Tips for Internet and Database Searches
• Develop a detective mentality.
•
Don't forget father and paternal relative search!
•
Do searches on deceased persons, you can still get good relative information.
•
Don't believe everything you read-case records and reports may be inaccurate.
•
Don't assume a parent is deceased until you find proof that he/she is. Several parents thought to be deceased have been discovered alive and well.
•
If you know the county in which the parent has died, call the coroner's office for funeral home information. The funeral home will know who made the funeral arrangements, who picked up the deceased person's belongings and may have contact information.
•
Newspapers also have information about the deceased and next of kin.
• Criminal records can reveal important information, including when a person was incarcerated and length of sentence.
•
Exhaust all options-leave no stone unturned!
•
Do not be frustrated by what may be perceived as a dead end.
•
After you have found the names of several family members, it is essential to have a conversation with the CASA Child Advocate Volunteer and/or Child Advocacy
Specialist about whom you found. They may be able to provide further information about this person before you make initial contact.
•
Remember the difference your thorough search can make in the life of a child!!!
Google search is simple: just type whatever comes to mind in the search box, hit Enter or click the Search button, and Google will search will search the web for content that’s relevant to your search.
Some basic facts

Every word matters. Generally, all words you put in the query will be used.

Search is always case sensitive. A search for [john doe] is the same search as [John
Doe].

Generally, punctuation is ignored, including @#$%^&*()=+[]\ and other special characters.
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Tips for better searches

Keep it simple. [John Doe Venice] not [John Doe from Los Angeles County in
California.

Think how the page you are looking for will be written.
A search engine is not a human; it is a program that matches the words you give to pages on the web. Use the words that are most likely to appear on the page. For example, try [Patty Richardson] and [Patricia Richardson], as her shortened name will likely be social networking and other casual sights, and her full legal name is likely to be used on official documents.

Describe what you need with as few terms as possible. The goal of each word in a query is to focus it further. Since all words are used, each additional word limits the results. The main advantage to starting with fewer key words is that, if you don’t get what you need, the results will likely give you a good indication of what additional words are needed to refine your search results on the next search. For example, [Patricia
Richardson Fullerton] is likely to give better results that the longer [Patricia Richardson teacher from Fullerton California].

Choose unusual and descriptive words.
The more unique the name is the more likely you are to get relevant results. Names that are very common, like ‘Jones,’ ‘Daniel,’ or
‘Hansen,’ are going to return a huge number of results that may be difficult to sift through. Search for the person in the family with the most uncommon name.

Phrase search
(“”) By putting double quotes around a set of words, you are telling
Google to consider the exact words in that exact order without any change. Google already uses the order and the fact that the words are together as a very strong signal and will stray from it only for a good reason, so quotes are usually unnecessary. By insisting on a phrase search you might be missing good results accidentally. For example, a search for [“Alexander Bell”] (with quotes) will miss the pages that refer to Alexander
G.
Bell.
Try it both ways.

Search single word exactly as it is
(“”) Google employs synonyms automatically, so that t finds pages that mention, for example, Bill for the query [William] , or California history for the query [ca history]. But sometimes Google helps out a little too much and gives you a synonym/nickname when you don’t really want it. By putting double quotes around a single word, you are telling Google to match the word precisely as you typed it.

Search within a specific website (site:) Google allows you to specify that your search results must come from a given website. For example, the query [Iraq site:nytimes.com] will turn return results about Iraq but only from nytimes.com. The simpler queries [Iraq newyourtime.com] or [Iraq New York Times] will usually be just as good, though they might return results from other sites that mention the New York Times. You can also specify a whole class of sites, for example [Iraq site:.gov] will return results only from a
.gov domain and [Iraq site: .iq] will return results only from Iraqi sites.
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
Terms you want to exclude (-) Attaching a minus sign immediately before a word indicates that you do not want pages that contain this word to appear in your results. The minus sign should appear immediately before the word and should be preceded with a space. For example, in the query [anti-virus software], the minus sign is used as a hyphen and will not be interpreted as an exclusion symbol; whereas the query [anti-virus
–software] will search for the word ‘anti-virus’ but exclude references to software. You can exclude as many words as you want by using the – sign in front of all of them, for example [jaguar -cars –football –os]. The sign can be used to exclude more than just words. For example, place a hyphen before the ‘site:’ operator (without a space) to exclude a specific site from your search results.

Fill in the blanks (*) The *, or wildcard, is a little-known feature that can be very powerful. If you include * within a query, it tells Google to treat the star as a placeholder for any unknown term(s) and the best matches. For example, the search [Google*] will give you results about many of Google’s products. The query [Obama voted * on the * bill] will give you stories about different votes on different bills. Note that the * operator works only on whole words, not parts of words. Try this when you have part of a person’s name missing.

The OR operator Google’s default behavior is to consider all the words in a search. If you want to specifically allow either one of several words, you can you the OR operator
(note that you have to type ‘OR’ in ALL CAPS). For example, ‘San Francisco Giants
2004 OR 2005] will give you results about either one of these years, whereas [San
Francisco Giants 2004 2005] (without the OR) will show pages that include both years on the same page. The AND operator is the default, so it is not needed.
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Ancestry.com
Ancestry.com partners with archives, libraries, churches and other organizations and is holds over 6 billion records, including 20 million family trees.
Records include:

U.S. Census since 1790 (Most recent is 1940 census)

Immigration records o Border crossings o Passport collections o Immigrations records

Military records (including military records for people who did not serve (draft records)

Family Trees

Vital Records/ index (birth, marriage, death)

Historical newspapers

Directories and member lists

Court records

Tax records

Family and local history
Getting Started:
Log-In
CASA volunteers are welcome to search using the CASA membership at the CASA office.
Laptops are set up for volunteer use with the log-in information saved on the computer. At this time, CASA will not give the log-in information to volunteers for home use.
Volunteers can use a free trial membership offered by Ancestry.com or purchase a membership.
The free trial membership does not allow users to save the search results, though. The Family
Finding Specialist on staff can also enter information into Ancestry.com at any time if volunteers are not able to access the website.
Start your search
Enter any known information such as:

Names

Gender

Place of residence

Names of relatives

Date range of birth/death/marriage
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Tips:

Think about what event will turn up in death-related search. Even if the person is dead, don’t put it in the search if you want records before the person died
 Don’t necessarily always put exact in the search, even if you know the exact date

Use date ranges, even within 20 years, estimate on the birth of parents or children.

Add other family members.
 Don’t get hung up on the surname.

Add both parents, just given name and location

Specify gender
 Don’t overdo it.

Rotate different information in and out.

Keep trying
Collection preferences
Selecting collection preferences, the search can be narrowed.

Focus on U.S.

Search only family trees.

Keep in mind these settings are stick, you have to adjust these settings when you want to search again
Sorting records

Sort by relevance (match the best)

Summarize by category o By drop down menu or on the search page

Search census directly

Card Catalog o Search different collections o These are what the searches are going through, so you can focus on one resource

Title: words are in the title of the database

Keyword: content has the word in it

Filter title: Search for birth, location, state and county level
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o State pages
Viewing the record

Record page

View original document

You can correct the document or view corrections through the add update button

You can see other records attached to the person if someone has attached them

View image only tab allows you to view the whole image

Print the record o Image only print o Image and source print o Customized print

Share your finds through email for 30 days

Save the record to shoebox or hard drive
Online Tree

Family View (genogram)

Pedigree view (direct ancestors)

Hover over the name, box will show up, look at profile, add a relative, edit profile

Profile will show records and relatives

Member connect page will show other members who are researching the same person

You can look at what other people have found
Hints: the page searches by itself for matching records, you view the hints and add them or not
There are several training videos on Ancestry.com
Using Census Records on Ancestry.com
Every ten years the US has done a census survey of every resident of the US, regardless of their citizenship. Back east some censuses were done as early as 1790 by the US.
Only since 1850 has every member of the household been listed. Before that, only the head of the household was listed. The most recent census which has been released is 1930 meaning that people in that census would now be at least 80 years old. Those listed would be great grandparents (or more) of children in our system. The 1940 census will be released in 2014 and is now being indexed by thousands of volunteers. The 1890 census burned up and is almost entirely missing. The 1860 census lists slave holders and a summary of their slaves (usually with no names). The first census after the civil war is 1870 and now lists all the freed slaves under the names they selected.
Information on people includes their names, sex, race, age, relation to the head, occupation, state of birth, states of birth of both parents and ability to read and write. Thus when you find an
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individual in the record in the record, you generally will find their family members (parents, spouse, children, grandparents) or you may find them living in a boarding house or school.
Once you have located the individual in a census record you can begin looking for more information in that same city or county – other families by the same name, find the Genweb page for the county, etc. You might want to read a brief history of the county and you can find those in Wikipedia . The histories will explain when the county was created, former name of the county, dates of settlement, why people went there, etc.
The best way to find a person in the census is to use the “search” feature at www.ancestry.com
.
Type in the name of the person, date of birth (or estimate) and state. Be sure that the “phonetic” features are turned on for the name as that will allow all deviant spellings to show up. If you do not have an exact date, put in an estimated date and make it +/- 10 years. A list of options will show up and you must wade through them to find the correct one. Does the date make sense?
Do the siblings sound familiar, or the location?
Once you have found the individual hopefully you will then have found the names of the parents, plus their age and date of birth. Now you can enter that information into the search box and locate a record on a parent.
Sometimes, although you know the family was in that county that year, you just cannot find the record for them. This happens because a census taker spelled their name differently that year, got the child’s name wrong, or even just used an initial, not a first name. In these cases, use other parts of the search box. Try a search, for instance, in Travis County ,Texas for a female, white, age 9 and born in Louisiana. You may get a long list, look through it and you may quickly notice a crazy spelling of the last name, or a child named “N.D.” instead of Nancy. If you really must find them, you know where they were and you cannot find the record, then go to the page of the suspected township in the county and just start looking at every page until you find them.
What is on the census record? When you find the correct record look at the top right and you may see an option for “black form.” By clicking on this you will see the exact form, with all the readable headings.
How to Find Birth and Marriage Records
Few contemporary birth and marriage records are available on-line due to privacy issues.
However, do a Google search for something such as “Texas marriage index” to see if the state has a free marriage on-line database. Note that these searches will also produce a list of fee services wanting to charge you for certificates. This is not what you are looking for. You are looking for a website that is something like “texas.gov”. This will be an actual government website.
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You may estimate a birth date for those born before 1930 by using the census records. Since
1850 every resident in the US has been listed in a census record every 10 years. The data on each person includes name, age, state of birth and relation to the head of household.
Very few marriage records are on-line. Again, census records often ask the number of years the couple has been married.
Another option to check are “genweb” pages for counties across the country. Every county has a genweb page and are maintained by volunteers and vary in quality and quantity of their contents.
Many genweb pages will contain transcriptions of old church registers or early marriage and birth records, as well as cemetery records. Find a genweb page by doing a google search for
“travis county texas genweb”.
Every state will issue a certificate to a descendant of the individual. They are useful because they list the names of parents, dates, and places and often the race, nationality or Indian status.
Under present financial conditions at state governments these may take up to six months to arrive. In order to order a certificate do a google search such as “ordering a texas birth certificate”. Fill out the form and have CASA send a check. You will have to enclose information as to their relation to the person. As well as identification, etc. Some states may reply in just two weeks. Be prepared to wait many months and then receive a certificate with blanks for the names if the parents, etc. Some can be very disappointing and others worth their weight in gold.
Date of Death & Obituaries
Why we care
1.
We will know if they are dead or still living somewhere
2.
You will know how long they lived (did they dies young and why)
3.
You will have a good idea of where to look for siblings.
4.
You can find out the names of parents
5.
Medical history
How to find the date of death
SOCIAL SECURITY DEATH INDEX
If the person was an American or worked in America
1.
Go to ancestry.com [you may also do a search for SSDI and you are generally directed to the ancestry.com version] It was started by Social Security in about 1939 and the index is update about once a month.
2.
Search for the Social Security Death Index
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3.
Enter the name of the individual
4.
You can enter the date of death to establish the death name search by the date of birth, or state of death. They are in there, use whatever trick you need to find them there if it is an unusual name, you will also find listed more relatives.
STATE INDEXES
Various states index their own death records and make them available on-line for free.
Do a search for “Texas death record index” or “Texas archives”
How to Find and Obituary
Why we care:
Really good obituaries will contain not only the date and place of birth and death, but also the names of parents and their place of birth and current residence.
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Internet and Database Search
Types of Sites
Directory Assistance/WhitePages:
Examples
411.com
These websites are free and provide an address and phone number for the person you're searching for. These sites offer reverse phone and address searches also. www.switchboard.com www.msn.whitepages.com www.zabasearch.com www.anywho.com
Search Engine www.google.com www.Intelius.com
Intelius is fee-based search engine, but its free service can also be helpful. By typing in the person's name and suspected state, the approximate age and possible cities the person may be residing in can be identified. Use this information to conduct more accurate searches on other free search sites.
Genealogical Resources: www.rootsweb.com
These sites are free and often provide information on deceased and living relatives. Birth, marriage and death records should be explored as well as obituaries which often list the surviving relatives. www.familysearch.org
www.ancestry.com - CASA has an Ancestry.com membership if access to premium search options is needed.
Obituaries:
Obituaries often include valuable information, such as surviving relatives’ names and locations.
Obitlinkspage.com
-or google search a person’s name and the term
“obituary” to find an online obituary from the websites of newspapers and funeral home
-contact newspaper offices and libraries to locate a printed or older obituary
Social Networking: www.myspace.com
Without having a personal account a search can be conducted for a specific person. For privacy
www.facebook.com
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reasons often full information cannot be viewed however there is a "send a message" option.
Public Records: www.searchsystems.net
Information is generally categorized by state and county, but some records are organized by city.
The most helpful public information is often
Property Records, Recorded Documents (such as liens, deeds, leases, wills, etc.), Voter Registration,
Court Records, and Professional Licenses.
Inmate Locator/Criminal Records: publicdata.com
Local and state clerks of record
www.vinelink.com- Inmate locator site for all states.
These sites are free and help identify the location of an inmate or the name of a criminal. Inmate's name and DOB are often required to receive the inmate's CDC# and location.
www.inmatesplus.com- Inmate locator site for all states.
www.bop.gov - Federal Bureau of Prisons - nationwide inmate locator service.
School records: Emergency Contact Information Form contact the child(ren)’s school or district; you will need to supply the CASA court order.
Teacher and School Counselor Reports
Good to Know
• Freedom of Information Act - USPS Mail- Complete a "Freedom of Information Act Request
Form" at the local Post Office to receive a forwarding address. The Social Security
Administration also has a Letter Forwarding service: www.ssa.gov/foialhtrnllltrfwding.htrn.
• Fee-based Searches - CASA has contracts with Ancestry.com and Seneca when free searches do not give adequate results.
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