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Introductory
First things first, a family history center is what? Basically, family history centers number to more than three thousand all over the world.
The fact of the matter is that these centers are branches of the family history library of the Latter-Day Saints – which is considered as the main and central repository for a lot of genealogical info the Church missionaries were able to collect.
The purpose of the family history center is to help eliminate any need to have to travel to Utah, Salt Lake City just to use the collection records.
Believe it or not, a lot of the electronic data as well as microfilms collections are generally accessible through the family history centers all over the world.
Also, use of the family history center is free of charge. There are also a lot of volunteer family history center staff available to lend you valuable assistance.
Where are the family history centers located?
A lot of the centers are found in the meeting houses of the Jesus Christ church of the Latter-Day Saints. The administrators of these centers are operated by members of the local LDS Church.
Everyone and anyone is generally welcome to come and enter as well as use the resources available at the family history center.
When are the family history centers open?
Since there are more than three thousand family history centers available around the world, every center thereby determines its own opening hours.
Prior to actually visiting the family history center site, call the center and check in order to verify if the center is open.
What are the services offered by the family history center?
Basically, help in accessing research and resource info is provided by the family history volunteer staff. However, take note that staff volunteers will basically be unable to do the actual research for you.
What they could give you is a thorough orientation about the family history center, answer any or all of your questions with regards to research (the expertise of each family history center staff varies), assist you in your use of the family history center resources as well as help you in ordering microfiche and microfilms from the family history library.
Also, there are various classes offered by many family history centers. These classes offer research genealogical topics which could further assist you in your family history search.
Family history centers are also able to give you referrals to other archives, libraries or institutions that could assist you in your search.
What research tools are offered by the family history center?
Believe it or not, there are various tools as well as software programs available at the family history center. The familysearch program is a collection of computer programs and files that are there to assist individuals in their search for info on their ancestors.
The familysearch program include the family history catalog library, the genealogical international index, the ancestral file (a program which allow other patrons to arrange history family info), the death social security index, the church Scottish records, the military US index.
There are also resources that are published such as histories, genealogies, gazetteers, maps and atlases that are available at the family history center.
All in all, family history centers are best sources for info on genealogical searches that could help you know yourself and your family a lot better.
Chapter 1: Genealogy Made Free - Start Yours Now!
Genealogy, to most people, is just the simple term ‘family tree’. One would be foolish to not have any interest on his origin.
To start with one’s genealogy is like starting a long hike. There are things one needs to know and prepare for. In addition to that, it would consume some of your time. Just have patience and it will all be worth it!
There are many sites offering free information on genealogy. As the saying goes, it is now just a click of a mouse away. As mentioned, one must prepare some information before starting to look for additional ones. What are these ‘information’?
Begin with the basic ones like dates (of birth, marriages and death), family names and first names (use of paternal last name, name after marriage, Chinese last names, middle names and nicknames, etc.), occupations and places. After gathering all these, read on for the free stuff offered on genealogical sites:
Genealogical forms for downloading like charts as basis for the family tree, calendar (used for research), forms for note taking, deed indexes (grantors and grantees), checklist for libraries or archives the researcher visited), journals and worksheets for research, table of contents, index for marriages (statewide), and vital records.
Other forms are outline for biography, log for correspondence, family group sheet (chart filled out by family groups), time capsules, checklist of military records, tradition records, census records checklist (which includes 1790-1930 censuses). One could also have a checklist of books and articles that the researcher finds to be relevant to the genealogical work.