Using the “search” option on the “person” screen
When you select “search” from the person screen, you get a choice of sites to search, I usually start with the first one which is FamilySearch.org... however, the info that populates as search criteria isn’t complete, and uses date ranges instead of the dates given on FSFT info... is it supposed to be like that? Why doesn’t it populate with all the relevant info? I usually have to go in and “refine” the search criteria by adding locations, spouse and parent info ... even though it’s already included or “attached” the “person” , the info doesn’t populate when you select the “search” option
Risposte
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Thats because in most search queries LESS is MORE (less search parameters is better)
(if you are not careful - and you add more criteria - if the search is not an exact match - you will be filtering out what you actually do want to see)
The more search parameters you use - the greater the chance you will be filtering out what you actually do want to see - simply because things dont match exactly.
Start with only a few parameters - and then only add more - if you find you are flooded with "noise" returns that you dont want to see.
often just a few parameters name, birth year, fathers name
are enough to get the record you need. adding lots of parameters on your query doesnt make it better (usually) - it often just makes the system more confused as to whether it should or should not include a result that you probably want to see - but doesnt match with one of the extra parameters you added.
see:
https://community.familysearch.org/s/feed/0D53A00004tuFYzSAM
this "less is more" mentality - applies to just about any type of search engine.
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Thank you, @Dennis J Yancey , I think what you said is totally accurate.
I definitely agree that you ought to use as few search terms as possible to avoid the risk of your target not being included in the search. On the other hand, I do know that Ancestry has an option to add multiple different entries for a certain type of data (as a hypothetical example: Residence), so it might be beneficial to add Boolean search terms (AND, OR, NOT in all CAPS) to designate in the case that multiple possibilities exist for one field. What I mean is this: if the person was recorded to have have lived Austria and Germany in 1900, you would put "Austria OR Germany" in the residence field.
Hope this helps!
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