FamilySearch

1. FamilySearch.org The genealogy website of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints Open to anyone; Free.

2. Family History Library in Salt Lake City

3. A network of Family History Centers

4. FHCs and FS Affiliate Libraries

5. Family History Centers and Affiliates Microfilm Readers Computers

6. Ann Arbor/Saline also has a library.

7. First things first… Sign up for a Free Account. You will need it view images you find. Get in the habit of signing in at the start of your session. The tree logo in the upper left corner, always takes you back to this home page. Exercise for you: If you haven’t done so already, go to FamilySearch.org and create a free account. You will NOT get emails from them by doing so.

8. Help is hiding in plain sight. This tiny “Get Help” link , top right corner, is more powerful than it looks. Exercise for you: Go to FamilySearch.org and click each of these to see what is there. There is a LOT.

9. At the bottom of the page • Get in the habit of checking the bottom line of any web page. • Especially helpful on here; • Link to the blog; you might want to subscribe • Feedback for questions and thoughts on the webpage • Site Map – sometimes the quickest way to find things • App Gallery – for the tech minded. Exercise for you: Click the blog link and find one that interests you to read.

10. Main activities SEARCH is the activity most relevant to what we are learning in this class andit is the one covered in this PowerPoint presentation.

11. From the search menu • In this class we will focus on • 1. CATALOG • 2. RECORDS • 3. BOOKS • 4. WIKI Exercise: On your own, click on Genealogiesand Family Tree and play with them a little.

12. 1. The CATALOG Tells you what is in the FamilySearch Library/online colletion. Tells you how to access the information.

13. The Catalog tells you what books, films and digital images the FHL owns. Books: Can’t be loaned, but some are available online. You also find other libraries that might own the book by checking WorldCat. Otherwise, you can use them at the Library in Salt Lake City. Films: No longer available through loan. Options: Digital Images • Some can be viewed online (picture of a camera) • Some can be viewed online but only on a computer in a Family History Center. (picture of a camera with a key over it) Still available only on film (will be digitized in the future) • If the film is already at a local Family History Center it can be viewed there. (e.g.the Ann Arbor/Saline FHC has films of Washtenaw County Birth, Marriage, Death, state census, land, church and other records) • Otherwise, the film can be viewed only when at the library in Salt Lake City or wait for it to be digitized and put online.

14. Search by place is the default search – and most commonly used one.

15. You can get access to information available in the Family Search catalog a number of ways SearchRecords to locate specific names IF names have been indexed for a given resource. Much has not yet been indexed, so you want to first see what is available for a location or name or topic – to do that you search the Catalog. • You can search the catalog by: • Place –location in which your ancestor lived • Within a place there are smaller or larger place units, e.g. if you are searching a county, search also the state and any towns, cities or villages of interest. • Surname – if your ancestor is covered by a published genealogy (not an index to genealogies though. • Title of a book or other record • Author of a book for other record • Subject of a book or record (other than place) • Keyword – a word that might appear in place, surname, subject, title or authr • Fiche of Film number (assuming you have that information in hand ) • Call number (assuming you have that information in hand)

16. As you type, suggestions will appear. Select the one you want. Keep typing to see more. Select this one to populatethe search box .

17. What Washtenaw County cemetery readings does the FHL have?

18. Click to have all the records for that topic display.

19. When you search by a place (e.g. Washtenaw County), notice there is a link to places within…. It is at the top of the listings.

20. Each place within can (and should) be searched separately. Select Chelsea to see recordsspecific to Chelsea

21. This Chelsea cemetery record will NOT appear in those for Washtenaw County, because it is specific to Chelsea.

22. And we would have missed finding our Chelsea ancestors in this cemetery:

23. But the Withee, Withey family is covered in this genealogy.

24. Search by SURNAME. Here I look for books with info about Withey families

25. I find 6 – but not all have Withey in the title If the surname WITHEY is in the table of contents for the book it gets cataloged bythat surname. But if the name only appears in the text of the book, it won’t get cataloged; not an every name index!

26. I wonder if I can find divorce records in the FHL catalog. Search by SUBJECT

27. Yes… but what about for Michigan?

28. 1. Refine my search 2. search for Michigan (United States fills in) 3. UPDATE.

29. Anatomy of a FHL Cat Record • There are several parts to a FHL Cat Record: • The “bib” record – describes the item. • Notes • Subjects • Film Notes

30. Washtenaw County… Vital Records Let’s look at the County Clerk Death Records

31. This is the “bib” record. It tells us about the material in general.

32. Notes and Subjects to this bib record:

33. Film notes for the bib record: What do these symbols tell us? .

34. The looking glass =search. The roll a roll of microfilm. The camera a digital image online. You can search this online FILM Digital Image A roll of film can not be viewed on line. Volume 1 does NOT have digital images online;A serch will take us to an abstract of the information. Can only view the records of vol. 1 by using the film. But the camera tells us that vols. 2-4 do have digital images online. Can search AND view the records in vol. 2-4 online

35. Click on the looking glass takes you to the web pages that searches historical records: But only searches names In this film number.

36. Maroni Slater’s death is in vol. 1 – no digital image online.

37. But Jennie Ackerman’s death is in vol. 2 and says “no digital image available.” What????? The record is in vol. 2 p. 292

38. We know from the cat record note that v. 2-4 has digital images online. But they may not be connected to the indexing. From the catalog record, click on the camera.

39. Clicking the camera takes you to a digital image of the film.

40. Navigating to the right page number takes some back and forth hunting. You can view multiple images on one screen.

41. View a single image

42. View full screen

43. Navigate to page 292.. It is on image 324. Advice: ALWAYS make note of the image # once you find a record. It will be easier to find it again.

44. And here is Jennie Ackerman’s death record on a digital image of the microfilm.

45. Always check the original record. It will often contain more information than in the abstract. Also, the abstract may have some information incorrectlytranscribed. Don’t trust abstracts; view originals. Jennie Ackerman white female singe died age 22 Ann Arbor cause of death: Nephritis b. Michigan School Teacher parents Frank Ackerman and Mary Franklin.

46. Some notes give this instruction:

47. Which might take you to the image (good), OR you might get a page like this (bad): When you see this, you can only view the imageat a Family History Center.

48. These grave registrations on film only. If it is only on film still, it hasn’t been digitized yet. To ask the FHL to digitize these films, call them at 1-866-406-1830. (then wait… it may not be soon).

49. Sometimes only a book is available Use WorldCat (http://www.worldcat.org) to see if the book is in a nearby library or can be borrowed on ILL

50. Sometimes the WorldCat link is in the record, sometimes not. You can use this link to get to WorldCat, but if it appears that only the Family History Library owns the book, search it yourself on World Cat. Sometimes thereare separate records that show other owners.