Wiki User Lesson Three

I. Review lesson one and two Take this quick quiz to see how well you remember the information from the previous lessons.


 * A. What are the five steps in the research process?
 * B. Name two ways to get to a state page.
 * C. T/F - You can make changes to a Wiki page.
 * D. What is the name of the document that will help you decide where to start your search?
 * E. Name two forms that are available on the research forms page.
 * F. What is the name of the link you would look for if you wanted to see if your ancestor was a pioneer?
 * G. What page (U.S., State or County) would you find that information on?
 * H. What are two ways to search census records?
 * I. T/F The process for requesting vital records from states is standardized.
 * J. On a State page, if you see a picture of a keyboard and it says the name of the state followed by “online records”, this means the state has some vital records that you can access online.
 * K. All county records have been transferred to the state level, so there isn’t much use searching county records.
 * L. The get help section is just for technical issues.

Now go to the last page and see how you did. If you missed any questions, go back through the lesson to make sure you understand the concepts.

II. Other Countries – The completeness and arrangement of other countries varies in the Wiki. Some have received a great deal of attention, others have only basic information. In this lesson, we will look at three countries: England, Germany and Mexico.


 * A. Highlights of England Page
 * 1) From the search bar on the main page, type in England.
 * a) Select “England Genealogy”
 * b) Read the first paragraph about England and then go to the Beginner’s Corner.
 * c) Click on, “I want to find a birth, christening or baptism” and read the information there. You will notice there is not nearly as much information for a foreign country as there is for the United States. This is still a work in progress.
 * d) Use the back arrow to go back to the main England page. Click on the main articl
 * e) England Getting Started. You will find this just under the list in the Beginner’s Corner. This is an excellent guide to how to begin your England research.
 * f) Go back to the previous page, (use the back arrow) where you see the map of the Counties and click on one of the counties. Notice the ribbon on the left. All of the links in red are ones that have not been completed. In fact there is nothing there. If you are interested in England, perhaps you would consider working on adding information to these pages. Please let us know if you would be interested in being a contributor.
 * g) Click on the Devon county link. Then look in the center section of the page. Notice the link to Jurisdictions. Click on the interactive map to view jurisdiction for one of the parishes. If you select a county and then choose, “list all parishes in that county, from the pop-up, it will show you a list of all parishes on the left hand side of the page.
 * h) Go back to the main England page. (You can click on the black X in the tab above that says Historical Maps and then click on the back arrow.)
 * i) Now go to one of the links that is in blue in the ribbon to the left. Let’s try Probate Records. Scroll through the list and notice the vast amount of records available.
 * j) Go back to the main England page and scroll almost to the bottom of the page where you see, Beginners Guide. There is a lot of information here for new users. If this is something you are interested in, take the time to view the videos and read the articles.
 * k) Scroll back to the top of the page. Under the heading, other topics in the ribbon on the left, select “Newspapers”. Scroll down and you will see a list of Digital Issues Online. Notice there is also a Wikipedia link for a list of online newspaper archives.

III. Highlights of Mexico Page


 * A. Spanish or English Version? If you speak Spanish, you can change the Wiki page to Spanish. Scroll to the bottom of the page until you see: Click on Española and it will change the text to Spanish.
 * B. Beginner’s Corner – The top of the ribbon on the left you will see “Beginners Corner”, with a list of links.
 * 1) Getting Started: This article will guide you through the steps for getting started researching you ancestors from Mexico. If this applies or interests you, please take the time to read through all of the articles to learn as much as you can.
 * 2) Quick start guide: If you are not new to research and just want to get busy, click on this link. There are a lot of useful links and information on these pages.
 * 3) Research strategies: This is on the quick start guide. It will give you ideas of where to look if you don’t know who to search for or where to start.
 * 4) Locating a Place of Origin: If your ancestors came to the United States, it might be difficult to discover what part of Mexico they came from. This page will give you ideas of where to start looking.
 * 5) Mexico Resources. This is a good list of some of the resources that will help you in your research. It includes such things as Translation and handwriting help.
 * 6) Google Chrome Translation. If you have never used google translate, it is a wonderful tool for other languages.
 * a) Open a browser. In the search bar type in google translate and press enter
 * b) You will see this response:
 * c) Where it says Detect language, click on the down arrow and select Spanish
 * d) Type the word you want to translate where it says, “enter text”. (Just click on the word Enter and start typing)
 * e) In the second box where it says “English”, you will see the translation.


 * C. Topic
 * 1) Church Records: Next let’s look at church records. From the ribbon on the left, scroll down to church records.
 * a) If you know what religion your ancestors were, it might help you to look here.
 * b) You will notice there are a lot of online records here as well.
 * 2) Cemeteries: The last topic we will look at is Cemeteries. Again, from the side bar on the left, click on cemeteries. If you have ancestors from Mexico, this information will be very interesting to you. Take the time to read and learn as much as you can. Getting familiar with these pages and what they contain will help you in your research.

IV. Highlights of German Page


 * A. Type Germany in the search bar. Then click on Germany Genealogy
 * B. Look at the first link in the sidebar on the right hand side, Beginners Corner.
 * C. Click on “Getting Started” and read this page.
 * D. Go back to the main page and click on church records, which is found under topics. If you have ancestors from Germany this information will be very helpful to you as you search for their records.

V. Now take some time and look at a country page that is of interest to you. Are you able to find the record of an ancestor, or at least know where to begin searching for it? VI. Military Records. Have you ever wondered if your ancestor fought in the Revolutionary War, the Civil War or one of the two world wars? This will show you how to find out.


 * A. In the search bar, type in the state in which your relative lived.
 * 1) On the sidebar on the left, select Military Records
 * 2) Scroll down to Civil War
 * 3) Click on the link that says, “Civil War Soldiers and Sailors Systems
 * 4) Read the first paragraph.
 * 5) From the information you on your ancestor, you would select one of the eight categories listed below. I am pretty sure my ancestor was a soldier, so I selected Soldiers and followed the prompts.
 * 6) I typed in the name of my ancestor, Henry C. Anderson, selected Wisconsin as the state and pressed, Show Results
 * 7) There were two matches, both Henry C. Anderson. One was in the 14th regiment, Wisconsin Infantry and the other was in the 31st Regiment. How do I know which one is my ancestor? You can click on each of the Regiments and see where they were formed. I am pretty sure he was in the 14th Regiment because it was organized at Fond du Lac and my records indicate that was where he lived. I Can read through here and get a better understanding of what his life was like. If I can confirm that this was him, I can use this information when writing his story.

Answers to the quiz


 * A. Gather, Choose, Find, Evaluate, Share
 * B. Click on the map or enter the name of the state in the search bar.
 * C. True
 * D. Record selection table
 * E. Any two of the following: census worksheets, Family Group Sheets, Pedigree Chart, research log, to do list, Analysis for possible match, Analysis for My Ancestor or Time Line.
 * F. migration
 * G. State page
 * H. Date or location
 * I. False – Most states have their own method of processing requests for information.
 * J. True
 * K. False – Most records start at the county level. It is a great place to start your search.
 * L. True.