*"I just had to write to tell you that I tried the Image search following your instructions and came up with what I am sure is the only picture I will ever see of my great-great grandfather. As you can imagine, this is totally amazing for me and so thrilling! Just wanted to let you know and to thank you for all you do for us genealogists, especially older, less skilled ones such as I. Keep up the good work and Good Luck and Blessings to you and your Family." (Yvonne Rivington)
*"Thanks Robert for the lesson of Google images. I tried your tutorial and found a wealth of information, not just images.
The first site I went to took me three days to glean all I could from it - lots of obituaries I would not have found any other way. I have put these family names in Google before but never came up with this information.
My best find was a picture of my great grandparents with their two sons, my grandfather and his brother. I have also made several new contacts and found old contacts that I can correspond with.
What a great lesson! I never even gave those words above the search box a thought. I'm glad you did and shared with us." (Marlyne Natali)
So what is all the fuss about? Try it for yourself...
Go to the Google search engine at-
www.google.com
You will see different options right above the search box
(or, field). They include:
Web Images Groups News more
The Web option is the default when you go to Google
because you usually search the "Web" for Web pages.
However, today, we are going to try "Images" searches.
IMPORTANT NOTE: Before you continue, please make
SURE that you change your "preferences" before you do
any searches. It is very easy to do...
First, look to the right of the Google search box. Do you see
the word (text link in small letters) that says "Preferences"?
Click on the Preferences link.
Now, scroll down the page a little and look for the "SafeSearch
Filtering" area. Then click on the option (or, radio button) that says
"Use strict filtering (Filter both explicit text and explicit images)".
You know that you've made the right choice if there is a green
dot on that option.
Scroll down the page a little further and look for the "Number
of Results" area. If you have a high speed connection, you
may want to display a 100 results per page.
Then, click the "Save Preferences" button and you are all set.
WHY did we do this? Because if you don't have the filters
set up, you can type in the most innocent words, including
almost any female first name, and have very horrible images
in your results.
You might want to make sure that your children or
grandchildren have their preferences set to filter out
the garbage images.
How to Use Google's Images Search
to Find Good Genealogy Stuff
From Google, click on the "Images" link. It will bring you
to this URL (Web address):
images.google.com
Now you can type in different key words that will bring
back images that may be a help to your family research
quest. Try this along with me:
Do a Google "Images" search on the key words:
ragan cemetery
There are about 39 results that include mostly pictures of
tombstones (headstones, gravestones, or whatever you
want to call them. NOTE: This is a hint).
Now, let's do an Images search on the key words:
ragan tombstone
This brings back about 8 results. Some are DIFFERENT
than the previous search with the key word cemetery.
Look at what happens when you try these Images searches
on Google:
ragan headstone
This brings back 0 results.
ragan gravestone
This brings back 0 results.
ragan memorial stone
Also brings back 0 results.
Now, let's try doing an Images search on just the word
stone
along with my surname:
ragan stone
This brings about 18 results, with some pictures of tombstones.
There are some that I didn't see in the other searches.
Okay, Ragan isn't the most popular surname in the world, but
there were some good results.
What about doing Images searches on COMMON surnames?
Here's an example:
A Google Images search on: smith tombstone
Brings back about 2100 results!
This means we have to narrow things down. So, let's says
that you want to look for an ancestor named John Smith...
Try an Images search for:
john smith tombstone
There are mixed results. There are pictures of tombstones
with people with the first name, "John" but Smith is not the
last name.
But, with an Images search for:
"john smith" tombstone
Now there are about 8 results that DO show tombstones for
John Smith. One even shows the stone for the wife of John Smith.
This goes back to the lesson in last month's issue. You have to
use PHRASES when looking for ancestors with common names.
Note in this case: The key words of the name John Smith are put
in a phrase, using quotation marks...
"john smith"
Since key words are in the quotation marks the search engine
will look for the EXACT phrase, John Smith. So, your results
will show the key words john and smith TOGETHER.
Spacing IS an Issue
It is important to have the spacing correct in your key words using the
quotation marks. In the phrase "john smith"
...note the spacing:
- These is NO space between the beginning quotation mark
and the j in key word john.
- There IS a space between the words john and smith.
- These is NO space between the end quotation mark and
the h at the end of the key word smith.
Keeping that in mind, try these Images searches:
Do an Images search for:
"john smith" stone
There are about 26 results with pictures of stones that the
previous search didn't pick up.
Now try an Images search for:
"john smith" memorial stone
There is only 1 result.
How about:
smith memorial stone
There are about 55 results. They are mixed results but some
of them are good.
Get the idea? Now try them with your surnames of interest.
If you want to save any of the pictures that you see, click on
them to make sure you have the largest one available and
not just the "thumbnail" picture. Then...
RIGHT CLICK on the picture and choose the "Save Target As"
option on the drop down menu that pops up. You can save any
picture to any folder or place on your computer.
My Very Best to You and Yours,
Robert Ragan
