making effective use of familysearch...rhombs effective familysearch 3 objectives review the...

Making Effective Use of FamilySearch.org

Thoughts about how to get the most from the premier free genealogy website . . .

By Craig Rhombs

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Welcome● Craig Rhombs

– Retired software guy with long time interest in genealogy

– https://281connections.us – Email: 281connections@gmail.com

Creative Commons License:Genealogy class materials by Craig Rhombs are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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Objectives● Review the following features of the

familysearch.org web site– Account– Help center– Searching– Family tree– Memories– Indexing– Activities

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Your Acount

● Get one! It won‘t hurt & you‘ll not receive spam.● https://www.familysearch.org/blog/en/familysearch

-signin-benefits/● Benefits:

– User authentication– More searchable content– More personalized services

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Help!

● People frequently breeze past this on the way to searching. - Don‘t!

● The Help Center● The Learning Center● The Research Wiki

● Examples: by country (Scotland); by topic (slave)● Best features● Rookie mistakes

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What‘s New?

● https://www.familysearch.org/help/helper

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The Help Center

● Pick a topic or . . .

● Search for a topic

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Searching for Help

● Organized by ● Articles● Lessons● WIKI

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The Research Wiki● Note guided

help● Left

navigation● Search

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Wiki - By Location Example

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Wiki - By Topic Example

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Wiki – Keys to Success (Best Features)

https://www.familysearch.org/wiki/en/Help:Keys_to_Success_Using_the_Wiki#Key_Three:_Understand_some_of_the_best_features

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Wiki - Rookie Mistakes● https://www.familysearch.org/wiki/en/Rookie_Mistakes

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The Power of Community● Our ancestors did not live their lives for our convenience. ● Most had struggles of their own. Life was messy for

many.● Keep an open mind.● When stumped, develop a hypothesis that can explain

the facts; test it; revise as necessary.● Maintain an issues list.● Reach out for help. . .● https://www.familysearch.org/wiki/en/FamilySearch_Gen

ealogy_Research_Groups

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Lists of communities

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Example Community Group

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Searching Indexed Sources

● General – start general and then focus ● Example: find Agnes Moodie b.1871 in

Scotland ● Example: Use collections to narrow search

(Scotland – Thomas Moodie b. 1790 in Scotland)

● Example: By collection (1850 slave schedules – Bythewood in SC)

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The Form

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Finding Agnes

● Agnes Moodie● Born in 1871 in

Scotland . . .

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Finding Thomas Moodie● b. 1790● Narrow to Scotland Births and Baptisms

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How to Use the Catalog● Use example of

Elizabeth Litster/Lister● Find marriage directly

using marriage collection for Scotland

● Year ~ 1816 +/- 3

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Finding Bythewood Slaves

● Look for Bythewood in SC, then focus on 1850 stave schedule collection

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Tips from FamilySearch

● Regarding indexed online sources● https://www.familysearch.org/wiki/en/Ti

ps_for_Searching_an_Online_Index● Spelling flexibility● Less can be more● Restrict results that are too

numerous● Try a different source/index

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Records NOT Indexed

● Most are not indexed (70%?)● They consist of digital images● There are techniques for finding them and

then navigating to your information● https://www.familysearch.org/search/hr/search

– Use map– Use catalog (topic, location, etc.)– Analyze how the source is organized!

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Examples of Un-indexed Searches

● South Dakota image-only records (start with map)● Look for SD county naturalization records

– Hint: https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog/2078640

● Faulk County, box 9: https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-99WY-ZXR1?i=95&wc=MCYH-2W5%3A357893701%2C357914801&cc=2078640

● Browse published collections – Ohio

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More Examples

● Start with research wiki - Alsace● https://www.familysearch.org/wiki/en/M

ain_Page● Find books in catalog

(auswanderungsakten rheinland). . .● https://www.familysearch.org/search/c

atalog/464953?availability=Family%20History%20Library

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Family Tree Builder

● Constrained; build based on evidence● Be careful some evidence is misleading● Correcting errors

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Example Addition

● Use form to find options● Select carefully!

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Memories

● Record your thoughts

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Indexing

● Help build transcriptions

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Family History Center

● In Crystal● Currently shuttered until further notice● https://www.familysearch.org/wiki/en/M

inneapolis_Minnesota_Family_History_Center/Resources

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Cast Your Fate . . .● There are certainly other sources for data, try these. . .● Add structure to your results using

http://yippy.com/ ● Use operators in search engines like

https://duckduckgo.com/ ● Academic articles: https://www.jstor.org/ ● Look for images

https://images.google.com/

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Sometimes you get lucky!

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Thanks for Your Time!

Practice!!!

Perseverance!!

Persistence!!

What, so what, now what?