Searching Help file

[ As with most web pages designed primarily for my personal use, the purely administrative data on windows such as the one to the left is compacted to fit in as small a space as possible and still be readable; thereby, leaving more room for the larger windows or data needing to be read by visitors. Ruben J. Ciriacks, Webmaster & Genealogist, February 2nd, 2007.]
The search engine platform is best used with two windows - the first with the various search engines in the http://search.jamrent.com page and the 2nd with the search results, such as in this window attained when the help or notes links are clicked. The user can determine which window is resized to the left and which window is resized to the right - or above and below, when that is desired. It takes a little while getting used to, but believe me, it faciliates searching dozens or hundreds of surname spellings during a single internet session. (My initial searches were begun before Google and finished while it was being developed into the search engine providing the most comprehensive results - quickly making many others obsolete.) (av)AltaVista is still among the best all around search engines on the net. It is the best when researching in 'foreign' languages, because in many cases, it offers a translation of the found page with just one click. (ar)Argos (now obsolete) found Latin, medievel and ancient, pre-second millennium data. (It's what concentrated most of the really esoteric hits on the various Saints Cyriacus and Cyriaca of the 3rd century.) (ei)Ellis Island finds immigrants to America. When using frames or pre-sized multiple windows for repeated searches, go to Ellis Island last. It might mess up your frames or window sizes. (em)E-mail addresses via Switchboard.com or others can find friends and relatives AND help identify locales where a surname predominates. It also groups similar surnames together when applicable - a handy tool for those researching their genealogy. (See Reference Desk, too.) facebook finds were added recently and appear at the end of some entries. (f) does international searches and is best when the subject of the search is known to be out of the USA. (fs)farm subsidy recipients can locate large concentrations of rural surnames and discover areas where some branches of the family tree are located. (g) groups the results for easier analysis and saves time when the hits are numerous and duplicative. (hp)Huffington Post 2008 Fund Race was discovered May 2nd, 2008. Although it's designed to return the names of various people contributing to various political campaigns, it's also a very good way to find detailed information regarding possible missing surname links in out-of-the-way locales. (lds)The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (aka the Mormons) site reflects what volunteers have been able to enter into the system, so far. It's another good way to identify alternative spellings for various surnames. Such results can help pin down the source for the given spelling of a surname. As of 2009 (or earlier), the total finds number includes some duplication of Social Security (ss) data. (loc)(loc) The Library of Congress search identifies people and locales. (mm)The MissingMoney.com search identifies people, locales, alternative spellings and quite possibly some monetary resources to help pay for other searches. It's the most efficacious search engine found, so far. (rd)Reference Desk is an alternative to Switchboard.
† (ss)Social Security Death Benefits search finds specific individuals, validates spellings AND identifies family concentrations, locales and migration patterns.
(w)The Wikipedia site was added 2/2/2007 and has yet to be tested but should be a good resource for older and maybe even ancient data that used to appear in pre-20th century Encyclopedias and Dictionaries no longer available to the average person off the street. The handy Hamrick Software Surname maps identify surname locales and migration patterns. Go to the 1990CensuSurnames analysis page to find out more about the most common surnames appearing in the USA. AllSearch and the other portals are included for more specific needs.

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Website link/location/URL: http://www.Jamrent.com/s2help.htm