SOC 250H: Community Forces in Hawaii (Bopp): Ancestry (Library Edition)

1. Come with as much information as possible
   • Ancestry Library Edition (ALE) has thousands of databases and billions of indexed names!  In order to get the most relevant, useful results -- and to make sure you aren't overwhelmed by hundreds or thousands of irrelevant results -- you'll already want to know a few critical pieces of information (e.g. name, birth, marriage, death dates) before you start searching in ALE.  Hopefully you'll have gathered some information from your Oral History Interviews!
2. Start small, then go big
   • Add as much information as possible to your initial search.  The more information you include in your search, the more likely you are to get relevant results.  However, the more information you add, the fewer results you will probably retrieve.  So, if (after using a number of different pieces of information in your search) you end up with, say, less than 10 results, try removing pieces, one at a time.  By removing pieces of information (e.g. a name, date, or location) from your search, you'll likely increase your number of results.  Keep in mind, though, that this may also retrieve a few results that won't match the person you're looking for.
3. Use the sliders
   • Once you've conducted a search and are looking at the results page, take a second to look around the entire page - don't just look at the results.  On the left hand sidebar, you'll find a lot of helpful tools, including sliders.  The sliders will help you narrow or expand your search.
4. Be patient, have fun
   • Historical research turns up fascinating new discoveries, and genealogical research means those discoveries are even more impactful for you, so enjoy the process!

In this short video, learn how to start your genealogy search using Ancestry Library Edition (ALE) through the Library website.