One can never be certain what’s “really new” on Ancestry.com, what’s “new,” and what’s “recycled.” Sometimes for me it simply is a case of “I don’t remember seeing it before.” The database, “U.S. Phone and Address Directories, 1993-2002,” falls into that last category.

Ancestry.com‘s “source” for this database is as follows:

Ancestry.com. U.S. Phone and Address Directories, 1993-2002 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2005.
Original data: 1993-2002 White Pages. Little Rock, AR, USA: Acxiom Corporation.

The search results appear to be gathered by person as the partial list of results for a search of John Ufkes in Carthage, Hancock County, Illinois, shows:

Clicking on the person of interest pulls up an address and a phone number.

In some cases spouses are listed. But that would depend upon whether or not the spouse was listed in the phone directory in the first place.

There is even an option on page for an individual to “view neighbors.” Users will have to refine that search as the automatic search generated by clicking on that link appears to search for the entire town.

Obviously individuals with unlisted numbers will not be listed (searches I made for myself turned up empty). Age and other identifying information is not included, so users should use this information in concert with other details. But in certain situations such a database may come in handy–particularly for late 20th century research.

As always, use with caution and with your brain turned on (grin!).