Lesson #11 Geneaology on the Web

How To Find Genealogy On The Web

The Boolean search or “Googling”

Lesson 11

To use the internet to its full advantage for genealogy, a researcher must learn how to use the basic Boolean operators. The search engine google is my favorite www.google.com because it is very genealogy intuitive

What is a Boolean ( pronounced Boo-le-un ) search ?

Boolean searches allow you to combine word and phrases using the words AND, Or, NOT and NEAR. ( otherwise known as Boolean operators) You can search by categories or keywords such as genealogy, history, state, city, libraries etc. and add a plus + to expand your search or a minus – to narrow you results. To select an exact phrase add quote “ John Doe” to hold the phrase together. Most search engines default to these search parameters.

This method of searching was named for George Boole, an English 19th century mathematician. He developed a mathematic formula which was later used by internet developers to help locate information on the various websites.

The basic Boolean operators used to locate information; there are two ways of entering these operators and it is up to you which is most comfortable for you to use.

 The Boolean search operator AND is equal to the “+” symbol

 The Boolean search operator NOT is equal to the “-” symbol

 The Boolean search operator OR is the default setting of any search engine; meaning, all search engines will return all the words you type in automatically type in.

 The Boolean search operator Near is equal to putting a search query in quotation marks “ King Edward ll”. In essence you are telling the search engine you want all these words in a specific order, or this specific phrase.

 A tilde ~ placed directly before a keyword will often limit your search to genealogy.

Examples:

 Genealogy+Sweden ~ this will take you to all sites that have vital records or other genealogy web pages dealing with Sweden.

 Genealogy+Sweden-travel ~ will narrow a search by excluding certain search terms.

 Genealogy Or Sweden ~ using OR broadens a search to include results that contain either of the word you typed in.

 “Queen Sonja of Norway” ~ will bring up sites that have this exact phrase in it. This really narrows your search with some valuable results, such as her history and family genealogy. You can put quotes around places “Bishopwick Durham England” this is a unique jurisdiction that had information on an ancestor in 1610.

Keywords –these help narrow your results to more relevant results.

1. Surname – put in genealogy+surname ( repeat this with all the ways your name is spelled )

2. Place Names ~ putting the place where your ancestors lived will bring some great results especially if you combine it with genealogy.

3. Date Range – if too many listing appear enter a date range 1850..1900

Data type ~ census, birth, death, obituary, passenger list etc

Boolean Searches ~ some simple examples

Find a surname ......................... genealogy+surname

Place and resources ...... genealogy+name of country+city

Maps ........................... map+name of place

State historical library ..state+historical society

Church records ........................ name of church+records

books …………………on Google home page click on “ more” and select books surname+place of birth, marriage, or death. Be sure to book mark or download so you can return for future searches always document your finds.

Date Range

If too many listing appear for a search you can add a date range and limit your results. For example: 1850 to 1900

Similar Word search

Placing a tilde (~ ) symbol directly before a keyword will gather results including the keyword you used or many other words which are similar. This filter is easpecailly useful in genealogy.

~genealogy includes

 Ancestry

 Family

 Family history

 Family tree

 Genealogical

 Genealogical records

 Genealogists

 Genealogy

 records

 roots

 surname

 tree

 vital records

Search Engines; these go through the entire Internet, worldwide, and searches by keywords. Use at least two to find the results you want. Here are some other search engines

Google ( very genealogy intuitive )

Altavista

Google

Yahoo

AOL

CTR+D will bookmark any sites you want to go back to. Make a folder like “Wisconsin Death records” then place the link in the folder

Some website on learning the Boolean search method~

NEW! http://www.googleyourfamilytree.com/genealogypowersearch.php Shows you the major ways to find genealogy online and more. They offer a great book titled “Google Your Family Tree” that is a must for any genealogist. Has several hundred pages of genealogical websites.

Two more sites

Shortcuts for Boolean searching – http://websearch.about.com/library/cheatsheet/ngooglecheatsheet.htm this is a good printable shortcut sheet for handing out to your class.

Google searching for ancestors http://www.searchforancestors.com/google/searcher.html