Preparing for the 1940 U.S. Census Online

For some, the advent of the 1940 U.S. Census online on April 2, 2012, will be a life changing event. One example, is a friend who never knew his father and has been unable to locate him. It is very likely that his father will appear as a child in 1940 U.S. Census and become a real person to my friend. One key to the usefulness of the 1940 Census for purposes like that of my friend involves having a reasonably accurate index. Fortunately, FamilySearch as been indexing for years and has a huge number of volunteer indexers. What is even more noteworthy is the fact that FamilySearch and several other organizations are banding together to work on indexing the entire Census in as short a time as possible.

1940 U.S. Census Community Project 
Quoting from the site, "Upon the release of the 1940 U.S. Federal Census in April of 2012, the 1940 U.S. Census Community Project, a joint initiative between Archives.com, FamilySearch.org, findmypast.com, and other leading genealogy organizations, will coordinate efforts to provide quick access to these digital images and immediately start indexing these records to make them searchable online with free and open access."

This is a must site for anyone wanting to know about the Census or wanting to participate in this monumental genealogical event by helping to index the 132 million plus names. The basis of the program is already in place and has been for years. It is the FamilySearch Indexing project. If you are already an indexer for FamilySearch then all you have to do is start indexing the 1940 Census pages as soon as they become available after April 2, 2012. If you haven't ever participated in Indexing previously, you can sign up now and start practicing on other Census records or whatever is available.

Click on any of links to get started.