Quick tip – Use & in Open Archives

23 June 2021 by Leave a Comment

If you are using Open Archives for your research, try searching for two persons at once by using the & operator.

Example: Hendrik Hoitink and Johanna Piek

Hendrik Hoitink and Johanna Piek

Hendrik Hoitink and Johanna Piek

Let’s say I am looking for my ancestors Hendrik Hoitink and Johanna Piek. Searching for Hendrik Hoitink gives me 404 results. Searching for Johanna Piek gives me 1,456 results. That’s a lot of results to wade through! Most of them will be irrelevant.

However, if I search for Hendrik Hoitink & Johanna Piek, I get just 49 results, all relevant.

You can also use the Advanced Search to search for two people at once, but I find the & parameter even easier to use.

Open archives screenshot

Search results for Hendrik Hoitink & Johanna Piek

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About Yvette Hoitink

Yvette Hoitink, MLitt, CG®, QG™ is a professional genealogist, writer, and lecturer in the Netherlands. She has a Master of Letters in Family and Local History from the University of Dundee, and holds the Certification of Genealogist and Qualified Genealogist credentials. Yvette served on the Board of Directors of the Association of Professional Genealogists and won excellence awards for her articles in the National Genealogical Society Quarterly and the Association of Professional Genealogists Quarterly. Yvette has been doing genealogy for over 30 years. She helps people from across the world find their ancestors from the Netherlands and its former colonies, including New Netherland. Read about Yvette's professional genealogy services.

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