How to Search
Heritage Quest Online (HQO)

LOGGING ON TO HQO
From the library’s homepage, choose Databases. In the library, choose the Heritage Quest Online (HQO) link marked for in library use.
For access from outside the library, choose the link for home use and enter your full library barcode without spaces.

If you do not get access at this point, one of two things may be happening.

1. HQO works best on Explorer or Netscape browsers. If you are using another browser, you may not be able to access the site.
2. You need to have your browser’s security setting turned down. Cookies must be enabled for access to HQO.
   1. In Explorer, choose Tools from the toolbar and then click on Internet Options. Choose the Security tab and move the sliding scale down to low. Remember to return it to your usual setting after finishing with HQO.
   2. In Netscape, choose Tools from the toolbar and then click on Cookie Manager. Choose Unblock Cookies from this Site.

SEARCHING THE CENSUS
Years Indexed: 1790, 1800, 1810, 1820, 1860, 1870, 1890, 1910, and 1920.
[Note: 1890 census was destroyed in a fire; only 3 rolls for the nation remain and are indexed on this site.
Also, 1880 census is indexed at the Family History Library website.]

1. Only head of households and those living in a household where the head of household has a different last name are indexed.
This is not an every name index.
2. To start a search, choose Search Census from the HQO homepage.
3. The Basic Search window comes up first. You can enter surname and/or given name. Then choose a census year and/or state. If you do not choose a year or state, it will search for the name through all the indexed years and all the states.
4. Choose Advanced Search to further limit your search by county, location, age, sex, race, and/or birthplace. You can also do a search from this page without a name. For example you can generate a list of all black women heads of household in 1870.
5. Depending on how you frame your search, you may get a list of states, dates, counties, or names to choose. Click on your choice. When done, use the back button or Results List tab to go back to the list of choices.
6. When viewing results in early census years, you may have two pages to search because the front and back of each sheet had the same page number. If the name is not on the first page that comes up, look for the “A” and “B” at the top of the image and try the “B” page.
7. You can also move between pages or by name or hit with the icons above the image to the right. Page takes you sheet by sheet. Name takes you to the next instance of the name you searched.

BROWSING THE CENSUS
Images for all census years from 1790-1930 are available to browse.
If the year you need is not yet indexed or you want to search an entire ward or county, you can browse.

1. From the HQO homepage, choose Search Census.
2. Just to the left of the logo, choose Browse.
3. You will then be asked to choose a year, a state, a county, and a location. You will be taken to the first page of that location.
4. To browse, use the image icon at the right above the image to move from image to image. The page icon moves you from page number to page number; in earlier years, this will only be every other page.

PRINT CENSUS IMAGES

1. For the best quality copies, do not choose the print icon. Instead choose Download (above the image at the left).
2. Choose View. This takes you into Adobe Acrobat Reader (if you don’t have this on your computer, you will want to download it for free from www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html).
3. If you only want a section of the image, use the Graphic Select Tool (a dashed lined box with a circle and square image inside). Box off the section you want to print.
4. To magnify, use the plus and minus buttons next to the percentage magnification box.
5. Select the Acrobat Reader print icon (not your browser’s print icon). In most cases you will want to choose Properties from the print dialog box and change the paper orientation to landscape.
6. Also, be sure to mark the “Expand small pages to paper size” in the lower right of the print dialog box.

SEARCH BOOKS
HQO has nearly 8,000 published family histories and over 11,000 local histories available as full-text documents. They are also fully searchable.

1. From the HQO homepage, choose Search Books.
2. Pick whether you want to search by People, Places, or Publications.
3. In both People and Place, you can search by a combination of name, place, and keyword. The difference is in the order of priority given to each search term when the search results are displayed
4. Search results are ranked by relevancy.
5. You can choose View Citation to see the full catalog record for the book. Or, you can choose to go straight to the full-text document through View Image.
6. When viewing the images of the book, you can move forward or back by using the Page icon to read the book page by page. Or, use the Hit icon to move between pages that contain the name or place you searched.
7. Printing can be done just by using the print icon above the image to the right. A separate window opens up and you can use your browser’s print icon.

Genealogy Resources | BPL Home Page