Heritage Quest Online: Census Records

Available free through subscribing libraries, Heritage Quest Online packs in an intuitive interface, fast downloads, and crisp census images. If your library doesn't subscribe, you're missing out!

Pros

• Free to members of subscribing libraries
• Easy to use interface and crisp, enhanced images
• Notebook feature helps you keep track of searches

Cons

• Not available for an individual subscription
• No soundex or wildcard search options
• Head of household indexes only

Description

• Includes census images for all decades 1790 to 1930.
• Head of household indexes for 1790 to 1820, 1860, 1870, 1890, 1900 to 1910 and 1920 to 1930 (partial).
• Available only as a library subscription, but offered free by participating libraries to members.
• Advanced search options also include state, county, age, and birthplace, but no wildcard or soundex.
• Census indexes prepared by Heritage Quest are much more accurate than the common AIS indexes.
• Images appear in an HTML viewer, with no extra software required.
• Full-screen, enhanced census images load quickly and are easy to read.
• Black and white enhanced census images make viewing easier, but could possibly affect quality.
• Census images are also available as negative images as an alternate opportunity for readability.
• Handy notebook feature allows you to save census images and citations, and take online notes.

Guide Review

Developed specifically for library patrons, Heritage Quest Online offers an intuitive, easy-to-use interface and clear, crisp census images. Searching is simple and offers a lot of options, although it lacks the ability to use wildcards or soundex to search for misspelled names. Available census indexes are highly accurate - much more so than commonly used AIS indexes. Census images download quickly and appear as full-screen, enhanced images, though some people claim that this enhancement could introduce errors. Images can be quickly downloaded and saved or printed in Tiff (non-compressed) or PDF format. Overall, Heritage Quest Online is the most flexible census offering available, if you can convince your library to subscribe!