Location, Location, Location
I have noticed from several message boards that people researching their ancestry often get confused over locations and the relationships between them. I have used the following strategies with great effect in my research.

A very useful map site is www.old-maps.co.uk which, as well as allowing you to see an old and modern map of a place (plus an aerial view, but not in Scotland!) has the added benefit of giving you the modern postcode.

You can then use the postcodes of two locations to use a facility such as that provided by the AA to establish geographical links between places. This is particularly useful for those overseas because getting a sense of scale for the British Isles is not always easy.

One other tip is NOT to trust the spelling of place names even when looking at the original census returns from Scotland as these were completed by English ‘speakers’ ignorant of the Gaelic spelling of many place names.

However, if you search for a place name within a census it will provide you with an indication of the size of the settlement, and scrolling through the inhabitants can save time as other relations can often be located with ease.

That’s three quick tips for the price of one!

Peter Kerr

Another E-mail Saving Tip
With reference to Bob Walter’s ideas for saving e-mails as word processor documents (http://www.ancestry.com/s23560/t9285/rd.ashx), I do the same. But have a slightly quicker way of copying the text.
 
I pretend to forward the e-mail. This puts the original header into the text of the e-mail. I can then select the text (CTR+A) and copy it (CTR+C). It can then be pasted directly into the word processor document. The forwarding e-mail can then be abandoned.
 
I also use a very handy freeware program for these and other snippets of information that allows me to keep them all in one “database” and sort them into folders. It is Treepad Lite (http://www.treepad.com/download/).
 
Happy New Year!
 
Bob Hunter
West Yorkshire, United Kingdom

Keeping Track of Correspondents
In my genealogy address book I find I end up with many contacts and it is hard to remember who goes with which family line. I use Netscape mail so I mark the surnames in the “organization” area of the contact information so they are easily identified with the family line I am searching at any given time. At a quick glance I can tell who in my address book is associated with the same family.

Thanks,
Liz Weiers
Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, Canada

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