May 2, 2007

How to Find a Lost Classmate

By Mary Flanagan Williamson

My first advice to all when you start to search for lost classmates is to put on your "DETECTIVE HAT!" :)

In this world of cyberspace, the first place people automatically go to for information is the Internet. On the Internet you can find several search tools. Some suggestions that I use for free searches are: Google, Lost Friends, Dogpile, and Yahoo People Search. There is also the telephone book, which you can access off the Internet (white pages, yellow pages). Some free tools require you log on with a password. Those are okay but be careful how much personal information you release to be able to get into these free search tools. I do not recommend you pay for any search sites (like Classmates.com) as I do not necessarily think they provide anymore information than the free ones do! Sometimes paid sites (like Intelius) you can get enough information from the free section to figure out if that is the person you are looking for or not…and then switch back to a free site to do your search!

Don't overlook the easiest way to find someone: ask around! Perhaps someone is already in touch with him or can refer you to someone who is.

Before you can really get into heavy searching, you need to have some information about the person you are looking for. This is where you turn into a detective. Try to get as much "clues" about that person. The more clues you have, the better chances of finding him. Keep in mind if the person is a female, she might be married and not use her maiden name. Sometimes it is easier to find the parents or a sibling first. Sometimes you have to go through the work center to find someone or other schools they attended.

Some searches are easy to do. Some are more difficult. Sometimes you have to take a break and not look for that person for awhile and then return to your search later. Eventually, you learn your way around and fall into a routine on how to find someone. Don't give up though because most of the time, it pays to be persistent!

Mary Flanagan Williamson, AIS class of 1974 Marywilliamson74@aol.com

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