Ancestry.com is a widely known and well-respected online resource for amateur and expert genealogists alike. The site already boasts access to many types of records, as well as a family tree application and a learning center where you can learn about a wide variety of genealogical topics from researching techniques to types of records and everything in between. It should come as no surprise, then, that Ancestry.com is committed to remaining at the forefront of online genealogy by continuing to expand its collection of online records as well as by offering innovative products and services to its users.
As part of the process of developing innovative online genealogy research tools, Ancestry.com has created Ancestry Labs. Ancestry Labs is a place where the Ancestry Labs team posts experimental projects so that users may view them or play with the prototypes) and offer their input. It is a virtual testing ground for some great ideas that may eventually become a part of Ancestry.com’s online offerings.
One of the ideas being explored by Ancestry Labs is called “Person View”. It is a new method of searching their collection of records that may make it possible for you to find all of the records related to a particular ancestor all at once. As I mentioned before, these are experimental ideas, and the folks at Ancestry Labs are waiting for people to try out the Person View demo and let them know whether it works for their ancestors or not. Another element of Person View that is being explored it the possibility of turning up all records for a particular ancestor including records that are in other online databases besides Ancestry.com. If Person View works, it will make finding information about your ancestors online easier than ever. I think that would be a wonderful thing, but for some people who enjoy the thrill of the chase, it might make things…well, a bit too easy.