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Family Search-by Kathi Reid
The genealogy website of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, more commonly known as Mormons or LDS, can be found at Family Search. Look for the search engine called Family Search. As you can imagine, it is one of the best and most comprehensive genealogy websites especially as they put more and more of their resources online. When you first go to the website Family Search, try searching by just putting a first and last name in the search box and leave allthe other fields empty. You will get a page of results and after each name, you will see one of the following terms,
This file has over 35 million names organized into families and pedigrees. These names have been submitted by Mormon Church members, and are only as reliable as the person who submitted the file. The information has not been verified against any official records, nor are any sources supplied. Since the information in Ancestral File is contributed, it is the responsibility of those who use the file to verify its accuracy. In other words, use any results from the Ancestral File as a guide only. Once you have the results from your search on Family Search, click on a person's name and you will be taken to that individual's record. From here you can select his pedigree chart or family group record. You can also download a gedcom of the family to your own computer. Just click on the gedcom button to download to your computer. However, a word of caution, do not add this to your own family file until you have verified the data. Use this data as a guide only. The best part about the Ancestral File is that you can find the person who submitted the file. Click on the details button after the word submitter, and you will find one or more name with addresses of people who have sent in this name. You can then write to the person, find out if the person is part of your ancestry, and be in touch with a possible person of your extended family. The International Genealogical Index or IGI, as it is commonly referred to, is a much more accurate file. Church members have extracted over 600 million names from vital records throughout the world. You can also download a gedcom file from the IGI. Click the box next to the person's name on the result page and then click on 'prepare selected records for download'. This is a very reliable source for records available at Family Search website. This is something relatively new. It is a lineage-linked database that individuals have submitted through Family Search Internet. If you find a match here, the information is available both on-line or on a CD that can be purchased for $8.00. Singly they are $8 per disc, but in bundles they are $20 for five discs plus an index. Discs 1-5 are in a set with index for those five discs, discs 6-10 are in a set with index for discs 1-10, and discs 11-15 are in a set with index for discs 1- 15. I like them especially because sources are shown. If you are interested in purchasing a disk, there is a link on the page that says 'Order Pedigree Resource file CD-ROMS'. Experiment with your surnames. Try filling out just the first name and last name, then try filling in the rest of the fields. Too restrictive? Try filling out just the surname. Use the submitter information to put you in contact with distant cousins. I am sure you will find the Family Search genealogy search engine the best on the internet. And it continues to increase its records holdings every day. © Copyright 1997 - 2009 by Kathi Reid -- All Rights Reserved. This article may not be copied, published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without prior written permission from the author. |
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