Des Moines Iowa FamilySearch Center

Welcome to the Des Moines Family History Center.

Please call the center before coming to see if open. The center is volunteered run. Volunteers have unexpected family commitment or illness. We occasionally have to close the center.

Center Contacts and Hours
Location Map:


 * Location Map

Address:


 * 3301 Ashworth Rd West Des Moines IA 50265 United States
 * Cross intersection street – Valley West Drive

Phone: 1-515-225-0416

E-mail: [mailto:IA_DesMoines@ldsmail.net IA_DesMoines@ldsmail.net]

FHC Director: Liesa Newman

Open Hours:


 * Tuesday:10:00am-3:00pm &amp; 6:30pm-9:00pm
 * Saturday:10:00am-3:00pm

Holiday Schedule:

'''Closed 1st weekend in Apr/Oct for General Conference. Closed Christmas and New Years Day (last two weeks in December).''' We occasionally close unexpectedly because of inclement weather. Same as the Des Moines Public School system. If they are closed, we are closed too.

Planning a Visit

Our FHC is staffed by local volunteers who can help get you started with family history research. They can guide you in using FHC resources and equipment. If you're planning a visit to our center to begin your genealogy, write down what you know about the family you wish to research -- names, dates, and places -- and choose a research goal. This will help our volunteers to best assist you. Please call to calendar and confirm group visits in advance.’”

Des Moines Family Center Library is pleased and eager to offer the opportunity for individuals, organizations, and others to schedule a group visit to our library. We offer a variety of options that are sure to provide interest to your group. They include a short presentation, 20 to 25 minutes, in one of our meeting rooms, with the remainder of the time in the library.

Be our guests in a fun and learning atmosphere where knowledgeable FamilySearch staff will welcome and assist you in uncovering your ancestors and build your family tree

For Groups: To make an appointment, please contact the director. [mailto:IA_DesMoines@ldsmail.net IA_DesMoines@ldsmail.net]

From Riverton Utah library: Handouts and Guides This new page includes links to download or print PDF handouts from the classes taught at the library and the Quick Start Guides available at the library. Click here (https://familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/Riverton_FamilySearch_Library/Handouts_and_Guides) to view the handouts and guides. Click here (https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1fuGadhnLuCIeRWu5aq_B5BMkHdPpZJ_2nH8JwnkfpXA/viewform) to register for a weekly email.

Calendar and Events
2017 classes (Tuesdays 7:00-8:00 pm, Repeat for 2nd and 3rd weeks, 4th open for Q & A)


 * January: Introduction to Familysearch Family Tree
 * February: Finding your ancestors on Ancestry.com
 * March: Sharing information between Familysearch and Ancestry.com
 * April: Finding your ancestors on Familysearch
 * May: Finding your ancestors on Findmypast
 * June: Finding your ancestors on My Heritage
 * July: Adding Memories to Familysearch: stories, photos, audio, etc.
 * August: Finding your ancestors with Google
 * September: What is descendancy research and how do I do it?
 * October: Finding your ancestors on Find-a-grave
 * November: Finding your ancestors on the United States Federal Census
 * December: Finding your ancestors on Familysearch: catalog, books

Upcoming Events
Family History Day Oct 21, 2017 10am-12pm
 * The West Des Moines Family History Library will host a Family Discovery Day. From 10:00 am to 12:00 noon in the library.

'''To register or request a class, please email: [mailto:IA_DesMoines@ldsmail.net IA_DesMoines@ldsmail.net]

Collections

 * FamilySearch Catalog: This center has the ability to order any of the films and fiche available through the FamilySearch Catalog. Each person will have to sign in and order the film with their credit information. Choose the Des Moines Family History Center as the place the film is to be sent. You will receive phone call when the film has arrived on loan in our FHC for your use.
 * Patrons' Microfiche Collection -- a collection of fiche ordered by our patrons, assorted titles. Contain family histories, vital records, and other types of information. These are indexed in the blue binders in the bookcase.
 * Indefinite Film Collection -- a collection of films on a variety of subjects, to include vital records, county records, court records, etc. They are indexed by state and then by county in the "state binders" in the bookcase.
 * Book Collections -- Dictionaries of many languages. Reference guides for areas worldwide. Head of Families (Early censuses).

We encourage visitors to bring own their digital cameras for copying images from microfilm or microfiche. Then you have your own digital record and can take the images home to clean them up on your imaging program!


 * If the FHC camera is used, copies may be printed or files may be transferred to a jump drive using the XnView or FastStone.
 * Memory sticks/jump drives can be used to download information from the microfilm scanner.
 * Email Scans to your Email account from microfilm scanner.
 * Patrons may bring their own laptops for note-taking or entering information into personal genealogical programs, with the disclaimer that the owner is responsible for the security of the device.

'''The Center is not a lending library. All films, fiche and books must remain within the Center.'''

Databases and Software

 * FHC Portal This center has access to the Family History Center Portal page which gives free access in the center to premium family history software and websites that generally charge for subscriptions.


 * 19th Century British Library Newspaper Digital Archive - contains full runs of 48 newspapers specially selected by the British Library to best represent nineteenth century Britain.
 * Access Newspaper Archive - the largest historical newspaper database online, contains tens of millions of newspaper pages from 1753 to present. Every newspaper in the archive is fully searchable by keyword and date, making it easy for you to quickly explore historical content. All 50 states plus 10 countries.
 * Alexander Street Press - The American Civil War: Research Database Letters and Diaries Images, Photographs, Posters, and Ephemera
 * American Ancestors - To advance the study of family history in America and beyond.It provides family historians access to more than 1 billion records spanning the U.S. and beyond, including one of the most extensive online collections of early American records, and the largest searchable collection of published genealogical research journals and magazines. Special strengths in our content include English, New England (Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont), New York, Pennsylvania, and Virginia materials.
 * Newspaper Archives - World's largest online newspaper archive, Features billions of articles from historical newspapers around the U. S. and the world. Full page and fully searchable.
 * Ancestry.com -- This site has 10+ billion records. U. S. federal and state census records, vital records, passenger lists, Canadian census, church, and vital records, UK census records, birth, marriage and death indexes, and other international records.
 * ArkivDigital Online -- Swedish genealogy. Launch from the 'ArkivDigital Online' Start Menu or Desktop icon from a computer where the program has been installed.
 * Find My Past -- 1.7 billion international family history records from the U.S., Canada, UK, Australia, New Zealand and beyond with records going back to 1200. New collections are added every month.
 * Fold3.com (Previously known as Footnote.com) -- Fold3 provides convenient access to US military records, including the stories, photos, and personal documents of the men and women who served.
 * Godfrey Memorial Library -- Online access to the Middletown CT historical library's approximately 200,000 books and periodicals in its collection which includes state and local histories, family histories, biographies, church records, funeral records, cemetery records, military records, maps, and more.
 * Heritage Quest Online -- a valuable genealogical resource available at this time only through library subscriptions like the Family History Center. U.S. Federal Census records from 1790 through 1930. (No index for 1830, 1840, 1850, nor 1880 census; for the 1930 census, only five states are indexed: Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, Texas, and Virginia.) The online collection includes new indexes created by HeritageQuest. In addition to the ability to search by name, the census records can be searched by place of birth, age, ethnicity, and other variables. More than 25,000 fully searchable family and local history books. There are numerous other "non-history" books available that also have genealogy value, such as town and city directories, government reports made years ago, biographies, lectures, and much more. Selected Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty Land Warrant Application Files, again fully searchable with high-quality scanned images of the original applications available online. Signatures of and personal identification data about depositors in 29 branch offices of the Freedman's Savings and Trust Company, 1865-74. PERSI (the PERiodical Source Index - a comprehensive subject index covering more than 6,500 genealogy and local history periodicals written in English and French since 1800). Best of all, you can view the original records and book pages as high-quality images and even print individual pages on your local printer.
 * Historic Map Works Library Edition - Historic Map Works™ Library Edition is one of the most extensive digital map collections available, with over 1.5 million high-resolution, full color historic maps.
 * Paper Trail - a guide to overland pioneer names and documents.
 * World Vital Records - Records from United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Chile, China, Cook Islands, Czech Republic, Denmark, England, Fiji, Finland, Georgia, Greenland, Hong Kong, Hungary, India, Ireland, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Lebanon, Mexico, Montserrat, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Poland, Puerto Rico, Romania, Russia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Tonga, Turkey.

Software Installed at the FHC:


 * FamilySearch Indexing (to help index transcriptions from film to excel spreadsheets to make a searchable index for FamilySearch)
 * Ancestral Quest 15 (By Incline Software) (newer update from PAF)
 * ArkivDigital Online -- Swedish genealogy. Launch from the 'ArkivDigital Online' Start Menu or Desktop icon from a computer where the program has been installed.
 * XnView to capture images
 * FastStone Viewer to capture images
 * Libre Office (Alternative to Microsoft Office, compatible)

Hardware and Equipment
Hardware and Equipment:


 * 4 computers (internet access), 1 projector/screen monitor (for class lessons), 2 printer/scanner/copiers, 1 printer, 4 overhead microfilm readers, 1 microfiche reader and a microfilm scanner. Our scanner will scan pictures & documents directly to your FamilySearch account!

Center Services
Other nearby Family History Centers from Des Moines:


 * Ames Iowa: https://familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/Ames_Iowa_Family_History_Center
 * Indianola Iowa: https://familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/Indianola_Iowa_Family_History_Center
 * Knoxville Iowa: https://familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/Knoxville_Iowa_Family_History_Center
 * Newton Iowa: https://familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/Newton_Iowa_Family_History_Center

Others in the state of Iowa:


 * Atlantic Iowa: https://familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/Atlantic_Iowa_Family_History_Center
 * Belle Plaine Iowa: https://familysearch.org/wiki/en/Belle_Plaine_Iowa_Family_History_Center
 * Burlington Iowa: https://familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/Burlington_Iowa_Family_History_Center
 * Cedar Falls/Waterloo Iowa: https://familysearch.org/wiki/en/Cedar_Falls/Waterloo_Iowa_Family_History_Center
 * Cedar Rapids Iowa: https://familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/Cedar_Rapids_Iowa_Family_History_Center
 * Centerville Iowa: https://familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/Centerville_Iowa_Family_History_Center
 * Council Bluffs Iowa: https://familysearch.org/wiki/en/Council_Bluffs_Iowa_Family_History_Center
 * Davenport Iowa: https://familysearch.org/wiki/en/Davenport_Iowa_Family_History_Center
 * Dubuque Iowa: https://familysearch.org/wiki/en/Dubuque_Iowa_Family_History_Center
 * Fairfield Iowa: https://familysearch.org/wiki/en/Fairfield_Iowa_Family_History_Center
 * Fort Dodge Iowa: https://familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/Fort_Dodge_Iowa_Family_History_Center
 * Glenwood Iowa: https://familysearch.org/wiki/en/Glenwood_Iowa_Family_History_Center
 * Iowa City Iowa: https://familysearch.org/wiki/en/Iowa_City_Iowa_Family_History_Center
 * Logan Iowa: https://familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/Logan_Iowa_Family_History_Center
 * Marshalltown Iowa: https://familysearch.org/wiki/en/Marshalltown_Iowa_Family_History_Center
 * Mason City Iowa: https://familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/Mason_City_Iowa_Family_History_Center
 * Mount Vernon Iowa: https://familysearch.org/wiki/en/Mount_Vernon_Iowa_Family_History_Center
 * Muscatine Iowa: https://familysearch.org/wiki/en/Muscatine_Iowa_Family_History_Center
 * Osceola Iowa: https://familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/Osceola_Iowa_Family_History_Center
 * Oskaloosa Iowa: https://familysearch.org/wiki/en/Oskaloosa_Iowa_Family_History_Center
 * Ottumwa Iowa: https://familysearch.org/wiki/en/Ottumwa_Iowa_Family_History_Center
 * Shenandoah Iowa: https://familysearch.org/wiki/en/Shenandoah_Iowa_Family_History_Center
 * Storm Lake Iowa: https://familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/Storm_Lake_Iowa_Family_History_Center
 * Spencer Iowa: https://familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/Spencer_Iowa_Family_History_Center
 * Sioux City Iowa: https://familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/Sioux_City_Iowa_Family_History_Center

Staff Research Specialties
(Include sections for any other services your center provides. Add additional sections for those services. See the Bountiful and Chattanooga FHC pages for examples.)

Links

 * Sign Up Genius http://www.signupgenius.com

State rescources:


 * Iowa History Wiki Page: https://familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/Iowa_History
 * Iowa Cemeteries Wiki Page: https://familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/Iowa_Cemeteries
 * How to Find Iowa Birth Records Wiki Page: https://familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/How_to_Find_Iowa_Birth_Records
 * How to Find Iowa Marriage Records Wiki Page:  https://familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/How_to_Find_Iowa_Marriage_Records
 * How to Find Iowa Death Records Wiki Page: https://familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/How_to_Find_Iowa_Death_Records
 * Iowa Online Genealogy Records: https://familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/Iowa_Online_Genealogy_Records
 * Mormon Trail Wiki Page: https://familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/Mormon_Trail
 * Billion Graves https://billiongraves.com
 * Iowa WPA Graves http://iowawpagraves.org/
 * Iowa Gravestones http://iowagravestones.org/cemeteries.php?cid=77
 * Soldiers and Sailors Database https://www.nps.gov/civilwar/soldiers-and-sailors-database.htm
 * Rootsweb http://home.rootsweb.ancestry.com/

Links
Local Links: National links:
 * Iowa Genealogical Society (http://iowagenealogy.org) Also a local family history center satellite.
 * State Historical Society of Iowa https://iowaculture.gov/history/research/collections
 * Iowa Heritage Digital Collections http://www.iowaheritage.org/
 * Des Moines Public library http://dmpl.org/our-collection/research/local-history
 * Des Moines Register Newspaper Obituary Index http://libhip.desmoineslibrary.com:8080/ipac20/ipac.jsp?profile=
 * Cemetery Interment Search: (includes Glendale, Woodland, St. Ambrose, Laurel Hill, Oak Grove, Sims and Elm Grove) https://cemeterysearch.dmgov.org/
 * Highland Memory Gardens Burials http://www.highlandmemorygardens.com/search-burials.asp


 * New Tools For Finding Your Missing Cousins (Renee Zamora) Handout - New Tools For Finding Your Missing Cousins (Renee Zamora)
 * Treeseek (https://treeseek.com/) create fan charts
 * Allen County Public Library Internet Site (http://www.acpl.lib.in.us/index.html), locations, hours, events, newsletter, research, services. Largest digital scanning project.
 * HathiTrust digital library (https://www.hathitrust.org/) offering a collection of millions of titles digitized from libraries around the world.
 * Newberry Library (http://www.newberry.org/genealogy/overview.html) a large Chicago repository with genealogies, local histories, censuses, military, land, indexes, vital records, court, and tax records mostly from the Mississippi Valley, eastern seaboard, Canada, & British Isles.
 * Library of Congress, Washington, DC, Local History and Genealogy Reading Room (http://www.loc.gov/rr/genealogy/) is part of the world's largest library including 50,000 genealogies, 100,000 local histories, rich in collections of manuscripts, microfilms, maps, newspapers, photographs, and published material, strong in North American, British Isles, and German sources.
 * Mid-Continent Public Library Midwest Genealogy Center, Independence, MO (http://www.mymcpl.org/genealogy) national censuses/indexes, 80,000 family histories, 100,000 local histories, 565,000 microfilms, 7,000 maps, and extensive newspaper clippings.
 * St. Louis County Library (http://www.slcl.org/branches/hq/sc/sc-genpg.htm), mostly Missouri, but includes St. Louis Genealogical, and National Genealogical Societys' collections, online databases, federal censuses, African American records, access to LDS microfilms.

Volunteer at the Center
''We welcome volunteers from the community to help serve in the Family History Center. It's a great way to help others and to learn by doing. You need not be an expert. Ability to use a computer and willingness to become familiar with the FamilySearch website and resources are key. Contact the FHC director at the telephone or e-mail listed above for more information.''