Using Google in Genealogy Searches-by Kathi Reid
Easy Google Genealogy Searcher
Search Google using all the features useful to genealogists from one page. Google Searcher has a next to each search box, and also suggests the type of keyword to enter. It's easy to become a Google expert.
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Since the
Google search engine went live in September 1999, it has changed the way people search the web. Today, many genealogists use Google for their genealogy internet and surname queries, and for good reason. Not only does Google produce accurate and relevant search results, it is extraordinarily flexible. Below are some tips and tricks for genealogy searches to get the most from all that Google has to offer. (Many of these ideas apply to all search engines)
Word for Word
- Choose search keywords that are likely to appear on the web page you want to find, since this is one of the ways Google chooses relevant search results. For best results, use a few very precise keywords. Begin your genealogy search by
- Searching for a name and location
- Searching for databases where the name may be located
Use [ Delaware death records ] NOT [ free genealogy site ].
- Don't phrase your query as a question; instead, just use the specific keywords you think will be on the website you want. Instead of the query [ Where is York county in Pennsylvania? ], you will get better results with the keywords [ York County Pennsylvania map ] , words that are likely to appear on a web page displaying York County's location.
- Don't phrase your query as a command. Asking Google to [ find census ] or [ look for census ] will unnecessarily eliminate all census sites that also don't happen to have the word [ find ] or [ look ] somewhere on the page, thus giving incomplete search results. A better search would be for precise words that would likely appear on the page you want to find such as [ New York 1910 census ].
Google Math
You can do advanced Google searches at
http://www.google.com/advanced_search.
But a simpler way to use the power of Google's advanced search is to:
- Use a plus sign [ + ] before words that you want to appear in your search results exactly.
- Use a minus sign [ - ] before words that you do NOT want to appear in your search results.
Use the + when you want an exact match for your keyword and Google gives a result that has the same stem, but is not an exact match, to your keyword. If you only want an exact keyword match, you must force Google to do this by placing the + before the keyword (with no space between +keyword).
If you only want an exact keyword match, you must force Google to do this by placing the + before the keyword (with no space between +keyword).
One of my surnames is Powers, and I was surprised this year when Google started returning results of Powers, Power, and powered. This is because Google now uses stemming in its searches which means it will search for your keywords but also for words that are based on the keyword stem.
Sometimes stemming can be helpful as it will give singular and plural results in a single query. But when you only want an exact match for the words with no substitution, to force Google only to search for the exact keyword, add the + before the keyword with no space between.
+powers
Using the + is certainly not necessary for all surnames or keywords. Try your search first without using the +. Only if you are getting unwanted stemming do you need to add the +.
Try to eliminate false results by telling Google NOT to give results when a particular unwanted word appears in your search results.
+powers -austin
This search will not return any webpages that include the word austin This helps to eliminates irrelevant results, in this case all mention of the movie Austin Powers.
I am sure you all have names in your family tree like Powers. It has many meanings besides being a surname which can give some pretty extraneous results. How do you know which keywords to minus?
First do your search and examine the results for things that have nothing to do with your query.
If I search for powers, I get
- Power of persuasion
- Emergency powers
- Powers of attorney
So I would change my search to
+Powers -persuasion –emergency –attorney
Note: There are spaces between keywords, but not between the +keyword.
What if my surname is also a common word?
If you are searching for a surname that is also a noun, such as Church, Street, Park or Fox, you probably have found that most of your searches bring up unwanted web pages about churches, streets, parks, and foxes that have nothing to do with the surname. To find genealogy pages with these common noun surnames, use google math:
- Try searching for [ church family ] or [ church family ] or [ church surname ] or [ church born ]. The keywords [ family ] or [ surname ] or [ born ] are likely keywords that will appear on a genealogy web page and will help limit your search results to web pages about the surname. In this case the word family or surname or born will have to appear on the web page to appear in your search results greatly increasing the chances that the web page will be genealogy related. This works rather well for all surname searches, not just those that are common nouns.
- Add specifics to your query by adding another surname and location. For example, if John Church married Ethel Quackenbush in Kalamazoo, you could try [ church quackenbush kalamazoo ].
- Try to eliminate false results by telling Google NOT to give results when a particular word appears on a web page. For example, [ fox -animal ] will eliminate all web pages on which the word animal appears. You can do more than one subtraction in a search. If you have eliminated all the pages about the animal fox, but find you are now getting search results about Fox News, you can add another subtracter [ fox -animal -news ] which will eliminate all web page on which the word animal or news appears. You can combine pluses and minuses in the same query [ fox -animal -news surname ].
- Another technique is "allintitle:" operand which will search for the word in the title of the webpage. This may capture some additional genealogy webpages about the surname usually buried deep in the search results. [allintitle: fox genealogy ]
- Instead of using the Google search engine, try the
Google directory. With your query in the Google search box, click on the [ directory ] hyperlink on any Google page. Searching for fox within the Science/Biology/.../Canines/Foxes category of the Google Web Directory returns only pages about the animal fox, while searching for Fox within the Society > Genealogy > Personal Pages > F is where you will find web pages containing Fox as a surname. Searching within a category of interest allows you to quickly find only the most relevant pages to you.
Hint: Personal Web Pages found in the Google directory come from those submitted to
dmoz.com. If you have a genealogy web page, be sure to submit it to the most relevant DMOZ category with a site description that include your surnames, so the Google directory will include your genealogy site.
- Sometimes, a surname specific search engine is the only way to get results. Try the
Surname Locator Search if you cannot find results with Google.
No Ifs, Ands OR Buts
There is no need to use the operand [ and ] between keywords since Google already makes this assumption. But the operand [ OR ] can be a very useful Google tool . [ OR ] must all uppercase letters or Google will ignore it.
- Use [ OR ] to search for multiple spellings of your surname. For example, if you are looking for the Myers/Meyers family in Pottsville, you can search for [ Myers OR Meyers Pottsville ]. Your search results will list web pages that list either Myers or Meyers or both, and Pottsville.
- Use [ OR ] to search for words that have the same meaning. For example, use the query [ Myers obit OR obituary OR obituaries ] to search for Myers obituaries. This will find Web Pages that have a Myers obituary, but use the word obit, obituary, or obituaries, or any combination of the three.
Don't Know the Exact Year?
With Google, you can search for a range of years. If you are not sure of the year, but you have an approximate idea, do a number range search.
Some examples are:
- ship passenger list 1850...1860
- obituary 1920...1925
- John Smith Pennsylvania 1901...1980
The results will give any occurrence of your keywords that matches one of the years in the range.
Too Much of A Good Thing
By default, Google only returns pages that include all of your search terms. When too much information in included in a search, the chances for relevant results may be reduced if all the query words don't appear on a web page.
If at first you don't get good results, your search may be too narrow:
- Try searching for just the surname. Sometimes a person may be listed by his nickname, his middle name, or an abbreviated first name and this will keep you from getting a match. If you search for Joseph Smith, it will not match Jo. Smith or J. Hiram Smith if that is how he is listed on a the database or web page. A web page may have a name abbreviated, misspelled, or partially missing.
- If you are using a search with location, try the search without the location. The database or web page may have missing, abbreviated, or have incorrect geographic information, or the location may not be where you think it is.
Spelling Counts.
Google will give search results for EXACT word matches, but Google is getting smarter. If Google thinks you have spelled a word incorrectly, it will offer you the option to chose search results for the correctly spelled word.
- Accidentally type a misspelled word into the Google search box, and Google will ask you "Did you mean ... ? " Click on Google's suggestion to get the search results for the correctly spelled word. For example, if you are looking for Cyndi's List, but type Cindy's List into Google, it will ask Did you mean Cyndi's List? and you can choose the correct spelling.
- Type a surname into the google search box and google may offer an alternate spelling. If you search for Meyers, Google asks Did you mean Myers? Google is offering another spelling of the surname to check out. Use these alternative suggested spellings to widen your search. Try these variations even if you believe that your surname was always spelled the same way. A lot of times clerks and census takers used some very creative spelling and, also, difficult to read or faded handwriting may have been transcribed incorrectly. Or it's possible a distant branch of your family uses the alternate spelling.
- Google does not do soundex searches (searches for names that sound alike, but not spelled alike). To Google, [ Smith ] and [ Smyth ] is NOT a match. You will have to search for each spelling variation.
Watch those Abbreviations.
As wonderful as Google is, it doesn't convert abbreviations to the whole word. Instead it looks for pages with that use that exact abbreviation.
- Avoid using abbreviations for location names. For example, Google does not consider [ Pennsylvania ] and [ PA ] to be the same. If you type in [ PA ], it will search for those pages with [ PA ] only, and your search will miss all the web pages that only use the word Pennsylvania. When looking for transcriptions of old data, widen your search by using the old-fashioned abbreviation. (
Old Style state abbreviations) When I do transcriptions of old data, if Pennsylvania is abbreviated at all, it is usually either Penn. or Penna. [ Pennsylvania OR Penna ]
However, using the abbreviated state name to search for current addresses such as a historical society is usually successful, but if it doesn't bring results, you can then try the whole state name.
- Avoid using abbreviations for descriptive keywords. I am the Webmaster of a US Civil War site, and I see people get no matches on their site searches because they use abbreviated words such a regt or reg't for regiment, or co for company. Google does not think that regt and regiment are the same and if you abbreviate a search keyword, you won't get complete and accurate search results. It will only give results of web pages that use the abbreviation regt only, and you will miss all the webpages that use the word regiment. Of course, you can look for both by searching for [ regt OR reg't OR regiment ] or even a complex search such as [ Pennsylvania OR Penna regt OR reg't OR regiment ].
Put your Name in Quotes.
If you type [ John Smith ] in Google you may receive search results with every occurrence of John and every occurrence of Smith but not necessarily John Smith together. For example if John Guggenheim and Hiram Smith are on the same page, that will count as a hit for the search phrase [ John Smith ] because both John and Smith were found (but not necessarily together). Try this trick to force exact and more accurate search results:
- Put a name [ "John Smith" ] in quotes so that Google will search for that exact phrase.
- Put a name in quotes and add a wildcard for a middle name. [ "john * smith" ] This will find John A. Smith, John Allen Smith, John B. Smith, etc., but not John Smith.
- Put two word locations [ "New York" ] in quotes for Google to find that exact phrase.
Be careful with the use of quotes as you may miss valid matches if the name is listed on the web page as [ Smith, John ] or [ John and Mary Smith ]. If you search with the name in quotes, Google will not return web pages with the surname written in an alternate manner in its search results.
Upper or Lower Case?
Google searches are not case sensitive. Searching for Smith, SMITH, smith, and SmItH will all give the same Google search results.
Singular or Plural?
Google now uses stemming technology. Thus, when appropriate, it will search not only for your search terms, but also for words that are similar to some or all of those terms. If you search for [ Philadelphia churches ], Google will also search for [ Philadelphia church ], and other related variations of your terms. If you search for any variants of your terms that were searched for will be highlighted in the snippet of text accompanying each result. Now that Google uses algorithms which will give search results for web pages with variations of the base word, you will get the same search results whether you enter the singular or plural version of a word.
Stemming may cause a Google search to find matches for surnames with the same stem. If you find you are getting results for surnames variations and you only want a match for the exact spelling of the surname, use a [ + ].
- [ +Powers ] will give only results for Powers and not Power
Google Adds, Subtracts & Converts
Google's Calculator can perform anything from simple arithmetic to extremely complex mathematical functions, but genealogists will probably be most interested in subtraction (to determine ages) and conversions.
If you know someone's age from the 1930 census, use Google's calculator to determine an approximate year of birth. Enter [ 1930 - 75 ]
Or when reading great-grandpa's will who left a farm of 119 rods by 27 rods, you can use Google's calculator to convert rods to yards or miles so you can visualize just how big (or small) the farm really was. Enter [ 119 rods in yards ].
Sample calculator entries:
1930 - 75
119 rods in yards
119 rods in miles
100 miles in kilometers
3 furlongs in miles
2 ml in teaspoons
Synonym
The tilde ~ is Google's newest operand. Now you can search not only for a particular keyword, but also for its synonyms (words having the same or nearly the same meaning as another word). Indicate a search for both by placing the tilde sign ("~") immediately in front of the keyword.
For example, to search for webpages that contain the word genealogy, family history, family tree, or ancestry, search for ~genealogy. Not every genealogy webpage actually uses the word genealogy.
Google's Dictionary
It's actually quicker to find a word definition using the Google search box than looking the word up in the dictionary. If you are reading a web page and don't know the definition of a word, Google offers 2 ways to obtain the definition:
- Type the word "define," then a colon, and then the word or phrase you want defined. If Google has seen a definition for the word or phrase on the Web, it will retrieve that information and display it at the top of your search results. For example, enter [ define apoplexy ] to retrieve the definition for this antiquated disease name.
or
- Type a word into the Google search box. Search, then click on the highlighted word "definition" on the horizontal blue bar at the top of the search results.
In one click, you will have the definition of the word. It actually takes longer to describe the process than to do it.
Use Google as a dictionary to look up meanings for:
- Antiquated disease names, such as apoplexy, dropsy, phthisis, or quinsy.
- Acronyms found on old documents or obituaries such as IOOF or AOH.
- Names for old-fashioned occupations such as cordwainer or wheelwright.
- Latin terms such as ab nepos.
- Terms found in old documents such as perch or rod.
Cache a Missing Page.
Google keeps the text of the many documents it crawls available in a backed-up format known as "cache." A cached version of a web page can be retrieved if the original page is temporarily unavailable, moved or permanently removed from the internet. The cached page appears as it looked when the Google last crawled it. To retrieve a cached page, click on the word cached after each search result.
More of the Same?
If you discover a topic of interest and you want to find more web pages about the same topic, there is no need to guess at keywords for Google. To retrieve similar pages, click on the words similar pages after each search result.
Sprechen Sie Deutsches? Parlez-vous français?
If not, and you find a web page in a language that you cannot read, Google will do the translation for you. Click on the link for language tools at the top of every Google page. From there you can enter an URL or text to translate. Although the Google translator isn't very good at idioms and translates rather literally, it is usually good enough to give a general gist of a web page contents. Languages that Google will translate are German, Spanish, French, Italian, or Portuguese.
Google Address Locator
Google search results now give current street maps, street addresses, and phone numbers for the U. S. Try any of a number of following combinations:
- Find a street map by entering address number, street, city, and state into the Google search box. Use this to map an address found on an old census.
- Find a street address and/or phone number by entering a first name, last name, city, and state.
- Find a name, street address, city, and state by entering a phone number (including area code).
A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words
After searching for text about your ancestor on the web, try searching for his photograph by using Google's image search. Click on the [ Images ] hyperlink on any Google page with your ancestor's name in the search box and you will get a results page of image thumbnails. Before you begin, you can set your
Google preferences to filter explicit sexual images from appearing in search results.
Try searching for:
- Photos of ancestors.
- Photos of tombstones or churches.
- Photographs of your ancestral hometown or its landmarks.
- Images of original documents concerning your ancestor; i.e. wills, military papers.
- Images of the type of ship on which your ancestor immigrated; i.e. brigantine, brig, snow. (To get images of the ship type "snow" and not the weather variety, search for [ ship snow ].
- Images of your ancestor's tools of trade, such as blacksmith tools.
Click on the thumbnail for a larger view of the photograph and the URL where the photo can be found. Be sure to visit the web page from which the image originated to find more information.
Google Groups
Google Groups are the archives of newsgroups where you can search for old surname queries. Click on the [ Groups ] hyperlink on any Google page with your ancestor's name in the search box. Since Google Groups archive ALL newsgroup archives and not just genealogy, add the word genealogy to the search box after your ancestor's name to limit your searches to genealogy newsgroups.
Google Makes Searching Even Easier with its Toolbar
For more convenience, consider the free
Google Toolbar. When the Google Toolbar is installed, it automatically appears along with the Internet Explorer toolbar. Here are some of the things you can do with the Google Toolbar:
- Use Google to search without returning to the Google home page.
- Use the Google "Search Site" to search an individual website. This is particularly useful if a web site doesn't have its own search. The Google "search site" is sometimes even better than a site's own search engine because you can use google math, quotes, and the [ OR ] operand, all of which may not available on a site search engine.
- Use the Page Info Button to:
- Translate a website into English without returning to Google.
- Deliver the cached version of a dead web page without returning to Google.
- Find similar web sites to the current web page without returning to Google.
- Use the "Highlight" pen to mark in color all occurrences of the searched word on the page. No more hunting to find your search terms on the website.
- Click on the search term on the toolbar to go to the next occurrence of the word on the web page. Another time saver to quickly find a name on a web page.
- Use the "drag and drop" function to drag any text or URL from the current page you are viewing to the Google Toolbar in order to run a search. This eliminates typos and it is quicker and easier than doing a "cut and paste". And the search results are returned without clicking.
- "Google Search" by highlighting text on a web page and right-clicking on your mouse.
- Use the Popup Blocker to make surfing the web easier by stopping annoying popups.
- Use the AutoFill to automatically fill in a form with the click of a button.
- Use the BlogThis to create a weblog post pointing to the page you are visiting.
- Customize the toolbar looks by adding or removing buttons.
If you try the Google Toolbar, and don't like it, it is easily uninstalled.
Google Makes Searching Even Easier with its Deskbar
For more convenience, consider the free
Google Deskbar.
- Search using Google, even when your browser isn't running. Preview search results in a small inset window that closes automatically
- Access Google from any application by typing Ctrl+Alt+G
Use the deskbar while working in your genealogy program to look up definitions or search for more information about an ancestor. No need to have your browser opened.
More Genealogy Search Help
© Copyright 1997 - 2009 by Kathi Reid -- All Rights Reserved. This article may not be copied, published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without prior written permission from the author.
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