RootsTech, the world’s biggest genealogy conference, has just wrapped up its 2024 session, and one thing that’s got the genealogy world buzzing is the unveiling of a new experimental search function on FamilySearch.org that can search every word of text in handwritten documents that haven’t yet been indexed. The program operates using AI, and the word everyone seems to be using is “game changer” (or game-changer or gamechanger, depending on your preference). What’s got people most excited is that you can type in a name and instantly get the return of numerous documents–they might include wills, deeds, or more. You can filter by state or county, or search using other keywords.
Right now the technology only applies to two collections: US Land and Probate Records and Mexico Notary Records. But what an abundance is to be found in these two collections! Genealogist Lisa Hork Gorrell, CGⓒ, a longtime CGS member, tried it out and reported her experience in her blog, Mam-ma’s Southern Family. A search for the surname “Coor” quickly turned up a document she’d never seen before that pertained to her fourth-great-grandfather John Coor (1785-1838), documenting his plan to build a sawmill with his neighbor Joel Hoggatt. She has since followed up on that with a post at her other blog, showing how to copy the information and cite it.
In the words of “The Legal Genealogist,” Judy G. Russell, “This is what we’ve all been hoping artificial intelligence could do for us.”
To learn more details of Lisa Gorrell’s search, see her blog posts here and here.
To try out the search function for yourself, log in to your FamilySearch account, or create an account (it’s free). Then go to https://www.familysearch.org/en/labs/, where you’ll find a link to the new Full Text Search, as well as links to several other experimental programs you can try out. Have fun!
MAR
2024