A Whirlwind Tour of FamilySearch Resources

Ben Baker – bakerb@familysearch.org

1. Family Tree - https://familysearch.org/tree/

Replacing https://new.familysearch.org – Some key new features include public access (not just LDS church

members), a single wiki-like tree that can be edited by any user, linking to sources, change history with

justification reasons, not a match declarations to prevent bad merges, interactive fan chart, integration with

photos/stories and more.

https://www.familysearch.org/tree/#section=fan – Interactive fan chart

https://familysearch.org/treetraining - Lots of training resources (videos, manuals, guides, lessons, etc)

http://broadcast.lds.org/eLearning/fhd/Community/en/FamilySearch/FamilyTree/pdf/familyTreeUserGuide.pdf

http://familysearchtraining.com – Training used for family history missionaries

http://rootstech.org/?start=8927&id=B34&video=2245338986001 – Ron Tanner’s RootsTech 2013 session

2. Photos (and Stories) – https://familysearch.org/photos/

Upload photos and stories about your ancestors to bring them more to life. Supports sharing on Facebook,

Twitter, Google+, Pinterest and E-mail

https://familysearch.org/photos/images - Add and tag photos, view My Photos

https://familysearch.org/photos/people - View by people tagged in the photos – can link to Family Tree

https://familysearch.org/photos/albums - Organize into albums – Good way to share sets of photos

https://familysearch.org/photos/stories - Add and link stories to people

3. Search - https://familysearch.org/search

This is the place to go to search for historical records and user-uploaded genealogies. This page is the most

like the previous home page. About 1 million images are being added each day, many not indexed, so don’t

forget to search un-indexed record collections.

https://www.familysearch.org/search/collection/list - All Record Collections

https://familysearch.org/blog/familysearch-webinar - Tips for searching records, the catalog and IGI

https://familysearch.org/family-trees - Search user-uploaded genealogies tab, including Ancestral File & PRF

https://familysearch.org/upload - The new way to upload GEDCOMs, replacing Pedigree Resource File (PRF)

https://familysearch.org/catalog-search - Search FamilySearch catalog (still in beta)

https://familysearch.org/eng/Library/FHLC/frameset_fhlc.asp - Old catalog

https://books.familysearch.org – Digitized family history books

https://wiki.familysearch.org - Community-built research advice articles

http://hiddenancestors.com/FStour.html - Good explanatory video of wiki

4. Temple – https://familysearch.org/temple

Shows information and status about LDS temple ordinances – Only available to LDS church members

More features around sharing reserved cards with family and friends are coming soon.

https://familysearch.org/temple/all - Shows status of all cards reserved regardless of status

https://familysearch.org/temple/reserved - Cards that have been reserved, but not yet printed

https://familysearch.org/temple/printed - Cards that have been printed

https://familysearch.org/temple/shared - Cards that have been shared with the temple

https://familysearch.org/temple/opportunities - People in Family Tree four generations up from you and all

their children that may already be ready for temple ordinances

5. Volunteer - https://familysearch.org/volunteer

Volunteer to give of your time, knowledge, money or insight

https://familysearch.org/ask/givehelp - Register to be a live research helper

https://familysearch.org/volunteer/indexing - Help index historical records to produce searchable indexes

https://help.familysearch.org/publishing/486/102636_f.SAL_Public.html - Becoming an indexing arbitrator

https://www.familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/FamilySearch_Wiki:Help_wanted_on_the_Wiki – Build the wiki

https://familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/Research_Communities_on_Facebook - Location-based communities

https://secure3.convio.net/ldsp/site/Donation2?df_id=5080&5080.donation=form1 – Monetary donations

https://labs.familysearch.org/evaluation/screener/survey.html - Evaluate FamilySearch products and services

https://familysearch.org/sites/default/uploads/Donations-Guidelines-REVISION-12-July-2012.pdf - Donate

records or services

6. Get Help – https://familysearch.org/ask/

Supports phone calls, live chat and send a message to get help. Don’t forget to login to see LDS-specific helps.

https://familysearch.org/remote/rc_en.html - Allow support to remotely connect to your computer

https://familysearch.org/ask/productSupport - Product support articles and Frequently Asked Questions

https://familysearch.org/ask/researchAssistance - Get help with genealogical research

https://familysearch.org/ask/gettingStarted - Simple ways to get started

https://www.familysearch.org/learningcenter - Hundreds of genealogy courses by area, subject and skill level

7. LDS Church Websites

http://www.lds.org/topics/family-history - Main lds.org page for family history

http://www.lds.org/topics/family-history/family-history-is-for-everyone - 9 fun ways to participate

http://www.lds.org/callings/temple-and-family-history/leader-resources - Resources for leaders to help

http://www.lds.org/callings/temple-and-family-history - For those with family history callings

http://www.lds.org/youth/family-history - Getting youth more involved in family history

http://www.lds.org/callings/temple-and-family-history/course-materials - Beginning-level course materials

http://www.lds.org/topics/family-history/turn-our-hearts - Video about how family history helped one family

http://mormon.org/family-history - Good for explaining to non-LDS people why Mormons do family history

8. Profile – https://familysearch.org/profile

Control user profile settings such as password, contact information and notification e-mails

https://familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/Special:Preferences – Research wiki preferences

https://familysearch.org/links-gadget/linkpage.jsp#sbp - Source box

9. Indexing – https://familysearch.org/indexing

Help index historical records to produce searchable indexes

https://indexing.familysearch.org/public/publications.jsf?lng=en-US – Indexing Resource Guide

https://indexing.familysearch.org/projtab/current_projects.jsf - Current indexing projects

https://indexing.familysearch.org/public/news.jsf - Indexing news

10. What’s new – https://familysearch.org/whats-new/

Learn about the latest features in FamilySearch products and services

11. Locations – https://familysearch.org/locations

In-person help at Family History Centers and Libraries worldwide – Some offer on-site courses, microfilm

ordering and other services.

12. About – https://familysearch.org/about

Learn more about the FamilySearch organization, affiliated products and more.

https://familysearch.org/news/ - Official press releases – can subscribe via an RSS new reader

https://familysearch.org/products/ - Affiliate products

https://familysearch.org/developers/ - For software developers producing products using FamilySearch data

https://familysearch.org/developers/support Software developer support

https://familysearch.org/archives/ - For record archives collaborating with FamilySearch to publish data

https://familysearch.org/archives/services/ - Services FamilySearch provides record archives

https://familysearch.org/archives/active-projects/ - Active FamilySearch digitization projects worldwide

https://familysearch.org/careers - Open positions at FamilySearch

13. Blog – https://familysearch.org/blog

See the latest announcements and features – Can subscribe via an RSS news reader

14. Feedback – https://familysearch.org/feedback

Provide feedback on FamilySearch products and services

https://familysearch.org/help/mycases - Track cases you’ve submitted

https://getsatisfaction.com/familysearch/ - Ideas from the community to improve FamilySearch

15. Languages

Website currently supports 10 languages:

English, Spanish, Portuguese, German, French, Italian, Russian, Japanese, Korean and Chinese

Some other useful links

http://rootstech.org/ - Annual FamilySearch sponsored conference – Can download course materials and

view select presentations

https://familysearch.org/films - Online microfilm ordering

http://maps.familysearch.org/ - Interactive England 1851 parish/district maps

https://labs.familysearch.org/stdfinder/PlaceStandardLookup.jsp - Standard finder for names, dates & places

http://histfam.familysearch.org/ - Community trees project

https://familysearch.org/techtips/ - Learn to leverage technology for family history

https://labs.familysearch.org/ - See some latest ideas being user tested

https://familysearch.org/mission/ - Information about serving family history related LDS missions

https://familysearch.org/paf/ - Learn about why PAF is being discontinued and what to do about it

http://youtube.com/familysearch - YouTube channel

http://www.facebook.com/familysearch - Main Facebook page

https://www.facebook.com/familysearchindexing - Facebook page for FamilySearch indexing

https://www.facebook.com/familyhistorylibrary - Facebook page for main Family History Library

https://twitter.com/FamilySearch - Main Twitter page

https://plus.google.com/+familysearch – Main Google+ page

Note: All screenshots and links above were current as of June 2013