Seattle Genealogical Society Tip of the Week FamilySearch Full Text Search

TIP OF THE WEEK –
FAMILYSEARCH’S FULL-TEXT SEARCH
EXPANDS TO INCLUDE MORE RECORD GROUPS

The people at FamilySearch have been slowly improving their full-text search project. One of the latest updates has added federal records to be searchable. This include federal patent and land records, military records and other federal collections.

To access the project go to FamilySearch Labs.

Log in (with your free account, if you don’t have one you can create one) and activate the option “Expand your search with Full Text” and click “Go To Experiment.” Once on the project page, search by keyword. This could be a name of location name. If you need to search for a phrase or full name try putting it in quotes — for example, “Abraham Lincoln.” Hit search and then use the provided filters to narrow down your search results by date and place.

To find federal records filter by place “United States of America” and then pick “United States of America” again for the secondary location filter (not a specific state).

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