Using a library to search genealogy websites

[richard49]

You prefer to use the Library Edition of Ancestry. I'm not in a position to check at the moment but I seem to recall that the "old search" is not available in the Library Edition. Perhaps someone can confirm one way or the other.

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I haven't had the chance to go there today to check but will go along on Friday (closed Thursday).

[SueNSW]

Pretty sure Peter is correct about the library edition - one way of cutting out some of the 'rubbish' suggestions that Ancestry makes is to use the Advanced search option and tick the 'Match all terms exactly' box - but then play around with not putting too much info in the boxes

Far from perfect but helps save time sometimes

[Coromandel]

Pretty sure Peter is correct about the library edition - one way of cutting out some of the 'rubbish' suggestions that Ancestry makes is to use the Advanced search option and tick the 'Match all terms exactly' box - but then play around with not putting too much info in the boxes

A few other hints/tips for cranky old Ancestry Library Edition:

The list of search results is, by default, 'sorted by relevance'. The US censuses always seem to be deemed 'most relevant', whoever and whatever you were really looking for. I usually find it better to change 'View sorted by relevance' to 'View summarized by category' (top right of search results panel). Then you can select which results are really most relevant to you.

Another thing that can help in honing searches is to avoid the general search form on the home page and go to the specific search form for a particular data set. There are links to some of the most popular ones at the foot of the home page of Ancestry Library Edition: scroll down beneath the search box to see them. Here, for example, are 'UK Census Collection' and 'London Parish Registers'.

To find databases not listed there, you can browse around the site or go via the 'Card catalog'. Down at the bottom somewhere (I'm not at the library now so am trying to do this from memory) it says something like 'See recent or all' databases. Clicking on 'recent' takes you to a list of the most recently added/updated databases. Clicking on 'all' takes you to a form where you can search all the databases by title or keyword.

Over the last few years, Ancestry Library Edition has been "improved" () numerous times. One oddity is that in the census searches, if I put a birthplace in the birthplace field, I get zero matches. I have to put it in the keyword field in order to find it. Bizarre.