Record the census year, microfilm number and roll or the URL of the Web site, state, county, township, page number, house or family number.

Record information on the neighbors for several houses on either side of your ancestor. You never know when they might turn out to be an in-law or other family member.

Copy census data exactly as you found it, even if you know it's incorrect.

Don't assume the children belong to the couple they're enumerated with. They may be grandchildren, nieces, nephews or cousins.

Just because your ancestor isn't in an index doesn't mean they aren't on the census. Published indexes can be inaccurate.

Look for your family in every available census and abstract the data about everyone, not just your direct line.

If the head of household is missing from a census year, don't assume he died; he may have gone to live with one of his children.

Copy everyone in the household, even if apparently not family members. It's possible you'll find a relationship at a later date.

Copy the information in all rows and columns, even if you think it's not important.

Look for variant surname spellings in indexes. Our ancestors weren't as concerned about spelling as we are.

Look for phonetic variations of your surname. Vowels were frequently interchanged: i.e. Myer, Mier, Meyer, Mire.

Watch for the Americanization of foreign-sounding names.

Don't assume all information is correct. If no one was home, the enumerator may have obtained the information from a neighbor.