Search strategies

A genealogist asked me: “I am searching for my Junot family in Louisiana. With over 700 million records – what is the best way to effectively search GenealogyBank for my ancestors?”

Example One
One approach is to search for the surname and the state where the family is from.
My friend began her search by typing: Junot in the surname search box and adding: Louisiana to the “Keyword” search term box.

This approach worked for her – but remember that by putting “Louisiana” in as a search term – the computer will require that both the words “Juont” and “Louisiana” appeared in the text of the original newspaper article.

This approach gave her 490 search results.

Example Two A slightly different approach would be to put: Junot and Louisiana in the “Keyword” search terms box and leave all other fields blank.
This is an effective search – but again it requires that the whole word “Louisiana” also appeared in the article.

Example Three

This is the approach that usually generates the most success.

Begin your search by clicking on the Historical Newspapers section
Then limit your search to only Louisiana newspapers
Then type: Junot in the surname search box. This approach generated 925 hits.

Example Four

Search the “Modern Obituaries” the same way
1. Click on the “Modern Obituaries” section
2. Type in: Junot in the surname search box

3. Then limit your search to only Louisiana newspapers by selecting that stateThere are multiple ways to find your ancestors.

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