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Search engines can help you with your genealogy, to find an ancestor, a place, images, and more...
©️Geneafinder
Have you ever typed the name and first name of an ancestor in your browser's search bar? You might be surprised! Whether you use Google, Bing, Yahoo, Qwant, DuckDuckGo, or another search engine, they can be useful for your genealogy. We explain everything.
A search engine is a tool that allows you to search for information on the Internet. While a search with keywords usually allows you to find what you need, it is possible to refine your query on any search engine with a few good input practices.
The quotes to search for an exact expression.
Ex : “Pierre Dupont” will only give you results with the name and first name together, unlike the same search without quotes, which will give you results for Pierre and for Dupont, less relevant results.
The hyphen to exclude a word from your search.
Ex : “Pierre Dupont” -lyricist will exclude all results about the lyricist Pierre Dupont.
The asterisk to replace unknown words.
Ex : The astrologer who falls into * will give relevant results for this incomplete title.
The tilde to include the synonyms of a word.
Ex : job ~old will give results for jobs that are "old", "no longer exist", "from the past", "old"...
AND to indicate that you want to see results on several keywords.
Ex : Pierre Dupont AND Genealogy will refine your results.
OR to display relevant pages for at least one of your keywords.
Ex : Pierre Dupont AND Genealogy OR Rhône will expand your search.
Site: to target your search on a specific site.
Ex : Ada Lovelace site: geneafinder.com will give the article about Ada Lovelace on our Geneafinder blog as the first result.
Filetype: to filter results by file type.
Ex : genealogy guide filetype:pdf will display all .pdf files that can guide you in your genealogy.
Other operators exist to help you refine your query such as inurl: to search for pages that include your keyword in their address, intitle: or intext: for those that include it in their title or text, or even related: to find sites similar to your query.
It is possible to combine as many symbols and operators as you wish to refine your query. Note, however, that a simple search sometimes works better than an advanced search to find clues rather than precise information.
Most search engines allow you to search for images. These images can help illustrate your genealogy while immersing you in what your ancestors' daily lives might have been like. You can search for photos of places (the query “Old postcard + place” works well), images of old jobs, traditional clothing, old maps, and everything that your genealogy leads you to question.
It is possible to use the symbols and operators presented above to launch a precise query. Other tools are also at your disposal to refine your image search, such as a filter by image size, by color, by type (GIF, drawing...), by online publication period (to get more or less recent images), but also by usage rights (public domain, reuse allowed with or without modification and with or without commercial purpose - make sure to check the terms of use/diffusion of the image on the source site). Some search engines also offer the ability to filter results by orientation (portrait or landscape), by person (faces only, head and shoulders), or by country of diffusion.
The Google and Bing search engines also allow you to perform an image search. That is, instead of typing keywords to launch your query, you can import an image from your computer to find similar images.
Maps (or Maps) are essential tools in your genealogical research. They help you in your research by commune in the archives, but they also allow you to find places and understand your ancestors' movements. Beyond searching for a specific place on these Map tools, other possibilities are available to you.
Create routes between the places where your ancestors lived to understand their movements (for work, to get married...).
Change views for a satellite view. Although many buildings have been built since then, it remains interesting to see how the different villages and main roads are built. You can also see a building that once belonged to an ancestor.
Use the Street View (Google) or StreetSide (Bing) tool to see a specific building, a farm, a house, a church, a town hall... more closely.
Create maps with your ancestors' addresses. Most search engines allow you to save addresses. Save those of your ancestors, with colors by family, for example, or by period, to better understand their movements.
The famous Google search engine offers the possibility to search in digitized books. Type the name of an ancestor or a place and select the search in books. To see only books that are freely viewable, use the filter “Free digital books on Google”. Many works from the 19th century are easily accessible.
For more in-depth research, use the Google Scholar tool to find documents and scientific publications. This bibliographic database can be useful for your genealogy if you are conducting research on a specific topic. Prefer English for your searches.
Finally, the Yahoo search engine offers a Questions/Answers tool to redirect you directly to its forums based on your query.
One last tip for your searches, don’t hesitate to do the same search on multiple search engines, as algorithms and sorting methods are different for each site.
Happy searching!
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