FamilySearch Tools for Advanced Users For this and more information about FamilySearch go to the FamilySearch blog at: https://www.familysearch.org/blog/ As with any website, there are many advanced capabilities that are not as obvious to the user Advanced Tree Features The FamilySearch Family Tree is a collaborative tree. In other words, we all share the same ancestors and work on them together. It is important to remember that only living people are in a private space. All deceased people in the Family Tree are visible and editable by everyone. This means that one should edit information when it is wrong and add information when you have additional information, but also respect the work of others. Together we can achieve more and that is true in the Family Tree if we work together with our cousins who have the same ancestors as we do to build an accurate Family Tree of all of mankind. Editing the Family Tree Because this is a collaborative tree, it is important to see what has been happening with an ancestor before you make an edit. There is a summary at the top of each person page in the tree of what is already added. You may edit any data in the tree but look to see what is already added. Also you can view the latest changes and expand it to view all the changes ever made to this person. You can also contact people who made changes and collaborate with them. By clicking the Watch star icon at the top of a person page, you will be notified
when others make changes to a person page. You can manage your Watch List in the Lists function of the Family Tree found as one of the top level navigation options for the Family Tree. Working with Sources One of the most important aspects of working in a collaborative tree like FamilySearch s Family Tree is to ensure that you add the sources of where the evidence came from. The more sources added with accurate conclusions the better the quality of the Family Tree. There are several tips that will assist you when working with sources. First, each person page has a list of all sources for that person. These sources can be tagged for the events they give evidence for, so under each event there will be the list of sources which were tagged to that event, but the comprehensive list of sources is in the Sources section. The order of the sources can be moved around by using the up and down arrows to the right or by clicking and dragging them. Also you may add a source that you have which you scan in or just cite the source, or link to a URL for the source. There are partner apps which can assist you with this such as Record Seek. You may also upload your sources into your source box so you may utilize these sources multiple times on multiple ancestors or save it for future use. Within your source box you may organize your sources into folders and see whom they are attached to in the tree. This is a great way to keep your digital images of sources organized and ready to use.
Advanced Search Features Filter search results Search results can be filtered in many different ways, but one of the most useful is to filter the results by collection. On the results screen click the Collections tab and a list of all the collections included in the results and the number of entries in each collection will be listed. You may then select the collections you want to continue to include in the search results. There are many other parameters which you can filter your search results on. For example, starting with a very broad search of just a name, you can use the filters to explore the results and cut the data in different ways. See all the entries that we born in a specific location or all the entries in a certain year. Try searching for a census by just the surname and then use the residence place filter to see all those with the same surname in a particular town or parish. Find other siblings marriages by seeing everyone who married in a particular place. There are many more possibilities. Use the batch number Before indexing was down online, it was done manually and then entered into the computer databases. FamilySearch did extensive indexing in many parts of the world. When the records are from that time period of indexing they had Indexing Project Numbers or Batch Numbers assigned to them. These numbers can be used to search for others in the family who may have been part of the same batch of indexed entries. This feature helps you to find other children of a couple or other marriages that may belong to other family members. It is a powerful tool for those places that had the
early batch numbers. You may also use it to find all those in a parish or all those of a certain surname in a parish or town. This batch number process was used heavily in the British Isles, Europe, North America and several other parts of the world. Exporting Search Results to a Spreadsheet You may export search results to a spreadsheet which will allow you to analze the results using the powerful tools found in most spreadsheet programs such as Excel. FamilySearch Catalog The FamilySearch Catalog is your guide to access all of the records online or offline which are in accessible via FamilySearch.org or FamilySearch s network of over 5000 centers. Effective use of the FamilySearch Catalog is the key to identifying what records are available and how to access them. Much of the collection is only accessible via the Catalog. The Catalog may be searched in many
different ways Place and Keywords are two of the most powerful. You may also narrow your search by availability of the records for just those that are online or those in a specific family history center. If one does not know the location it is possible to use the catalog to determine the places within higher level jurisdiction by use the places within feature.
Search Books via the Catalog (Reference Materials) Under the search tab you may search the collection of digitized books. There are over 350,000 books which have been digitized. The collection includes family histories, county and local histories, genealogy magazines and how-to books, gazetteers, and medieval histories and pedigrees. The books have been scanned with OCR (Optical Character Recognition) so that they are every word searchable. Use the advanced search for additional functionality. It can be more effective to locate the books you need to search by using the FamilySearch Catalog as the interface into the books rather than through the separate book search. You may still search every word within the book, but it allows you to find the books in a more effective manner. Some books may only be viewed while in a Family History Center. Whenever you find a book in the FamilySearch Catalog which has not been digitized, search Google for that same book. There are many organizations digitizing books and making them available such as Internet Archives, Google books and Hathi Trust. These services are also typically everyword searchable as well. FamilySearch Research Wiki The FamilySearch Research Wiki is a free, online genealogical guide that: lists databases, websites and other online resources; provides strategies for researching ancestors; explains genealogical records and their uses; location and ethnicity specific relevant resources; other relevant topics. It is a community project which anyone can contribute to. Everybody knows something that can help someone else. How to Access: https://www.familysearch.org/wiki/ Or enter through FamilySearch.org from the Search menu or the Help menu
How to Use Use the Guided Help feature located at the top of the page. Search for locations and genealogy topics. The articles will point you to strategies and resources to assist you in being more effective. FamilySearch Community Do you ever need help from someone more experienced than you? Or, do you know enough to help someone else with finding their ancestors? The FamilySearch Community allows you to connect with others who are interested in the same areas you are and share information and help each other with finding your ancestors. The community can be found in the Help menu in the upper right of every page on FamilySearch.
Bonus Feature: Places (in testing) https://www.familysearch.org/research/places/ Or Access through the Site Map at the bottom of any page under Standards Finder. FamilySearch Places has been compiled over many decades and is the database that provides the standards for all of the FamilySearch website. This database includes the location and the history of a place and any name variations or changes over time. It is currently in testing and the database is growing over time. 2018 by Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this document may be reprinted or reproduced in any form for any purpose without prior written permission.