Select Specific Records

Principles of Family History Research &gt;  Step 3. Select Records to Search  &gt;  Select Specific Records

You have identified a record type. Now you are ready to compare information on your family group record with catalogs or record lists in order to choose which specific records you will search. First, look again at the family group record for information about where and when a selected event occurred. If necessary guess when and where it happened.

Helpful Guessing Skills
To find useful source documents, sometimes a researcher needs to be good at guessing information needed to find ancestors in documents. Each of the following involves being able to guess some additional information based on what is already shown on a family group record:


 * Guessing a Place for every event on that family group. Usually you need to guess where an event happened to be able to guess where to look for records of that place.
 * Guessing a Date for every event on that family group. You need to guess dates to narrow searches when indexes are not available or cover only limited periods.
 * Guessing a Name Variation for every name on that family group. Your ancestors may have always spelled their name a certain way, but the clerks who wrote their names probably used some surprises. Learn to look for ancestors under unexpected spellings and names.

Catalogs and Record Lists
To select a specific record, it is most useful to review a list of records, such as a library catalog or bibliography. Most such lists organize the records they describe into groups and often use the same or similar groupings (or "Record Types") used above.

Many genealogists do much of their research in one or two repositories. You may want to select some record(s) for your objective from the collections where you do research. For a discussion of the many kinds of record repositories, see Obtain the Records.

However, since no library or archives has all possible records for your objective, you may need to use lists that best fit your research opportunities.

Experienced researchers who have used many different records will often be able to select a specific record based on past experience. However, use of a comprehensive list of records will help identify records that are often overlooked, forgotten or not previously available.

You can look for the record type you choose in the following sources—

Family History Library Catalog
This lists and describes the records in the Family History Library—the largest collection of genealogical records in the world. It is the key to research in the library and its family history centers. If the records from your locality of interest have been microfilmed or digitized, the Family History Library Catalog would usually be the most comprehensive list you could use to select the best records for your search.

The catalog, updated regularly, is on the Internet at http://www.familysearch.org/Eng/Library/FHLC/frameset_fhlc.asp

You may search the catalog by Surname (for family histories), by Place (for record types), by Subject' (such as Navajo Indians), or by Author or Title if known. The record types listed in Sources Useful to Genealogists are mostly the same as the headings used in the Place Search of the catalog.

For more information see the wiki article Introduction to the Family History Library Catalog.

Other Internet Sites
The Internet has search engines and lists to help find and select genealogical records:


 * Google'. Use this search engine to find records with search phases like Moffett genealogy or New Orleans marriages or Hamburg passenger lists or Quebec census'.
 * Cyndi's List is a large categorized list of tens of thousands of links to genealogical sites and records.
 * Family History Library Internet Favorites are selected browser links (bookmarks) to identify good genealogical Internet sites.

Other Library Catalogs and Record Lists
Become familiar with your local library catalog. Ask the librarian or archivist about their records.

Many catalogs are available on the Internet. Many public and some academic libraries belong to the public and some academic libraries belong to the WorldCat. This catalog will show each library with a particular record, and how far that library is from your zip code.

Many other library catalogs have been published and are in the reference collections of major libraries, such as catalogs for genealogies at local histories at:


 * Library of Congress
 * Daughters of the American Revolution
 * New York Public Library

Research outlines for specific countries may help you identify other catalogs for major libraries. Check the most recent versions of catalogs, as libraries are continually adding to their collections.

The Family History Library Catalog can be used to find descriptions of other libraries and their collections. Look in the Place Search, find the place and look for the topic Archives and Libraries. For example:


 * Ireland, Dublin, Dublin – Archives and Libraries
 * Pennsylvania, Philadelphia – Archives and Libraries

You may find a catalog or inventory from which you can select a record to search.

Handbooks and Instructional Materials

Handbooks explain how to conduct research for a particular country or state. They usually describe records in or from that area. Several include lists of major records to consider when researching that area or topic. Most significant handbooks are mentioned in the appropriate research outlines published by the Family History Library. Articles in periodicals also often describe records you may want to search.

Bibliographies

These list books, articles, and sometimes original records about a subject. Many bibliographies are available that focus on sources for one or two record types within a locality such as Biography, History, or Military Records. An excellent example is—

Filby, P. William. American &amp; British genealogy &amp; Heraldry: A Selected List of Books, 3rd ed. Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1983. Supplement, 1987. (FHL Ref Book 016.9291 F472a). This bibliography and supplement list over 12,800 titles of published genealogical sources (primarily from the United States).

Book Catalogs

Bookseller catalogs usually identify published books the vendor is selling. Out of print books are seldom listed, except in specialty catalogs. Many English-language books are listed in—

Hoffman, Marian, ed. Genealogical and Local History Books in Print: General Reference and World Resources, 5th ed. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing, 1997. (FHL book 929.1016 H675g). Most of the sources you will use to select specific records to search can be found in genealogical libraries and repositories. You may also want to ask an experienced researcher or genealogical librarian for suggestions regarding possible records to search.

Most of the sources you will use to select specific records to search can be found in genealogical libraries and repositories. You may also want to ask an experienced researcher or genealogical librarian for suggestions regarding possible records to search.

Obtaining Record Lists

Major bibliographies, some publisher catalogs, and many instructional handbooks are also at most research libraries, and many public libraries.

Selection Criteria
To select a record, read its description and compare it to what you know or guess about the event you want to document. Make sure the record—


 * 1) has the content (information, location, and time period) you need, and
 * 2) is available.

Record Content
Information. Does the record have the kind of information you are looking for? If, for example, you need to find out about a marriage, does the record give marriage information?

The Sources Useful to Genealogists table puts each record type with those having similar information. If the type you choose is not available, choose a type from the same group.

Location. Is the record from the place where you believe the event occurred? Are there other local jurisdictions that may have similar records that you should search? Did the boundaries of a jurisdiction change while or after your ancestor lived there? Did you ancestor move to nearby jurisdictions? Select records from every jurisdiction where the family lived and consider nearby jurisdictions. Sometimes you will need to do an area search (see Search Ranges).

Time. Does the record cover the time period during which the event took place? Be sure to establish broad ranges of time to search (see Search Ranges).

Record Access
Obtain it. Is the record in a repository you can visit? Can you get a copy? Are you permitted to use the record?

Read it. Are there skills or knowledge you need to read the record, such as (1) ability to read foreign languages, (2) ability to read old handwriting, or (3) knowledge of terms used? Remember that—


 * Records are usually in the language of the country.
 * Many early records are in Latin.

Find information in it. Can you locate the information in the record? Do you have the information necessary to recognize the relative you are seeking? Will there be so many of that name (such as Smith) that you must know the first name? Will the search be too extensive if you don’t know a specific place? How many microfilms or volumes will you need to search if you don’t know the year? Before you select a record, determine if you may need—


 * An index.
 * The ancestor’s given (first) name.
 * The name of the county or town.
 * A limited time period.
 * More specific information about the ancestor’s religion, military service, or occupation.

Interest, Inspiration, and Intuition
As you select a specific record, follow your best judgment. If you feel strongly interested or your intuition suggests a record not recommended by the strategy, then select that record.

Jurisdictions
Most records you search have jurisdictional limitations. That is, they apply only to a certain geographic area and to certain events and/or families. For example, marriage records in the United States are usually recorded by each different county. Many different jurisdictions exercise authority over what records are created or kept about our ancestors. For example, in the United States, naturalization records were kept by the federal, state, city and county jurisdictions. You must know which jurisdictions kept the records you are seeking in order to select the best records.



All records have a limited scope that defines their coverage. The scope is usually limited by time and geography with a topical consideration (such as a list of Union officers in the U.S. Civil War.) As you select specific records to search, you will need to learn the different jurisdictions that may have kept a record, and the scope of the records they kept.

After selecting one or more record types that may contain the information you are seeking, consider which jurisdiction(s) are most likely to have kept those records. The research outlines for various states, provinces and countries can help you determine the most likely jurisdiction.

Locality Analysis. As you select records to search, it is important to learn about the localities where the family lived. In addition to the present jurisdictions that may keep records about the family, try to learn—


 * about previous jurisdictions to which the locality belonged.
 * nearby localities and jurisdictions that may have been more convenient for the family.
 * some of the history of the place where they lived.
 * the specific place the family lived within the jurisdiction, such as the township within a county or the street or ward within a city.

Several sources can help you analyze the locality, including maps, gazetteers (geographic dictionaries), local histories, city directories and some genealogical handbooks.