How to Break Through Genealogy Brick Walls - Google Cheat Sheet CLUES = KEYWORDS

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1 CLUES = KEYWORDS Your KEYWORDS are then used in Google Search and COMBINED with SEARCH OPERATORS. "9 out of 10 people don't know how to effectively use the Internet's search engines. Are you one of them? I ve worked with so many people, both in and outside of the genealogy world, and seriously, they don t know. The biggest secret has nothing to do with the Search Operators that you use in the search engines, but you must know how to use them to create quality Search Queries. Here are a handful of important search operators. There are many more, but here are some basic work horses that will serve you well, for years to come. BASIC Search Operators to Use with Keywords NOTE: The actual Search Operators are in GREEN: keyword (Results WILL show tenses, plural, and variants) -keyword (Results will EXCLUDE the keyword) "keyword" (ONLY the exact keyword) "keyword keyword" (Keywords are in an EXACT PHRASE) ragan genealogy OR "family tree" Page 1

2 Here s a more in-depth look at the basic Search Operators with examples of how you will use them with the Clues and Keywords you have with the surnames you are researching: keyword (Results WILL show plurals, variants and tenses) Example: ragan genealogy ragan (Results will show ragan, regan, reagan, ragans, etc.) genealogy (Results will show genealogy, genealogies, genealogical, etc.) "keyword" (ONLY the EXACT keyword) Example: "ragan" "genealogy" Searches for the EXACT Keyword: Results will NOT show variants, tenses, plurals and synonyms. NOTE: This works well when searching with misspelled words. Try this search with your surname (instead of ragan) with the misspelled word geneology Example: "ragan" "geneology" Page 2

3 "keyword keyword" (Keywords in quotation marks are in an EXACT PHRASE) Examples: ragan "family tree" ragan "family tree" "greene county" georgia COMMON SURNAMES should be searched as Exact Phrases: "jonah smith" OR "smith jonah" "jonah daniel smith" OR "jonah d smith" "jonah daniel smith" OR "jonah d smith" mattie OR maddie "jonah daniel smith" OR "jonah d smith" "greene" OR "van buren" ga -keyword (Results will EXCLUDE the keyword) You will use this search operator the MOST when fine-tuning your searches in the online research process on the search engines. Note this example of the Fine-Tuning research process during an online search using the - (minus symbol search operator). You will EXCLUDE specific keywords in the search results by MODIFYING the Search Query (depending on the results): Page 3

4 Here s the Fine-Tuning Research Process that I recommend: Do a search on a search engine. Examine search results. Fine-tune your search. Do a second search. Examine those search results. Fine-tune your search again. Do third and forth search if needed To Help You Better Understand the Fine-Tuning Research Process Let s say you are searching for genealogy information on Ronald Reagan, but not the president. Sure, my surname is spelled different (Ragan), but I do have a brother named Ron: Example (Search 1): "ronald reagan" genealogy Example (Search 2): "ronald reagan" genealogy -president Example (Search 3): "ronald reagan" genealogy -president -nancy OR (a Boolean Search Operator) NOTE: It MUST be in capital letters, and can be used with other Search Operators Examples: blue OR red genealogy OR "family tree" ragan genealogy OR "family tree" ragan genealogy OR "family tree" florida OR georgia Page 4

5 EXAMPLES and NOTES: You can use all these Search Operators together in Search Queries but you MUST get the spacing right: "ragan"tdeedstort"landtrecords"t-"beavertcreek" "jonathantragan"toglethorpetort"greenetcounty"tga Do you see things a little differently now? This is just the beginning! These few of BASIC Search Operators the "work horses" of successful Search Queries, and will serve you well. Now you have a better idea of how to use the search engines to do your personal genealogy and family history research. Put these search methods to work for you, using whatever personal genealogy information that you have. Page 5