Using Google to Enhance your Genealogy Research

Our September 25th meeting was an introduction to:

Using Google to Enhance your Genealogy Research

Google has many features that a family genealogist can use to find genealogical records, assist with organization or enhance their family tree and history. Today, we’ll take a basic look at 7 of their top features.

#1 - Google Search Engine

We all know that Google has a powerful search engine. You can harness that power by knowing a few tips to maximize and streamline your results.

* Start by searching for information on “how-to” search for genealogy records in county, state or country.

Examples:        Ontario Canada genealogy records

                        Waterloo, Ontario, Canada genealogy records

                        How to search for genealogy records for Ontario, Canada

                        Genealogy records for Westmoreland, Pennsylvania

                        Bas-Rhin Alsace genealogy records

                       

* Create some basic search phrases to help find information on your ancestors:

Examples:        Sebastian Phillips Family Tree

Alois & Regina Walter in Ontario in the late 1800’s

Walter Family Genealogy in Ontario 1840-1950

Alois Walter Family genealogy in Ontario

Alois Walter Alsace early 1800’s

If you’re not getting the results you want:

Tip #1 - Add the county where they lived.

For instance, instead of: Alois & Regina Walter in Ontario in the late 1800’s  

Change it to:                  Alois & Regina Walter in Waterloo Ontario Canada in the late 1800’s  

By adding the name of the county “waterloo” you will streamline the results to a specific area.

Tip #2 - Shift the order of the words.

For instance, instead of:          Genealogy records for the Bas-Rhin area of Alsace

Change it to:                           Bas-Rhin Alsace genealogy records

Tip #3 – To search a specific time period type your phrase like this:

Alois Walter in Waterloo Ontario Canada 1840..1915

Tip #4 – Search for ‘family genealogy or history’ blogs with these phrases:

Alois Walter family genealogy blog

Walter Family history blog

Alsace France genealogy blog

When you use the phrases listed above, with targeted or unique words such as “Alois” or “Ontario,  you can expect better results.

Note: There are many ‘genealogy’ blogs that provide educational benefits for all of us who are learning new tools and tips for researching our family trees. A brief list of some can be found on our webpage, or you can search for some in the towns, states and/or countries where your family research takes you.

Tip #5 – If you use quotation marks around your search phrase, the search will produce information with that exact phrase in its contents. For instance, if I Googled for “Alois & Regina Walter” then the search results will only produce websites, blogs or documents with that exact phrase in it.

Tip #6 – If you find a particular website or blog that contains information relevant to your family history, you can find more relevant websites by using the following phrases in the Google search engine box:

            Link:www.smithancestry.com

            Related:www.smithancestry.com

For a definition of a word, or in this case an occupation, enter the following phrase:

Define:cooper

Examples of other types of search phrases:

Look for specific records - If you know your family’s religion, you can search for churches in the area where they lived in hopes of finding records that aren’t on Ancestry.com. A typical search phrase might be: Catholic Churches in Alpena Michigan in the late 1800’s

Broaden your search  - The search phrase - Tanguay families in Michigan early 1900’s – found a lot of old message boards. While these boards aren’t in use that much these days, the information contained in the string of messages can prove quite helpful.

Additional suggestions for creating ‘search phrases’ –

      Keep your search phrases simple, use focused key words

      Tweak your search phrases by eliminating words or rephrasing them

      No results? Get creative and use your imagination when creating a search phrase

#2 - Images

After looking at the website results that your search produced, click on ‘Images” on the Google Toolbar. Some helpful information under ‘Images’ might be:

1.      Photos of your ancestors, their cities of origin or residence, maps of towns, states and countries where your ancestors lived.

2.      Drawings (i.e. a sketch of the old European city that your ancestor hailed from)

3.      Old Postcards of the town your ancestor emigrated from or lived in within the U.S.

4.      Clip Art to use when writing your family history or your family tree (i.e. I use flags of countries my ancestor immigrated from in my Ancestry.com tree)

#3 - Google Books

There are 3 types of books under the Google Books section:

1 – Public domain books show full text and are downloadable to a PDF file

2 – Out-of-copyright books show a preview and some full text

3 – Copyrighted books sometimes show partial text. It might be enough to know if it warrants making a trip to your local genealogy library in search of the book or purchasing a copy online.

To locate information in a book about your pioneer ancestor, search for county, town and state histories of the area where your ancestor lived. Even if your ancestor wasn’t a pioneer ancestor,  his or her name might be mentioned in another book, such as a centennial book of a town.

#4 - Google Alerts

Google provides you the ability to set up an ‘alert’ of names or phrases of information you’re interested in. When a new item is posted online that contains the name or phrase of your choice, Google will send you an email of that item. This allows you to keep current with new information that might help in your genealogy research.

1 - To set up a Google Alert, sign into your Google account or go to ‘http://www.google.com/alerts’

Type in the names of your ancestors and/or a search phrase such as:

            “Alois * Walter”   

OR

    “Alois * Walter” Waterloo “Ontario” 1840..1914

      The ‘quotation marks’ for Alois Walter or Ontario will produce results that have these three words in them.

      The asterisk * will produce results with a middle initial or without a middle initial.

      The ‘1840..1893’ will produce results for anything with a time period between 1840 and 1893.

2 - Click the ‘Show Options’ box to select certain variables for your search.

3 - Click the ‘Create Alert’ button to finalize your Google alert.

Additional suggestions for ‘Google Alerts’ –

           

      Google Alerts can always be edited or terminated

      Establish an alert for each of your surnames

Examples:

“Cooke” “Waterloo Ontario” 1840..1893

“Cooke” “Wilmot Ontario” 1840..1893

#5 - Gmail

Use your current Gmail account as a filing system for any emails you send or receive regarding your genealogy inquiries or communications. Simply, create a label for each surname that you’re researching. File all pertinent emails in your labeled files.

Use the ‘search feature’ in Gmail to quickly find a past correspondence that you’ve filed away.

#6 - Google Translate

Google offers a service that will translate a document or a webpage for the reader. To translate a document just enter “Google translate” in the Google search engine box. Two text boxes will be provided and you will be able to choose which language you want to translate from and to. Either type in the information in a foreign language or cut and paste it into the first text box. Google will automatically translate the foreign words for you.

To translate a website into English, such as the www.Bas-rhin.fr website (which is the French archives for the Bas-Rhin area of Alsace, France), simply click on the two boxes located on the far right of the search engine box area where the web address is shown (one box is black with a ‘G’ in it, while the other box is white with an ‘R’ in it) and select ‘translate.’ The webpage will automatically translate to English and you’ll be able to maneuver around it in search of records.

#7 - YouTube

Yes, YouTube is not only owned by Google, but it’s a GREAT resource for locating “how-to” videos on everything related to genealogy. When you get stuck in your genealogy research, it’s important to enhance your knowledge on how to search for records in specific states or countries. YouTube videos are a great way to learn more. You’ll find videos on a number of genealogy topics: DNA, chain migration, finding female surnames, courthouse records, searching oversees, etc. The list is endless, and the more you know the more successful your research will be!