{"id":4695,"date":"2013-09-16T15:32:34","date_gmt":"2013-09-16T15:32:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.genealogybank.com\/?p=4695"},"modified":"2013-10-17T14:32:48","modified_gmt":"2013-10-17T14:32:48","slug":"tips-tricks-to-search-online-newspapers-at-genealogybank","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/tips-tricks-to-search-online-newspapers-at-genealogybank.html","title":{"rendered":"Tips & Tricks to Search Online Newspapers at GenealogyBank"},"content":{"rendered":"

Introduction<\/em><\/strong>: Mary Harrell-Sesniak is a genealogist, author and editor with a strong technology background. In this guest blog post, Mary shows some of the search techniques she uses when researching GenealogyBank\u2019s newspapers collection\u2014to help our readers do more efficient searches and save them time with their family history research.<\/em><\/p>\n

Every American family has a heritage to celebrate\u2014whether it is a connection with a specific event, such as the arrival of the Mayflower<\/em> in 1620; a military event, such as the Civil War of 1861-1865; a particular country of origin; or person of interest, such as a president, suffragette or abolitionist.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m lucky to have proved connections in my family history to many of the above (alas, no president), and like most family researchers have jumped for joy at finding the documented proof.<\/p>\n

Once we find the genealogical connections (sometimes with the help of others\u2019 research), we feel enormous satisfaction. However, many genealogists don\u2019t realize that search engines can be tweaked to shorten searches and make family history research more efficient\u2014 in particular the genealogy search engine within GenealogyBank<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The trick to more efficient searching is to experiment with specific targeted keywords, related to events or ancestry, along with adding wildcards (more on that below) that accommodate for variations.<\/p>\n

Keyword Search: Lineal Descendancy<\/strong><\/p>\n

Let\u2019s start with searches related to specific descendants, using the keywords \u201clineal descendant<\/em>,\u201d with or without an added surname.<\/p>\n

In this example (long before lineage societies became popular), we read that Mr. Michael Kett, a Quaker, was a lineal descendant from Robert Kett, described as the famous tanner and political reformer in the reign of King Edward the Sixth.<\/p>\n

\"Michael<\/a>
Providence Gazette (Providence, Rhode Island), 27 March 1784, page 2<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Doesn\u2019t an ancestral report like that get a genealogist excited!<\/p>\n

Most of us are happy to research to an immigrant\u2019s arrival in America, but this gentleman had reportedly traced his ancestry to King Edward VI of England, whose brief life occurred between 1537 and 1553, having been crowned at the young age of nine.<\/p>\n

Search Newspapers for Events<\/strong><\/p>\n

Another suggested query is to incorporate the word descendant<\/em> with a specific event, such as the arrival of the Mayflower<\/em> in 1620.<\/p>\n

Enclosing the search in quotes, \u201cMayflower descendant,\u201d<\/em> produces a different result than if you searched on each term without the quotation marks. The difference is that when you simply input terms without quotes, the search engine will find results whenever the two words are located anywhere within the same article\u2014but if you enclose the terms in quotation marks, the terms have to be next to each other in an article in order to show up on the search results page.<\/p>\n

Note: generally the \u201cs\u201d is ignored, along with capitalization, so don\u2019t worry about entering \u201cMayflower descendants\u201d <\/em>or \u201cmayflower descendant\u201d<\/em>; <\/em>either will suffice.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"Mayflower<\/a>
Daily Inter Ocean (Chicago, Illinois), 14 April 1896, page 10<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This obituary for Sarah Harlow of 13 March 1823 mentions that she was a descendant from \u201cMr. Richard Warren, who came in the Mayflower, in 1620, of the 4th generation.\u201d It was found without using quotation marks around the words Mayflower<\/em> and descendant<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\"Sarah<\/a>
Repertory (Boston, Massachusetts), 13 March 1823, page 4<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Accommodating Spelling Variations with Wildcards<\/strong><\/p>\n

Try variations of queries that accommodate spelling variations, by using either a question mark (?) or an asterisk (*). Known as wildcards, the first option replaces a single character in a word, and the other takes the place of several characters.<\/p>\n

For example, \u201cHarrell\u201d can be spelled in a variety of ways, such as \u201cHarrall\u201d or \u201cHerrell.\u201d<\/p>\n

If you want to search for all of these variations at once, substitute vowels with question marks. In addition, many early newspapers sometimes abbreviated \u201cSamuel\u201d as \u201cSaml,\u201d so try entering the given name as \u201cSam*\u201d<\/em> or \u201cSam*l<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"screenshot<\/a><\/p>\n

When I search for American Revolutionary War patriots, I often find the war described in various ways. One article might mention the Revolution, and another might describe someone as a Revolutionary War patriot. The solution is to abbreviate the term and add a specific surname.<\/p>\n

\"screenshot<\/a><\/p>\n

Don\u2019t forget that you can direct the genealogy search engine to ignore certain words using the \u201cExclude Keywords\u201d box.<\/p>\n

If you are looking for one of George Washington\u2019s namesakes, it might be useful to ignore the title President, whether it is abbreviated or spelled in full. And if you are repeating a previous search, you might wish to limit the query to the content added to GenealogyBank since your last search. Simply select the \u201cAdded Since\u201d drop-down arrow, and limit by date.<\/p>\n

\"screenshot<\/a><\/p>\n

These newspaper search techniques usually carry over to your favorite Internet search engines.<\/p>\n

Many search engines, such as Google Chrome, have advanced search options. However, if you can\u2019t spot how to do that, you can still succeed. Without complicating things, you can apply what is known as a Boolean operator to a search query.<\/p>\n

The three most common Boolean operators are AND, OR <\/em>and NOT<\/em> (in capitals).<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. AND is usually a given in searches, but if you wish to be specific for search engines that ignore certain terms, be sure to add it.<\/li>\n
  2. NOT is equivalent to adding a minus sign (-), and indicates that you want a search that does not include something.<\/li>\n
  3. OR is an option that tells the search engine to find one thing or another.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n