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Introduction to the FamilySearch Catalog
From FamilySearch Wiki
What Is the FamilySearch Catalog?
The
FamilySearch Catalog (formerly
Family History Library Catalog) describes the genealogical resources held by
FamilySearch.org, the
Family History Library, selected
FamilySearch Centers, and selected partner libraries.
The Catalog is a guide to family histories; birth, marriage, and death records; census records; church registers; books, periodicals and many other records that may contain genealogical information. These records may be in a book, on microfiche or microfilm, searchable online or in a computer file.
Most microfilm and microfiche records can be sent to your nearest
FamilySearch Center. If a particular item is available at another FamilySearch Center besides the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah,
then a pull-down menu will indicate the locations where the item is available.
Where Is It Found?
The
FamilySearch Catalog is available on the Internet at the
FamilySearch.org splash page under the
Search tab. Previous
versions of the catalog were released on compact disc and on
microfiche, but those versions are significantly outdated, and
do not list films acquired after the publication date on the disc
or microfiche.
Also, the FamilySearch Catalog has been made available
via
OCLC WorldCat[1] since 2014. OCLC WorldCat is an online
union catalog of over 2 billion titles at 72,000 libraries
[2]
in 172 countries and territories. Although it is the world’s
largest bibliographic database for materials held around the
world, OCLC WorldCat does not list sources housed in repositories
outside their consortium.
Preparation
Before you use the FamilySearch Catalog, it helps to
choose a person about whom you want to find more information,
and decide what you want to learn about him or her. For example
, you may want to find your great-grandmother's death date and place.
To do this, you need to
decide what types of records are likely to contain that information.
Which Catalog Search Should I Try?
The type of search you should do is determined by the kind of catalog entries or records you want to find. There are eight kinds of possible Family Search Catalog searches. In the catalog clicking on the name of the search will open or close that search. The table below briefly describes each of the eight types of searches. Fro further details about each type of search, click on name of the search in the table.
Do This Type of Search:
| Find the Following Types of Catalog Entries: |
| Places Search | Look for a record by the name of a place
(locality) where an ancestor lived.
|
| Surnames Search | Find family histories (and more) by a
particular family name. |
| Titles Search | Find a record by its title. |
| Authors Search |
To find the works of an author by his name
(individual or corporate). |
| Subjects Search | To discover works based on the topics they cover.
|
| Keywords Search | Get a record using any words or phrases in
significant parts of its catalog entry.
|
| Call Number Search | See catalog entries by finding their book,
compact disc, or pedigree call number. |
| Film/Fiche Number Search | See catalog details by finding the Library's
microfilm or microfiche number. |
When you want to change to a new kind of search it helps to close
the old search first. Close the old search by clicking the "X" in the
upper right corner of the area around the search box. Then click on
the new search type to open that kind of search.
Another way to close an old search is to click on the name of that
type of search, for example,
Places.
Combined Searches
You can also combine two or more FamilySearch Catalog searches if a single search alone yields too many results to be practical. For example, you could combine a
Surnames Search and a
Keywords Search. First close all the other search types. Then click the
Surnames and the
Keywords searches. A search for "Smith" in the
Surnames Search yields over 4,000 results. But combined with the
Keywords Search for the phrase
"Philadelphia cave" this combination returns only one result.
Combining Surnames and Keywords searches for a family name and a state
where they lived is often a successful strategy. "Smith" in the Surnames
field and combined with "Hawaii" in the Keywords field will yield a manageable 52 results.
[edit]When It's Not in the Catalog
Before concluding it is not in the FamilySearch Catalog try the following strategies:
- Look again in Surnames Search for variations of the family name.
- Change the jurisdiction in a Places Search. For example, if it is not at the county level,
- try again under the town, state, or national levels, or in neighboring counties and towns.
- Try a variety of searches. Use a Keywords Search, Subjects Search,
- Authors Search, or Titles Search.
- Try again later. FamilySearch is constantly acquiring new materials.
Search the Internet. Many records are being digitized and put on the Internet.
In FamilySearch's
Historical Records Collections you will find billions of
names across hundreds of
Family History Library collections including birth,
marriage, death, probate, land, military, Ancestral File, and the International
Genealogical Index. Also, search engines like
Google, or
Yahoo can help
locate many other historical sources available on the Internet.
[edit]Related Content
[edit]References
