May 14 The Ancestry Group 2026-05-14 12:44  

These notes include Zoom Notes but were added to and edited by Janice Moerschel

Key Outcomes

The meeting focused on advanced Ancestry search strategies presented by Crista Cowan, emphasizing that users search for records about ancestors, not ancestors themselves accounting for misspellings, transcription errors, and incomplete information. Janice previewed the upcoming MyHeritage class (September 22, 3 PM) featuring new AI-powered infographic tools that create visual storyboards from tree data.

Key Topics Covered

Advanced Ancestry Search Methods

•  Less information yields better results: Throwing all available data at the search engine (90+ fields) creates too many constraints; start minimal and add fields iteratively. Crista reminded us that we are not looking for our family member but we are looking for information about a family member. Ancestry provides hints when they have a high degree of confidence, but it does not necessarily mean the record will be right. Review. When you run out of hints, you may still be missing records so search for them. When asked "how many records" do you need, the answer is “all of them.”
•  When you conduct an auto search, Ancestry takes all your information, including spouses, children, married names, etc.
•  "Auto Search" filters out records you've already attached.  Smart search - when active - will help control some of the results
•  Crista Cowan only goes through ONE PAGE of search results as better results appear higher in the list.
•  She recommends browsing by collection  Look for specific things that are missing, maybe a census or draft card record
•  The card catalog is the best way to search  When searching for records, "less is more." Don't fill in all the search fields. Crista also talked about "iterative searches." Start broadly and gradually add filters. Start with the piece of information that is likely to be most accurate. Gradually add additional pieces of info to narrow results.
•  
•  Wildcards for name variations: Use asterisk * to replace any number of characters (e.g., "STEN" catches Steven, Stephen, Stephan)  
•  No-name census searches: When name searches fail, search by location + birth year + parents' names to overcome misspellings (demonstrated reducing 2.9M results to 10)  
•  Browse by collection instead of ranked results to identify missing record types (state census, voter lists, probate records)  

•  Card Catalog searching: Type record types (e.g., "Civil War", "Quaker", "Lutheran") or use keyword field to discover relevant databases  

   

• New Ancestry Features
•  Full-text search (Available to "All Access subscribers only"): Uses handwriting recognition AI to make entire documents searchable by any name, not just indexed fields—particularly useful for wills, deeds, court records   Census comparison tool: Lines up multiple census records side-by-side to verify details across decades. "Ancestry Aimee" explains in this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=urRnrdwDBGI "Ancestry Aimee" on the Amazing new census comparison feature (YouTube, April 2026)

•  Smart filtering: Automatically hides duplicate census entries when records already attached to tree  

   

• MyHeritage Infographics Demo
•  AI-generated visual storyboards combining photos, biographical data, family members, and locations from tree into downloadable graphics  
•  Multiple format options with customizable backgrounds; AI occasionally enhances/alters facial features  
•  Available with any MyHeritage subscription (not limited to premium tiers)  

•  OldNews.com newspaper database (MyHeritage affiliate) yielding results not found on Newspapers.com  

   

• Upcoming Events
•  Find a Grave event: Monday, May 18, 10 AM
•  MyHeritage class launch: September 22, 3 PM, fourth Tuesday monthly (no EWGS conflicts)

•  Next TAG meeting: June 11 (second Thursday), 1:00 PM on Zoom  Summer break: No meetings July-August; resuming September 10  

  Action Item

•  Seeking co-leader or volunteer presenters for TAG sessions  

  Resources Shared

•  Crista Cowan video: "Advanced Search Tips and Tricks" available at ancestry.com/education This video is highly recommended to all for viewing. Some details included in these notes.

•  American Ancestors magazine: Scottish heritage issue featuring Janice's family story about father's 1926 immigration from Holytown, Scotland  

   

• Technical Notes
•  Emoji in tree names: Does not affect search functionality (unlike parenthetical notes which must be removed)  
•  Question mark wildcard: Replaces single character (not demonstrated in video)
•  Women's names in trees: Enter maiden names only; Ancestry auto-populates married names in search forms

•  Birth year calculations: Account for birth month when calculating immigration year from age (e.g., born December 1916, age 9 = 1926, not 1925)   Ancestry and Find-A-Grave

   Ancestry and Find a Grave privacy policy updates. 

    Check out this link: https://www.legalgenealogist.com/2026/05/12/ai-meetstos/?fbclid=IwY2xjawR0OV1leHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETFEYmhrcEVNaWZBSjdsb 2tNc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQQMjIyMDM5MTc4ODIwMDg5MgABHpJrqHfPQITEhHaeOll 4VjbR8yhkhdV9inJtbyUKzfpNKwnWKwNKtrbwecCW_aem_8FnZHR79aY51cIQS1W4Ng

  In attendance today: Charlotte Sullivan, Chris Murphy,  Christine Klukkert (Calif.), Janice Moerschel, Judy Benson, Kelley Taylor, Lola McCreary, Marge Mero, Patrician Robinson, Paula Davis, Ruth Halligan (Calif.) .