Remember Soundex?? When was the last time you had to use it??
Do you even know what Soundex is?? Here is a Wikipedia article.
We used to use Soundex so much that Rootsweb even came up with a converter, remember??
I honestly have to say, it has been so long since I needed to use Soundex that I did not recognize it while doing some research in Washington state birth records index. Well, not right away anyway. I sat at the film reader trying to figure out the game plan for this massive set of records for a few minutes, ok, a lot of minutes.
The organization methods didn't seem to be making any sense, Lexxx, Lixxx, Laxxx, I am thinking, Carol you really really need more coffee! This is just not making sense, wondering, can they infuse that caffeine directly into my veins??
Then, all of a sudden my old researching tricks (wanted to say skills, but, not sure I have skills anymore, so, lets just say tricks) came back in a blast from the past.
SOUNDEX, that is how this is organized. Well, WOWSERS!! See:
"L 216" (the L does not show in this graphic, which does not show the full amount of information contained in the index), the Soundex for Lashbrook, and lookie see, I found a few!
It all works when you know the game plan!
Next challenge wii be finding these records on the records film. Gotta say, I am really glad I remembered what Soundex was! LOL
Remember Soundex? When was the last time you used it??
.
5 comments:
Soundex, it was the way to go, and I used it often until the names were indexed and census records came online. Using Soundex made you feel as though you were really doing research!
Posted a blog about it basically for people who weren't researching when Soundex was the thing to do!
Cathy
http://detourthroughhistory.blogspot.com/2011/02/soundex-cards-old-fashioned-way-of.html
Lord Carol,you do bring back memories. Before there were all the clever search engines we have now Soundex was a huge help.
Sure do remember it. I used it back when I first started researching in 1994. I still have my first family file folder that I made when I started researching and it has Blanton (B453) written on the tab. LOL. I still use Soundex search on Ancestry, but the search engine knows the code now and I don't have to remember it.
Uh, I used it today. I have recently received new information on some of my husband's German families, and they have so many alternate spellings (today was Sharer for Scherer) that Soundex really helps. But I sometimes forget it, too.
Post a Comment