Searching the Ancestry Card Catalogue

When was the last time you searched the Ancestry card catalogue?  If your answer is "Never" than you may be missing out on a great way to narrow down you searches on the website, and discovering specific sets of records that you may otherwise be missing.

To get to the card catalogue, log into Ancestry and click on the Search tab at the top of the page, then select the "Card Catalogue".

The Card Catalogue is a searchable list of all the record collections available.  Because of the way their databases are titled you can use the title search box to narrow all the resources for a specific place, such as "Victoria, Australia".  You can then browse through the various data sets, click on one which interests you, and conduct a specific search of those records for anything relevant to your family.

Using this method, I discovered that Ancestry holds many of the Victorian asylum records from 1853-1940.  I searched these records and was able to locate the patient records of two of my ancestors who were admitted to asylums shortly before they died.  Both were elderly and suffering from dementia, one in Ararat and one in Kew.  Their records contained details of their admission, family members who admitted them, their doctor's comments on their illness and general health - one even had a photograph attached.  Incredible details to add to my knowledge of each individual.

So take a look at what the card catalogue has to offer and get the most out of Ancestry.  You may find a selection of records you never knew existed that hold details about your family