One of the most important websites in the genealogy world is FamilySearch; it is absolutely key to a family historian's ability to research from home! FamilySearch is a giant online collection of records that you can use to learn about your ancestors and it is completely FREE. Read this "question and answer" style blog about FamilySearch and then spend some time exploring the site here.
General
Q: How do I set up a FamilySearch account?
A: Go to familysearch.org and click “create account” in the top right-hand corner of your screen! It will walk you through the process and it’s completely free.
Q: Will my account have access to fewer records if I’m not a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints?
A: No! Although FamilySearch is owned and operated by a Christian church (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints), all of the records and features of FamilySearch are free and easily accessible for everyone, whether they are members of the church or not.
Family Tree
Q: Is FamilySearch private? Will my personal information be shared?
A: Information on living people is kept private on FamilySearch. Only you can see and edit profiles of living family members. Every living person's profile has the following banner:
(The banner reads: Living Person. Only you can see and edit this person in Family Tree. However, anyone could potentially see the photos, documents, and stories that are attached to this person.)
If you want to read more about how profiles for living people work, click here. Information on the deceased is public. This combination of private and public profiles allows you to maintain your privacy while sharing and collaborating on the profiles of your ancestors. The collaborative nature of FamilySearch helps us, as a community of genealogists, move our research forward even faster!
However, the public nature of the tree means anyone can edit the same profiles you can. If you don’t want other people changing your work, there are other sites and programs you can use to store your research. The most popular option is Ancestry, but other sites like MyHeritage also offer private trees. There are also software programs that can house your family tree on a personal computer such as RootsMagic and Ancestral Quest.
Search
Q: How do I access records and conduct my research for a specific geographic location?
A: Type the city, state, province or even country in which you are wanting to begin your research into the FamilySearch Wiki (linked here)! They have great locality guides (information guides that are divided by geographic location) and will help you understand what records are available at each level of locality and where you can access these records. Here’s an example of what those pages look like.
Q: Is everything accessible online from my home?
A: Many records are accessible from the comfort of your own home, but not all. Some repositories have contracts with FamilySearch that make the digital images of their records, or a certain subset of their records, only viewable at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah, or a local affiliate library. (Check here to locate an affiliate library near you!) Keep in mind that even then, some undigitized records are only available in person at the Family History Library in Salt Lake.
Q: What do I do once I find a record?
A: You can attach it to the corresponding person in your family tree! Attaching a record is like a digital paper clip: it will link this record to this specific person and other FamilySearch users will be able to see it. You WANT to attach all pertaining records to each individual. These records act as proof; the more proof of someone’s existence the better! These records help other researchers see what you have learned and determine what still needs to be researched. Depending on the time period, location, and duration of a person’s life, you may find some of the following records: birth certificate, census records, death certificate, marriage license and/or certificate, immigration papers, passport applications, yearbook pictures, newspaper articles, obituary, burial records, military records, voter registration and/or social security applications. The list goes on! Here’s what the “attach a record” page looks like.
Memories
Q: What can I do with the Memories portion of the site?
A: Upload photos, documents, stories, audio recordings, etc. You can also import photos from Instagram, Facebook, and Google Photos. You could upload anything from the photos you took at the park yesterday to an audio recording of your grandmother telling a story.
Q: What file types can I upload?
A: You can upload any media file that is .jpg, .tif, .bmp, .png, .pdf, .mp3, .m4a, and .wav, up to 15MB.
Get Involved
Q: How can I help FamilySearch with its mission?
A: Just go to the “Get Involved” section of the website! There are several ways you can volunteer your time and efforts to pay forward the benefits of FamilySearch you are enjoying. The two biggest ways you can help are indexing records (this is what makes them easily searchable) and improving place names—putting them in the correct format so they are easier to find in searches in the Family Tree. You can also sign up to test FamilySearch products, be a genealogy research volunteer, or translate FamilySearch content from English to other languages.
Activities
Q: How can I get other people (or myself) excited about family history by using FamilySearch beyond research?
A: The Activities section of the website has many features and ideas for fun family history-related activities! I’ll highlight just a couple of my favorites and you can discover the rest.
Where Am I From? - This page uses information on your ancestors to show your origins on a world map. It also has some other views you can play around with.
All About Me - This page tells you about your name's meaning and popularity, as well as several fun facts about the year you were born. Have you ever wondered what film was the most popular when you were born? Or what technological breakthroughs were made that year? Head to this page to find out.
Compare-a-Face - Are you curious to know which of your ancestors you resemble? Here you can upload a picture of yourself and compare your photo to photos of your ancestors already in the FamilySearch family tree. Here’s a comparison of me and my second great-grandfather, George Hyrum Soderborg:
Ancestor Challenge - Want a fun family pop quiz? Use this feature to quiz yourself on how well you recognize photos of your ancestors.
In-Home Activities - This page has many wonderful ideas for engaging with your family history at home
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