Searching the Internet
September 2000
Search Strategy
Don’t
wander around.
Organize – make a list of
Who
&
What you’re
looking for
Target
your ancestor
·
Someone
who’s already researched your family line
·
Marriage
record
·
GEDCOM
·
Census
records
·
Land
records
Do a
Simple Search if you have a unique name, an Advanced search if you need to
narrow down hits. (Separate sheet
for Advanced search notes.)
Sometimes you won’t need a search engine at all, but only a website that
contains local information or historical data.
Different
internet sites depending on what you want to find.
·
Standard search
engine— Won’t
find every single web page on the Internet. They’re not genealogy specific. Each
has about 20% of the web.
Each
search engine is different from the others & won’t return the same
results—even when same search terms are entered.
3.
http://www.northernlight.com
·
Genealogy related search
engine—
Searches specific databases or genealogy-only sites.
·
GEDCOMS
RootsWeb
WorldConnect-- free http://worldconnect.genealogy.rootsweb.com
Ancestry World Tree--
free
Land Records
Can
search using advanced search capabilities of standard search engines. Best online searchable database
is:
Bureau of Land Management –
http://www.glorecords.blm.gov
Finding
Other Genealogist’s Research
Largest sites:
·
RootsWeb
Surname List—registered surnames being researched. Results show surname,
migration pattern, dates, e-mail address of submitter.
http://www.rootsweb.com/cgibin/rslsql.cgi
·
GENDEX
WWW—Search and view hundreds of databases without visiting each
site.
Genealogical
Index
·
LDS
Family Search
·
Family
Tree Maker – commercial site
http://www.familytreemaker.com
Census
Project
USGenWeb
Census Project –Can do surname search across all their transcribed
records.
http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/census/inv/index.html
Miscellaneous
Locality
or Historical events
Britannica
The
USGenWeb- Every county has a page.
Includes queries, surname lists with submitter’s e-mail addresses, obituaries,
wills, pensions, cemetery, etc.
Janelle’s Favorite Genealogy websites- September 2000:
Rootsweb – http://www.rootsweb.com/
Rootsweb Gensite -- http://www.genealogy.org/
Rootsweb Social Security Death Index Interactive Search -- http://ssdi.genealogy.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/ssdi.cgi
Ancestry Homepage – http://www.ancestry.com/
Ancestry Databases -- http://www.ancestry.com/library/view/news/articles/2005.asp
Ancestry Social Security Death Index -- http://www.ancestry.com/search/rectype/vital/ssdi/main.htm
Ancestors (PBS series companion) http://www.ancestors.com/
LDS Family
Search-- http://ssdi.genealogy.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/ssdi.cgi
Family
History Library Catalog-- http://www.familysearch.org/Search/searchcatalog.asp
County Finder -- http://www.mit.edu/geo/
BLM Land Patents-- http://www.glorecords.blm.gov/
Library of Congress-- http://lcweb2.loc.gov/catalog/
Sutro Library Catalog (S.F.) http://www.melvyl.ucop.edu/
NGS Library-- http://www.ngsgenealogy.org/library/body_frame.html
Cyndi’s List (77,500 links)-- http://www.cyndislist.com/
USGenWeb Project’s State List-- http://www.usgenweb.org/statelinks.html
National Genealogical Society-- http://www.ngsgenealogy.org/
National Archives and Records Administration-- http://www.nara.gov/
USIGS—(Internet Genealogy Society) http://www.usigs.org/index.htm
Searching the Internet
Default search parameters—Know your search engine’s defaults. Click on HELP.
AltaVista
AND
“Andrew Johnson”
Andrew AND Johnson
Northernlights
AND
Google
AND
Infoseek
OR
“Andrew Johnson”
Andrew OR Johnson
Advanced
Searches
BOOLEAN LOGIC uses
“operative” words instead of characters to refine the
search.
Used by
some search engines to allow you to construct a more sophisticated
search.
The Boolean terms used by search engines are:
AND
(but not necessarily in that order)
OR
(at least one of the words, but not necessarily all of
them.)
NEAR
(find words within so many words of one another)
AND
NOT
(excludes documents containing specific words or
phrases)
(
)
(what order you want the search performed.) Algebra… functions within the
parenthesis done before functions outside the parenthesis (2+2)x(2x5). Keywords
within the parenthesis are searched prior to the application of other search
terms.
Common Search Commands – not
for Advanced Search
& ( = AND)
| ( = OR)
! (= AND NOT)
~ (= NEAR)
*
(wildcard)
genealog* (pages
with the words genealogy, genealogist, genealoists,
genealogical.)
+ sign
in front of a search word means the Web page MUST contain the
word.
- sign
in front of a word means webpage must not contain the
word.
“ “ To
put one or more words in parenthesis tells the search engine to look for
phrases.
“Golden Gate Bridge”
Advanced Search
AltaVista.com -- Sort by: box
Formulate a search, then tell what order you want the results ranked. If box is left blank, results will be at random.
Revolutionary War pensions from state of VA
Boolean (revolution* NEAR war) NEAR pension*
Sort by: “virginia”
If you routinely do the same search each month, AltaVista can limit the date range. Search results haven’t been seen before. Starting date—goes to today’s date.
BIBLIOGRAPHY: notes from “Where on the Web? Internet Search Strategies by Nancy Hendrickson, Everton’s Genealogical Helper, May-June 2000. p.10.