Category: Research tools
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How FamilySearch full-text search is helping me break down brick walls in Bagni di Lucca – Part 2
In Part 1 of this series, we looked at the underlying technology behind FamilySearch’s Full-Text Search—specifically how Handwritten Text Recognition (HTR) and inverted indexing allow a computer to search millions of handwritten pages in fractions of a second. Understanding the tech is one thing, but how does it perform in practice when applied to a…
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Update: September 2026
It’s hard to believe four months have passed since our last check-in in June 2026, but the site has seen a flurry of activity in that time. We’ve published four new deep-dive blog posts, exploring everything from leveraging FamilySearch’s game-changing full-text search and MyHeritage DNA mapping to discovering what famous visitors like Mary Shelley revealed…
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How FamilySearch full-text search is helping me break down brick walls in Bagni di Lucca – Part 1
If you’ve used FamilySearch’s Full-Text Search feature, you know it feels like magic. For decades, finding ancestor details in unindexed records meant clicking through digital image rolls page by page; essentially flipping through thousands of dusty microfilm frames on your computer screen. Before then, you had to physically visit the archive where the microfilms were…