Familysearch Database Helpful Tool

Today’s column begins an indepth look at the FamilySearch computer program, which can be accessed free of charge at any area Family History Center, where volunteers are always on staff to answer questions.

Using and understanding this program is vital to genealogical success.

FamilySearch is the name of the computer program developed by the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, and is used there and in all Family History Centers worldwide.

The program contains, and allows access to, many databases. (A database is a collection of specific information; for instance, a city telephone directory is a database.)

A serious genealogist should not attempt to research without using the FamilySearch databases, and cannot do effective research without its Family History Library Catalog.

The best way to begin to use and understand FamilySearch is to sit down, put your fingers on the keyboard, and jump in. The program is very easy to use, and on-screen prompts and directions tell what to do each step of the way. Don’t be scared away - I’ve seen very young children and very senior seniors use the program.

With your family charts in hand (showing what you already know and pointing to what you want to know about your family), evaluate the FamilySearch databases and decide which might be most helpful.

These databases include:

Ancestral File: contains millions of names arranged in family groups and pedigrees.

IGI (International Genealogical Index): contains millions of names extracted from vital records or submitted by genealogists, principally members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

U.S. Social Security Death Index: contains information about people whose deaths were reported to the Social Security Administration from 1937 through 1996; most since 1962.

U.S. Military Index: contains names of nearly 100,000 U.S. servicemen and women who died in the Korean and Vietnam wars.

Scottish Church Records: contains about 10 million names extracted from the Scottish Church records (Presbyterian) from the late 1500s to 1854.

Family History Library Catalog: automated catalog describing materials in the Family History Library. More than 3 million books, microforms, maps and other materials are cataloged; searches are made by surname and locality.

This catalog does not contain the actual materials, but provides the call numbers to find materials in the library, or order through a Family History Center.

Look at your family charts and decide which database might have information on your family, and access the information from the Main Menu of FamilySearch.

To use this program, you select things from a “menu,” like you do in a restaurant. Make it a priority to learn about every part of the FamilySearch program, especially its catalog.

You will do the bulk of your research with records found through the Family History Library Catalog. Its Main Menu offers six Patron Searches. Although you need to know a bit about each, 99 percent of the time you will use the Locality or Surname searches.

A continuation of this discussion will follow in next week’s column.

, DataTimes MEMO: Donna Potter Phillips welcomes letters from readers. Write to her at The Spokesman-Review, Features Department, P.O. Box 2160, Spokane, WA 99210. For a response, please include a selfaddressed, stamped envelope.

The following fields overflowed: CREDIT = Donna Potter Phillips The Spokesman-Review