PRACTICE TIME

Let's try this option on the Internet.

At the Family History Library Catalog home page, select Surname Search. Type in the surname "Cannon." How many entries were located?

If you answered at least 149, then you saw the difficulty in trying to locate a common name using the Internet version. Currently you must click on every name unless you know the author's name or the exact title of the book. As you click on each name, you should check the full description which mentions the localities these people lived. For the surname Smith over 2,100 entries were listed.

Fortunately, most surnames do not come up with 2,000 entries. However, if your family name is quite common, visit a local Family History Center, as will be explained in the next lesson. There you can use the KEY WORD SEARCH feature of the old DOS version of the FHLC on computer there.

With the F6 function key on a computer at a Family History Center, you are given the option of entering two words that could also link to that surname. The two most successful methods are to enter the state or county and the surname of the spouse. Then only books, fiche, and film collections matching all the criteria are listed.

The information from your search may be printed to a text file or an ASCII file so that it can be brought into a word processing program for reporting as well.