FHLC Family History Library Catalog

1. FHLC Family History Library Catalog This training will help you use and search the millions of records available from the Family History Library of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

2. What is the FHLC? FHLC - Family History Library Catalog • The lists and describes all the records, books, microfilms, and microfiche in the Salt Lake Family History Library. • IT DOES NOT CONTAIN THE ACTUAL RECORDS, only descriptions of them.

3. Information in the Family History Library Catalog is gathered or filmed from sources throughout the world, including: • Census Records • Vital Records (births, marriages, deaths) • Probate Records (wills) • Land & Property Records (deeds) • Emigration & Immigration Records • Family & Local Histories • Church Registers • Military Records • And many other records….

4. The version of the FHLC is the most current and the easiest to use. ONLINE COMPUTER (There are 3 other versions: CD, DOS and Microfiche. All are older and not as easy to use). For the purposes of this training, we will look at the version. ONLINE COMPUTER

5. To access the FHLC online: • From the BYU Family History Library home page, click on the FamilySearch icon in the right blue column.

6. This will bring up the FamilySearch home page. Select “Library Catalog” from the Library navigation tab at the top of the page.

7. There are 7 Search Options: • Let’s look at each of them…….

8. #1 Use this option to find catalog entries about a place or for records from a place. SOME TIPS: Catalog entries are not case-sensitive, except for the call number of books. Do not use abbreviations for searches. “Truncation” allows you to type as much of a word that you know is correct, leaving off the ending of a word when you are not sure how it ends.

9. BEDWORTH WARWICK This is the Place Search page. Read the instructions and type in the “Place” name and what that place is a “Part of.” The “Part of” information is optional. For example, if you typed in BEDWORTH as the “Place” and WARWICK as the “part of” and then clicked on “Search,” you would see the following page…..

10. The Place Search result shows BEDWORTH as the “Place” and WARWICK as the “Part of.” • The “Place Search Results” shows 1 matching place = England, Warwick, Bedworth. • This is the place I am looking for and so I will click on that blue link.

11. Now, this page appears, with 7 “Place Topics,” given as links. I can choose one of those topics and see what is available. For example, if I want to see what “Church Records” are available for Bedworth, I will click on that link. This page now appears and I can again make a choice. I will look at Births, baptisms and burials 1688-1837.

12. These are the “Title Details” for “Births, baptisms and burials, 1688-1837.” I see that there is one microfilm available. Therefore, I will click on “View Film Notes.”

13. The “Film Notes” give the descriptions and film numbers. Notice that there are three different film numbers with item numbers on the right, that correspond to the descriptions on the left.

14. With the number(s) of the film (or fiche), I can now look at the Church Records of Birth, Baptism and Burial records (1688 – 1837) for Bedworth, Warwick, England. To see if a particular film or fiche is in the BYU Family History Library, use the look-up icon on the Home Page….. (Be careful when using COPY & PASTE—has to be exact number, no space before, no item #, etc.)

15. Let’s look at the second Search option….

16. #2 Use this option to find catalog entries about records that include a specific surname, such as written family histories. SOME TIPS: The surname may be in the title or a major family listed in the book. Search for alternative spellings of the name. Common surnames can result in hundreds of ‘hits.’ For example, the surname “Cleveland” results in 150 entries. Try the ‘Keyword Search’ to reduce the number. Hi! We’re the Brady Family!

17. Prine This is the page that appears when you select the “Surname” search. I am looking for the Prine Family. I will enter Prine in the surname search box.

18. I can click on any of the blue links and then follow the same procedures as in the Locality Search – to lead me to a film, fiche or book I may want to study. This is the screen that appears next, showing the search results for the surname Prine.

19. Let’s look at the third Search option….

20. Use this option to find catalog entries about records that contain a certain word or phrase. #3 SOME TIPS: You can use this to search for keywords in titles, authors, places, notes, series and subjects. Type a word or phrase that you want to find. You can enter several terms; just leave a single space between words.

21. I am going to search for the keywords: Handcart Pioneers. • The next slide will show the listings for my keyword search. I can select the one I want to explore, click on it and read about the available resources for Handcart Pioneers. Handcart Pioneers Handcart Pioneers

23. Let’s look at the fourth Search option….

24. Use this option to find catalog entries about records that contain a certain word or combination of words in the title. #4 SOME TIPS: This is similar to Keyword; just leave a single space between words. You don’t need to know the exact title if the word or words you enter is part of the title. You do not need to know the order of the words in the title. Just follow the same computer procedures as in the PLACE, SURNAME, AND KEYWORD searches to find the resources available for the TITLE search.

25. Let’s look at the fifth Search option….

26. Use this option to find the titles of items on a specific microfilm or microfiche. #5 SOME TIPS: If you have the number of the film/fiche, but do not know what is on that film/fiche, you may find the description by entering the film/fiche number in this search. Films may contain more than one item. Be sure to include the item number in order to locate that item in the film. Microfiche numbers begin with a “6” and contain 7 numbers/digits. Microfilm numbers also contain 7 digits, some with zero’s (000’s) preceding the numbers. Just follow the same computer procedures as in the PLACE, SURNAME, KEYWORD, and TITLE searches to find the resources available for the FILM/FICHE search.

27. Let’s look at the sixth Search option….

28. Use this search to find the record for a person, church, society, government agency, etc. identified as an author of a specific reference. Tip: An author can be one person, several people, societies, churches or government agencies. #6 Just follow the same computer procedures as in the PLACE, SURNAME, KEYWORD, and FILM/FICHE searches to find the resources available for the AUTHOR search.

29. Let’s look at the seventh Search option….

30. Can be a language, occupation, ethnic group, religion, historical event, or even a surname. #7 If you get too many hits, add more terms to the search. Just follow the same computer procedures as in the PLACE, SURNAME, KEYWORD, TITLE, FILM/FICHE, AUTHOR searches to find the resources available for the SUBJECT search.

31. Let’s look at the eighth Search option….

32. Use a Call Number Search to find an item by its call number, the number used to locate items (usually books) on the shelves of the Family History Library. #8 Call numbers of books and microfilm/microfiche numbers are NOT interchangeable. You must enter call numbers exactly as listed, using case-sensitive letters. Just follow the same computer procedures as in the PLACE, SURNAME, KEYWORD, TITLE, FILM/FICHE, AUTHOR, and SUBJECT searches to find the resources available for the CALL NUMBER search.

33. About call numbers…. • BYU does not use the same call numbering system as the FHLC. To search the BYU catalog, go to the BYU Library home page. THIS CONCLUDES THIS LESSON ON THE . FHLC

34. Now, let’s see how much we have learned….. • Your Shift Leader will give you an exercise sheet to fill out for this lesson. Please work on it, record your findings, and bring the completed sheet back with you to the next Shift Meeting. Happy Hunting!!!