Astro-Databank:Data collector's handbook

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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
• 7.1 United States Birth Certificate Policies
• 7.2 Other Countries Birth Certificate Policies
• 8. Standard Time Zones (meridian sort)
• 9. Standard Time Zones
• 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 [ät] AstroDatabank.com.