Part 01
Legacy Search
Legacy Search is the research engine. You describe an ancestor once. It searches the archives it is connected to, reads what comes back, and writes a report that cites every record it used. The researcher, not the engine, decides what the evidence establishes.
Three ways to search
Quick SearchSearches the archives for the name and each of its spellings, then writes the report. About 3 minutes.
Deep ResearchFollows the trail the way a researcher would: spellings, relatives, the 1870 bridge, the enslaver, their family and estate. About 5 to 10 minutes.
Speak to MeA guided search in four stages from the book: Prepare the Search, Find Me, Prove Me, Remember Me. Your place is saved with your account, so you can stop and continue on any device.
What you can tell it
The ancestor's name, other spellings of the name, relatives, a known or suspected enslaver, plantation or estate, a birth year, the years to search, places, keywords, and the questions you are trying to answer. You can tie the search to a person in your tree. If you do not, and one person in your tree has that name, the search is tied to them. A search never adds anyone to your tree.
Where it looks
Eight archives are searched directly, and every record comes back with a link to the original:
National Archives (NARA)Freedmen's Bureau, military, pensions and other federal records.
Chronicling AmericaLibrary of Congress historical newspapers.
DPLADigital Public Library of America: libraries, museums and state archives.
Born in SlaveryWPA interviews with formerly enslaved people, 1936 to 1938.
Internet ArchiveFilm, audio and text that libraries post, searched by name; and published family histories, by surname.
Georgetown Slavery ArchiveThe 1838 Jesuit sale (GU272), bills of sale, letters and descendants.
Enslaved.orgNamed enslaved people across many datasets.
SNACWhich archives hold the papers of a family, enslaver or institution. A result is a collection that may mention your ancestor, not your ancestor.
SlaveVoyages is listed as coming soon and not searched yet. You can also let it look through public web pages. Web search cannot see inside FamilySearch, Ancestry, Fold3 or other record databases.
Spellings and repeats
Krio Griot suggests other spellings of the name and searches those too, labeled as its suggestions. A search already run in the same archive with the same terms and years is skipped and says so, unless you choose to search again.
What comes back
The reportWritten from the records found. Each claim links to the record behind it. You can copy it, download it as a PDF, or save it.
FindingsPeople, records, questions and leads you can choose to save. Nothing is saved without your choice.
How it is knownEvery finding carries one of the seven ways of knowing (see Part 02).
Source labelsEach source is labeled Original record, Derivative record, Secondary source, User tree, or Research engine interpretation.
Evidence folderFor each saved record: the records behind it, what it proves, what it only suggests, what it does not prove, and any conflicts. When sources disagree, the fact is marked contested and you decide.
Still unknownQuestions the search could not answer stay on the person's profile until you answer them with a record.
Collection locatedWhen a search finds a collection that names people but is not indexed by name here, it says where the names are indexed.
Follow-up questionsAsk about the results. Each answer can be copied, downloaded as a PDF, or saved.
The log
On the Basic and Upgrade plans, every run is saved to the Research Log with every search it made, including the searches that found nothing. A search that found nothing does not prove absence; it records where you looked. On the Free plan, runs are not logged.
Part 03
Family tree
The tree is drawn only from the parent and spouse links you save. Nothing is guessed from names or generation numbers.
LayoutLeft to right, with the home person on the left and parents to the right, or with ancestors above. Drag to move and scroll to zoom. An arrow at the edge opens more generations of one branch.
Home personSaved with your account. The Home button always returns to them. You can view anyone's tree without changing your home person.
CardsClick a person to see their dates and relationship to the home person, open their profile, search for them, edit them, add a relative, or delete them. Empty spaces offer Add father and Add mother.
Family panelUnder the home person: spouses and children, siblings, and Add relative.
TrailAlong the bottom, the line from the person you clicked down to the home person, with the generation. Each name in it is a link.
Find and Unlinked peopleFind anyone in the tree by name. Unlinked people lists everyone not yet connected to the home person.
PotentialA dashed card marked Potential is a person not marked Documented and with no saved record yet.
Part 04
Ancestors and profiles
The Ancestors page lists every person you have saved. Records are private to your account and are not shared with any public tree. Find duplicates groups people saved more than once so you can merge them; a merge keeps one person and moves everything linked to the other onto them.
Person fields
Full name, birth name, other names, sex, race or ethnicity as recorded in the sources, generation, relation to you, family line, birth date and place, death date and place, burial place, links to Ancestry, FamilySearch and Geni profiles, a photo, and notes. If a name is not known, describe the person instead, for example female, age 14, Alabama, 1860. Krio Griot will not invent a name for an unnamed person.
The profile
HeaderName, how the person is known, relationship to the home person, birth and death. Buttons for View in tree, Edit details, Run research, Ancestor Dossier, Find duplicates and Print.
Still unknownOpen questions about this person.
Searches already doneEvery search recorded for this person, including those that found nothing.
TimelineA timeline of the person's life and family events, the sources saved for them, and their relationships. Every record research saved has Edit and Delete. Add event records a marriage, divorce, residence, military service, occupation, religious event or other event, with a date, place, details and how it is known. A marriage also links the two people as spouses.
RelationshipsParents, siblings, spouses and children. A person can have more than one set of parents (biological, adoptive, step, foster, guardian); you choose which set the tree shows.
GalleryThe profile photo and the record images saved for this person.
Their StoryThe timeline written out as sentences. Nothing is added beyond the saved records, and each sentence shows how it is known.
Next StepsWays to keep researching the person: Legacy Search, Speak to Me, the Ancestor Dossier, and links to search for them on other sites.
RecordsEverything linked to the person: questions, sources, DNA tests and matches, archive items and collections. Questions and sources can be edited and deleted here.
Research LogThis person's research log, newest first: each Legacy Search run and any entry you add, with what was searched and found. Each entry can be edited or deleted, and its searches opened. Download PDF and Download CSV give this person's entries only.
DeletingDelete removes a record completely: its connections to questions, places and people, the saved searches from that run, and any file uploaded with it. Before anything is removed you are told exactly what will go, and nothing is deleted until you confirm. It cannot be undone.
Field NotesNotes you post, each with the date and time it was posted, newest first. Notes can be edited and deleted.
Ancestor Dossier
A report built from everything saved about one person: documented facts, other events, family, places, documents, leads, oral history, contradictions, DNA, open and answered questions, searches done, and the repositories used. It can be saved to the Research Log or downloaded as a PDF. Its research plan is written by the research engine and marked as such.
Part 05
Research questions, sources and the research log
Research questionsA question about one person, with its type, status, priority, dates opened and resolved, the next action, findings, conclusion, gaps, conflicting evidence, and the four Genealogical Proof Standard checks.
SourcesThe sources and citations database: the source, the person it is about, its label, type, record type, repository, link, physical location, dates, full and short citations, search status and notes. A file or image can be attached.
Research LogEvery Legacy Search run, and any entry you add yourself: title, person, status, family line, generation, relationship, records checked, and what was done and found. Download PDF and Download CSV give the entries you tick, or the whole log, oldest first. The CSV opens as a spreadsheet in Excel, Numbers or Google Sheets.
The research log and the sources database are part of the Basic and Upgrade plans.
Part 06
Archive Scanner, archives and collections
The Archive Scanner reads a scanned image or PDF and suggests a description using General archival, Dublin Core or DACS fields. It does not change the original. Nothing is saved until you review it. Several files can be queued and read one after another; each result shows its picture and can be connected to a person and their timeline, the same as a single scan.
On Archives & Collections, tick the box on several items and choose a person to connect them all at once. They then appear in that person's Gallery.
Files can be images or PDFs, up to 20 MB each. One scan is one image or one PDF page.
Archive itemsAccession number, the person the item is about, the image, description, formats, dates, accession date, extent, condition, storage, restrictions and access, and recommended treatments.
CollectionsA named grouping with its primary family member, status, description, image and access restrictions. Collections are private to your account.
Part 07
DNA testing and matches
DNA tests and matches are entered by hand. Krio Griot does not read raw DNA files and does not import match lists yet.
TestsThe person tested, testing company, test type, haplogroup, ethnicity estimates, documentary corroboration and analysis notes. The test's name is made from the company, type and person.
MatchesThe match's name, the person in your tree they connect to, shared cM, shared segments, longest segment, the testing company's predicted relationship, your own assessment, all possible relationships, a cluster, correspondence status, last contact, a correspondence log and notes.
Linked peopleTests and matches linked to a person appear on that person's profile and in their Ancestor Dossier.
DNA is most useful for relatives within about five generations. For lines that disappear before 1870, DNA can point to living cousins whose families kept better paper. That paper is the bridge.
Part 08
Plans and usage
| Free | Basic | Upgrade |
|---|
| Price | $0 | $35 per month | $57 per month |
| Research engine searches | 1 per month | 12 per month | 25 per month |
| Archive Scanner scans | 5 in total | 100 per month | 400 per month |
| Storage | 500 MB | 5 GB | 100 GB |
| Archives searched directly | 6 public-domain archives | All | All |
| Research log and sources database | No | Yes | Yes |
Each Legacy Search run counts as one research engine search. Follow-up questions do not count. Monthly counts reset on the first day of each month and do not roll over. On the Free plan, Legacy Search reaches the National Archives, Chronicling America at the Library of Congress, DPLA, Born in Slavery, the Internet Archive and SNAC (Social Networks and Archival Context).
Your usage is shown on the dashboard and in Account settings. When you reach a limit, the action stops and tells you what was used, when it resets and what the next plan includes. You are never charged without your approval. During testing, plans are set by Aisha and nothing is charged.