(5/5/99)
It took 11 years and thousands of volunteers working more than 2.5 million hours. But the largest census information ever to be automated is now on CD- ROM, through the LDS Church. Religion Specialist Carole Mikita reports.
Researching your family history? If your ancestors came from England, Wales or Scotland your search just became as easy as this.
"If, for example, you wanted to find David Watts, you would type in his name, and do the search and it would bring back for you.. you can see here 314 matches. You have found all of the individuals named David Watts in all of England."
LDS Church family history employees and volunteers call this packet of CD's a major milestone.
David Rencher, of the Genealogical Society of Utah, says, "We are absolutely thrilled to see this project finally on the shelves, and available to those who are interested in tracing their British ancestry."
Family history societies in England chose the 1881 British Census and worked with the LDS Church on the project because so many Americans can follow their family lines through these records.
But it took thousands of volunteers, like this LDS missionary, millions of hours, pouring over barely-readable microfilm, for 11 years to put this census on the computer.
Sister Lois Bylewski is a missionary from Milwaukee,Wisconsin. She says, "Sometimes when a name, the extractor thought it was one name and to me it looks different, then I'll say it was this or that... so that it can be indexed under both names, and possibly found then corrected."
Elder LeRoy Sommer, a missionary from Napa, California, adds, "Especially when you find a given name. Guey, G-U-E-Y. Of course everybody here is constantly finding combinations of letters that are most unusual."
World-wide family history is THE new interest, hobby, project of millions,
and this new CD-ROM packet will help families find each other.
"Probably never been a time in which we have seen so much excitement and of course with the internet, the ability now to communicate and exchange information is just exploding."
The cost for the entire census, which includes 25 CDs, is $33 dollars.
You can buy it at LDS church distribution centers, or by calling this number
1-800-537-5971.
