FAMILYSEARCH CATALOG AND RESEARCH
WIKI (LEARN)
©2013 by Donald R. Snow
Sections of the Class Notes
- Welcome and Introduction
- FamilySearch Website
- Genealogies
on FamilySearch
- FamilySearch
Catalog
- Learn
- The
Research Wiki
- Conclusions
This page was last updated 2013-03-26.
Return to the Utah Valley
Technology and Genealogy Group Home
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WELCOME AND
INTRODUCTION
- Instructor is Donald R. Snow ( snowd@math.byu.edu
) of Provo and St. George, Utah.
- These notes with the active Internet
links are posted on http://uvtagg.org/classes/dons/dons-classes.html
- Tips: (1) Put an icon
on your desktop for this (or any)
URL by dragging the icon from in
front of the address in the browser
to your desktop. (2)
To keep your place in these notes
while going to a link from them hold
down the Control key while clicking
the link to open the new page in
another tab.
- Don's classes coming up
- Wed 2013-03-27 1-2:30 PM
(4th Wed) -- FamilySearch
Catalog and Research Wiki
-- at FH Update Class, St.
George
- Sat 2013-04-20 10-11:30 am --
Sources:
Documentation
From Start to
Finish --
DIG (Dixie
Internet
Genealogy) class
at
St.
George
FamilySearch
Library
- April FH Update classes -
discuss
- Report on RootsTech 2013
last week in the Salt
Palace in Salt Lake City
-- http://rootstech.org/
-- can watch several
of the talks
online; can also get
to it from
FamilySearch.org by
clicking on RootsTech
2013 Recap (right side
of screen)
- Today's presentation
will discuss the
FamilySearch Catalog,
formerly called the Family
History Library Catalog
(FHLC),
and Learn (the Research
Wiki), and related
items.
FAMILYSEARCH
WEBSITE
- Website is https://familysearch.org
-- includes Family
Tree, Learn
(the
Research
Wiki), Records,
Genealogies,
FamilySearch Catalog,
Books, Help, What's
New,
and several other
items.
- Everything
from the "classic"
version of the
FamilySearch
website has been moved
to the
current site, but if
you want to see the
old site, it is
available on the
Wayback Machine on
Internet Archive
at http://web.archive.org/web/20111026060614/http://www.familysearch.org/eng/default.asp
- Help (upper right
corner by the Sign In
button)
- Has tutorials,
videos, FAQ's,
and other
information
- Example: In
the "Ask A
Question" box type
in "learn about
collections of
historical
records" (without
the quotes) --
first result is
Knowledgebase
Document 105436
explaining how to
learn more about
any collection of
historical records
on the FS website
- Helpful videos
under "Video
Demonstrations"
- Tip: Clicking
on the FamilySearch
logo (upper left side)
at any time takes you
back to the FamilySearch
Home Page
- Records
-- major collections
of genealogy
records that we
have discussed
separately
GENEALOGIES
ON FAMILYSEARCH
- Family Tree -- use
your LDS or
FamilySearch account
to log in -- have
discussed separately
- Genealogies -- NOT
Family Tree
- Ancestral File
and Pedigree
Resource File --
user submitted
data
- For more info
type "user
submitted
genealogies"
(without the
quotes) in the Ask
a Question box
on Help
- Examples
of pedigree charts
from
Ancestral File
now -- https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.2.1/M7J2-QD7
and https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.2.1/M7J3-99B
-- Note that
the early
submissions
were on hard
copy, have
microfilm
numbers, and
some have good
documentation;
the films can
be viewed at
the FHL, BYU,
and ordered at
FHC's
- Example
of a pedigree
chart from
Pedigree
Resource Files
-- https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.2.1/9HST-NDN
-- Note the
helpful notes
and sources;
not all have
these
- Community Trees -- http://histfam.familysearch.org/index.php
- There is no link
on FamilySearch to
get to this
- Collections of
contributed family
trees from
specific periods
and localities --
very helpful and
large collections,
e.g. Knowles
Jewish Records
- See info at http://histfam.familysearch.org/learnmore.php
for list by
geographical
region
- Extractions from old
International
Genealogical Index
(IGI) -- Go to Records
> Browse All
Collections > type
in IGI --
only linked by
one-generation, e.g.
husband-wife and
parent-child
FAMILYSEARCH
CATALOG
- Previous name was
Family History Library
Catalog (FHLC)
- https://familysearch.org/catalog-search
-- Defaults to search
for records by
location,
but can also search
by Last Names,
Titles, Author,
Subject, Keywords,
Book Call Number, or
Film Number
- Surname search
gives articles and
books where that
surname is prominent,
but
does not
show every
book with that
name in it
- Searching
by place gives
you several
options of the
records of
that place,
e.g. vital
records,
biographies,
etc.
- Search
results are
microfilms,
microfiche,
hard copy
books, etc.
- The Books icon gives
you search options for
any words in any of
their 40,000 digitized
books -- more being
added daily
- These
are out-of-copyright
or
permission-granted
FH volumes from
the FHL, the BYU
Library, Allen
County FH Library
(Fort Wayne,
Indiana), other
large FH libraries,
and some donated
by individuals
for
scanning
- FSC
shows the
words in red: "To
view a digital
version of this
item click here."
which
takes you to the
digitized book
- Many can be read
and/or downloaded
by anyone anywhere
-- Examples: Valiant
in the Faith:
Gardner and
Sarah Snow and
Their Family,
1990 and A
Blanchard
Memorial by
Arthur William
Blanchard, 1935
- Others can only
be read and/or
downloaded in
the FHL or FS
Libraries,
including the
St. George FSL
-- Example:
The
Snow-Estes
Ancestry
by Nora
Emma Snow and
Myrtle M.
Jillson --
Can
be downloaded at
the FSL
- Downloading
the pdf of the
book includes
the text layer so
they are
completely
word-searchable
for any name,
location, date, or
word in the entire
book -- Not the
case with Google
books
- BYU Library has
many related
online digital
collections
helpful for FH
including books
and photographs --
see http://lib.byu.edu/digital/all.php
and http://contentdm.lib.byu.edu/cdm/search
LEARN -
THE RESEARCH WIKI
- Includes the
Research Wiki
(how to find info
and where to look),
Research Courses (to
take for free), and
Discussion Forums
(to
ask questions)
- Research
Wiki has more
than 72,000 articles
that show you how
to find records, about
locations, how
to use software, how
to search --
essentially, how to do
almost anything in FH
- Can
search
geographically and
then by type of
record desired
- "Wiki"
means it can be
changed and edited
by anyone signed
in so their
changes are
attached to
their account
- All
changes are
saved so you
can easily set
it back
to a previous
version, if
you think it
should
- Includes
links to many online
databases
and information
about them
- Example
--
Where can I find
information and
records of Bunkerville,
Lincoln, Nevada?
CONCLUSIONS
- Lots to
find and use in
the FamilySearch
catalog and
Learn
- Learning
about your
ancestors and
their locations
turns your heart
to your fathers
and makes you
more aware of
their lives.
Return to the Utah Valley
Technology and Genealogy Group Home
Page or Don's Class Listings
Page .