Popular Genealogy Sites - Familysearch.org
By Angelo Coniglio
Previous columns have often referred to on-line sites that are helpful in genealogic research. There are dozens of such venues, and their offerings are updated constantly. One I’ve discussed frequently is ‘familysearch’, the Mormon site which has recently made many changes, so it’s worth another presentation.
The Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints church (LDS, or Mormon) advocates reverence for ancestors and holds a belief that well-documented ancestry can help insure family togetherness in the hereafter. Its members travel the world and make microfilm photocopies of all manner of original records from the United States and dozens of other nations: civil birth, marriage and death records; church baptism, marriage and death records; and so on. These microfilms are available to anyone, for rental and viewing at LDS FamilySearch Centers (FSCs), located in communities worldwide. Certain public libraries also support this process. The LDS has begun to ‘index’ information from these records, making their images available on-line, for free.
Whether a researcher plans to rent microfilms or to avail oneself of the free on-line information, he or she should become familiar with the LDS genealogy site here called https://familysearch.org/. To use the site, go to that web address. New users should immediately go to the upper right of the page, and click ‘Sign In’. This will lead you to a page where you may click on ‘Create a new account’ and register for free, with a username and password you will have to remember for future use.
Once you’ve signed in, you’ll see a colorful and somewhat ‘busy’ page with a number of options. A tempting choice is the one labeled ‘Family Tree’. Unless you’re an experienced researcher, I’d suggest that you ignore that option until you know more about your ancestors, and about the process of developing a family tree. My strong suggestion is to click on the link titled ‘Search’ at the top of the page. This will bring you to another page, https://familysearch.org/search, with a world map. On the map, click on the graphic of Europe. A list will pop up; select ‘Italy’.
You’ll be presented with a list of the various types of searches for Italy. At the bottom of the page is an alphabetical listing of the records that are available on-line, in the format (Country) (Province) (Town), for example, ‘Italy, Caltanissetta, Caltanissetta’, meaning the records are for the province of Caltanissetta, filmed in the provincial capital city, also named Caltanissetta. If the locality of interest is not found in the listings of on-line records, you must search to see whether the LDS has microfilms of documents that have not yet been ‘indexed’ for on-line access. To do so, click on the ‘Search’ tap at the top of the page and from the drop-down menu select ‘Catalog’, which will take you to the ‘Family Search Catalog’.
The catalog covers genealogical resources held by familysearch, the Salt Lake City https://familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/Family_History_Library \\ Family History Library Family History Library, and selected local https://familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/Introduction_to_LDS_Family_History_Centers \\ Introduction to LDS Family History Centers FamilySearch Centers (FSCs). It’s a guide to birth, marriage, and death records; census records; church registers; books; periodicals; family histories and many other records that contain genealogical information searchable online, on microfiche or microfilm, in books or computer files. This page also allows searching by ‘Place’, so you can enter the name of the town of interest directly, to see what records are available for it, whether on microfilm or on-line.
Many catalog entries on familysearch include images of records. When an image is available on-line, a camera icon will appear to the right of the microfilm note associated with that image. A record’s availability on microfilm is shown by an icon of a film reel. Most microfilm and microfiche records can be sent to your nearest https://familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/Introduction_to_LDS_Family_History_Centers \\ Introduction to LDS Family History Centers FSC. If the records are on-line, their ability to be viewed may vary. The LDS is required to obtain permission to film records, which may be subject to rules set by a municipality, parish, archive, or even the Italian government. For this reason, some records may be viewed on-line on any home computer; some may be viewed on home computers if the user registers and signs on to familysearch; and some may be viewed only from computers at LDS FSCs. Further, those available on home computers can generally be printed out or downloaded, but there may be restrictions on printing or downloading from FSC computers.
Coniglio is the author of the book The Lady of the Wheel, inspired by his Sicilian research. Order the paperback or the Kindle version at http://bit.ly/SicilianStory. Coniglio’s web page at http://bit.ly/AFCGen has helpul hints on genealogic research. If you have genealogy questions, or would like him to lecture to your club or group, e-mail genealogytips@aol.com.
