Allowing genealogy researchers to locate military service records, print and save images, view or create Memorials and share discoveries, Fold3 is a perfect resource to expand your family tree with information for those who served.
There are many ways to find images on Fold3, but the two most common are Searching and Browsing. You can search for images on Fold3 using the search box at the top of most pages.
The Basic search on Fold3 returns results that include all your search terms, so if you don't get any results, try broadening your search by removing some of the terms. Matching terms may come from information we have indexed for the image or from annotations added by other Members.
The Keyword field can be used to search for any word you would expect to be found in the database you are searching. This can include things such as an occupation or a location. You are able to only search for keywords. Keep in mind that if you enter more than one term you will need to use quotation marks to ensure an exact phrase search, such as “The Great War.” If you choose to combine a name with a keyword and the database finds a match for the name, but not the keyword, it will not provide the results for you.
Fold3® has a search engine that is both simple and powerful. You can search on names, dates, places, publication names, conflict periods, document types, and more. It's best to start with a simple, broad search such as a name or keyword search, then narrow those results using dates, places, and the available filters on the left side of the page.
Browse the Collection
When you use browse, you'll see a column on your left. This is where you'll add filters. You can then scroll down through the column on the right to see any collection available that contains relevant records. Browse is a great way to explore less familiar collections.
You can also search directly from any level in browse by using the Search box at the top. Searching from Browse automatically filters your search to only include results from the publication title you are browsing.
Search within a Title or Part of a Title
You can narrow your search results by searching within a specific title or part of a title. There are a few places you can use "Search within":
Narrowing Your Search with Browse
Browsing is a great way to focus your finding efforts. You can click on the Browse link at the top of each page or you can go to the conflict page and select a collection to search.
From the Browse records link you can browse through the titles alphabetically or choose a category to browse within.
At any point in the browse process you can use the "Search within" box at the top of the page and search just the images in the group you have selected.
As with search, when you find an image by browsing, you will be able to see all the indexed data, the number of annotations or comments and a preview of the image.
