WHAT'S ON FAMILYSEARCH.ORG
©2008 by Donald R. Snow
Sections of the Class Notes
This page was last updated
2008-01-08.
Return to the Hyde Park
Family History Centre Home Page or the Events Page or the Utah Valley Technology and Genealogy Group Home Page or Don's Class Listings
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WELCOME AND WHAT THIS CLASS IS ALL ABOUT
ABOUT FAMILYSEARCH.ORG
- Two versions of FamilySearch -- FamilySearch DOS (only in FHC's) and FamilySearch Internet (online)
- Both versions contain databases such as IGI, AF, SSDI, FHLC, but
there are important differences in them
- FamilySearch.org site was launched May 1999 and has had billions of hits since then -- over 10 million hits per day -- see
Facts and Statistics
- Contains over one billion names, many in family groups, plus many helps and the Family History Library Catalog
- The largest and most important non-commercial FH site
- Free and is a major help in FH worldwide -- LDS Church has spent millions of dollars setting it up and maintaining it
- All data can be copied or downloaded in GEDCOM format
- There are LDS Church Satellite FH Training videos and
DVD's -- LDS
Catalogue to Order Family History Materials
- 18 Nov 1999 -- on FamilySearch Internet --
video: Using the FamilySearch Web Site -- 53317000
- 4 May 2000 -- on principles of successful FH
programs -- video: Training for Family History Leaders - 53326000 --
talk by Elder Henry B. Eyring (excellent talk on FH)
- Edited onto one DVD -- Training For Family History Leaders -- 0200410090 in both
English and Spanish
SITE
MAP OF
FAMILYSEARCH.ORG
RESEARCH HELPS AND RESEARCH GUIDANCE
- For a more complete discussion of the Helps, see my
notes FamilySearch and Other Helps
- http://www.familysearch.org contains many
valuable research tools, including Glossary, Research Guidance, Research
Helps, and Family History Library Catalog
- Glossary -- click on Search, then Research
Helps, then Glossary at the bottom of the left panel -- gives
definitions of genealogy words from several languages
- Research
Guidance is updated regularly and shows how
to find records for places, time period, and type -- very detailed about where
to look for specific information -- written by professional genealogists as if
they were answering your specific questions about places and time periods
- Research
Helps contains things like the FH Dept
Research Guides on states, countries, topics, how to write letters in other
languages, etc
- Examples -- How-To Guides, Word Meanings
(definitions of genealogy terms), locality info
- Can view them or print all of them -- many are in
two formats, one of which is pdf (Portable Document Format) which can be
read and printed easily
- To find articles about your localities and topics,
sort the list whichever way is helpful -- e.g. by title or by geographical
area
- When looking for genealogy records, be sure to search
encompasing jurisdictions for more records, e.g. parish --> town
--> county --> state --> country
- Each succeeding level may have more records, e.g.
most census
and
military records are on state level, not city
nor county
level; and many burial records are in lists on state level, e.g. Utah
Burials and
Cemeteries Database by Utah State
Historical Society
FAMILY
HISTORY
LIBRARY CATALOGUE (FHLC) -- Family
History Library Catalogue
- FH Department publications related to the FHLC
- Booklet "Using the Family History Library
Catalogue"
- Church video "How To Use The Family History Library
Catalogue -- A Beginner's Guide" -- 15 minutes long, very good, VHS 53191
- Articles on using the FHLC
- Four versions of FHLC
- Microfiche version -- very old now - won't
be updated again
- Old DOS version -- available in a few FHC's, runs
under the old DOS FamilySearch program - won't be updated again --
had a very helpful feature of showning which FHC's had particular films on
indefinite loan - not in any other version
- CD version -- still available for purchase at LDS
Distribution Centres; several years out of date - probably won't
be updated again
- FamilySearch version -- on http://www.familysearch.org --
updated almost daily - a great resource and very useful
- Categories of organization of the FHLC
- All entries in the FHLC are organized into
categories, e.g. Civil Registration, Church Records, Church Record -
Indexes, ... , History, ... Military, etc.
- See the category list in any of the Research Outlines, e.g. England
Research Outline
- All research outlines follow that form, too
- All entries in FHLC for each
parish, town, city, and country are organized into these
categories, whatever items they have for that parish, etc.
- See complete list of categories on pages 26-28 in "Help with
Using FamilySearch" booklet
- FHLC is now listing FH books which have been scanned
and are posted online in Brigham Young University's Family History
Archives
- For volumes digitized and posted, the FHLC has the red words "To
view a digital version of this book click here."
- Link takes you to the BYU Harold B. Lee
Library web site where the entire digitized book is posted
- Several thousand volumes have been digitized so far
- Volumes must be out of copyright or copyright holder must
have given permission before they can be posted
- Examples - see below to learn how to find all digitized volumes so listed
in the FHLC
- BYU's Online Family History Archives -- http://www.lib.byu.edu/fhc/
- Click on Advanced Search ( http://contentdm.lib.byu.edu/cdm4/search.php ) for
more detailed searches and to see the kinds of digitized records they have
- Can search on just the Family Histories collections, if you want, by
moving those to the right panel; each FH collection may contain several
hundred volumes
- Use the FHLC before a trip to any genealogy library,
especially the FHL, to save lots of time and get organized first
SEARCHING
ON FAMILYSEARCH.ORG
- Go to the Search tab and enter the name
- Helpful instructions by clicking on "Tips on How to
Search For Your Ancestors"
- Usually better to search on All Resources since the
record may be in a different locality or database than you thought
- For results of an All Resources search, note the list
of hits in each database in the upper right side of the screen -- can click on
any of those and go directly to that database
- General
search tip -- start by entering the least amont of
information to identify the person since if you put in something
slightly different than the record has, it won't be shown and you will
miss what you are looking for -- only add more data to narrow the
search down when you get too many hits
ANCESTRAL
FILE AND PEDIGREE RESOURCE
FILES
- See detailed discussion of Ancestral File and
Pedigree Resource File on my notes Ancestral File and Pedigree Resource File
- Both AF and PRF are user-contributed databases, i.e.
all names and family trees in them have been sent in by individuals
- The two available versions of Ancestral File are:
- Complete version in FHC's on CD's and/or on
FHC server network
- Subset version on the Internet at http://www.familysearch.org
- Differences between the two versions
- For living people
- Internet version has no living people
- FHC version shows the following for living people:
- Name of the person, if submission showed
a live (not proxy) LDS baptism date, but no death date -- no
data other than the name is shown, even if it was sent in
- [LIVING] in place of name, if no live LDS baptism date nor death
date was sent in -- so names are not shown for children
under 8
- Living people in the FHC version have an AFN (Ancestral File
Number), but Internet version will say that AFN doesn't
exist.
- Temple data -- if it was sent in, it shows on FHC
version, but not on Internet version
- Downloading ancestors
- Internet version only allows downloading 4
generations at a time, so you have to go to ends of lines, note the
AFN's, and start again with those
- FHC version allows downloading more generations
of ancestors at a time -- most FHC's run AF on their servers and have
set it up so you can download 13 or more generations at a time
- Multiple parents are indicated by "+" in front, means the child
file has other possible sets of parents, e.g. biological parents,
sealing line, adoption line, or they are just plain mistakes --
if more than one set of parents, set it the way you want it before
you download
- Downloading descendants
- FHC version allows downloading up to 5
generations of descendants at a time
- No download of descendants from
Internet version
- Contributing to PRF
- Can contribute to PRF now, but not AF
- If you contribute to PRF now, your data
will be included in the new FamilySearch program when it is
released, but to be able to change it later you will have apply and be declared that you
are the author of it -- if you wait and upload it to new FamilySearch when
that is released you will have full control over it as soon as
it is uploaded
- Don't submit info on any living person to PRF (or
anywhere else to be posted online)
- Submit the sources, notes, and temple
data whenever you submit since then others will be able to see and
use them
- To submit data to PRF
- Form a GEDCOM file with the people --
Remember: no living persons.
- Log onto http://www.familysearch.org with your user name
and password and click on Share
Your Information and follow
the directions
- Family History Dept will store a copy of your
GEDCOM in the Granite Vault and put it out on CD in a few weeks
-
The index (not the data) will be online and can be searched on FamilySearch Internet
- The index on each CD includes every name in the
GEDCOM's on that CD -- the online and Master indexes leave out living
people, if they know about them
- Both indices list who submitted them, which CD
that GEDCOM is on, and if it includes sources and notes
- No way to correct data
in PRF except to submit a new GEDCOM with the correct
data and include a note saying "This supercedes..."
INTERNATIONAL
GENEALOGICAL
INDEX (IGI) AND
INTERNET IGI (IIGI)
- Pamphlets published by the FH Department of the LDS
Church
- "IGI on CD", "IGI on Fiche", and "Finding An IGI
Source" -- all free
- "Help with Using FamilySearch"
- Three IGI versions
- IIGI
version on FamilySearch.org -- This is the
most up-to-date version; anyone can see the genealogical data, but only
registered LDS Church members can get to the temple ordinance data
- FHC CD version -- both IGI and TempleReady use same
database
- Microfiche version --
thousands of microfiche, is more than 10
years out-of-date and will probably not be updated
- IGI contains the temple ordinances done by proxy
and by themselves for deceased LDS members
- Contains more about 1 billion names
- Is an accurate
record of temple work done, not the individuals' data
-- so you can't change it
- Sources of data
- About half is from indexed (extracted)
records -- very accurate
-
Other half was
sent in by individuals -- sometimes not so accurate
OTHER
DATABASES IN FAMILYSEARCH
- Censuses -- US 1880, Canadian 1881, British 1881
- Social Security Death Index -- very helpful to find
birth and death dates for US from about 1937 to present
- Can write for SS Application and find parents
- Only contains names of people who (1) Had a SS
number, (2) Are dead, and (3) Death was reported to SS Admininstration
- Versions on other websites are more up-to-date,
e.g. WorldVitalRecords
- Military Death Index -- only in DOS FHC version;
gives names and info for military deaths for Korean War and Viet Nam War only
- Scottish Church Records -- only in DOS FHC version; 10 million extracted (indexed) church
records from Scotland -- many are in IGI, but not all, same
index as used for Old Parish Registers on Scotland's
People
website
- There is much, much more in
FamilySearch.org -- see the Site Map
above to see things we haven't even mentioned in this class
ASSIGNMENT
- Search for an ancestor on FamilySearch and see how many
databases are listed that have information for you to check through.
- Do a surname search for your surname in the
Family History Library Catalog. Are there any books about your ancestors?
- Find an ancestor in one of the censuses on FamilySearch (US 1880, British 1881, or Canadian 1881).
Return to the Hyde Park
Family History Centre Home Page or the Events Page or the Utah Valley Technology and Genealogy Group Home Page or Don's Class Listings
Page .