Las Vegas Nevada FamilySearch Center/Training

Computer Skills and Help

 * Computer Skills
 * Learning Mouse Skills
 * Learn Typing Skills
 * Computer Basics

1. Sign up for FamilySearch Family Tree FREE:

 * Go to FamilySearch.org and create an account.
 * Sign into Family Tree to start you family tree.
 * See the training (Left menu) #3 for Family Tree Training

2. Write down what you know.

 * Family Tree Chart
 * Start with yourself. Use the Family Tree Chart above to enter information about you, your parents, grandparents, etc. If you do not know exact dates and places, estimate them. Fill out by memory first, the from records you have at home and contact family members to help fill in the missing information. NOTE: always use a pencil so corrections are easy to make.


 * For each couple in the Family Tree Chart, fill out a Family Group Chart that will show each of the children in that family.
 * Circle any missing or incomplete information, and decide what/whom you want to find first.

NOTE-Family Tree is very unique with only one person per deceased ancestor in the tree. Unlike all other database trees where everyone has their own tree with hundreds of the same John Michael Smith born in 1815 scattered throughout those trees, Family Tree only has ONE.

WHY is this important? Collaboration for the best sources and information and whatever stories, pictures or memories one person adds, all who are connected to John Michael Smith get to enjoy those memories and don't have to search into hundreds of individual trees to find and add that information into their personal tree. This SAVES hours of duplicating work when we all collaborate to enjoy the fruits of everyone’s labors.

3. Contact your immediate family first:

 * In the step above, note the information that is missing and decide on the family member that might have that information.
 * Record any useful information and stories they provide.
 * Ask about copies of birth, marriage, and death certificates as well as journals, letters, photos, and other records that might be available.
 * Find out if they know other people you should contact.
 * Use this new gathered information to fill in the missing information on your Family Tree Chart and Family Group Charts. This will give you a guide as to where to go next.
 * In Return-offer to share with what you find and put together.

4. Search other sources.

 * A guide of places to find family history information can be found Here
 * Gather your records starting with the records you already have, and organize them in one place.
 * Explore online sources starting with FamilySearch.org/search for free access to family history records such as census, birth, death, marriage, military records, etc.
 * See the Tips for Using FamilySearch.org/search below to best learn how to use FamilySearch.org Search.
 * Get personal help by visiting our local FamilySearch family history center for free personal help and many other valuable services.
 * Center staff may also direct you to online resources as well as other local community resources.

5. Visit the FamilySearch Library to:

 * Access Premium Websites to search for records
 * Free access to Ancestry.com, Fold3.com, Find My Past, and more.
 * Personal help to direct you in your research process.
 * Free, hands on, training classes

6. Take the newly found information:

 * Add to your pedigree on Family Tree - To ADD and individual review the article Adding Family Members to Family Tree
 * NOTE-Family Tree is very unique with only one person per deceased ancestor in the tree. Unlike all other database trees where everyone has their own tree with thousands of the same John Michael Smith born in 1815 are scattered throughout those tree, Family Tree only has ONE.  WHY is this important?  Collaboration for the best sources and information and whatever stories, pictures or memories one person adds, all who are connected to John Michael Smith get to enjoy those memories and don't have to search into hundreds of individual tree to find.  SAVES hours of duplicating work when we all collaborate.

7. Pick another ancestor/needed info
Repeat the steps 2 through 6.

Family Tree Instructions

 * We have hands on training classes at the Las Vegas FamilySearch Library. CLICK on Print Class Schedulein the menu at right.
 * Family Tree Training This is the 6 week training used at the Las Vegas FamilySearch Library including videos
 * Family history Basic Tutorials by Judy Sharp: videos, PDF handouts and FH Nuggets below!!

FULL TREES - Learn the basics of Family Tree,
then concentrate on Lesson 3-Using the Start Page

Tips for Using FamilySearch.org/search
This is a collection of HISTORICAL Records that spans billions of names across hundreds of collections—including birth, marriage, death, probate, land, military, IGI extracted, and more. This online database stores all the historical documents and is available for searching. You can instantly search through hundreds of millions of records for information about your ancestors at FamilySearch.org/search ■FamilySearch.org/search protects privacy. No information about living people is publicly available. ■For women, use maiden names to find birth and marriage records, but married names for census and death information. ■Add five years to life spans ■Try different spellings of a name (Miller, Milr). ■Try different forms of a name (Elizabeth, Liz, Liza). ■Immigrants often changed their names. ■If you can’t find information about a person, look for information about family members.

Getting Started training videos are found at FamilySearch Videos Watch the Getting Started 1, then 3, 4 listed at right.

Drilling Down into FamilySearch.org

 * FamilySearch Channel on YouTube
 * Finding Unindexed Records-different method
 * Finding Elusive Records on FS
 * 5 Top Tips to Use FamilySearch
 * Guided Research for Online Records
 * Research Outlines for individual states within the United States, and for countries

Research, Handouts and Forms

 * Including pedigree charts, family group records, British, Canada and US Census forms, research log and LOTS more. Click HERE
 * LVFSL Handouts Click HERE Some examples:
 * Getting Started
 * US CENSUS Headings 1790-1860, 1870-1930, 1940
 * Computer Tips
 * Pedigree & Family Group forms
 * Research Tips
 * Lots More
 * Age of ServiceMen in Wars
 * Research Forms from the Wiki
 * [[Media:Conducting Internet Searches for Family History.pdf|Conducting Internet Searches for Family History]]
 * Birth Years of Veterans-US
 * ABCs of Nicknames

Temple and Family History Consultant & Leader Training
Downloads for Consultant Training. Many of the PDFs include active links taking you to the website when viewing on the computer:


 * Watch first bit.ly/promisedblessingsfh Which blessings do you want?  Can you give 30 minutes a week to receive those blessings?
 * familysearch.org/calling
 * Forms and Support Documents for direction and keeping you organized
 * NEW Focus: DISCOVER, GATHER, CONNECT
 * Sign up for the FamilySearch Partner Sites: familysearch.org/parnteraccess
 * Learning about FamilySearch Consultant Planner
 * Consultant Resources under Help menu at FS, OR at Helper Resources
 * Family History Leadership Training for 2020
 * SEE Family Tree Instruction above for help learning about FamilySearch

Writing Your Family Story

 * Getting Started
 * 52 Weeks to write your story

Find-A-Grave

 * Findagrave Getting Started
 * Findagrave Tutorials Parts 2-7
 * Linking Families Together17Mins 34Sec

Ancestry.com

 * Basics of starting a search How to Search for Historical Records on Ancestry.com
 * New Facts Page Quick Guide
 * Learning Center Home
 * Getting Started
 * Next Steps
 * FREE Research Guides These Research guides are best to save as PDF so the links within the document can be clicked to go to the linked website
 * Ancestry.com YouTube Channel
 * 5-Minute Finds Series
 * Ancestry Desktop Education Series
 * Search Ancestry Like a Dectective
 * Tips to Finding Uindexed Probate Records in Ancestry

findmypast

 * Quick Tips to Get Started
 * findmypast YouTube Channel

MyHeritage.com

 * Help
 * A Newbie's Guide to the MyHeritage Website
 * My Heritage YouTube Channel

AmericanAncestors.org

 * BYU Introduction
 * Using AmericanAncestors.org
 * Searching Databases on AmericanAncestors.org December 2017
 * Video Training
 * Database list

Geneanet

 * Video Training
 * Export GEDCOM
 * Help

Fold3

 * Tour using Fold3 with 4 videos and written instructions


 * Fold3 Youtube Channel
 * Discover the Military Records of Your Family's War Veteran

Pioneer Websites

 * Pioneer Database 1847-1868
 * Saints By Sea-Latter-Day Saint Immigration to America
 * List of Latter Day Saint Periodicals
 * Tracing Mormon Pioneers
 * Daughters of Utah Pioneers
 * Early Latter-day Saints

Why No GEDCOMs to FamilySearch
FamilySearch VS GEDCOM

Finding Women in Researching
Three Ways to Unravel the Mystery of Women in Your Research

Best Records for Finding Female Ancestors

Newspaper Research-FREE

 * Lessons How To Use Newspapers also includes links by states
 * Youtube Video on using Free Sites See the Suggested sites below from the video
 * http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/
 * http://guides.library.upenn.edu/content.php?pid=413152
 * Newspaper Links
 * Marion Robbins Online Historical Newspapers Website
 * Wikipedia-List of Online Newspaper Archives
 * US Newspaper Directory 1690-Present

Arkiv Digital for Swedish Research

 * Sweden: An Introduction to ArkivDigital
 * Wiki Using Arkiv Dital for Swedish Genealogical Research
 * Birth and Christening Records for Swedish Genealogy PDF

Parish Locator ParLoc3-

 * Freeware found at HERE
 * Links UK research HERE
 * ParLoc4-beta

Hungarian Village Finder, Atlas & Gazetteer

 * Hungarianvillagefinder.com Use for free at our Library OR order CD from this page
 * Index
 * Getting Started, Examples
 * 4 Steps
 * On the Wiki

Jewish Research

 * JewishGen
 * Ancestry.com-Jewish Family History Collection
 * United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
 * Israel Genealogy Research Association
 * Yad Vashem - The World Holocaust Remembrance Center
 * JRI-Poland
 * Gesher Galicia
 * FamilySearch Wiki-Jewish Genealogy Research

African American Research

 * FamilySearch African American Genealogy
 * AfriGeneas
 * Cyndi's List-African American
 * Resources for African American Genealogy Research
 * African American Genealogy Tips

Native American Research

 * Starting Native American Research
 * Free US Indian Census Rolls 1885-1940
 * Locating Ancestor on the Final Rolls of the Five Civilized Tribes
 * Cherokee Genealogy
 * Native American Online Genealogy Records
 * Researching Native American Ancestry on Ancestry
 * Indigenous Peoples of North America
 * Indian Tribes of the US
 * Enrollment Cards of the Five Civilized Tribes 1898-1914
 * Campbell's Abstract of Creek Indian Census Cards

Military

 * US Military Records

Old Handwriting

 * Script Tutorial from BYU
 * German Handwriting

Indexing Help Resources

 * Basic Indexing Guidelines and Resources:
 * Guided Tour: Click HERE
 * Web Based Indexing overview
 * FAQs
 * List of current Indexing projects:

RootsMagic

 * Training videos found at: Roots Magic
 * Mini Videos on Youtube: RootsMagicTV.com
 * Rootsmagic Tree Share with Ancestry
 * RootsMagic Tree Share PDF

Animap
Training

Research-Area

 * 'FamilySearch Wiki- Main Page
 * BYU Research Outlines' - http://sites.lib.byu.edu/familyhistory/research_outlines/
 * US Genweb http://usgenweb.org/ -
 * World Genweb http://www.worldgenweb.org/
 * UK &amp; Ireland' - http://www.genuki.org.uk/ 
 * FamilySearch Library catalog https://familysearch.org/catalog-search[n] 
 * One-Step Search Webpages by Stephen Morse http://www.stevemorse.org/
 * German Roots and MUCH more -http://www.germanroots.com/
 * US Historical Maps - http://www.mapofus.org/
 * State libraries - http://www.publiclibraries.com/state_library.htm
 * State archives - http://www.statearchivists.org/states.htm
 * State &amp; local genealogical &amp; historical societies - http://www.usgennet.org/socadmin/

Research-Ancestors
Start at '''https://familysearch.org/ Historical records. Scroll down and click on region or All Records Collections. Use left side to filter types of records, time periods and places. '''


 * SSDI -Click All Record Collections and type in search box Social Security to bring up-SSDI (to find those who died since 1967-some earlier records can be found)
 * Heritage Quest-Clark County Library http://lvccld.org Rest cursor over Find Information and click on drop down-Databases A-Z. On page click F-H and last HeritageQuest -will need a library card and pin # to access at home. Only indexed by heads of household.
 * ' Census Finder ' http://www.censusfinder.com/ to help find free online census for federal and state City Directories http://uscitydirectories.com/ ' 
 * Cemetery Records Onlinehttp://interment.net/ 
 * VA Cemeteries http://www.cem.va.gov/
 * Death Indexes http://www.deathindexes.com
 * Find A Grave http://www.findagrave.com
 * Find County with city/state information http://www.getzips.com/county.htm type in town/city name and state to find present county.
 * GEDCOM Index http://www.gedcomindex.com/ to search GEDCOM files for your surname Immigration and The Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation, Inc. ; and http://immigrants.byu.edu/ ; which contains 60,000 names from the British Isles, France, Germany, Portugal, Spain and Italy
 * Obituary Search http://www.obitlinkspage.com
 * OneStep Find Steve Moorse http://www.stevemorse.org/
 * SURNAME Search http://searchforancestors.com/quicksearch &amp; https://wc.rootsweb.com/ &amp; http://www.linkpendium.com/genealogy/USA/ http://www.surnamesearchutility.com/
 * Temple http://www.ldschurchtemples.com/codes/
 * Where to order vital records http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/w2w.htm
 * Rootsweb.com Rootsweb.com
 * 'Using Google Genealogy Searcher: http://www.searchforancestors.com/google/searcher.html
 * Genealogy Searcher 2: http://www.searchforancestors.com/google/booksearcher.html
 * Search Google for your family tree: http://www.genealogy-search-help.com/index.html
 * Google Translate http://translate.google.com/#

Classes/Training/Handouts

 * Research courses: -Click on Learn, scroll down and click on Research Courses. https://www.familysearch.org/ask/landing?search=Getting%20Started&show=lessons&message=true
 * BYU FHL Webinars: Watch on your time schedule
 * LV FamilySearch Handouts: Click
 * Family Tree Classes: Click
 * Riverton Handouts and Guides: Downloads

RootsTech2020

 * Video Archive