Full Text Search Mystery Solver
- Leslie Ryan
- 34 minutes ago
- 2 min read
FamilySearch's Full Text Search could be your mystery solver! It was introduced in 2024 and is now fully active on their free site genealogy site.
It was introduced in 2024 and is now out of its "experimental stage." You may have noticed like when you log in there new AI generated hints are right there at the top.
There are billions of records on the internet from all around the world that have not been "indexed" by human beings like us so let your fingers do the typing and the robot do the reading. FamilySearch boasts they records from 35 countries. And you can see these for free!
AI-generated summaries of records, including names and relationships.
Search fields for year, place, and image group number (DGS).
Almost 2 billion records from various countries and languages.
Ability to search by specific collections, which are grouped using digitization metadata.
Automatic translation of record summaries into your preferred language.
It is easy to use with a little practice, and you can download the records complete with citations, and add them to your FamilySearch tree.
I have found Baptism Records in Ireland, property transactions in Toronto, a death record for a grandaunt I didn't know about who died in infancy in Connecticut, and the bond issued for my great grandmother for the probate of her intestate husband's property in Pennsylvania.
Your search will provide a list of documents containing the phrase or names you are searching for and the full transcription of the document, and then you can zoom in on that image to read it as if you were sitting in the dusty county clerk's office!
Here is a link to the tutorial about how to use this new free tool.
More information about Full Text Search from FamilySearch
Full Text Search could be YOUR mystery solver! Try it, you'll like it. It's free, all you need is an account at FamilySearch and some time to get lost in the archives!
We are at the half-way point of winter this week, and that darn groundhog predicted 6 more weeks of winter, so we may be stuck inside anyway. Let's be productive!
If you would like some help with your family tree brick walls or mysteries, send me an email. I will review the information you already have for FREE to see if I can nudge your search along.
Thanks for stopping by again this week!
Regards,
Leslie Ryan
No compensation is received for any referrals or information herein.
No copyright infringement is intended.
