Using Google as a Genealogy 'Power Tool'

Among the most common tools available to most computer users are Internet search engines. Whether you use Google, Yahoo!, MSN, or some other search engine — you've no doubt found they can be both fantastic and frustrating.

If you take just an hour of your time to 'play' with these tools, you should be able to reduce or even remove that element of frustration from future sessions. As with any tool, once you understand how a search engine works, you'll be able to squeeze far more value out of this free tool than you can imagine.

What is an Internet Search Engine?
A search engine is a computer-based software program designed to help the user quickly sort through large volumes of information to obtain content on a specific topic. Acting as an electronic index, the search engine receives input from the user (a word or phrase) and then processes an electronic query seeking the content most relevant to the request. An Internet search engine is simply a program that performs these same functions on a much larger scale, seeking responses to user queries from the entire network of computers that make up the World Wide Web.

While most Internet search engines work the same, each has their own unique algorithm for determining which pages they believe are most relevant for a specific topic. In addition, some may place sponsored (or paid) results as a priority ahead of natural (or free) relevancy-based results. The tips on this page will use Google.com as an example, but many of the concepts will work on other search engines too.

If you are interested in learning more about Internet Genealogy, visit the Web site of Professional Genealogist Dan Lynch who lectures and writes on this topic regularly.