When most of us first start using Ancestry, we immediately type in a name, and maybe a place or year. But are you finding everything you can? Do you even know what each record collection contains?
In this article, I will tell you how to look with more intention, more focus. This will save you time and frustration, especially when you can’t find what you’re looking for.
According to its website, Ancestry has over 65 billion records from 88 countries worldwide, with more added every day.
Whether you’re a beginning genealogist or you’ve been around the block with your ancestors a few times, it’s good to step back and really look at what’s being offered. Ancestry gives us many places to do that.
Ancestry Homepage
When you first log in to Ancestry, do you immediately start working? Have you ever stopped to see what their homepage offers?
Yes, they offer hints of who to research next, but did you also notice:
- Popular photo hints
- Collections that may be useful to you like yearbooks or census records
- Hints for particular ancestors
- Potential ancestors
- In remembrance – birthdays, marriages, or deaths
- Hints about people you may know
- This week in history
In addition to these, there’s another place on the Ancestry homepage I’d like you to pay attention to…New and updated collections under Tools and resources.
Ancestry New and Updated Collections
Ancestry is constantly adding new collections and updating existing ones. As of the writing of this blog, here’s what that page looks like for the United States:
(Notice that I could have picked countries other than the United States from its dropdown menu.)
Being in Maine, I’m interested in the “Maine, U.S. Vital Records, 1775-1912” collection. This is a brand-new collection for me, so instead of jumping straight into the search bars, I want to see how it’s organized.
On the right-hand side of the page, Ancestry breaks the collection down into smaller parts you can browse. That’s where I start, because it helps me understand what’s actually in the collection before I run any searches.
Browse this Collection
It’s important to know what’s included in a collection and, sometimes, more importantly, what is not. If you’re looking for a particular time frame or location, and you take the time to browse, you may save yourself a lot of frustration by checking the collection’s contents first.
In this case, this section of the website is clickable to each record set included in the collection:
This allows me to choose the right one for my research subject rather than searching the entire collection. Be aware that some of these sets may have an index, and some may not.
Related Data Collections
Just below is a section of the website titled “Related Data Collections.”
This will give you ideas of other places to go on Ancestry that is similar to what you are looking for. It will also encourage you to look in the Ancestry Card Catalog. You can read more about that in my post, “Love At First Sight: The Ancestry Catalog.”
The “About” Section
Now, we get to one of the most important parts of any collection’s start page: the “About” section.
Every record collection on Ancestry includes an About section, tucked just below the search bars, and it’s one of the most valuable parts of the page. This short overview tells you exactly what the collection covers, including the years included, the locations available, any gaps in the records, and the kinds of information you can expect to find.
It also explains how the records were created and where they came from, which helps you understand their accuracy and limitations. When you take the time to read the About section before you search, you get a better picture of how to use that collection, what clues it can actually give you, and whether it’s the right place to spend your time.
Don’t ever miss reading about a collection before using it! This section will also include any links to resources that could be useful.
Finally
Taking a few minutes to browse a collection before you search increases your chances of success. You get a clearer sense of what the records cover, what might be missing, and how the information was created. Understanding the collection first makes your searches more focused, helping you move forward with your research with calm and intention.
Genealogy tip: Once inside a record collection, it’s essential to learn how it is organized. This will save you time and frustration as you hunt for your ancestors.
Looking for help searching for your ancestors? I’m available to help you get started or jump over your latest hurdle. Click below for a free 30-minute consultation.
