The Data Collector's
Handbook
We are pleased to present the AstroDatabank Data Collector's
Handbook. In the handbook, you will find:
- A comprehensive list of data collections
- Tips on how to obtain birth data for celebrities not included in
major collections
- Resource listings for getting birth certificates
- A priceless compendium of reference articles and tables that Lois
Rodden developed from over 30 years of researching birth data.
Birth Data Collections
1. What to Look For in Data Collections
2. Web Resources
3. Disk Collections
4. Printed Collections
5. Data Newsletters
Obtaining Birth Data
6. Finding Birth
Data on Celebrities Not Included in Standard Reference Works
7.
United States Birth Certificate Policies
8.
Standard Time Zones (meridian sort)
9.
Standard Time Zones (alpha sort)
10. Alternate Time Zone Names
Researching Pre-Modern Birth Data
11. Calendar Changes
12.
Historical Changes in New Year's Day
13. When Birth Times were First
Recorded
14.
Time Changes
15. LAT to LMT Conversion
16. Location Time Corrections
17. Time Corrections
Calculated from a Reference Point
18.
Local Mean Time of Sunrise for Latitudes
When looking for birth data, first check existing resources. Before
spending time, effort and money tracking down and collecting the data of a
public figure, find out if it is already available on the web, in a book,
disk collection or newsletter.
We have combed the web to compile a comprehensive listing of web
resources for birth data and biographies. There is very little timed birth
data on the web and those birth times that are listed rarely identify the
source of the data. Printed data collections often have pre-calculated
charts and a few paragraphs of biography for hours of interesting browsing
and study. We list them all and their level of accuracy. Disk collections
give you the most charts per dollar and are usually orderable by
vocational or mundane category. Newsletters are great for the latest data
on people in the news. If you know of any data collection not list, please
contact us.
If the data you seek is not available in these collections, we have
provided tips and resources to get the data yourself. Some of our data
comes from people who have an urgent need to see the chart of a favorite
celebrity. They track down the birth record, send it to us, and we
republish it to the community. Rodden has written down some of the tips
and tricks used by herself and others to obtain birth records.
Lastly, we have included a compendium of technical material that
pertains to date and time changes through history: Calendar Changes, Time
Changes, Conversion Tables, Sunrise Tables and more. Rodden is
particularly proud of this section because it was painstakingly assembled
over many years from diverse sources. It gives many clues on how to solve
dilemmas of chart erection prior to the 20th century, but it is certainly
not "the last word." There is simply too much confusion and too
little intelligence available, especially for data during the middle-ages.
We invite anyone interested in helping to decipher old chart data or
anyone with additional references to add to this material to please
contact Pat Taglilatelo.
All feedback and additional information is appreciated. We update the
Rodden AstroDatabank continually and welcome commentary pertaining to the
Handbook.
Please send your feedback regarding the Data Collector's Handbook via an
email message.
Pat Taglilatelo, editor of the Data Collector's Handbook, can be reached
via email, as well: Pat@AstroDatabank.com.
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