Workshop # 3 of 5
Expanding the Search
Expanding the Search
Log in to Liahona Network: password: alma3738
Log in to FamilySearch
Discover, Gather, and Connect our ancestors through FamilySearch and help others to do the same, especially our children.
Search FamilySearch historical records
Use partner sites
Learn from the FamilySearch Wiki & Catalog
Leverage AI tools to enhance discovery
Week One
Explore different pedigree views and when to use each
Discover how the Person Page holds the key to deeper understanding
Search the FamilySearch tree
Week Two
Evaluate the validity of the attached sources
Use and refine Record Hints
Add your external sources
Attach memories as meaningful documentation
(Each week we will review previous weeks by presenting challenges.)
There is always more than one way to solve a challenge.
Ask someone nearby to give you the PID for one of their 4th great-grand-parents.
Find that person in your tree.
Are you related to that person?
What is the Quality Score for that person?
If less than high, why?
Make the person you found in the previous challenge the focal person.
Count the number of great-grandchildren the person has.
Count the number of great-grandchildren who have a spouse.
For the person you looked at in the previous challenge, how many of the person's ancestors were born in the same country as he/she was? (Search up to seven generations)., up to seven generations.
Do any of the partner sites have information about the person you have been studying?
I didn't know you could search like that, a course by Debbie Gurtler, AG
by name
by relationship
finding an image
browse historical records
FamilySearch catalog
images
Always search by name first
Always view image of original record
Attach sources to Family Tree
Less is more
Log in to FamilySearch Account
(An easy Google search challenge)
Mike Trevino, a veteran from Texas, was born in 1943. He died at the age of 75 and was buried in Fort Sam Houston Cemetery.
Find the dates of his birth and death.
(Hint: his given name may have been Miguel.)
Does the Mike Trevino (or Miguel Trevino) you found in the previous challenge show up in any of the FamilySearch data bases?
Consider two searches:
from the homepage
from Search > Records
Find documentation for the marriage of
George Rogers
Amelia Oke
in Gloucester, England
in 1820
Always open search options when using the FamilySearch search engine.
Consider how you would change the options if you were searching for events that occurred while they were a married couple, as opposed to documentation of their marriage.
Search for children of George & Amelia
The secret is to select options appropriately.
Is there an image attached? You may still need to browse images.
Is there a film number?
It there an item or page number?
What is the date and location of the record?
(In the interest of time, no challenge is proposed here.)
Browse Historical records
FamilySearch Catalog
Search > Images
Search for a collection by title
two types of filters
Search by location
Enter location
Use map
Find a relative in the 1950 Census.
Search for records a the jurisdictional level that created the records--national, state, county, or city.
NOTE: You must spell the name correctly or use Places within ... [name of state or province]
Ways to Search
Place
Surnames
Titles
Author
Subject
Keywords
Call number, Film/Fiche/image Group Number
What is in the catgalog?
Digitized images
Books
Periodicals
Maps
Other resources
Why use the catalog
The FamilySearch Library has extensive holding
Are the records digitized?
Verify if a microfilm has been indexed
Locate items available for your locality or surname
Prepare a print list for you visit to the Library!
(From Debbie Gurtlr's videos)
(This deserves more time, we'll save it for another dedicated workshop.)
Debbie give suggestions for making this successful.
The New FamilySearch Catalog (see the Learn How to Use video)
Research Documents and Letters With Artificial Intelligence, Mark Thompson
Image from Mark Thompson's RootTech presentation, Research Documents and Letters With Artificial Intelligence.
Large Language Models (LLM's) form a subset of Generative AI. Mark Thompson suggests this graphic to evaluate the suitablility and feasibility of using LLM to address a genealogical question.
We consider two examples of AI currently available in FamilySearch
( I must be missing something, how is this more that record hints? )
Have a conversation with AI. Create your questions based on Thompson's Suitability and Feasibility Evaluator.
(AI Full Text Search)
Joseph Andrew Anderson (PID:KWC6-S1N) records the following in his autobiography.
Christina Mattson is a sister of my Grandma Annie Marie Eliason. Her husband died March 26, 1895, leaving her a widow for many years. My mother saw to it that she was well cared for and I was the "Roust-about kid" to check up on her and help out with her chores.
My aunt seemed to be very fond of me and made it known that after her death she wanted me to have her property. I wasn't of age so my mother and her entered into an agreement on the 14th of December 1909, whereas we would take care of her and provide the necessary food, clothing, fuel and care for her the remainder of her days. The little log house stood on the corner. It consisted of two rooms and a lean-to on the east that served as a kitchen and a bed room or storage. There was also a dirt-roof cellar vegatable cellar joined on the east.
This challenge is to find the legal document transferring property from Christina Mattson to Joseph's mother.
Christina Mattson home
Things to consider:
1. We need to know the name of Joseph's mother.
2. FamilySearch has unindexed deed records searchable by lab experiment "Expand your search with Full Text"
3. Focus your search by selecting a collection title in Find a Collection.