INTERNET GENEALOGY:
FAMILYSEARCH.ORG
©2006 by
Donald R. Snow
Sections of the Class Notes
Return to the Don's
Class Notes Page on Utah Valley Technology and Genealogy Group web page. This page was last
updated 4 Oct 2006.
WELCOME
AND
WHAT THIS CLASS IS ALL ABOUT
- Instructors are Donald R. and
Diane M. Snow (snowd@math.byu.edu
and dms34@juno.com), 435-673-1932 in St. George and 801-225-7123 in
Provo, Utah
- This class is to learn about the
LDS Church's family history web
site http://www.familysearch.org,
the databases on it, and the Family History Library Catalog.
- These notes with the Internet links are posted online at http://www.uvtagg.org,
under Class Outlines, Don's Listing of Classes. See that site
for many other notes and outlines for family history
classes.
ABOUT
FAMILYSEARCH.ORG
- Two versions of FamilySearch --
FamilySearch for DOS (in FHC's)
and FamilySearch
Internet (online)
- Both versions
contain databases such as IGI, AF, SSDI, FHLC,
but there are differences in the databases in each
- FamilySearch.org site was launched May 2000 and
has had billions
of
hits since then
- Contains over
one billion names, many in family
groups, plus many helps and the Family History Library Catalog
- One
of the most important FH sites -- over 10 million hits
per day and over 1 million registered users (Oct 2006) -- see Facts
and Statistics
- Free and has been 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
- Church Satellite FH Training videos and
DVD (satellite broadcasts) -- http://www.ldscatalog.com
- 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
- See the site map on http://familysearch.org
for a complete overview of the site -- click on Site Map in upper right
hand corner
RESEARCH
HELPS AND RESEARCH GUIDANCE
- http://www.familysearch.org
contains many valuable research tools, including Glossary,
Research
Guidance, Research Helps, and Family History Library Catalog
- Glossary button is at upper right of screen -- 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 CATALOG (FHLC)
-- Family
History Library Catalog
- FH Department publications related to the FHLC
- Leaflet "FH Library Catalog (on CD)" -- free at
any FHC
- Booklet "Using the Family History Library
Catalog" -- $1 at LDS
Distribution
Centers
- Church video "How To Use The Family
History Library Catalog
-- A Beginner's
Guide" -- 15 minutes long, very
good,
VHS 53191
- Four versions of FHLC at
present -- 3 electronic and one
microfiche version
-- each has differences and uses
- Electronic
versions are: (1) DOS version on CD at FHC's;
(2)
CD Windows version (out-of-date now, but still has many uses), costs $5
at LDS Distribution Centers;
(3)
FamilySearch.org version -- updated almost daily and easiest to use,
but you have to have an Internet connection
- Microfiche
edition is more than 10 years old and probably won't
ever be updated again
- Common
to all FHLC versions are the following
- Category
list that all items in FHL are cataloged under
-- see pages
26-28 in "Help with Using FamilySearch" booklet and on SourceGuide CD
in
any research outline, e.g. United States Research Outline
- Locality
Search and/or Browse -- search by parish, city,
county, state,
or country
- Can use it to find the
county or country a city is in and can
get a brief
history of formation of any county in US
- Surname
Search -- finds all items that have that surname in
their catalog
list, but doesn't include every surname in the record
- From
electronic versions, you can print references, save to
disk, or copy-and-paste
to a document
- DOS version (in FHC's
in FamilySearch DOS) -- important to read
instruction
screens
- Note: some search
instructions are not indicated on screen
- Can NOT
do author nor subject searches on DOS FHC version
- In
some searches, F3 allows adding a keyword to narrow the
search
- F7 gives author/title list; F8 gives
details of record -- see
category
and surname list for that record at end
- ALT-F1
gives computer # for an item (An entire set of
microfilms may have
same computer #.)
- Film/fiche number search --
takes you directly to that record
for title,
data, etc., for a reference
- F10 gives town or
county list when in Locality Browse
- Press Enter
to show details and get a list of FHC's that have
that film
on indefinite loan -- but list is 4 years out of date
- Can
save to file all references you find -- then can print, use
in word
processor, copy into citations in PAF sources or notes, use in writing
articles, etc
- FamilySearch Internet
version -- http://www.familysearch.org/
- Online version has thousands more entries than
FHC DOS version
- But FHC DOS version shows which
FHC's had films on
indefinite loan
-- out-of-date, but still helpful
- Searching
the FHLC in any version
- Become
familiar with category list for cataloging all items,
e.g. census
records, church records, military records, vital records
- See category list on pages 26-28 of "Help with Using
FamilySearch" -- list
is also in Research Guides in SourceGuide
- All FH
Library and FH Dept publications and guides use these
categories
- In looking for records,
be sure to consider surrounding
jurisdictions,
e.g. town --> county --> state --> country
- Check for alternate forms of media, e.g. a book might also be
on film or
fiche and then would be available for loan to any FHC
- Can
also use book or journal references you find and order them
by interlibrary
loans from libraries other than the FHL
- Family
History Library Catalog is beginning to list entire
volumes
scanned and posted online at a BYU Library web site -- examples
- 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
- Two versions of Ancestral File in FamilySearch:
(1) on CD's in
FHC's, and (2) online at http://www.familysearch.org
- For living people the FHC AF
version shows the
following:
- [LIVING], if no personal
LDS baptism date and person could
still be alive
- Name, but no other data, if there
is a live (not proxy) LDS
baptism date
and person could still be alive
- For living
people the FamilySearch Internet version
shows nothing in
either case
- Online version is only a
"subset" of FHC version, e.g. no
[LIVING]'s, no "name only's", no temple data, no history of changes, no
submitter list
- Pedigree
Resource File Index is on FamilySearch.org, but data is
only on CD's from the Distribution
Centers
PRF Index is in two versions: (1) online, and
(2) on CD -- CD version has more search capabilities, but online index
may include later PRF DVD's that haven't been released
yet - CD cummulative index (Oct 2006) includes CD's
1-125 and DVD's 126, 127, and 128
- Each
cummulative index supercedes all earlier ones and latest
one must be installed to index latest CD's
- Full
index is also on http://www.findyourfamilytree.com/
by Progeny Software who produces the PRF CD's for the LDS Church
- New program called PRF
Magnet
will form a GEDCOM from the online PRF Index, so it contains names and
dates, but no notes nor sources, and those are what make the PRF data
most useful --program is commercial ($20), but free for FHC's; go to http://ohanasoftware.com
- Program
PAF Companion 5.1.5 (CD in box with PAF 5.2 CD)
will search and give report for names in your PAF
database that are in PRF Index
- FH
Dept is working on a new combined database of AF and PRF
"with best features of each"
- Dfferences between AF and PRF's
- AF data is merged, but PRF data is not -- PRF data is in
separate GEDCOM files
- [LIVING]'s are on AF in
FHC's, but not on familysearch.org
- Living
people are not supposed to be in PRF nor on PRF Index
-- if someone living is shown, notify FH Dept and they will remove them
from Index, but CD's have already been distributed so they can't be
removed from them
- Sources
and notes are not in AF, but are in PRF's if they
were sent in
- Can't correct either AF nor PRF --
can only send in a new
GEDCOM, but old one remains
- Both new
and old GEDCOM's are indexed and you
have to check to see if later file is more accurate
- Is
a
problem with PRF -- when submitting to PRF you can include a note
that, "This supercedes earlier file on CD #xx."
- Downloading
-- can download from both AF and PRF's in GEDCOM
and text format
- Number of names -- AF
has about 35 million names; PRF has about 150 million names (Oct 2006)
- 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 you will never be able to change or update it
- only send in a new file -- if you wait to upload it to the
new
FamilySearch program when that is released, you will have full control
over it and can edit, update, or remove your information
- Don't
submit info on any living person to PRF (or anywhere else
to be posted online)
- Can submit your FH
research periodically so it's available to others and as a
backup -- include sources and notes
- Do the temple
work and include all temple dates in your PRF
submission -- then people can't just download and duplicate the
temple work
- To submit data to PRF with PAF 5
- Use File/Export/Pedigree-Resource-Files to form a
submission
GEDCOM -- note where you saved it
- Select people
to include by using Relationship and/or Field
filters
- Leave out living people for PRF, but
include sources and
notes
and temple data
- Use
your user name and password for the Church web site and log in to
familysearch.org -- you must have an email address to register
- In http://www.familysearch.org
, click on Share
Your Information and follow directions to upload it
- 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
INTERNATIONAL
GENEALOGICAL
INDEX (IGI) AND
INTERNET IGI (IIGI)
- These are discussed in detail in other
classes
- Pamphlets published by the FH Department
of the LDS Chur
- "IGI on CD", "IGI on
Fiche", and "Finding An
IGI Source" -- all
free
- "Help with Using FamilySearch" -- costs $1
- 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 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 "all" the temple ordinances done by
proxy and by
self for deceased LDS members
- Contains
more about 1 billion ordinances
- Is an accurate
record of temple work done,
not the individuals' data -- so you can't change it
- Sources
-- more than half is from indexed (extracted) records
-- very accurate
- Remainder was sent
in by LDS Church members
for temple work -- sometimes not so accurate
- Main
File on CD is through 1994 on about 60 CD's -- Addendum File
dated Jan 2000 on 31CD's
- Addendum
contains data through about Mar 2000 (even though
dated earlier)
- Online IIGI is nearly
complete -- exceptions are films they are still
trying to read
OTHER
DATABASES IN FAMILYSEARCH
- Censuses -- US 1880, Canadian 1881, British 1881
-- registered
LDS members can see the Ancestry.com 1880 U.S. Census images for free
through familysearch.org; non-LDS registered people have to pay to see
the 1880 Census images
- Social
Security Death Index -- helpful to find birth and death
dates; 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 -- hasn't been updated for
a couple of
years
- Military Death Index -- only in
DOS FHC version; gives names and
info for military deaths for Korean War and Viet Nam War only
- Scotish Church Records -- only in DOS FHC version; 10 million
extracted (indexed) church records from Scotland -- many are in IGI,
but not all
- 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
- If you are LDS, get yourself registered on
familysearch.org so
you can view the temple ordinance data.
- Search
for an ancestor on http://www.familysearch.org
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?
Return to Don's
Class Notes Page page on Utah Valley Technology and Genealogy Group web site.