Genealogy index page

One of the major problems we all face when using indexes and transcripts, is the difficulty of not having immediate access to the original source from which it was derived. This series of CD-ROMs addresses this issue by including facsimile images of the source material on the CD and linking this to the results of any search on a separate database of all the relevant text.

Program features

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1. The program is supplied on a single CD-ROM with an install routine, setup.exe in its root directory. Running this will install the search engine to your hard drive and create a Windows shortcut for starting the program.

All of the data files and the facsimile images are held on the CD-ROM. Although this is slightly slower for access than if they were on your hard drive, it means that only around 3MB of hard drive space is used compared to over 20MB (compressed) for the entire data set.

2. Manuals are supplied on the CD-ROM in the format of Microsoft Word (6.0) .DOC, Rich text .RTF, and Adobe Acrobat .PDF, files. A full description of all the features of the program is included.

You can print these manuals from your word processor if you require a paper version of them. As well as a tutorial, the manuals also contain information about how the data has been transcribed and checked.

4. A second compound search interface is provided that lets you vary the logical operators between fields and repeat the inclusion of the same field in the query.

More complex searchs such as "Find all butchers in Aylesbury AND in Amersham", or "Find all bakers OR people named SMITH in Berkshire NOT living in Newbury."

5. When are result set has been generated from a successful search, this can be viewed either as a single record at a time or in a multiple record grid format. The result set in the grid format can be previewed on screen and then printed. The printout always includes the details of the search you ran to create that result set.

A one name or occupational study on the Directory contents will be neatly formatted and printed with this facility. All the text that is in the database is included in the printout, using word wrapping onto additional lines if needed. Printouts can be saved to file and restored, and zoomed to 3 different levels in the preview window. There is a limit of 300 events to save paper.

5. When are result set has been generated from a successful search, this can be viewed either as a single record at a time or in a multiple record grid format. The result set in the grid format can be previewed on screen and then printed. The printout always includes the details of the search you ran to create that result set.

A one name or occupational study on the Directory contents will be neatly formatted and printed with this facility. All the text that is in the database is included in the printout, using word wrapping onto additional lines if needed. Printouts can be saved to file and restored, and zoomed to 3 different levels in the preview window. There is a limit of 300 events to save paper.

6. When any name is selected in the results set, a click on the Facsimile tab will bring up a facsimile image of the page on which that entry originally occurred, scrolled to a position so that the entry is fully readable in the central column of the screen.

The facsimile view is a magnified one so that the image is easy to read. The image can be scrolled both horizontally and vertically to see more of the page. Navigation aids to previous and next pages are provided.

7. All of the fields (single result, result grid, facsimile image) have right click menus attached to them to allow easy navigation and printing.

If in doubt, right click and a popup menu will appear with the appropriate choices enabled.

8. The facsimile image of any page in the Directory may be printed from the popup menu on the facsimile page.

The name of the person being searched is printed along with a legible (but smaller) facsimile of the entire page that they appear on in the original Directory. This is on one A4 sheet of paper.

9. The fields on which searches may be conducted are Prefix, Forenames, Surname, Suffix, Occupation, Address, Town, County and page number.

Using combinations of these fields, wild cards, and compound searches, just about any search strategy can be implemented.

10. There are just over 13,000 entries in the Pigot's Directory of 1830 for these three counties.

The entries are for the gentry, clergy, professionals, shopkeepers, traders, publicans, parish officers and manufacturers. It was only after 1847 that more general inclusion of all villages and more of the population came about.

Genealogy index page