10/1/2000
By Tom Alciere
Using advanced searches to find collateral lines
Reader tip: Cousins by the Dozens
The big search engines such as AltaVista <www.altavista.com> can help locate distant cousins who are researching the same lines as you. My ancestor, Caroline McGlathery, married William McClanahan in 1841. An "advanced search" on AltaVista yielded cousins by the dozens. Type in "(family history OR genealogy) AND mcclanahan AND mcglathery" and you'll get a list of every Web page containing both words that AltaVista has found. Try this every few months and you'll find more and more genealogy pages on your lines. For an advanced search, go to the screen at <www.altavista.com/cgi-bin/query?pg=aq&what=web/>.
TOM ALCIERE