Search Tips for Ancestry Library Edition

In my not so humble opinion, one of the good things to come out of the COVID-19 public health crisis is how our Library vendor, ProQuest, pivoted to allow us to offer you access at home to

Ancestry Library Edition (ALE for short). Our statistics on ALE access have increased 2  to 3- to 4-times some months since the introduction of  home access back in April 2020. As the statistics show, home access has been a well-embraced new (if perhaps only temporary) Library service. 

We were recently notified that home access will continue at least to 31 December 2021. Hip! Hip! Hooray! But it may - or may not - disappear as an option for our customers at that time. We all will just have to wait and see what happens on that front later this year. In the meantime, I cannot say it loud or often enough: Please take full advantage of free home access to Ancestry Library Edition while you can. 

I'm sure that when you watch broadcast television, you've seen some of the many Ancestry.com advertisements. One knows from watching the ads that Ancestry.com is one of the biggest family history websites available. But just how big a website is it? The Company Facts landing page of their website boasts of generating over $1 billion in revenue per year; providing more than 30 billion records online; and having test results for over 20 million people in the World's largest consumer DNA network that the company owns. So, yes, it's big - and as a library customer, you have access to some of Ancestry.com's major features through the Beaufort County Library's subscription to Ancestry Library Edition. 

Borrowing blatantly from a FamilyTree e-mail newsletter article by Gena Philibert-Ortega that just arrived in my in-box, here are a few tips to get started using Ancestry Library Edition at home in an efficient and effective (and I hope, successful) manner. 

1. Take advantage of the CARD CATALOG. The card catalog lists every database on ALE - which as I am writing this post contains 10,715 databases. (The number of databases tomorrow could be even higher as ALE is a dynamic website.) 

Though the landing page for ALE forces you to plug in a name, any name, into the search box, I want you to approach ALE not like the television ads suggest but as a more experienced researcher would. I want you to choose the "SEARCH" tab next to the Ancestry Library logo on the tool bar. 

Open the "SEARCH" tab and select "CARD CATALOG" from the drop-down box. Now you can see the titles of all 10,715 databases found in ALE. While you can search the Card Catalog by keyword or title by using the search boxes on the left side, also note that on the right side at the top of the results list, you can also sort the full results list by Database Title, Date Updated, Date Added or Record Count. Recently added databases are indicated by a "NEW" icon; recently updated databases are indicated by a "UPDATED" icon.

Going back to the options in the left column on the "CARD CATALOG" landing page, you can filter results lists by COLLECTION type; by LOCATION; by DATE (usually in centuries or decades) and by LANGUAGE (the default for ALE is English). In other words, there are a lot of options to consider when designing your search for information and records about your forebearers. 

2. Sometimes defer searching for your ancestors by name within an ALE database. 

A second key point that Ms. Philibert-Ortega makes is that not all Ancestry.com - and by extension, ALE - databases are searchable by name. For example, when you filter the 10,715 databases in ALE by COLLECTION type and limit to "PICTURES", you discover 39 PICTURES databases, some of which allow searching by a person's name and some which do not allow searching by a person's name. The school yearbooks included do allow searching by a person's name whereas the historical postcard collections listed do not. The landing page for each of the PICTURES databases indicates what type of search is allowed. 

If you're disappointed in the smaller number of databases provided through ALE in comparison with all that come with a personal subscription to Ancestry.com, just let me remind you that the Library pays for you to use ALE at home for free as long as you have a valid Beaufort County Library card and the proper password. (Need a Library card? No problem. Details on who is eligible and how to get one are on the Library's website.) Advancing my argument even further, the amount of your tax money that goes towards providing County Library services of all kinds per year would barely pay for one month of individual access to Ancestry.com. (Public libraries are so great!!!) What a deal home access to ALE is for you - all courtesy of the COVID-19 pandemic and the fine folks at ProQuest! Available while home access remains in effect.

Reminder: Due to continuing staff shortage and the small physical space in the public area of the Research Room, limited access to the Research Room will continue into the foreseeable future. (It takes time to select and train a new assistant.) All arrangements must be made - and confirmed - in advance of the proposed date for the appointment. No arrangements can be made or confirmed outside of  business hours as staff are not available 24/7/365 to respond to customer inquiries. Under the present circumstances, we regret that walk-in researchers and same-day appointments cannot be accepted.  Contact information is provided in the image.

Looking ahead: Please pencil into your calendar that the Library - and the BDC - will observe Independence Day on Monday, July 5th. All library units, including the Beaufort District Collection, will be closed on Monday, July 5th.