Researching on Ancestry.com An Introduction So Who's Used Ancestry? - Chris Seggerman State Library of Arizona
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3/6/2015
Researching on Ancestry.com
An Introduction
Chris Seggerman
State Library of Arizona
So Who’s Used Ancestry?
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3/6/2015
What Is Ancestry?
• The largest for-profit genealogy in the world.
(Wikipedia)
• Founded in 1983, based in Provo, Utah.
• Has a series of other sites including
Archives.com, Fold3.com, Newspapers.com
• They also currently have ownership of Family
Tree Maker.
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Using Ancestry
• I describe Ancestry as a large– almost
countless!– series of linked genealogical
databases that allows you to finely search one
database while offering you clues to others.
• Its automatic features make searching faster,
but it helps to have a solid genealogical skill
set to help ensure the information you find is
accurate.
Ancestry is a tool
• Do you have to use Ancestry to search the
census?
– (No.)
• But it’s a lot faster than going through the
census page by page.
• You can use a census book, but they don’t
cross-reference other databases.
• But who’s doing the research? YOU ARE.
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Home Versus The Library/Institution
• The subscription version, which you pay for,
offers a more personalized interface.
– Sometimes Ancestry will offer a specific database
for free for a time period: Military records around
Veteran’s Day.
• Library or Institution editions may offer you
more databases.
– In the United States versus Everywhere Else seems
to be one of the distinctions.
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Quick Links Section
• All the important subcategories of databases,
right up front.
– Birth, Marriage and Death Records
– Immigration and Travel
– Military Records
• Links to each decade of the U.S. Federal
Census and, in my case, the U.K. Census
Narrowed Categories and Featured
Collections
Each broad category also has narrower
categories.
Each broad category also has “Featured
Collections.”
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Immigration, Narrowed
Birth, Marriage and Death, Narrowed
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But What About ALL The Collections?
Flickr: jwhitesmith / Creative Commons
Ancestry Card Catalog
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An Important Feature of the Card
Catalog!
Sorting the Catalog
• Popularity
• Database Title
• Date Updated
• Date Added
– “Has Ancestry added anything new?”
• Record Count
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If You Want Recent Updates FASTER
Narrowing Search Terms
• “We demand rigidly defined areas of doubt
and uncertainty!” --- Douglas Adams, The
Hitchhikers’ Guide To The Galaxy
• The best way to use Ancestry is to make your
search terms narrow enough so the results
won’t drive you crazy, or cost you time, but
broad enough so your search won’t discard
the item you need.
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WHEN To Narrow Search Terms
• “Chance favors the prepared mind.”– Anatole
France.
• If you have specific knowledge of an event, or
a specific hypothesis of an event, set the
search terms very narrowly.
• If you don’t know as much, set the search
terms more loosely.
EXAMPLE
• If you know where and when a marriage took
place due to family tradition, or a citation, you
can look in exactly that place with exactly that
couple.
• If you don’t know the particulars, just search with
exactly that couple, and maybe that time period?
• Remember, not all events have been indexed or
added to Ancestry (Or whatever database you
may be using.)
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TWO SPELLING FOES
• When you search in a database, you are up
against at least two “spelling foes” when it comes
to names.
– 1. The person taking down the original document.
– 2. The person or computer transcribing the document.
You will become an expert in the commonly misspelled
variants of your ancestors’ names. Ancestry does have a
method to correct poor transcriptions, but it is not
perfect.
LEARN THESE FILTERS!
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(The Filters are…)
• LOCATION
– First filter by country, then state, then county,
then city.
• Ancestry’s Auto-fill is useful here if you don’t know the
precise spelling or want it to be exactly as Ancestry has
it.
• COLLECTION
– This is another way to specify what types of
records you will get.
• DATE
• If Ancestry things a broader collection–
Findagrave, the U.S. Census, Mayflower
Descendants– affects your area, you will still
see it even if you narrow your search to the
state level.
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An Important Feature of the Card
Catalog! (REDUX)
Look At The Source Information
• Also known as “Read the fine print.”
• Under each database you will see two things.
• Source Information
– Tells you the digital location
– Tells you the original records those digital records are
based on.
• Information about the record.
– This tells you how what the record is and how to use
it. If you are unfamiliar with a record, I suggest
reading this.
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Source Information 1930 U.S. Census
Bremen, Germany Sailors Registry,
1824-1917
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Source Information for 1936
Phoenix City Directory
Searching the U.S. Federal Census
• Ancestry is an excellent way to search the U.S.
Federal Census.
• You can browse an area by Enumeration
District.
• You can search various census years through a
variety of means.
– Surname, given name, birth place, place of
residence, parents birth…
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Browsing The Census By Location
Browsing a Specific Census Year
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Results
View Record
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Important Fields In The Viewer
PRINTING
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SAVING
Birth, Marriage and Death
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… or, VITAL RECORDS!!
Texas Birth Certificates
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“Why Are You Here?”
• It’s worth your while to choose between birth,
marriage or death before searching.
• You also want to use the same sort of thought
process in searching for the event.
• NOT ALL EVENTS ARE ON ANCESTRY. If you do a
broad search and expect to find results in a
certain place, make sure there’s a database for
that place!
– You can narrow by place first, then vital records, or
vital records, then place.
Vital Record Search Tidbits
• Index, Abstract or Certificate? Are you looking
at an index of the information, a more
complete abstract of the information, or a
scanned image of the document?
– Remember to look at the Source Information.
• Social Security Death Index
– Ancestry “does not provide this number in the
Social Security Death Index for any person that
has passed away within the past 10 years.”
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Suggestions
Hints/Suggestions
• It’s worth looking at Ancestry’s suggestions.
– Due to the large number of databases, you may find
something you hadn’t thought to look for.
• However, these matches are sometimes
incorrect.
• The common one I’ve seen is two people with the same name
on the same Census year.
• Compare it to what you know to see if it belongs.
• This comes from the computer, not a person!
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Saving Time With Hints
• Hints has tended to suggest me other census
years, which I used to have to look up
manually.
• If it skips a decade– Shows family in the same
place in 1900 and 1920, but NOT 1910– try
seeing what you can find by centering on
other family members.
• Hints may also reveal married names for
women.
1910 Shanks Suggestions
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THE END
• cseggerman@azlibrary.gov
• (602) 926-3938
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