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eLearning Series: Geneology
My Family Tree is Important to Me
( 50 articles in this series )
Search
Engine Tips for Genealogy Research
You will find soon enough that search
engines on the internet can be a powerful tool in your search for family
history. Because most of them have such an enormous index of
information, searches for surnames and family names can result
in useful information. You see, search engines get their indexes
from “spiders” that explore websites and index words that are
in the pages. They are doing this constantly and thus will
be able to help you find the information about your family
you are looking for, hopefully.
There
are drawbacks to using a search engine for your search. The same thing that makes them great can also make them a source
of a lot of frustration for you as you trace your family’s
genealogy. There are so many results that are possible when
using a search engine that there is no way you can figure out
which sites are good ones for what you need and which are not.
So unless you enjoy having to search on hundreds of thousands
of links yourself, you can find search engines to be as frustrating
as anything. Here are a few tips, though, to making your search
engine search a positive experience as you put together a family
tree.
The first step in using a search engine to its fullest potential
with your genealogical search is to know your search
engine math. The math refers to the use of two operators: add (+)
and subtract (-). Proper use of these symbols in a search engine
can make your search much easier. Most search engines support
them and they are much easier for most people to learn or keep
track of than the traditional “Boolean” operators, like AND,
NOT, and OR. When you use the + symbol you are telling the
search engine to find sites or pages that include each word
connected by the symbol. If you use the – symbol, you will
be telling the engine to look for sites with the first word,
but not for sites with any words following the symbol.
Another valuable search engine technique is the use
of wild card searches. Wild card searches are those that allow you
to enter a certain character (can be a % or * in many cases)
in order to expand your search to plurals and spelling variations
of the word. Many names are spelled a number of ways, and in
fact many families were very loose with how they spelled their
names if you go back a few generations. If you are able to
effectively use wild card searches then you will be able to
include these variations and find everything you need. You
will also save yourself time by not having to search each and
every spelling of every surname for which you are searching.
Once you have wild card and search engine math down pat, then
you can start to narrow your searches other ways. First, consider
including given names with surnames in order to get more specific
hits. Looking up Fred Murray is bound to get you more pertinent
sites than just searching Murray. Also, try looking at searching
for names in your family that are not as common. This will
help you to narrow your search even further. In addition to
using given names with surnames, try including place names.
If you look for your family name, a given name, and then where
that person was born you are much more likely to have a return
on your search that will help you than you are if you do not
specify. You may find a number of returns that are not of the
person you are looking for, whereas if you use a place you
are much more likely to find out what that person did in that
area and thus have more information.
Using search engines can be a great way to get your genealogy
search going. The massive amount of information available through
websites, though, can make using them somewhat daunting. To
make them more useable and focused, try centering your searches
with some of the tips above. Learn your search engine math
and understand how to narrow a search when you use it. Before
you know it, you will be a search engine wiz. # # # # #
SolveYourProblem.com
: 2006
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