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Iowa State Census Project
TECHNICAL HELPS

Old Handwriting Help

Deciphering Old Handwriting: http://amberskyline.com/treasuremaps/oldhand.html for a great tutorial on reading old handwriting. It has pictures and everything you might want.

"" Examples of the letters of the 17th Century: http://www.rootsweb.com/~genepool/oldalpha.htm
General Transcription Help from the Board for Certification of Genealogists: Skillbuilding: Transcribing Source Materials

Spreadsheets

There are many things you can do in a spreadsheet that you may not be aware of. Depending on the version you have, and the vendor, check it out.
You can freeze the header lines so that there is always a clear and present indication of the column titles. First you can scroll the items off the top that are NOT titles of column, then freeze the title lines. Scrolling down the spreadsheet will then not scroll the titles off.

In EXCEL, set what you initially want to view, including the title rows, then put cursor on the top line that you want to be able to scroll, then click on WINDOW and then click on FREEZE PANES.

In MS WORKS, set what you initially want to view, including the title rows, then put cursor on the top line that you want to be able to scroll, then click on FORMAT and then click on FREEZE TITLES.

 

In Excel, you can copy the SHEETS (e.g. "1856 Census") and make 4, 5 or more sheets. This is handy if you want to put all the individuals for a township in a particular file (e.g. Desmoine.xls). In Excel, go to EDIT, then Move or Copy Sheet. Note: you can also delete extra sheets this way.

 

The sequential line numbers that are typically in the first column of a census template can be easily modified by using the correct formula. Typically this is either "=sum(a8+1)" or "@sum(a44+1)". To use this properly, the top cell needs to have a number in it. For example, if cell A10 is the top cell, then put a "1" in cell A10 and the formula in cell A11 and all cells below that in which you want a sequence of numbers. Try it.

Please contact Steve Williams for additional questions or help formatting a text only file.  See the email address below.


If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions for the IA State Census Project, please email them to