Is There a Booklet That Shows How to Get Started With Family Search.

Render to FamilySearch Research Wiki

Purpose of the Guide [edit | edit source]

The purpose of this guide is to help you discover your beginnings using the records available in the Family unit History Library, the FamilySearch Center, or one of the more than than two thousand family history centers located throughout the world.

Family History Library and Related Services [edit | edit source]

Family History Library [edit | edit source]

Since it was established in 1894, the Family History Library of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has go the largest of its kind in the world. The library has collected millions of microfilms, thousands of microfiche and books, and many other records. Most of the microfilms accept been acquired through an extensive microfilming program that began in 1938. Microfilmers are before long filming original documents in churches, courthouses, and other archives in many countries. The originals of these microfilms are preserved in a vault in the mountains near Common salt Lake Urban center. The library is located at 35 North Westward Temple Street, Salt Lake Metropolis, Utah. The telephone number is 1-866-406-1830; E-mail accost fhl@familysearch.org.

Copies of the microfilms are bachelor for use at the Family History Library and in some family history centers. The Family unit History Library is designed to help individuals who need help in learning and searching records to extend their family lines. Some data nerveless past the library is available on the Internet at FamilySearch.

Family History Centers [edit | edit source]

Family History Centers are located throughout the world. Each has a basic collection of records and enquiry publications to assist researchers. Each center has computers with Net access.

Services and Resource [edit | edit source]

Workers in the Library and family history heart tin can help you larn how to utilise the records. They can't do inquiry for you lot, but tin help you lot apply the library's catalog to locate records or Websites, to do your own research.

FamilySearch Center [edit | edit source]

The FamilySearch Center is designed to introduce individuals unacquainted with family history to experience the excitement of discovering their ancestors. The center, located in the Joseph Smith Memorial Building at xv East South Temple Street in Table salt Lake City, has access to the Net.

Research Process [edit | edit source]

Family History inquiry involves five basic steps. Each stride is explained below. Staff members in the Family History Library or family history centers will be glad to help y'all complete these steps. A Research Overview is available as a presentation to introduce you to the research process.

1. Place What You Know About Your Family [edit | edit source]

Fill Out a Full-blooded Nautical chart and Family Group Tape [edit | edit source]

Recall equally much information equally yous can nearly yourself and your family unit members. Record what you know on pedigree charts and family unit grouping sheets. Judge dates and places if necessary.

• A pedigree chart provides infinite to record information on 4 generations: yourself, your parents, your grandparents, and your cracking-grandparents.
• A family group record provides space to tape data virtually the parents and children of a family. You lot can also tape the source of your information. Fill out a family group record for each couple on your pedigree chart.
  

Get together Boosted Information [edit | edit source]

If you demand more than information, gather data from sources in your habitation or from a relative. Await for copies of birth, marriage, and death certificates; journals; scrapbooks; old messages; family Bibles; photographs; school records; armed services records; obituaries; deeds; and wills. Record on your full-blooded chart and family group canvas any new data you lot find.

You may want to keep notes almost your family unit history on a separate canvass of paper. These notes could be biographical information such as military machine service; education; social or economic status; migrations; participation in community, social, religious, or historical events; or physical descriptions.

Organize Your Records [edit | edit source]

Organize your records for piece of cake access (come across step five for suggestions on organizing).

ii. Decide What Yous Desire to Larn About Your Family [edit | edit source]

Select an Ancestor [edit | edit source]

Select one antecedent y'all would like to learn more well-nigh. Brainstorm with an ancestor for whom you already have some information. Yous will need at least his surname and some idea of when and where he lived. If possible, select an ancestor built-in earlier 1920, because near of the library's records date from earlier 1920. A staff member tin can assistance you.

To select an antecedent, look at the entries on your pedigree chart that take one of the following bug:

• Missing data: names, dates, or places are missing.
• Incomplete data: office of a name, date, or place is missing.
• Unverified data: information cannot be traced to a credible source (that is, someone who would have known the information kickoff hand).
• Conflicting information: information from two sources does non hold.

Select a Research Question [edit | edit source]

Identify questions you want to answer most the person you selected. For case:

• Where was he born? or married?
• Where or when did he die?
• Who were his parents?

Select one question as your enquiry objective. By focusing on one question at a time, you increase your chances for success.

Prepare a Inquiry Log [edit | edit source]

Utilize a research log to go along track of the records you want to search and the information you lot establish. At the top of the log, write the name of the ancestor you lot selected, your research objective, and when and where he may have lived.

three. Select Records to Search [edit | edit source]

Identify a Record Category [edit | edit source]

The Family unit History Library and family history centers have the following basic categories of records.

• Compiled Records
• Original Records
• Background Information -- These are resources dealing with geographical, historical, or cultural information. They include local histories, maps, gazetteers, language dictionaries, and guidebooks. Search these to acquire more about the area where your ancestors lived and the events that may take affected their lives and the records most them.
• Finding Aids -- These help y'all discover the location of records; name indexes; library catalogs; or Websites.

Compiled Records [edit | edit source]

It is all-time to search compiled records first. You lot tin save a lot of time by seeing what information others have already found almost your family. Compiled records can normally exist searched apace and easily. The following compiled records are available at the Family unit History Library or family history centers.

Bequeathed File

Ancestral File is a collection of pedigree and family group records submitted by people throughout the world. It is bachelor on the Net equally office of FamilySearch. It contains millions of names. Using Ancestral File, you tin see an ancestor's pedigree, his family unit (both equally a child and as a parent), and his descendants.

You will need the name of your ancestor to search this file. Printed instructions and computerized aid messages are available to help y'all employ the file. You lot may also ask a staff fellow member for assistance. You lot can hand-re-create the information you find, brand a printed paper copy at cost, or copy the data onto a storage device, such as a wink bulldoze, to use with your habitation reckoner.

International Genealogical Index

The International Genealogical Index contains millions of names of deceased persons from around the globe. It lists birth and marriage information and dates. Many of the names come from original birth and matrimony records from the early on 1500s to 1875. Other names were researched by members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-mean solar day Saints. The index is available on computer equally part of FamilySearch and on microfiche.

The index identifies only the parents or spouse of a person. It does not prove family members linked together in pedigrees or family groups as does Ancestral File.

Family Histories

The library has thousands of family histories. In a family unit history, yous may find genealogical data, photographs, biographical sketches, and stories most the family. Books are usually available only in the Family History Library. However, most histories are likewise available on microfilm or microfiche and tin be viewed at the Family History Library or some family history centers.

To find a family unit history, you will demand to utilise the "Surname" department of the FamilySearch Catalog (if using the microfiche edition) or the "Surname" search in FamilySearch. The itemize does non list every name institute in a family history. Merely major families found in a history are listed. Look for your antecedent's surname (last proper noun).

After you lot find catalog entries that incorporate your antecedent's surname, read the descriptions to run across if the family history matches the time menstruum and place in which your ancestor lived. The calculator version of the catalog allows yous to search for primal words in the descriptions. This characteristic can save you time if many family histories contain your ancestor's surname.

When you find a book or microfilm that you want to view, write the complete call number, author, and title in your research log (encounter the example). And so view the film at the Family History Library or whatsoever family history middle listed every bit having a copy of the microfilm.

Other Sources of Compiled Records

Other sources of compiled records are bachelor. Take your pedigree chart and research log to a staff member to determine whether whatever of the following sources would exist helpful and how to locate them. Most compiled records are described in the FamilySearch Catalog.

• Genealogies
• Biographies
• Genealogical periodicals and indexes, such every bit the Periodical Source Alphabetize
• Family newsletters
• Local histories
• Family unit Grouping Records Collection

Original Records [edit | edit source]

These are records created at the time of important events in your ancestors' lives. For example, a local church building or the local government may have recorded your ancestors' births, christenings, marriages, and burials.

These are records of previous research on individuals and families already done by others, such as family histories, biographies, or genealogies with full-blooded charts and family unit group records. Though compiled records are very helpful, some data may be inaccurate or incomplete. The information is submitted by library patrons and is not verified by the Family History Library. Always carefully evaluate the information you lot observe.

About original records in the Family History Library are microfilm copies of records found in courthouses, churches, government offices, historical societies, and other athenaeum throughout the world. Some records are available every bit books. Others are available on reckoner as part of FamilySearch. The following are some of the major types of original records available:

Vital Records and Ceremonious Registration [edit | edit source]

Most government offices proceed records of births, marriages, and deaths. In the FamilySearch Catalog these records are listed under "Vital Records" for the U.s.a. and Canada, and "Civil Registration" for other countries.

Church Records [edit | edit source]

The church building your ancestors attended may accept kept records of their christenings, baptisms, confirmations, marriages, or burials. Church records are especially important if ceremonious vital records are unavailable for a time period or region where your ancestor lived.

Cemetery Records [edit | edit source]

From cemetery records and headstones, you may be able to learn the names, birth dates, and death dates of family unit members buried near each other. The epitaphs may help you lot found the relationships between ancestors.

Demography Records [edit | edit source]

Most national governments acquit periodic censuses. Starting time in 1850, United States federal censuses listed every member of a household by name, with information about sex, age, country or state of birth, and occupation. Demography records are peculiarly helpful in determining where your ancestors lived.

In England, detailed censuses began in 1841 and 1851, see:

• British 1851 Census

Probate Records [edit | edit source]

When a person dies, court records may be created containing a copy of the person's volition, if one exists, and the courtroom's determination about how the estate is to be distributed amidst his heirs. These are called probate records, and they oftentimes provide names and family relationships.

Military Records [edit | edit source]

The names of individuals who served in the military or who were eligible for military service announced in war machine records.

Clearing Records [edit | edit source]

Passenger lists or other immigration records may provide the appointment or ship on which an immigrant antecedent arrived or the name of the port to which he came.

Notation: To find the records of an immigrant'due south identify of origin, you ordinarily need to know the exact city, town, or county where he lived. If you do not know this, search the records of the state to which he migrated. For more information, see the publication Tracing Immigrant Origins, available at the library or family history centers.

Other Original Documents [edit | edit source]

Other original documents include court, land, naturalization, revenue enhancement, business, medical, and school records. Be sure to check all jurisdictions (for case, town, county, country, and country) that may have kept records well-nigh your ancestor.

Choose a Record Type [edit | edit source]

When selecting a record, first make up one's mind which blazon of record may contain the information you are looking for (such every bit vital record, cemetery record, or military record). To determine upon a record type, practice one of the following:

• Come across the nautical chart on the terminal page of this guide, or

• Use the Wiki article for your country, state, or province. Each country article includes a link to a nautical chart (chosen a "record selection table") showing which types of original records contain information for various types of enquiry objectives. The articles too describe what records are bachelor for an area and a fourth dimension menstruum, or

• Accept your research log to a staff member and ask for help in determining which type of record you lot should search for.

Select Specific Records to Search [edit | edit source]

Once you accept determined what type of record to search for, you will need to select a specific record. Nearly original records are listed in the "Locality" (or place) section of the FamilySearch Itemize. This department lists records by country, state or province, county, or town. You will need to know the place where your antecedent lived and the type of record you chose to search, such equally census, land and property, or vital record. The record type is chosen a topic in the FamilySearch version of the FamilySearch Catalog.

When you find the records for the place where your ancestor lived, read the descriptions to encounter if a record covers the time period you need. Indexes are often available for original records. If one is available, search the index first.

If y'all do non detect any records listed under a identify, search for records of other jurisdictions, such equally the country, county, or metropolis. You can also expect for records of nearby places. Do not hesitate to ask a staff fellow member for assistance.

Describe the Records on Your Enquiry Log [edit | edit source]

On your inquiry log, tape the authors, titles, time periods, and Family History Library phone call numbers of whatever records y'all select. Your research log might look like the example. Yous now have the data yous demand to obtain a record.

Summary [edit | edit source]

Identify a record category. Search compiled records get-go. Then search original records.

Choose a tape type. Use the chart (chosen "Record Finder") plant past searching for the state in the Wiki.

Select specific records to search. Find the locality and tape type in the Locality section of the FamilySearch Catalog.

Describe the records in your research log.

iv. Obtain and Search the Tape [edit | edit source]

Obtain the Record [edit | edit source]

At the Family History Library [edit | edit source]

Records at the Family History Library are arranged past geographical expanse. The phone call number of the record tells you which expanse of the library this tape is located in and whether it is a book, microfilm, or microfiche. The following are sample call numbers:

FHL Usa/CAN Moving-picture show
3075101 Item vii

FHL Us/CAN Book
929.273 P833ph

To obtain the tape, exercise the post-obit:

Go to the flooring that has the records for that geographical area. These areas are listed beside the elevators on each floor. You tin also ask a staff member for assist or obtain a map of the library from the information desks.

Locate the book, microfilm, or microfiche storage areas.

Look for the phone call number of the record. Records are filed numerically by call number. Library attendants are located next to the copy centers on each floor and can assist you lot.

Accept the microfilms or microfiche to the appropriate reader to utilize them.

Not all microfilms are located in the library. Yous may need to gild some microfilms. A library attendant can assist y'all do this. The microfilm will go far in a few hours or a few days, depending on where it is stored.

At a Family History Middle [edit | edit source]

Take your inquiry log to a staff member. He or she tin tell you whether the center already has the record.

Other Repositories [edit | edit source]

Not every tape well-nigh your antecedent is at the Family History Library or a family unit history heart. You may need to obtain copies of some records at other libraries, athenaeum, or government and church offices.

Search the Tape [edit | edit source]

Do not hesitate to ask a staff member for help to use the microfilm or microfiche equipment. Printed instructional materials are available to help you search some records.

If you accept difficulty finding a record on a microfilm, check the item number of the tape. Several records may be on i microfilm, and you may demand to read the title folio for each particular to make certain you have the correct ane. Names in an original record may be bundled chronologically or alphabetically. The following are common research problems you should exist aware of.

Name Changes [edit | edit source]

Many immigrants changed or shortened their names after arriving in the new land. You may need to check for diverse possibilities.

Spelling Variations [edit | edit source]

Check for variant spellings of your ancestor's name. Many recorders spelled names according to audio. A person may be listed with a nickname or abridgement.

Handwriting [edit | edit source]

Well-nigh original documents are handwritten. If you cannot read a letter, expect at other names in the tape to see how the writer fabricated sure letters. Some handbooks illustrate the ways letters were written in earlier times.

Dates [edit | edit source]

You may want to bank check a range of dates for an result. It may be recorded on a different date than you lot look.

Tape the Results [edit | edit source]

Record what you lot find on your research log, even if you don't find any new information. If you lot don't exercise this, you lot may waste product time searching the aforementioned tape again. Make copies of fundamental documents.

Photocopies [edit | edit source]

Copy centers are located on each floor of the Family History Library and the FamilySearch Center. Machines are available to copy books, microfilm, and microfiche.

Many family unit history centers have equipment for photocopying books, microfilm, and microfiche.

Delight be enlightened that many of the books, microfilms, and microfiche in the library are copyrighted. The copyright law of the Usa (Title 17, Us Lawmaking) governs the making of photocopies or other reproductions of copyrighted material.

Under certain conditions specified in the law, a library patron may make a photocopy or other reproduction of copyrighted material. Ane of these conditions is that the photocopy or reproduction is not to exist "used for any purpose other than private written report, scholarship, or research." The law calls this a "fair use" of the material, which does not infringe on the copyright held by its owner. If someone subsequently uses a photocopy or reproduction for purposes in backlog of "fair use," he or she may be liable for copyright infringement.

5. Utilise the Information [edit | edit source]

Evaluate the Data [edit | edit source]

In order to evaluate your data, consider the following:

• Did you find the information y'all were looking for?
• Is the data complete?
• Does the information conflict with other information you accept?
• Is the source of the information apparent?

Transfer the Data [edit | edit source]

Add together whatever new information to your family grouping records. Record the source of the data. The source can help you resolve problems with alien data. For case, if a birth record gives one nascence date, and an obituary gives another birth appointment for the same person, you will want to make up one's mind which appointment came from the more than authoritative source (ordinarily the source made closest to the time of the upshot).

Organize Your Records [edit | edit source]

Organize your records for piece of cake access. 1 possible order is equally follows:

• Full-blooded charts numbered and bundled numerically
• Family group records in alphabetical order by the hubby's name
• Notes, research logs, and copies of documents backside the related family unit grouping tape

A number of reckoner programs can aid you lot organize your records on your home calculator. For information about programs that are compatible with FamilySearch (meaning they tin share data hands with any FamilySearch file), see a staff member. Ane of these programs, Personal Ancestral File, is available for apply at the Family History Library and at most family unit history centers.

[edit | edit source]

You can assist make enquiry easier and faster for yourself and for others by sharing the results of your research. Share the data you lot find with family members. They may have more information for you. The Family unit History Library besides offers several opportunities for you to share information.

Share your family unit history. If you take written a family history, compiled an index, or created a database of genealogical information, y'all can identify it in the Family History Library to be preserved and used past others. If possible, please grant permission (or obtain it from the copyright owner) for the library to microfilm the tape and circulate it wherever the library chooses. Contact the Acquisitions Unit of measurement, Family History Library, 35 N West Temple Street, Salt Lake Metropolis, UT 84150, for more than information.

Repeat the Process [edit | edit source]

Echo the research procedure by choosing—

• Another record to expect at, or
• Another research objective for this person, or
• Another ancestor to acquire about.

You lot can larn more than about how to practise research in the and at family history centers.

Nosotros promise this brief introduction will help you develop a lifelong interest in your family history. We invite you to return to the Family History Library, the FamilySearch Center, or a family history heart equally often every bit you lot would like. Please let us know if nosotros tin be of whatsoever further help.

Additional Data [edit | edit source]

Indexing of Records [edit | edit source]

Every bit you lot search for your family members beyond the first few generations, y'all volition often apply original records. Many of these records are not indexed and may exist in languages or handwriting you are not familiar with. You tin can help index names found in original records, thereby making the records more attainable to other researchers.

Thousands of volunteers are helping to extract or alphabetize data from vital, census, and immigration records.

Other Services [edit | edit source]

The following services are as well available to you:

Orientation [edit | edit source]

A brief orientation programme is available at the Family History Library. To preserve the tranquillity research environs of the library, guided tours are non provided. Family history centers may provide orientation programs, including guided tours. Ask a staff member.

An orientation to FamilySearch and the FamilySearch Center is available on each FamilySearch estimator in the center.

Group Visits [edit | edit source]

For grouping visits, please contact the Family History Library, the FamilySearch Heart, or a family history center in advance for a list of services, hours, holiday schedules, and other information that can make your visit more successful. Basic services are listed in the publication Family History Library and Family History Centers Services and Resources. This publication is updated annually. Ensure that your group is prepared to utilize the facility. In the Family History Library and FamilySearch Center, you tin can request a room for classes or meetings. The FamilySearch Center has rooms bachelor with FamilySearch computers for group activities.

When you are in the enquiry areas of the Family History Library, please dissever into groups of no more than v, with a leader for each group.

Additional Didactics [edit | edit source]

Ask a staff member about classes, printed aids, video training programs, and other instructional resource. Genealogical forms and instructional publications are available for sale. In the Family History Library, items for auction are located well-nigh each copy center.

Accredited Genealogists^® and Certified Genealogists^(SM) [edit | edit source]

(Professional Researchers)

2 agencies license professional genealogical researchers:
1. The International Committee for the Accreditation of Professional Genealogists® (ICAPGen)
2. The Lath for Certification of Genealogists® (BCG).
Both organizations carefully test the research skills of their members before granting licensure. Both require their members to sign a lawmaking of ideals and take the members renew their credentials every five years.
A list of Accredited Genealogists can be found at www.icapgen.org.
A list of Certified Genealogists can be found at www.bcgcertification.org.

Correspondence [edit | edit source]

The Family History Library will respond to whatsoever questions that can be answered briefly but does not provide a research service. Ask a staff member for a Reference Questionnaire form on which to send your question.

Family History Centers [edit | edit source]

Family History Centers are located throughout the world. Some of them have copies of the Family History Library's microfilms. Go to the following website to notice the nearest Family History Center. Call ahead to see if films are available.

Other Libraries and Archives [edit | edit source]

Excellent information is available from courthouses, libraries, archives, and societies. Ask a staff fellow member for addresses and more data.

 Library Rules [edit | edit source]

The Family History Library, the FamilySearch Center, and family unit history centers offer their services to the public with the understanding that those who use the collection will bide past the guidelines governing such utilise. Delight discover the following rules and then that all patrons can successfully use the facilities:

• Please handle the equipment, books, and other materials carefully.
• Please maintain a quiet atmosphere for research.
• Do non leave personal belongings unattended. The library or center is not responsible for items that are lost or stolen.
• Children under twelve must be kept under the control of their parents.
• Nutrient and drinks are not permitted in a family history center. In the Family History Library, they are permitted only in the snack room.
• Smoking is not permitted anywhere in the building or on the grounds.

The Family History Library has the following boosted rules. Ask a staff fellow member at the FamilySearch Center or a family history eye for the rules for their facilities.

• You may take up to five rolls of microfilm from the cabinets at any given time. Please refile each microfilm you utilize.
• If the library is busy and you expect to be abroad from a microfilm reader for more than 30 minutes, take your materials with you so someone else can use the auto. Materials left at an unused reader for more than thirty minutes may be removed past a library attendant.
• You may take upwards to five books from the shelves at whatsoever given time. Please return books to the red shelves at the end of the stacks where the books were found.
• When using photocopy equipment, please limit yourself to 5 copies when others are waiting.

Selecting Record Types [edit | edit source]

OBJECTIVE To obtain information most—	RECORD TYPES Wait in the FamilySearch Catalog, Locality department for these tape types:
	First look for:	Then wait for:
Historic period	Census, Vital Records*, Cemeteries	Miltary Records, Revenue enhancement, Obituaries
Nascency date	Vital Records*, Church Records, Bible Records	Cemeteries, Obituaries, Census, Newspapers, War machine Records
Birth date	Vital Records*, Church Records, Bible Records	Cemeteries, Obituaries, Demography, Newspapers, Armed forces Records
Birthplace	Vital Records*, Church Records, Census	Newspapers, Obituaries, Armed services Records
City or parish of strange nascence	Church Records, Genealogy, Biography, Obituaries, Naturalization and Citizenship	Emigration and Immigration, Vital Records*, History
Land of foreign birth	Census, Emigration and Immigration, Naturalization and Citizenship, Vital Records*	Military Records, Church Records, Newspapers, Obituaries
County origins and boundaries	History, Maps	Gazetteers
Decease	Vital Records, Cemeteries, Probate Records, Church building Records, Obituaries	Newspapers, War machine Records, Courtroom Records, Land and Holding
Divorce	Courtroom Records, Divorce Records	Newspapers, Vital Records*
Ethnicity	Minorities, Native Races, Societies	Church Records, Emigration and Clearing, Naturalization and Citizenship
Historical background	History, Periodicals, Genealogy	Church History, Minorities
Clearing or emigration engagement	Emigration and Immigration, Naturalization and Citizenship, Genealogy	Demography, Biography, Newspapers, Church Records
Maiden name	Vital Records*, Church building Records, Newspapers, Bible Records	Military machine Records, Cemeteries, Probate Records, Obituaries
Union	Vital Records*, Church Records, Demography, Newspapers, Bible Records	Biography, Genealogy, Military Records, Probate Records, Land and Property, Nobility
Occupation	Demography, Directories, Emigration and Immigration, Civil Registration, Occupations, Probate Records	Newspapers, Court Records, Obituaries, Officials and Employees
Parents, children, and other family members	Vital Records*, Church Records, Census, Probate Records, Obituaries	Bible Records, Newspapers, Emigration and Immigration, Land and Property
Concrete description	Military Records, Biography, Court Records	Naturalization and Citizenship, Civil Registration, Church Records, Emigration and Immigration, Genealogy, Newspapers
Place-finding aids	Gazetteers, Maps	Directories, History, Periodicals, Country and Property, Tax
Place (town) of residence when y'all know but the state	Census, Genealogy, Military Records, Vital Records*, Church Records, Directories	Biography, Probate Records, History, Land and Property, Revenue enhancement
Places family has lived	Census, Land and Property, History	Armed forces Records, Revenue enhancement, Obituaries
Previous research (compiled genealogy)	Genealogy, Periodicals, History	Biography, Societies, Dignity
Tape-finding aids	Athenaeum and Libraries, Societies, Genealogy	Periodicals
Religion	Church Records, History, Biography, Ceremonious Registration	Bible Records, Cemeteries, Obituaries, Genealogy

*Exterior the The states and Canada, see "Civil Registration" instead of "Vital Records."

Note: Besides search the FamilySearch Itemize , using the Subject section for cardinal topics in your objective.

Related Content [edit | edit source]

• Principles of Family History Research

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Source: https://www.familysearch.org/en/wiki/A_Guide_to_Research

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