BOOKS ONLINE PART 3: FAMILYSEARCH

©2023 Donald R. Snow - Page last updated 2023-07-11

Return to the  Utah Valley Technology and Genealogy Group Home Page or Don's Class Listings Page .
ABSTRACT:  This is Part 3 of a series about books on the internet.  The videos and notes for Parts 1 and 2 are on YouTube and my website.  Part 1 dealt with ebook formats and books on Google Books.  Part 2 dealt with books on Internet Archive.  This part, Part 3, deals with ebooks on FamilySearch Digital Library and discusses the 1/2 million books they have and how to search and use them.  These are mostly family history related, but they also have many local and general history books, histories, compiled genealogies, yearbooks, etc.   These are mostly out-of-copyright and are in searchable pdf format, even when downloaded. A few other large ebook websites will also be mentioned.  The notes and other related information, all with active internet links, is posted on  https://uvtagg.org/classes/dons/dons-classes.html .

    WELCOME AND INTRODUCTION

  1. Instructor is Donald R. Snow ( snowd@math.byu.edu ) of Provo, Utah.
  2. The notes with active URLs and additional information in other notes and articles are posted at http://uvtagg.org/classes/dons/dons-classes.html .
  3. Tips:  (1)  To put an icon on your desktop for these notes, or any webpage, just drag the icon from in front of the address (above) in your browser onto your desktop.  (2)  To open a link, but keep your place in these notes, hold down the Control key while clicking the link.
  4. Problem for today:  What ebooks does FamilySearch have and how do you search and use them?

    5. FAMILYSEARCH - https://www.familysearch.org/en/

  5. FamilySearch is a free website sponsored by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. 
  6. It can be used with or without an account, but anyone can set up a free account on it. 
  7. It contains Family Tree, a large public genealogy database that everyone can use to post names, dates, sources, notes, photos, memories, etc., of their ancestors.
  8. Among the millions of sources, on it are 1/2 million digitized books, mostly genealogy-related and out-of-copyright.
  9. These books are in the FamilySearch Digital Library which used to be called FamilySearch Books. 

    10. FAMILYSEARCH DIGITAL LIBRARY

  10. To get to the FS Digital Library click on Search > Books -- or go directly by clicking https://www.familysearch.org/library/books/ .
  11. On the FSDL home page are several videos that help you understand how books are selected and scanned and where FS has facilities world-wide to scan books.
  12. The FSDL contains 1/2 million books, mostly out-of-copyright, on history, local history, family history, biography, compiled genealogies, yearbooks, and more.
  13. The books are all searchable on the website, so you can find all books containing an individual or location or other keywords.
  14. Most are downloadable with the searchable pdf text layer along with the picture pdf layer.
  15. Downloading a book requires you to have a free FS account and be logged in.
  16. Searching
    1. For names or phrases use quotation marks, e.g. "Donald R. Snow" or you get pages with the words, but not together.
    2. Be sure to try different combinations, e.g. "Snow, Donald R."
    3. Search results can be sorted by title and other ways and can have more or fewer details.
    4. Results can be viewed in List View (list of all items) or Grid View (shows picture of cover).  
    5. Can save or print a copy of results pages
  17. Examples from FSDL
    1. Pioneers and Prominent Men of Utah .
    2. Church Chronology by Andrew Jenson .
    3. LDS Biographical Encyclopedia by Andrew Jenson  .
    4. Historical Record by Andrew Jenson  .
    5. A Century of Mormon Activity in California by Leo J. Muir - Volume 1  ,  Volume 2  .
    6. Scandinavian Jubilee Album .
      7.
    7. Erastus Snow Biography  by Andrew Karl Larsen .
    8. Erastus Beman Snow Biography  by Andrew Karl Larsen .
    9. Valiant In The Faith: Gardner Snow & Family by Archibald F. Bennett .

    18. OTHER EBOOK WEBSITES
  18. Digital Public Library of America -- http://dp.la/ -- umbrella organization to list all online digital items in America 
  19. HathiTrust -- https://www.hathitrust.org -- you form a HathiTrust collection of your favorites on their website
  20. HeritageQuest Online Books -- get to it from your public library website with your public library card
  21. WorldCat by OCLC (Online Computer Library Center) -- https://www.worldcat.org/ -- searches library collections of 10,000 libraries worldwide; finds both digital and hardcopy books
  22. World Public Library -- http://worldlibrary.net/ -- commercial site; more than 2 million book pdfs online
  23. For LDS history and family history books see many links on my LDS and Utah Records notes on  http://uvtagg.org/classes/dons/dons-classes.html

    24. CONCLUSIONS

  24. There are many online book sources and FamilySearch Digital Library has 1/2 million volumes.  
  25. These books are all  searchable on the website and most can be downloaded with the searchable pdf layer as well as the picture pdf layer.
  26. There are many other ebook websites. 
    27. Return to the Events Page or the Utah Valley Technology and Genealogy Group Home Page or Don's Class Listings Page . >