LibGuides: Genealogy & Family History: Ancestry Search Strategies

When interviewing relatives or gathering information from family records (letters, family Bibles, news clippings, etc.), try to learn these details that can aid your search:

Birth date	Schools attended	Names of siblings
Birth place	Cities of residence	Potential name spelling variations
Marriage date(s)	Dates of military service	Nicknames
Marriage place(s)	Immigration or naturalization date	Middle name(s) and initial(s)
Death date	Property ownership
Death place

Here are our top recommended strategies for searching in Ancestry:

Include as much information as possible in your search, including educated guesses on location and birth date.
Investigate all relevant search results, even if the spelling is different or birth date slightly off.
Try searching with maiden or previous surnames.
Explore different record categories beyond the census.
Save images of original documents as you go.
Email yourself any and all relevant search results.

Using Census Records in Ancestry
This guide provides an overview of the information you'll find in census records on Ancestry Library Edition, including helpful tips for what to look for according to time period and search strategies for when you get stuck.
Finding Your Immigrant Ancestors on Ancestry
This guide provides an introduction to using Ancestry to trace ancestors who immigrated to the United States, featuring a step-by-step guide through the collections that are most likely to have relevant records. Page 5 includes a particularly helpful section: "Seven Tricks for Tricky Names."
American Indian Genealogy Research
This guide provides recommendations and information on using the records in Ancestry to do genealogical research for American Indians. Researchers are encouraged to consider the role of federal and state government agencies and officials in creating the bulk of records included in this database for all families, and American Indian families in particular. Pages 4-7 provide further information of types of records in which researchers are likely to find American Indian ancestors.
African American Family Research
African American genealogical research can pose unique challenges due to the history of slavery and racism in the United States. This guide from Ancestry therefore walks you through finding records in two distinct eras of records, before and after 1870. Pages 4-5 of this guide list some record categories beyond the U.S. census that are most likely to provide insight on African American family history pre-1870.