cheatsheets – On Granny's Trail

Every genealogist faces the same dilemma: So many records, so little time. When pursuing a research objective (i.e. What was the maiden name of Fredonia Victoria Gooch?) many genealogists are seized with panic, not knowing where to start first. Nobody wants to waste precious research time chasing after records that will not yield the information they seek.

Genealogists just want to know their options. Which records are most likely to improve their chances for success?

On Granny’s Trail is providing a Genealogy Record Selection Table to give you a head start:

Record groups marked above are good places to start in searching for specific types of genealogical data, but the others can be full of surprises. Start with the suggestions in the table and then expand your search to other record groups. Biographies and genealogies can include any or all of the data listed, and were not included in the table.

After blogging about the use of Boolean searches for genealogy, I decided to try and track down a compact cheatsheet or template I could use when searching in Google. I didn’t come across anything that served my purposes completely, so I made my own. I thought it might be helpful for others, so have posted it here for you to use. I’m sure my list will change as I work with it more and more, but it is a good starting place.

Using whichever search engine you prefer, just plug in your own data using this punctuation and format, and see what kind of results you get:

While compiling this list I came across some previously untapped resources in the search results. I am talking about some high quality original sources that enriched my research and were golden. I encourage you to come up with your own template, and to mix and match the search terms and compare the number of hits you get.

Too many hits? Try adding additional search terms to your string until you have shaped it and narrowed it to suit you. Then copy it and add it to your personal template.

To get an idea of how the construction of a search string affects the number of hits that will result, I’ve included a chart that illustrates my own results in one session:

Number of hits with diffferent search strings, by Dayna Jacobs of Ongrannystrail.co — Number of hits with different search strings, by Dayna Jacobs (Ongrannystrail.com)

When using a search engine it is helpful to know a few keyboard shortcuts. I cannot keep track of more than a few in my head, so am sharing the ones I use most often: