24 May 2012

1940 census presentation and indexing startup

Monday night I gave a presentation on accessing and using the 1940 census to a local society - Angelina County Genealogical Society in Lufkin, Texas. As part of the discussion I encourage everyone to help with the community indexing project sponsored by the U.S. National Archives, FamilySearch, Archives.com, ProQuest, and FindMyPast.com. See https://the1940census.com/ for information on the project and these sponsoring companies.

For those who are interested in indexing, there are videos to explain the process. Go to the website, hover over "Getting Started," then click on the popup for "Video Training." These videos will walk you through the account signup and getting started process:

1. Download FamilySearch Indexing software - This video guide will walk you through downloading the Indexing software.

2. Create a FamilySearch Account - This video guide will show you how to create a FamilySearch Account, which is needed to index.

3. How to Index the 1940 Census - This video guide will provide you with an overview of how to index the 1940 US Census. This video is recommended for all indexing volunteers.

4. Associate yourself with a Group (Society) - This video guide will show you how to associate yourself with a group when you first log in.

I joined the Texas State Genealogical Society indexing project so my work gets counted for Texas. I always select the 1940 Texas census project to work on when I start the indexing program. There are lots of indexing projects for things other than the 1940 census and you have to view the entire list and scroll down to find 1940 census for Texas.

While searching online I found another useful set of step-by-step instructions written for a Buncombe County, North Carolina group. These instructions are also helpful in a general way, but some items are specific to the project this group is working.

Texas is 27% indexed. We need more indexers so we can search the census sooner instead of only being able to browse.

By the way, on my 1940 U.S. Census Tips and Finding Aids page I include all of the links to documents and websites discussed in my 1940 census presentation. You can use the links and save a lot of typing of URLs.

© 2012, Debbie Parker Wayne, CG, All Rights Reserved

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