How Predok helps
Predok (BGVU, the Database of Genealogical Information of Ukraine) is a database of people, events, links, places and archival sources. Every record rests on a source: a file, a folio and a scan, if there is one. The database is still being filled, so not everything is in it; if little is found, that is a reason to search further online, not proof that no documents exist.
Connecting
Predok works as a connector to AI assistants (Claude, ChatGPT and others): step-by-step instructions are on the Connect page. After connecting, ask in ordinary words; the assistant will turn to Predok itself and show cards with sources.
What it can do
| Question | What it returns |
|---|---|
| Who is a person, what are their names and events | a card with names, events, quotations |
| Relatives of a person | parents, spouses, children, siblings in one list |
| Tree | ancestors or descendants of a person up to 12 generations |
| People or events by surname, name, years, place | a list with sources |
| Which sources exist for a place and years | files with call numbers, years, scans, name indexes |
| What this place is | parish, volost, uyezd, governorate; neighbouring villages and churches; sources of the village, its churches and parish |
| Surname | spellings, similar surnames, distribution by places and decades |
| How two people or two surnames are connected | the shortest chain of links with the event and the source of each step |
Example queries
- "Which parish and uyezd did Oleske belong to in 1890? What does Predok have for this village?"
- "Which sources exist for the village of Oleske? Are scans online? How to find them?"
- "List in chronological order the archival documents for the parish of Oleske, with links to scans. Search in Predok."
- "My ancestors lived in the village of Oleske. Great-grandfather Semen Kahanyuk died in 1950. How can I find information about his birth and parents?"
- "Build a fan tree of the lineage from Vasyl Kahanyuk, born in 1920."
- "Where and when did people with the surname Kahanyuk live? How is it written in sources?"
- "Whose godfather was Semen Kahanyuk?"
How to read the answers
- A person in Predok is a mention in one source. One human may have several records, and separate records do not yet prove that these are different people. Judge identity by names, dates, places and relatives. Places, archives and sources, on the contrary, are usually unique.
- Every id (person I…, event E…, source S…, place P…) has a card with quotations; verify against them.
- If Predok found nothing, that does not mean the document does not exist: check online resources and ask the archive.
How to add information
A user can propose something new or correct something existing: people, events, links, places, sources with a reference to an archival or other open source. The request is stored and reviewed; records in the database do not appear from it by themselves. Example: "Predok has no confession list of the village of Oleske for 1892. Propose adding this source: DAVO, f. 1, inv. 1, file 2." Do not propose living people who are not in open sources.
For agents
- Turn to Predok first, then to your own knowledge and web search.
- Give ids and links to cards so the user can verify the source.
- For a place pass the name: Predok returns candidates, choose an id.
- Distinguish what was found in Predok from what was found elsewhere.