First Steps #2: Tips for Successful Searches

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First Steps #2: Getting Started on Ancestry.com Session Start Time: Monday February 28, 2011 8:00 PM Eastern (New York) To view the archived event, please click on the “Launch Presentation” button at the bottom of this page. Thank you again for registering and we hope you enjoy this webinar. Note: This webinar has a video clip and you will need to disable your pop up blocker in order to view the video. Ancestry.com is home to more than 6 billion records in more than 30,000 collections. But what’s the best way find what you’re looking for in all that information? Join Juliana Smith, editor of the Ancestry Weekly Discovery e-newsletter to learn how to make the powerful search tools at Ancestry.com work for you so to help you locate your ancestor, discover their stories and so much more. Speaker: Juliana Smith, Editor of Ancestry Weekly Discovery
Juliana Smith has been an editor of Ancestry newsletters for nearly twelve years and is author of The Ancestry Family Historian's Address Book. She wrote the "Computers and Technology" chapter in The Source: A Guidebook to American Genealogy, rev. 3rd edition. Moderator: Jeanie Croasmun, Marketing Communications Manager
Jeanie Croasmun is a marketing manager with Ancestry.com and the former managing editor of Ancestry magazine. She’s dedicated the last five years to proving her family legend once and for all: that she descended from horse thieves. Thus far, she’s discovered her great-grandparents growing olives in Italy, learned the immigration details of two of her grandparents, and even found a family link to the founding of Seattle. Unfortunately, there’s a not a horse thief in the bunch. But she’s not giving up hope. Yet.

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“First Steps #2: Tips for Successful Searches” pdf file and link below:

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First Steps #2: Tips for Successful Searches
Presented by Juliana Smith
February 28, 2011

ABOUT SEARCHING
The search boxes on the home page and on the Search tab will search all of the records on Ancestry.com—more than 6 billion records in over 30,000 record collections.
What makes your ancestor unique?
o Name
o Places
o Events
o People
Think about which of those unique characteristics will be included in the records you’re looking for.
Name, residence, and estimated year of birth are characteristics that can be found in many records. Start with these basic pieces to begin your search.
Advanced options are available through home page search and on the Search page.
Click on the Use default settings links to be more specific about what kinds of alternate names will be returned.
When specifying places, click on the Use default settings link to be more specific about what places will be included in your results. If your ancestor moved around a lot, you can add multiple Lived in events to return records from all the places where your ancestor lived.
Add events that might be included in records. Events include birth, marriage, death, “Lived in,” arrival or departure (for immigration records), and military service.
o Since most records were created while your ancestor was alive, unless you’re searching for a death record, don’t include a death date and specify Exact Only.
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First Steps #2: Tips for Successful Searches
Presented by Juliana Smith
February 28, 2011
LIFESPAN FILTERING
Entering only a birth year
Assume the person lived about 100 years.
Records returned = birth year – 5, and birthdates + 102.
Entering only a death date
Assumes the person lived about 100 years.
Records returned = death year – 105 to death year +2.
Entering both a birth year and a death year
Records returned = birth year – 5 to death year + 2.
Add in =/- xx years
Same as above, but will add in the years you specify
SEARCHING CATEGORIES AND SUB-CATEGORIES
Advantages
Narrows the focus
Customized fields for the types of information found in the records
Allows you to search multiple collections of similar records (e.g., passenger arrivals, border crossings, crew lists, etc.)
CARD CATALOG
Title search returns terms found in database titles ONLY.
Keyword search returns terms found in title and description.
Filters narrow search to collection type, location, and date frame.
STATE PAGES
Access on search tab through map in the lower left corner of the page.
Includes list of collections specific to that state and can be narrowed by county.
History tab gives historical background.
Resources tab includes research overview for that state.
SEARCHING DIRECTLY
Advantages
Working with a much smaller amount of data that is typically in the same format or at least similar.
Search forms customized to the information found in the records.
Database descriptions include critical information.
WILDCARD SEARCHES
* matches zero or more characters
? matches one character
First letter can now be a wildcard
Either the first or last character must be a non-wildcard character
Names must contain at least three non-wildcard characters
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OTHER TIPS
Look at what’s indexed
Search without a surname
Suggested Records
Troubleshooting
o Check the fields you’re using closely
o Clear the form before starting a new search
o Check for “stickiness”
o Look at other records
Name Considerations (ethnic variations, pronunciation)
Estimate dates
Read and use the records you’ve found to the fullest.
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Thanks for taking part in our online class!