{"id":56683,"date":"2020-03-04T11:57:14","date_gmt":"2020-03-04T16:57:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.genealogybank.com\/?p=56683"},"modified":"2023-09-27T11:42:47","modified_gmt":"2023-09-27T15:42:47","slug":"rootstech-wrap-up-questions-asked-answers-given","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/rootstech-wrap-up-questions-asked-answers-given.html","title":{"rendered":"RootsTech Wrap-Up: Questions Asked, Answers Given"},"content":{"rendered":"

Introduction:<\/em><\/strong> In this article, now that RootsTech 2020 is over, Gena Philibert-Ortega writes about some of the interactions that occurred in the Expo Hall during the conference. Gena is a genealogist and author of the book \u201cFrom the Family Kitchen.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Were you at RootsTech? We were! And we had a great time meeting everyone. Here is what we were doing in the Expo Hall during the biggest genealogy event of the year.<\/p>\n

Answering Questions, a Lot of Questions!<\/strong><\/p>\n

The GenealogyBank Call Center answers subscribers\u2019 questions about searching and finding their ancestors, and the Call Center staff took that service and provided it in-person at the Expo Hall at RootsTech.<\/p>\n

\"Photo:<\/a><\/p>\n

What did RootsTech attendees learn about searching from the GenealogyBank team?<\/p>\n

Less Is More<\/u><\/p>\n

Like many sites, GenealogyBank\u2019s home page has an Advanced Search feature that provides you with a lot of options for customizing your search. But sometimes less is more.<\/p>\n

You can fill in every field of the Advanced Search engine \u2013 but instead, try to think of your search in terms of stages. In each stage, vary your search by adding search criteria such as a place or a keyword, to see what results you receive.<\/p>\n

\"Photo:<\/a><\/p>\n

A search isn\u2019t something you do once and then quit. Consider conducting several searches to find what you need, adding or subtracting information to enlarge or narrow your search results.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s That Name?<\/u><\/p>\n

Sure, your grandfather\u2019s name was John Allen Smith and your grandmother was Grace Ann Johnson \u2013 but what about their nicknames? What was her surname when she married for the second time? What is an abbreviation for John that could have been used? And what about their initials? Have you tried combinations of their initials (first initial and surname, first and middle initial and surname) in your searches?<\/p>\n

GenealogyBank Call Center Operations Manager Bill Royer provides a great example of how sometimes you can\u2019t find your ancestor by searching for their name. He was looking for an ancestor\u2019s birth announcement but wasn\u2019t successful. It was only when he searched on the father\u2019s name that he found what he was looking for. Why? Because the ancestor was simply referred to as \u201cbaby,\u201d as in \u201cMr. John Smith and wife had a baby girl.\u201d So, the ancestor wasn\u2019t named and neither was the mother.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t forget that you may need to search for a parent (especially the father) when looking for a child.<\/p>\n

Try Searching Using Only a Surname<\/u><\/p>\n

Have a unique surname? Try searching on just that surname. While this won\u2019t work when searching for your Smith relations, if you have a more unique surname, like Philibert, this might be a good approach for you. Searching on just that unique surname may help you find mentions of your ancestor that you wouldn\u2019t otherwise have found due to misspellings or the use of initials or nicknames.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t Include a Death Date<\/u><\/p>\n

It\u2019s a common practice to search for your ancestor using a date range starting with their birth date and ending with their death date or year. It\u2019s a good idea to use this tactic when trying to narrow your search \u2013 but don\u2019t forget to conduct a search that doesn\u2019t include a specific death date or year. Why?<\/p>\n

There are newspaper articles dealing with an ancestor\u2019s life (and death) that are published after the death date or even death year. Obviously, an obituary won\u2019t appear the day the person dies, and even probate notices can take some time.<\/p>\n

But there are also memorials and other articles that mention the deceased in relation to their living family, and these might be published a year or more after they have passed.<\/p>\n

For example, if you searched for your ancestor Amanda Scott using her birth date and death year (1917), you wouldn\u2019t find this poignant memorial article her husband published in the local newspaper one year after she died.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
Advocate (Kansas City, Kansas), 17 May 1918, page 3<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I recently wrote an article (Today in History: Local News about Your Ancestors?)<\/a> explaining that some newspaper articles can mention an ancestor 20, 50 or even 100 years later.<\/p>\n

What Is GenealogyBank?<\/u><\/p>\n

GenealogyBank is a genealogy website that has a huge collection of newspapers printed in the United States, starting in 1690, with more than 13,000 titles and growing. Besides our Historical Newspaper Archives<\/a>, we have an obituary collection, the U.S. census, the Social Security Death Index, government publications, and historical books.<\/p>\n

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

How Do I Start?<\/u><\/p>\n

As you begin your search on GenealogyBank for your ancestor, think about: what do you need? What information are you hoping to find? Forming a clear research question, focusing on what you want to know, will help guide your search.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t Forget the Census<\/u><\/p>\n

It\u2019s easy to focus on newspapers when searching GenealogyBank \u2013 but don\u2019t forget that the U.S. census, also available on the website, allows you to verify dates and places for your ancestor, search for allied family members, or even trace a family or community through time.<\/p>\n

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

What\u2019s Your Story?<\/strong><\/p>\n

This year\u2019s RootsTech theme was \u201cThe Story of You,\u201d and everything at the conference centered around that theme. Historical newspapers are the perfect resource in telling that story. Why are newspapers important in telling the story of you and your ancestors? GenealogyBank Call Center Operations Manager Bill Royer explains:<\/p>\n

\u201cNewspapers are at the center of it all. Stories are where it\u2019s at and the newspaper captures those stories in articles, announcements, photographs, and more.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

RootsTech is heading back to London<\/a> in November 2020, which means for those who love RootsTech, you can attend on both sides of the pond. Salt Lake City, Utah, will see RootsTech return for the 11th year in February 2021.<\/p>\n

You can also still benefit from RootsTech 2020 by watching the video archive<\/span> on the RootsTech website.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Now that RootsTech 2020 is over, Gena Philibert-Ortega writes about some of the interactions that occurred in the Expo Hall during the conference.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":56707,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[12717],"tags":[12,2009,2719,1655,51283],"class_list":["post-56683","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-genealogy-conferences-activities","tag-genealogy","tag-genealogy-conferences","tag-genealogy-search-tips","tag-rootstech","tag-rootstech-2020"],"acf":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/photo-0202-2016-featured-graphic-genealogy-conferences.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56683","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=56683"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56683\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":94923,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56683\/revisions\/94923"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/56707"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=56683"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=56683"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=56683"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}