors appeared on a census and work up to 1940.
Alternatively, you could use the 1940 census as a starting point to begin an analysis of your family tree.
You could then create an eBook, a website, a newsletter or magazine containing your findings, linking in other records as necessary which relate to the ancestors listed in the census return from 1940.
As the internet is becoming even more popular, you may decide to set up a website to share your information.
You could include historical information on your surname, the places where your ancestors lived and the occupations they did at the time as well as a transcript of the census record from 1940.
Another area you may be interested in is collecting all of the census data for every single resident in a particular area in 1940.
This information could then be collated into an eBook and published online for people who are researching their family history or place history.
You could include photographs of the neighborhood then and now, along with links to copies of the census records.
You could write about notable people who resided in the town, any major events which occurred, how they participated in the war effort and much more.
If you are undertaking a one name study, you may wish to collect all of the census information area by area on particular names and create chapters relating to each state, county or territory and then include the information obtained from the census record.
If you decide to create an eBook or printed family history book, decide how many chapters you want to include and think of some chapter titles.
There are many websites available which provide useful hints and tips on writing your family history or you can even commission companies to write family histories for you.
Within your book you could include photographs of your ancestors, vital records and aspects of social history.
You could split the book up into generations and write about each generation separately, all the time linking the information back to the 1940 census.
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