Database Name Spring Cleaning

Image Credit: Sally Wilson (Own work) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

We have been making some updates to better standardize our database names and make them more convenient for your research. Highlights include:

  • Location oriented databases – They are consistently prefixed. For the United States and Canada, they will start with the city and state or province code, followed by the description, and ended with the year range for that collection (when possible). For databases from other countries, they will start with the country name. Examples include:
    o Massachusetts: Jewish Cemeteries from American Jewish Historical Society, 1875-2012
    o New Castle, NH: Record Book, 1745-1937
    o Australia: Fortune Hunters, 1808-1857
  • Census – National census start with the country name then year and description, and local censuses have the city and state or provide code followed by the year. Examples include:
    o Norway: Census, 1875
    o Massachusetts: 1855 State Census
    o Framingham, MA: Census of the East Ward, 1837
  • Journals and Periodicals – These start with the name of the journal and periodical. If the database contains only extracted records and dates from the journal or periodical, a description and year range is included. Examples include:
    o Connecticut Nutmegger
    o Albany Argus: Records of Deaths and Marriages, 1826-1828
    o New Hampshire Gazette: Vital Records, 1756-1800

Of course, you can always browse the Database List A-Z to search the full range of databases if you don’t immediately find what you are looking for. And if you have bookmarked specific pages or saved search results in your trees – fear not, these references will be automatically redirected to use the new database names.