FamilySearch Historical Record Collections

FamilySearch Historical Records provides online access to indexes and digital images of records held by FamilySearch. The collections can be accessed at. New collections are uploaded weekly.

Searching the Collections
The FamilySearch Search page is divided into three sections:
 * Search Historical Records
 * Research By Location
 * Find a Collection

Search Historical Records
This section will allow you to search all of the collections indexed on FamilySearch at once. You can specify life events, places, and relationships or film number to refine your search.

Research By Location
Selecting a country in this section will show online lessons you can take, links to indexed and image-only collections, indexing projects, and titles from the FamilySearch Catalog.

Find a Collection
This is where you will find a list of all collections available on FamilySearch. You can limit the collections displayed to a specific country, date range, or record type.

Exact Search
Some search fields have a checkbox next to them. Checking this box will limit search results to records that match this term exactly. You can also check the Match all terms exactly box next to the Search button if you want to apply an exact search on all terms. You will want to experiment with these different options to see how the results change. No Soundex search is available on any collection.

For more tips on searching on FamilySearch see the post on the Brit-Ish Heritage Forum blog, Eleven Powerful "Search" Features of the FamilySearch.org Search Engine.

Collection Descriptions
The Collection Details page for each collection has a brief description about the records. The Learn More link takes the user to an article in the Research Wiki where you can find detailed information on the collection, suggestions on how to search the collection, and what to do with the information you discover.

View Images
Some collections also include a View Images in this Collection link. This will take you to a list of waypoints allowing you to browse identify a specific set of images to view.

DGS Browse
Some collections have been published without specifc waypoints and have been published with only a list of DGS numbers. These are sequential numbers the order in which they were scanned or acquired. They have no other meaning. The wiki article for many of these collections with a DGS or fakey browse includes a list of each DGS number and a description of it's contents. These lists are named Digital Folder Number Lists.

Locating the Latest Updates
Updated records are posted directly to the Historical Record Collections as they are completed. To see the latest collection updates and publications, click on the Last Updated column heading. Content is updated weekly, so check back often to see if the newly added records can help you!

FamilySearch Indexing
FamilySearch invites everyone to volunteer in indexing records to improve record accessibility. Learn what projects are available at the Indexing Overview page.

FamilySearch Blog
For more information about FamilySearch and to learn about new Historical Records publications read the FamilySearch Blog.