making effective use of familysearch...rhombs effective familysearch 3 objectives review the...
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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: [email protected]
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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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?