Using The Family Search Catalog

Seek and Find
Steve Zeisler

Since it is estimated that only 7 to 9 percent of the world's vital records are online now, it is essential to learn how to use library catalogs to locate genealogical records.  It seems we get rather impatient with so many records left to be digitized and indexed.  The more we can help with indexing the quicker more records will be available.  The more missionaries we have digitizing records the more quickly the work will progress.  Millions of records are being added monthly to the FS record collections.

To learn more about Indexing records so they can be searched by surname, go to this link http://familysearch.org and click Indexing on the home page.  The more we get done the better the online resources will be.  In the meantime we can still search billions of records and books and other materials in the catalog on microfilms, etc.  Rolls of film can be ordered online and you can read them on films readers here in the library.  We also have 2 Scan Pro 2000 Scanners that are digital film readers with editing capabilities.   They can copy the records to your flash drive and will also print directly to the Resource Desk copier.

The lesson linked below is very informative and includes an exercise section that allows you to "put your hands on it " for a more complete introduction to how the Family Search Catalog works.  Like most things in genealogy this cannot be learned by simply reading it.  Practice is required.  Read and follow along with the suggestions in the exercises for best results.  For better retention of what you have learned, teach it to another person.

Currently in Oakland we need to use both Athena and the FS Catalog as Athena is being integrated into the Salt Lake FS Catalog.  Athena is the place where you can find the Oakland FamilySearch Library holdings along with those of the various Church Family History Centers in our region.  This project was started in 2013 and once everything has been integrated, Athena will disappear.  To review how to use Athena look at Lesson #4 or look for the Label "Athena"on the sidebar of this blog.

This is the link to the Lesson:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/cnqfzk2lxok7ilq/35%20FSL%20catalog%20%281%29.pdf?dl=0

Coming Soon!

Including this beautiful photo of trees...
Because this blog is all about our family trees!

Attaching Documents In Family Tree More Efficiently!

The Following blog post on Family Search by Robert Kehrer, explains some of the new features in Family Search Family Tree. Specifically it tell us about the drop down menu in the pedigree views and how to use the attach feature that has been improved to allow us to attach a document to several people in Family Tree whose names appear on the that document.  I am in the Family Search Library in Salt Lake City today.  First order of business has been to review the Family Search blog for updates.  This one came on a while back but is an important one.

July 14, 2014 By Robert Kehrer

Lots of new features have been added to Family Tree recently. Each one is helpful, but together they make family history easier than ever.
Tip: If you’re trying to involve others in the great adventure of getting to know their ancestors, teaching them to use Record Hints could be the way. Why not do it now?
Here’s an easy way to use the new Descendancy view, Record Hints, and Attach a Source features to simplify your efforts to connect with ancestors.

The Descendancy View Shows You Record Hints Icons

1. Go to the Descendancy view.

• On the pedigree, in the upper left corner, on the View button, click the down arrow.
• Click Descendancy. By default, you appear as the person in the main position.

2. Move an ancestor to the main position.

• Above your name, click the Expand link. More generations of ancestors appear.
• Click the Select button for the ancestor you want to put in the main position.
• To choose an ancestor even more generations back, repeat the process (click the Expand link, and click the Select button for the ancestor).

3.  Display all the descendants of the ancestor.

• Scroll down the page, clicking all of the arrows that point to the right (>).

This displays the person’s spouse and children and their Record Hints icons.
Record Hints Shows You Records for Your Ancestors

1. Scroll down the page again, and look for Record Hints icons.
2. To see the Record Hints for a person, click the Record Hints icon.
3. Review the records from the Record Hints list.

• To review one record at a time, click your ancestor’s name above the record.

•  To see information for all the records, click Show All at the bottom of the list of records. The system shows you Family Tree information for the person and information from the indexed records. If the information matches your ancestor, click the Review button for the record. After you select a record to view, FamilySearch.org displays the Family Tree record on the right and the information from the indexed record on the left.

The New Attach a Source Feature Adds Sources, Information, and New People to Your Family Tree

1. Compare the person’s Family Tree information with the information in the indexed record. If the indexed record has extra information that isn’t in Family Tree, you will see a +Add link after the information

2.  If the indexed record matches the person you are looking for, attach the record:

• To add the new information to Family Tree, click + Add.
• In Reason to Attach Source, add the reason you feel this is a record for the person in Family Tree.
• To add the source to your source box, click Add Source to Source Box. The system adds a check mark and adds the source to your source box.
• Click the Attach button. The system attaches the record to the person in the tree.

3.  If the indexed record does not match the person you were looking for, click the Not a Match button.
Once you attach the source to the original person you looked for, the Attach links for the other people in the indexed record are displayed.

• An Attach link means the system found a possible match in Family Tree.
• An Add link means the system didn’t find the person in Family Tree. (Click Add to add the person to Family Tree. See “Add a Person to Family Tree” below.)
• A Detach link means the record is already added as a source to the person in Family Tree.

1.  To attach the source to the person in Family Tree, click the Attach link.



If the indexed record has extra information that isn’t in Family Tree, you will see a + Add link after the information. The reason statement you already created appears in the reason box.
2.  To add the new information to Family Tree, click + Add.
3.  If you want, change the reason statement.
4.  To add the source to your source box, make sure there is a check mark by Add Source to Source Box.
5.  Click the Attach button.
6.  If there are more Attach links, click each link to add the source to those people in Family Tree.
Using the Source Feature to Add a New Person to Family Tree
When you review the possible matches, you may find a person with a + Add link.



In this example, the death record listed James Trussell as the father of Reuben W. Trussell. James Trussell was not in Family Tree.

1. To add a person to Family Tree, click the + Add icon. The system displays the information that will be added to Family Tree. You can add to or correct the information.

IMPORTANT: The system looks for possible duplicates before it lets you add a new person. If it finds a possible duplicate, it will present the duplicate for you to review before letting you create a new person.

2. Click Living or Deceased.

IMPORTANT: The system won’t let you add the person to Family Tree until you click Living or Deceased. If the person was born more than 110 years ago, you can click Deceased. If the person was born less than 110 years ago, unless you have a record or personal knowledge that the person is deceased, you must click Living.

3. Click Create New Person.

The person is added to your tree.

4. Add the reason you are attaching the source to the deceased person in Family Tree, indicate whether you want to add the source to your source box, and click Attach.

Where is Athena?

Temporarily the Oakland Family Search catalog can be viewed on the OFSL website. The url is
https://familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/Oakland_California_FamilySearch_Library/Catalog

Here is portion of the page:

"The CATALOG of the Oakland FamilySearch Library is MOVING!

Our catalog is being migrated to its new home at familysearch.org>Search>Catalog
Under “Search these Family History Centers” select Oakland California FamilySearch Library

The new catalog will allow patrons to:

• Search by Places, Surnames, Titles, Authors, Subjects or Keywords
• Broaden a search to other local Family History Centers or to the holdings of the Family History Library in Salt Lake City
• Have a direct link to the growing collection of online resources at FamilySearch.org and elsewhere

Link to the old Oakland catalog, aka Athena (No longer being updated but has all maps, periodicals and books):Link
Link to the new FamilySearch Catalog (all microfilms, microfiche and 50% of the books):Link
Link to an Introduction to the FamilySearch Catalog:Link

Oakland Family Search Library Catalog~ Athena

Many times as family historians and genealogists in this digital age, we tend to think only in terms of online resources.  We forget that so many things of great value can be found on the shelves of Genealogy Libraries in our area.  Family Search Libraries have a wealth of important information all over the world.  If we go to Family Search ( familysearch.org ) and look at the home page there we can see a link near the top of the page that says catalog.  This link is for searching the actual reference materials, films, etc., housed in the Salt Lake City Main Family History.

The program we use here in the Bay Area for the same purpose is called Athena and can be accessed from the desktop of the Oakland Library computers by clicking on "Oakland." We can also access it from home on a version that is slightly different than the library version but can accomplish the same results by searching for what may be available in Oakland, Antioch, Concord, Danville, Fremont, Hayward, Livermore, Los Altos, Menlo Park, Pleasanton, San Francisco, San Francisco West, Santa Clara, San Jose, and San Rafael Family Search Libraries.  The website address is:

http://www.oaklandfhc.org  

After the link opens look in the blue box and click on catalog as seen below.

I  explored the page and found it has some great things that are kept current regarding the Oakland Library Events including that the library will be closed on Saturday, April 6, 2013 for General Conference, the classes coming up, and a lot of other things specific to the OFSL.

 Family Search ( familysearch.org ) never ceases to amaze me with its wealth of information.

 

You just never know unless you take the time to look.

familysearch.org photo

Some of the materials we can access through Athena for our area are books, microfilms and microfiche, CD ROM, Map, and Networked (a file on the computers in the libraries only)  The search will tell you which library has what you are seeking.   ** One thing to remember is that you cannot access the online web address for Athena inside the library.  You must go through the Desktop icon "Oakland" for the library edition. 

Look at the excellent tutorial that Linda has done for us using the search features of Athena in the lesson links below.  It is advisable to use the "advanced search."  There is some explanation of the Boolean search perimeters, "and" "or" and "not"  for filtering your search and some examples of standardized word search phrases that will be very helpful.  

It seems that the Athena Catalog is something we need to add to our list of resources for our patrons and help them become aware of it and some of the basics.  Then we can teach them to fish and let them go to work doing some research on their own.  Once they are aware and given a little training,  it just becomes  a matter of practice for all of us.  Our intent should be to help them help themselves so they can continue using this resource at home.  The nature of the challenge will not change but our ability to use it with ease is overcome in no other way then to learn, practice and then teach.

I love this, don't you?

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This week I had some trouble with getting the Dropbox 
links in the little colorful box for you.  
I would like to blame the Dropbox Software but then was reminded....

Linda's lesson materials can be read, downloaded and or copied here if you are not able to attend the class this week or need it for future reference.  Thank you, Linda, so much!

Lesson Link Athena Topic:   http://tinyurl.com/bghffxt

Lesson Link for Athena Worksheet:   http://tinyurl.com/a4d555t

Here are some helpful hints on using Athena that I got from Our Assistant Director who has cataloged a lot of what is in Athena:  These are the things I learned when I actually put my hands on it and asked an expert in person that was sitting right beside me.  (So now I was not jsut learning visually but auditorally and tactally as well.  Using more senses helps us remember so much better in most cases. 

1.  Always use the advanced search option.  Quick search really limits your options and success.

2.  When searching,  Less is More.    Using key words from the broadest category to the smallest.  Example:  Illinois Mortality 1870.  Just put them on the first line of the advanced search box.  Try different variation of the key words, add to or subtract words, Etc.  And don't forget to see the list on Linda's handout that show broad categories that are common for certain types of records.  If you want a birth, marriage or death record from California as an example:  Search Vital Records California.  (Not marriage records California.)

The cataloging  is based on a library model so if you are looking for a book as an example, search by the author's last name not first and last.. From the worksheet you would look up Bailey not Fredrick Bailey.

3.  Once you find a reference in the gray box, click on it.

4.  When the reference page opens and you see more detailing, go to the tab that says Show Copies.  By keeping your search on the default "select all indexed" in the drop down menu you will see where the copies are and what format they are in i.e., Book, Microfilm, Fiche, etc.  AND where they are located with in the Bay Area FS Libraries.  

Once I understood these few things I was able to find all the things on the worksheet quite nicely thanks to Linda, Marge and Debbi.  You are all such great examples!   I cannot emphasize enough how putting your hands on it makes all the difference.

http://www.oaklandfhc.org 

 

Enjoy the journey...