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14 December 2014

Year Coverage Can Be Misleading

Many databases will be titled something like "Blah Blah Records of Blah Blah: 1800-1900." Always try and determine just years are really included in the database. It could be that the "Blah Blah Records of Blah Blah: 1800-1900" actually only contains entries for:

  • 1800-1820
  • 1845
  • 1860-1880
  • 1890-1900
Read the "more about," "FAQ," or whatever they call it to determine just how complete the database is. It does include records between 1800 and 1900, but there are gaps.

And of course, your person of interest lived in the area from 1830 until 1840...and his grandson lived there from 1892-1898.

2 comments:

  1. How true! Wish there was better descriptions for the records in these databases.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Unfortunately, it's very true :(

    ReplyDelete