The Google search engine was launched in 1999 and since then they have refined it in such a way that you can narrow neraly any kind of search possible using common symbols called operands.
Genealogists figured this out quickly and for many this is the first place they begin researching because it can give you clues that you may not have thought of by the results you get… and its free.
Operands are nothing more than symbols that you use before, after or between words or phrases to narrow your search which act as filters for you. This is helpful because of returning millions of pages you can get a few thousand or hundred very relevant links to look through.
The most common operands are
+ or AND – Using a + or the word AND (in all caps) between two words, for example a first name + last name, or first name AND last name will return only sites that contain that first name and last name in combination. You can use it for more than just names: first name + last name + state + city, last name + year, and the list goes on.
“” – Using quotes “first name” around any word or group of words will only bring back sites that contain that EXACT word, or phrase. If we use our example above and search “first name + last name” + state + city our search is narrowed by sites that contain the first name and last name SPECIFICALLY for that state and city. Maybe you dont know the first name of your ancestor, you could type “lastname” + city + state and narrow from there. Very often this type of searching will bring back family websites that you never knew existed… try this “daniel + hogan” + city + state.
- (minus symbol) – The minus symbol does the exact opposite of the + symbol. Using it can exclude words you don’t want to be considered in your search. Be careful not to go crazy with this one, you dont need to exclude words like, and, the, if etc.. For example lets say I am looking for Daniel Hogan only, not Dan Hogan. I can type “Daniel + hogan” + Iowa + farley – “dan + hogan”. Perhaps I want to find Daniel in every state but Iowa, I would use “Daniel + hogan” + united states -Iowa. Make sure you watch your spacing here placing a space after the – symbol will not return the correct results.
* – * or the wildcard symbol is another fun operand and usually brings back many more results for you. This is helpful in situations where perhaps you don’t know all of the information you need like a first name of a family member. An example might be * “hogan” + Ireland or * “hogan” +Ireland. Give it a try, you can use more than names a wildcard is a wildcard and can bring back some really unique results.
.. – The double dot put directly between two numbers denotes a range to narrow the results down. This is great for finding information between ranges of years. Using our “hogans” above example we might use “hogan” +Ireland 1800..1900 Note that there are no spaces between the numbers or the dots.
These are the most “common” operands and there are many more but if you have a hard time remembering them you can always use the Advanced Search button on the main page of Google next to the search box to help you along.
