FamilySearch Internet Genealogy Service comes to us courtesy of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

FamilySearch is the largest single genealogical database.

The IGI, Ancestral File, Family History Library Catalog, Pedigree Resource File, and more are available on the Internet.

You can move around the site using the navigation bar, shown here at right. It shows the ten major subsections of FamilySearch Internet.

The first screen to appear (see next slide) is Search For Ancestors.

We can enter as much data about our ancestor as needed to focus our search. Name, spouse, father, mother, event, year or date range...

I enter the name Daniel Corley, pick United States, & click on search.

Info on proper searching is given (click on Tips on how to search.)

The Search for Ancestors searches several databases. Results are combined, with a Sources Searched box at right. In the example below, results are from Ancestral File, two

regions of the IGI, Web sites, and Pedigree Resource File.

To get details, I just click on the name(s) that look promising.

The Ancestral File entries (at right) don’t match up with what I have, so let’s look at the IGI first.

One of the IGI entries shows Daniel CORLEY born in the right time period, but the wrong state. I check it since it’s close.

This one married an Ellen Sox. It’s the wrong spouse and the wrong state, so I figure this one is not mine. No others match, either.

Note the source number at the bottom (red arrow). Click on this to see the catalog record of that roll of film.

FamilySearch Internet didn’t help find Daniel CORLEY family, but it is still one of the first and most likely places to find information about your ancestors.

In using FamilySearch Internet, be sure to remember: Note the Sources searched box (shown here) After you check out a possible match, return

to the search results screen to check out the other matches shown.

The Family History Library Catalog can help you find records that can help verify dates and find your ancestors.

You can submit your own family history to Pedigree Resource File right over the Internet.

There’s a lot more to FamilySearch Internet that we can’t cover in the time and space available here.

FamilySearch Internet now allows you to download information directly from Ancestral File or the IGI (to automatically transfer to your own genealogy file.

Research outlines, keyword searches, categorized lists of web sites which FamilySearch will search for you, and much more are now at familysearch.org.

There’s even more coming later this year.

Copyright ©1999-2000, Alan E. Mann

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