If you haven’t used the Full-Text Search tools at FamilySearch, you are missing out on records about your ancestors. No longer in the experimental stage, it can be used on many of the record images on FamilySearch, saving researchers many hours of reading through records page by page to find their ancestors' names. These tips will help you determine the best way to search and how to filter the results.

• Members Helping Members: Members discussed website and Zoom registration problems, browser and cookie troubleshooting, how to access the members-only video archive, and tips for using MyHeritage more effectively by checking matches carefully and reviewing gallery items for attached documents or images.
• Dawn Carlile showed that FamilySearch full text features can be used in several places, including All Collections, Records, Images, Catalog, and Books, not just from the older Labs entry point.
• A key takeaway was to begin strategically with a surname, exact phrase, place, or keyword, then narrow large result sets with filters such as collection, year, place, and record type.
• She explained the newer FamilySearch icons, especially the icon that shows when full text search is available, along with icons for image access, outside websites, hints, and viewing restrictions.
• The session highlighted the value of the Catalog for finding a specific item or image group, then running full text within that smaller record set to uncover court, estate, and other records buried in unindexed images.
• Dawn shared practical search techniques such as using quotation marks for exact phrases, plus and minus signs to include or exclude terms, and wildcard symbols to catch spelling variations.
• She also covered helpful tools inside full text and image views, including transcripts, citations, highlighted keywords, fact views, downloadable PDFs and JPGs, and image adjustment options for hard-to-read documents.
• The handout adds strong extra value because it pulls together the search paths, icon meanings, filter options, catalog workflow, book search tips, and FamilySearch help resources in one easy reference.

This replay is worth watching if you want practical ways to get more out of FamilySearch, especially its newer full text tools. Dawn shows where full text search appears, how to cut through overwhelming results, and why the Catalog can help you search within a specific record set instead of across millions of hits. The handout is especially useful because it gives you a solid reference for repeating the steps during your own research.

Dawn Carlile is a native Oregonian, having grown up in Eugene and Springfield, OR, and has been involved in genealogy for 30 years, starting when her dad asked if she had ever thought about researching their family history. His mother was orphaned at age 12, and he knew very little about her family. Once she started looking into the family she was hooked. She is a professional genealogist, educator, and lecturer who began teaching classes for the Oregon Genealogical Society in 2008 and then began lecturing at libraries, genealogical societies, and cultural events. She enjoys teaching others how to research as much as she does doing research herself.