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Zenon
PolishOrigins Team Leader


Joined: 28 Apr 2007
Replies: 1515
Location: Poland

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Post Posted: Sat Oct 31, 2009 1:47 pm      Post subject: PolishOrigins Databases tool - About
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About PolishOrigins Databases tool.


"I wanted to start researching Polish records, but I was really at a loss and didn't really know where to start…"

"Finding family when the ancestral languages are unknown is a challenge!"

"I've been trying to research my grandfather's family for years without success.(...) I did wonder about the ' ach ' at the end of the place names & just thought he was writing in an old fashioned way or something. (...) I don't speak Polish."



These quotations from our Forum and Surnames & Places Databases tell a lot about the problems that many non-Polish-speaking researchers encounter during their search for Polish ancestors. New interesting and valuable resources for Polish genealogy research become available online almost every week ... but only in Polish. Many of you not only find it difficult to fully understand the content but may be also not aware that such sources exist!

Those of you who have learned or have tried to learn Polish know that it is a real challenge. Our ancestors' language is considered to be one of the most difficult in the world. But is it really necessary for you to learn Polish to be able to trace your roots in Poland?

We have developed the PolishOrigins Databases tool to allow you to access the increasingly rich Polish genealogy resources available online and understand (or at least "get the gist of") the content, all by entering a keyword (surname, place) and clicking on "search."

Our tool is based on the free Google search and translation services. If the website where your search results are available is in Polish, it is automatically translated into English by Google. All the results, as well as content, are then displayed in English in a new tab (or window) in the original source website. We will gradually add the most useful and valuable databases and websites related to the broad subject of Polish genealogy. If you know about or are the owner of a website that could enrich our tool, please let us know: (click here for list of indexed sites).

Our tool will only be as good, and the translations relevant, as the original sources. That is why we will be selective in adding databases and websites for inclusion in the search results. Of course, automatic translations will never be as good as those made by humans. However, many of you have already used the Google translation tool and have praised it for the quality of its results compared to those made with other available software (see discussion in our Forum).

This is the beta version of our tool. We start with four websites:

* a privately owned, very rich in data and information: stankiewicze.com.
* a large project of digital library of old Polish historical documents: fbc.pionier.net.pl/owoc/
* Polish history forum: historycy.org.pl
* our own website: PolishOrigins.com

(click here to see list of indexed websites and to suggest one).


We will select resources for inclusion in our PGD tool with the best of intentions. However, please remember that our Privacy Policy does not apply to websites and services that are not owned and operated by us under the domain name http://PolishOrigins.com. We do not exercise control over the external sites displayed and reached through the PGD tool. For more information, please see PolishOrigins' Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

Please send any remarks and suggestions that could help us to develop this tool and assist others to make the best use of it.

See also Practical hints topic in our Forum for using the tool even more effectively in your searches.

Now, start searching Polish genealogy resources in PolishOrigins Databases!


Last edited by Zenon on Tue Feb 14, 2012 4:41 pm; edited 1 time in total
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Slav
PolishOrigins Team


Joined: 26 Sep 2010
Replies: 172
Location: Warsaw, Poland

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Post Posted: Wed Jan 11, 2012 3:36 pm      Post subject: opinion about PolishOrigins Databases
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Dear All,

It would be great if anyone could share their opinion about using the POD tool, its advantages and shortcomings. Has it helped you to find relevant information about your family members?
Do you think you could do with more tips about how to use the tool?
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Slav
PolishOrigins Team


Joined: 26 Sep 2010
Replies: 172
Location: Warsaw, Poland

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Post Posted: Fri Feb 24, 2012 8:26 am      Post subject: New article on the PolishOrigins Databases tool
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Hi there!

I have prepared an article containing some practical tips about using the PolishOrigins Databases (POD) tool, searching webpages for keywords, and using the Google Translator feature.

You can view it here:

http://polishorigins.com/document/pgd_practical_hints

If you have any problems with the POD tool, please let us know in this forum topic.

And we would like to hear your comments about the usefulness of the POD tool.

Any comments will be greatly appreciated.
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KKempa



Joined: 05 Apr 2009
Replies: 43
Location: Ontario, Canada

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Post Posted: Mon Feb 27, 2012 6:57 pm      Post subject:
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I received the search hints article in an email from Polish Origins and was very pleased with the tips it contained. Thank you very much!
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Slav
PolishOrigins Team


Joined: 26 Sep 2010
Replies: 172
Location: Warsaw, Poland

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Post Posted: Tue Oct 09, 2012 2:23 am      Post subject:
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Here is a link to a useful presentation of effective database search tactics. The presentation was delivered at the Rootstech conference earlier this year.

http://polishorigins.com/document/effective_search_video

The techniques shown here can also be applied to our PolishOrigins Databases tool in order to search through genealogy websites.
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mmmmmmmm



Joined: 26 Feb 2020
Replies: 1

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Post Posted: Thu Feb 27, 2020 3:43 pm      Post subject:
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Links are dead
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Zenon
PolishOrigins Team Leader


Joined: 28 Apr 2007
Replies: 1515
Location: Poland

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Post Posted: Fri Feb 28, 2020 4:15 am      Post subject:
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Yes, the databases wasn't so useful as we wanted so we abondoned this project to focus our resources on more productive activities.

There are other databases on our website being constantly expanded by our members adding their Surnames: https://polishorigins.com/surnames/ and Places https://polishorigins.com/places/.
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