Genealogical Tools: Is the index enough?

The relentless search for a family name can become even more fruitful, with some understanding of the different types and limitations of indexes. There are good reasons why a search should go beyond checking the index.

• Indexes typically include limited information. The purpose of an index is to help the researcher identify possibilities in the records, and not everything that the record contains. A book index provides a page number, and the researcher has to turn to that page to find the information. Sometimes a book index (especially in family histories) will provide other information, such as a birthdate or generation or place name, which is intended to help the researcher narrow the options.

  And that's exactly what the phonetic Soundex microfilms for Federal censuses and various other records is intended to do. It helps the researcher sort out the various John Andersons or Carl Olsons, by providing a location as well as vital information about others living in the same household. It doesn't substitute for the actual census page any more than the on-line index does -- how many years has the individual been married, is the individual illiterate, is the home owned or rented, year of immigration, or any other clues for further research. And it certainly doesn't show the neighbors (who may be related). However, for those Federal censuses with Soundex microfilms, this second index may reveal that ancestor you can't find using the on-line versions.

  The on-line Minnesota death index is an amazing tool, but it is in reality only an index to the certificates which were collected by the Minnesota Department of Health. The certificates themselves contain much more information than that found on the index. With the identification number, that data can be searched on microfilm at the Minnesota History Center, at your local public library through interlibrary loan, or at various county historical societies which have purchased the films.

  The on-line Minnesota birth index begins in 1900, and offers a variety of ways to search, as does the death index. Constructed from the original certificates by volunteers at the Minnesota History Center, the index may reveal certificates for births that occurred before the 1911 requirement to send records to the State Health Department. And adoptions and illegitimate births are also included (they are not available on the Ancestry.com database). Digital copies of the original records can be ordered on-line.

• Items different from what you expect could be in the index. Some indexes are 'every-name' indexes, with entries for each individual. Some indexes include only surnames. Some indexes show some other references than page number, such as the person's number within a family history. And some indexes are intended to include topics, with less attention to individuals. These are often found in local histories, where only the more important people are included in the index, but many more names can appear within the text. Be sure to read the introduction to determine what was indexed, and how to use the information you may find.
• Indexes are made by humans, and therefore imperfect. Consider how many spellings you've found for the surnames you're searching, and then how similar certain letters appear when handwritten: is that name really Bean or was it indexed as Beau? Did the clerk write down Lee or Leigh, or perhaps the exchange took place in the immigrant's native language, with the clerk writing Boisvert instead of the translated Greenwood that the individual typically used? Looking at the actual source can answer that kind of question for you.
• Allow for process errors too. Did the indexer(s) skip a page or a record or two (perhaps they were stuck together)? Or did the doctor on the death certificate list your grandmother as "Mrs. John" instead of by her given name? (There are many records in the Minnesota Death Index that begin with titles, such as Dr., Rev., and Mrs.) In the Minnesota Birth Index, also available through the Minnesota Historical Society site at , many births are listed as "baby girl" or "baby boy." A search of the index using the child's first name will return no hits.

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