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A Project of the Jewish Genealogical Society of Illinois

FAQ Frequently Asked Questions

The JGSI Jewish Chicago Database (JJCD)

Search Page Link

 

The JGSI Jewish Chicago Database Project
Information including cemeteries and other records contained in the database, and including links to cemetery information (link).

 

Question: What is the JGSI Jewish Chicago Database (JJCD) and why was it created?

Answer: The JJCD project was created from an idea by Mike Karsen, JGSI Past President, for combining all possible Chicago area Jewish genealogical data. It expands on a previous Chicago Area Death Index containing cemetery and death related information such as obituaries and plaques. Email:  JJCD@JGSI.org 

Question: I'm not sure of how to spell the surname of the person I am researching.

Answer: You can use these options for both surname and given name:
Sounds like . . . . Starts With . . . . Contains.
Or you can display the entire listing of names for any selected database (see question below).

Question: Why can't the century be added to the information displayed?
When only the decade appears so it is difficult to tell 19th from 20th century.

Answer: The records are obtained from the cemeteries and only reflect their system for dating. If no death year was in the cemetery source database a N.A. may be displayed. And if there is no century or decade in the cemetery record it is not in the database. The search form has the following search recommendation which addresses the issue. Unfortunately, with over 80,000 death related records, it is not possible to enter the century when it could be deduced based on knowledge of an individual's known birth or death date.

RECOMMENDATION:
Use the 'contains' option and enter the year if known. E.g. 05 or 1805 or 1905 or 2005.

EXAMPLE: If you are searching for a death year of 1934 you should consider doing two searches. First using year CONTAINS 1934, and if no results using 34. Remember, if no death century or decade year was in the cemetery source database a N.A. may be displayed.

Question: How far back the records go? I am trying to find information from the 1880s and 1890s.

Answer: It depends on the individual cemetery record(s). Some records do not indicate the century. You should check the cemetery information to determine their earliest and latest burial dates, or for a particular section which could help determine the century. See the previous question for the recommended search process which may help in your search.

Question: My search has resulted in a very large number of records with the name I'm searching.
For example, how can I search a very long displayed list of obituaries
. . .
to find the name I'm looking for?

Answer: You have two options Most browsers have a search feature. If Option 1 results in too many returns, try Option 2.
Many broswers use COMMAND KEY + F to allow searching.This is an example using Firefox browser.
To find the next instance of the name hit 'return' and the next name instance will be highlighted

OPTION 1. Enter the name in the 'Notes-1' search field using the 'Contains' option. All obituaries with the surname name or in the obituary will be displayed. This could be a large number of records. You can try changing the search criteria to reduce the number of results. For example, if you searched for a surname for the entire database, try searching each published year of death.

OPTION 2. After the search results display, and if there is a long list of many pages, use your browser search feature. Most browsers have a search feature. Use the browser help feature for details. Howver, many broswers use COMMAND KEY + F to allow searching.This is an example using FireFox:

Search option view of database results

Question: Some database images have writing that is sometimes difficult to read. Will important information be available in typed form?

Answer: Possibly. Important genealogy information will be transcribed into a searchable databases. Transcriptions are dependent on available volunteers. We believe that access to the written records are valuable and should be made available prior to any transcription project completion.

Question: My internet connection is very slow and the display results take a long time to display. What can I do?

Answer: Contact the webmaster and he will assist you.
Contact Ron Miller, the JGSI Webmaster@jgsi.org

Question: How do I make the displayed results larger for easier reading?

Answer: Every browser has a Zoom or Enlarge feature. Here are how some browser zoom features work. Check your browser's help section for more detailed information and other options.

Chrome browser:
chrome logo Zoom in or out on your current page
Use the zoom options to make everything on a webpage larger or smaller.
1 On your computer, open Chrome.
2 At the top right, click More .
3 Next to "Zoom," choose the zoom options you want:
• Make everything larger: Click Zoom in .
• Make everything smaller: Click Zoom out .
• Use full-screen mode: Click Full screen .

Safari browser:
safari logo Choose View > Zoom In, press Command (⌘)–Plus Sign (+), or pinch open on your trackpad.
To set a minimum font size for webpages: Choose Safari > Preferences, click Advanced, then select “Never use font sizes smaller than XX.”

Internet Explorer 10 browser:
IE10 browser logo Zoom in on a webpage
Make everything on a webpage easier to see by zooming in, or enlarging the whole page—including images and text.

With a webpage open, press Ctrl+Plus sign (+) to zoom in, or Ctrl+Minus sign (-) to zoom out.

Or, open Internet Explorer, swipe in from the upper right side of your screen, tap or click Settings, tap or click Internet Options, and then use the Zoom slider to set the zoom level.

Firefox broswer:
firefox logo
To zoom in, increasing the size, press and hold commandCtrl while pressing +.
To zoom out, decreasing the size, press and hold commandCtrl while pressing -.
To reset size back to normal, press and hold commandCtrl while pressing 0.

Question: I have a question not on this page? Where do I go for additional help?

Answer: Contact the JGSI Webmaster@jgsi.org

Question: How was this search form and database tool created?

Answer: This database tool was created using Stephen P Morse's One-Step Search Tool generator