Alan E. Mann, A.G.

fhfair@alanmann.com                                                                                                                      Accredited Genealogist

Family History Fair                                                                                                         April 2004

 

 

Using the Internet to Find

What Someone Else has Already Done

 

 

Over a million individuals and families have placed genealogical information on the Internet.  The information they’ve placed online contains billions of names of deceased ancestors. There are two major problems for those who would tap in to this pool of information

 

1.     There is no complete index to the Internet. The largest index is the Google search engine (www.google.com), which indexes over 3 billion web pages. Is this all of the web pages available? No, estimates are that this number may be as low as only 15% of the web. One limitation is that a search engine only indexes web pages, not web databases. Thus, Google does not index any of the names at familysearch.org or ancestry.com. This is because these web sites do not store the names on preset webpages, but rather allow you to “search” their databases and send the information you requested back to you in a web page specifically created in response to your query.

 

2.     Even when you do find information on the web, that mean it’s right. You should verify everything you find that someone else has done—whether on the web, in a book, or given to you in person or over the phone.

 

Basic Internet sources to help you find what someone else has already done include two totally different types of information, namely:

 

1.     Genealogy that is actually available on the web—in a database, on a personal or family genealogy page, or in some other format, and

 

2.     Genealogy that a relative of yours has done, but which is not on the web. The web can still help find out about that relative so that you can contact them and get that information. I call this “Finding Unknown Relatives.”

 

 

Finding Genealogy Stored on the Web

 

There are many tools for finding information on the web. Basically, you can search using sources that assist in using three different strategies, namely:

 

Search by Name of your ancestor. For information on name-based searching, see www.alanmann.com/articles/name.htm.

Search by Place that your ancestors lived. For information on place-based searching, see www.alanmann.com/articles/place.htm.

Use a search engine, or search tools that is not limited to genealogical sites. While these often return information that is not useful to family history research, some of the web pages they locate do not seem to be indexed by the genealogical search tools available. Search engines work well for unusual names, however. The most popular search engine is www.google.com, but there are thousands more. For using non-genealogical search engines for genealogical searches, see the other article in this syllabus (www.alanmann.com/articles/metasearch.htm) or:

 

o      www.geocities.com/familyhistory.geo/howto3.htm,

o      www.searchengineshowdown, and

o      www.searchenginewatch.com.

 

 

Finding Unknown Living Relatives

 

You may have relatives you don’t know about. Keep an open mind as you:

1.     Use FamilySearch Internet collaboration lists (www.familysearch.org/Share/default.asp)

2.     Search Roots Surname List (rsl.rootsweb.com)

3.      Use www.genforum.com/

4.      Try www.familyhistory.com message boards

5.     See items listed at www.genealogytoolbox.com/queryboards.html

6.     Use mailing lists (see if anyone can help)      

a. See a list of mailing lists at www.rootsweb.com/~jfuller/gen_mail.html

b. Mailing lists are messages (questions, announcements, information, etc.) about a specific name, family, or place that are forwarded to all interested parties. To get messages, subscribe to the mailing list (instructions in preceding link)

c.  Surname lists-check for you ancestor's surnames

d.  Many mailing lists have archives that allow you to see past messages left

e.  See many more such items listed at www.cyndislist.com/queries.htm

6. Use newsgroups

a. See list of newsgroups with links at www.rootsweb.com/~jfuller/gen_use.html

b. Newsgroups are like mailing lists only you have to ask for the messages each time

c.  Most newsgroups have archives--the preceding link will tell you how to view the archive

d.  Use groups.google.com to search the archive of past messages

7.     Check Surname Helper (surhelp.rootsweb.com/srchall.html) searches over 4,000 query databases

8.      Search queries at http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec?htx=main&r=rw

9.      Use www.usgenweb.org or www.worldgenweb.org, choose place and search queries.

 

For a simple explanation of these types of Internet services, take a look at http://expertgenealogy.com/free/Connect.htm.

 

 

Other

This list is incomplete. A common way to find relatives is to put an ad in a local newspaper. The Internet can help you find the address of the local newspaper (and sometimes even help place the ad). Another strategy is to look for living relatives using phone books, since phone books are often on the Internet. NOTE: works best when the name is unusual or the town is small (I found a HUGHES family 125 years later because it was a small town).

To find a relative’s phone number, use www.infobel.com/teldir/. Note that an address-based telephone directory, where you look up phone numbers based on the address rather than the name of the person, can help track down people who have moved (call whoever lives there now and ask where the other people moved). 

 

 

 

©Copyright 1997-2004 by Alan E. Mann. All rights reserved. Written permission to reproduce all or part of this syllabus material in any format, including photocopying, data retrieval, or the Internet, must be secured in advance from the copyright holder.