Surfing the Web

A search engine is an internet site that has been developed to help you find web pages that you are looking for. The internet is a world wide connection of computers and search engines that are constantly updating themselves to help you find other computers with web pages and information. The following are just a couple of the current popular search engines.

There are many other search engines. Some search engines are specific to content. For instance some may look for pictures. Others may look for computer programs.

Search engines are easy to use simply type in the subject you are looking for and click on search. Many sites have advanced search options and help tutorials. The help tutorial for Google is: www.google.com/help/refinesearch.html

Genealogy Research on The Internet

Genealogy research can quickly lead to generations of names to find. Genealogy has been found to be one of the top uses of the internet. Many sites have been developed to help individuals share information and find ancestors. Biographies, Census Records, Church and Cemetery records can be found online. Many countries, and counties are making available vast amounts of historical records online.

So where can you find this information? How can you sort it out from the billions of web pages on the web?

Utilizing search engines can be a helpful tool for doing genealogy on the internet. For the following example we will be using www.google.com. When searching with google you may mix words to get various results. Typing a surname with the words family history or genealogy may return positive results for that name. Example: Osborne genealogy. By putting quotes around a phrase the search engine will look for exactly what is within the quotes. If you are looking for George W Brown you can try “George W Brown” You may narrow the search down by putting a place with the name: “George W Brown” Parke Indiana where Parke is a county in Indiana this may lead to information with this combination in mind. However it does not mean that when you go to that page that the information will be connected to that one individual. It just means that the combination of those items may be found on that site. Other combinations would include mixing names for searching: “George Brown” “Samantha Shute” several combinations can be used utilizing dates, names, spouse, parents, places and more.

TIP: While on a large web page, and you are searching for a specific bit of information, you may go to the top of Window Explorer and click on the EDIT menu and the FIND (on this page) you can then type the name or phrase to search the page for in a fast pace. For Instance if you are looking for George Brown you can type in the word George or Brown.

Search engines can be helpful by finding names or even by finding places. You can even type in “Washington County” Utah Cemetery and find an index of names for Washington County Cemeteries.

There are also many genealogical web sites devoted to helping, from the beginner to the experienced researcher.

The following are just a few helpful sites.

Links to Genealogy Sites