Thanks to the Simple Search function being tested by FamilySearch.org, I know when and where Frances Walasyk died. I had been looking on the usual genealogy websites but no luck. Until now.
Simple Search is a plain language search tool in beta. No complicated search forms, no special wording or numbers, no range of dates. Really simple. And, after testing a few queries, I discovered it's both simple and effective.
To start, go to the Family Search Labs page and click on the experiment called Try Simple Search. In the search box, you can type your query or even speak it (click on the microphone at bottom right of query box). Then click the search button.
Frances was the mother of my aunt Dorothy's life partner. Frances seemed to disappear from official records after the 1940 US Census and after signing an Alien Registration AR-2 form later in 1940. Could Simple Search find her?
Surprisingly, my simple query (shown above) returned one result, only one. It was precisely what I needed: a legal document related to Frances's estate. She died on March 5, 1948 and a week later, her daughter Leona (aka Lee Wallace) petitioned the court for power of attorney to settle the estate. A simple question answered in seconds.
Your actual mileage may vary, and past performance is no guarantee of future performance. My other Simple Search queries for other ancestors returned pages and pages of results, some highly relevant and some less relevant. I'm still experimenting with filtering results by year, place, collection, and so on.
I definitely recommend giving this experiment a test or three!
I hadn't seen this yet and I'm so excited to try it this evening. Thank you so much for sharing this beta feature.
ReplyDeleteBest of luck and I hope you discover some formerly elusive clues!
DeleteThanks for sharing your experience. I'm trying to figure out how exactly it is different than entering those same terms in the regular search engine. Hmmmm....more to ponder.
ReplyDeleteIt's less structured, I think, but definitely digs into the databases, especially helpful for locating nuggets in the full-text materials that aren't indexed.
DeleteI'm curious on how this differs from full-text search. Is it only searching in indexed records?
ReplyDeleteIt appears to search full-text not necessarily indexed records. I'm still testing it. Thanks for your comment.
DeleteSaw it but haven't had time yet. I wonder what the difference is. Does it just mean you don't have to fill out the search fields? So far your example is the same as what would go into the full-text search fields. I will have to check it out. Thanks for the heads up on it. :)
ReplyDeleteNo search fields, no parameters (exact or range or sounds like), just the basics of a simple search. TY for commenting.
DeleteIt didn't really make much difference for me...I seem to have exhausted FTS for right now until they add more British record sets...
ReplyDelete