Hello List,
I wanted to pass on some search tips that came across one of the Tennessee lists.
I had never thought of using the + or - with my searches.
Enjoy! I hope it proves useful,
Gina
Dear list:
When using Google and most other search engines:
Not only can you add quotation marks "around a name" when searching for a
specific person, you can also narrow your search by adding a + (plus) or a -
(minus) to specific words of interest. For example, when I'm searching for
my gg-grandfather, John Young, b. 1807, Fentress County, TN -- here's one
way I can search for him:
"John Young" +1807 +"Fentress County, TN" +genealogy
If I find no matches, I would eliminate Fentress County and probably the
year, too, and research using his name, +TN, and +genealogy. (It has been
suggested to use +genealogy, in order to stay on genealogy sites and
information. You can use a - (minus) in front of a word if, for example, you
continue to get a news story on someone famous who happens to have the same
name as your ancestor. In my case, it's an astronaut, so I enter the search
like this:
"John Young" +TN -astronaut +genealogy
This will bring results of all John Youngs in TN mentioned on genealogy
pages or sites, but no astronauts!
Karen LeJeune