Friday, September 10, 2010

Fun With Search Terms

Happy Friday! It's time for another rendition of Fun with Search Terms! People search the Internet and--based on the search terms they choose--land on my blog. The searchers are anonymous but I can see the phrases they put in the search engines. Sometimes they're funny. Sometimes I can answer the questions posed. Sometimes it's clear that the person is searching for my ancestor, yet they don't contact me. This is quite frustrating. I don't bite, man. I quit that last Thursday. So please, if you see a common link, please contact me!

Here are the searches for this week:

el toyon chapter DAR
I have no idea how this search term landed the user on my blog, but I can point you in the right direction. This chapter is in Stockton, CA. Their website is here. Their registrar is awesome, but that's a story for another day.

Gavleston Texas pre-1900 hurricane photographs
Here's a little search strategy for you. When you're looking for images online, don't just type terms blindly into Google images. If you're looking for images of a specific place, event or era, look for libraries / repositories in the area of your subject.

In the case of the 1900 hurricane, your best shot is the Rosenberg Library, which is right there on Galveston Island. Click the exhibits link and you'll see the 1900 Storm exhibit. If you're looking for images you can use, I suggest contacting the library and inquiring about permission.

describe how you feel about genealogy
Well, my blog is on the 4th page of search results, so apparently Google doesn't think I feel too highly about genealogy. My answer? Insert any adjective you want. Happy. Sad. Green. Hot. Square. Hopeful. They all fit. Genealogy is like that.

RootsTech conference
This is billed as a "new genealogy & technology conference" that will "define the future of genealogy." Someone better tell Google as the search results for this phrase are wonky.

All you need to know about the RootsTech conference can be found here.

Polly Kimmitt
...is an awesome genealogist. But don't ask me, just go to her blog.


That's it for Fun with Search Terms this week. Until we meet again, and more people access my blog using funny terms and don't contact me when it's totally obvious that we're researching the same person...

4 comments:

  1. With the new blogger stats I can see that a lot of people visit, but also, few leave comments.

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  2. I like this post! When I see the searches people do to get to my blog...darn and they don't leave a comment! Many are searching lateral lines...which I do have 'vague' info or more. None the less would love to hear from folks. Oh well...
    And some strange searches make it to my blog too!

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  3. What? Someone used my name as a search term to get to your blog? That just ain't right!

    ReplyDelete