Hi Terri I understand your frustration at researching using microfilms. I remember that feeling myself, once. Most of us have been there. Some of the old filmed records are pretty awful but learning to read them will come to you in time and with practice. Like everything else in life, just jump in and keep after it. It will get easier! Meanwhile, I would encourage you to use the techniques offered here by others. They are all good ideas/advice. Educate yourself, too, in the key words you need to learn to pick out of the records and what the various words and letters will look like.
I am the coordinator for the Azores GenWeb site, located at: http://homepage.mac.com/kmacardoza/Genealogy/azoresindex.html. There are a lot of very helpful resources there including word lists, a paleography (helping to identify letters, abbreviations, and words), and various How Tos. Take some time as you start out on your research, to check out the help that is waiting there for you. Knowledge will lessen your concerns and make your search much more enjoyable. Also, I would suggest getting a small Portuguese to English dictionary to take with you when you go to read the records. It can be very helpful. I hope this has helped you out. Good luck and happy hunting! Kathy Cardoza On 1/3/10 12:16 AM, Terri wrote: > Can someone please give me some guidance to using the microfilms? How > do you do it when you only have an idea of the years a person maybe be > born in. Looking for someone circa 1880 could mean looking at a few > books for years before and maybe even after.... I have already ordered > 3 films and i feel so anxious when i see so many of the pages > grainy..and difficult to read (not because it's in Portuguese but the > quality of the film...or pages) and i have no exact date to search. I > am afraid i don't know how to really look at these microfilms for the > information i need and feel discouraged that this is where it ends for > me with the searching unless i take a trip to the Azores to spend my > days at the archives there. I don't want to order any more microfilms > until i understand how to search more effectively without spending 8 > hour days at the library trying to decipher what i'm looking at. > > -- ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Visit the Azores GenWeb Project: http://homepage.mac.com/kmacardoza/Genealogy/azoresindex.html Climb My Family Tree: http://homepage.mac.com/kmacardoza/Genealogy/Kathy/index.htm ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ -- To unsubscribe from this group, send email to azores+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. Follow the confirmation directions when they arrive. For more options, such as changing to List, Digest, Abridged, or No Mail (vacation) mode, log into your Google account and visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/Azores. Click in the blue area on the right that says "Join this group" and it will take you to "Edit my membership."
