When you say you “searched” a set of records, what does that mean? Did you search an index in a book created from abstracts of those records? Did you search a database created from those records at FamilySearch, Ancestry, or some other website? Did you manually search the images of those records page by page? Did you manually search the actual records themselves page by page.

If you searched the book’s index, what name variants did you look for? How was the book structured? Was every name in the records included in the book and was every name in the book indexed? If you searched a the records by querying a database created from those records, how did you account for spelling variations or transcription issues while searching? Did the database clearly indicate what pieces of data from the records were included in the database?

If you manually searched the digital images, did you make certain nothing was missing? Did you get to view all the images? What time period did you cover? If you searched the originals…the same questions apply?

Think about what you mean when you say, “I searched.”

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