From: Keith_Nuttle@sbcglobal.net   
      
   On 6/21/2019 8:40 AM, J. P. Gilliver (John) wrote:   
   > In message , Keith Nuttle    
   >  writes:   
   >> On 6/21/2019 6:39 AM, Geoff wrote:   
   >>> Does anyone know if there is a way to search the "Archdeaconry of    
   >>> Norwich" wills records on Family Search?  I can see the original    
   >>> records  OK but there are 950 pages of them!   
   >>> Possibly they have not been indexed  or I am missing a trick somewhere.   
      
   >>   
   >> I do not know about the records you mentioned, but I have found that    
   >> the original records had original indexes.  While it takes some time    
   >> to understand how to use the original index, they work just as well as    
   >> the transcribed index, BUT you have to look at the individual books in    
   >> the database for the original index.   
   >    
   > You mean the first few (or last few) images in the set are of a contents    
   > (or index) section in the original book? That would be nice! It's not    
   > the case in the ones I use most, which are parish records (or    
   > contemporary transcripts thereof), which aren't even in consistent order    
   > - things may be in BMD order one year, and different in an adjacent year    
   > (or even have all the Bs say for several years together): certainly no   
   > index. I just have to dip in where I think is about right, then look    
   > back and forth.   
      
   > Have you dipped into your 950 records, to see if you can get _some_ idea    
   > of how they're organised? Oh, and you don't have to use the > and <    
   > buttons: you can type a number in, so e. g. 425 to dip into the middle.   
      
   >    
   While there are a few records where the images are just pages as they    
   were pulled from the folder, most of the images are complete books.  To    
   use those records you must think like you have the hard copy book in    
   front of you.  The index would be in the first several pages of the book.   
      
   As an example if there are three books (volumes) in the e-file and there   
   are 3000 images.   The first book will start at image 1, the second in    
   the neighborhood of 1000 and the third of 2000.  To find the second book   
   you would go to image 1000, and look at the original page number. If at    
   image 1000 you have an high page number you are in the first book and    
   you would go up to find the start of the second book. If the page number   
   is low you are in the second book, you would go back to find the first    
   page in the second book.  Once you get the hang of it it become easy to    
   find he index in each book in the e-file.   
      
   I have been in many of the e-files, and found a lot of good material.    
   In the probate records of Berks Co Pennsylvania US, the pages were    
   scanned and entered into the e-file as they were found.  This means that   
   the original folder tabs were copied to mark the beginning of the    
   record, but you must go through each page to find what you need.  To    
   keep things interesting there is no set amount of pages.  One record may   
   contain 10 pages, the next 40.  The record I was looking for in this    
   file contained 150 un number pages, but the search was worth the time it   
   took to page through the records.   
      
      
      
      
      
      
   >>   
   >> Using the original index, allows you to make your own transcription of    
   >> the information, and you sometime find associated information that you    
   >> would not find in the transcribed index.   
   >>   
   >> I have found people in the original indexes, that I never would have    
   >> found using the transcribed index, as the transcriptions were so bad.   
   >> On instance, where the sure name started with Kn, was transcribed as Thn,   
   >    
   > I generally just take the image, and don't bother with any transcription    
   > (other than my own), unless the image is really illegible (I still take    
   > it then). Though I did recently encounter one record set where the    
   > download and print buttons produced a popup saying something like    
   > "contractual obligation has disabled this function".   
      
   That is when you copy the screen on your computer, and reconstruct the    
   page in your image processor program.   
      
      
   >>   
   >> --    
   >> Judge your ancestors by how well they met their standards not yours.   
   >> They did not know your standards, so could not try to meet them.   
   >>   
   > I like that. Not just your ancestors, but people in history in general   
   > (which is probably what was meant, but given the newsgroup we're in ...)   
      
      
   --    
   Judge your ancestors by how well they met their standards not yours.   
   They did not know your standards, so could not try to meet them.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)