sunflowerlady Posted August 19, 2015 Share Posted August 19, 2015 I want to get into genealogy and I do have a fair bit of info already on my mother's side. I don't have in the budget right now to pay a monthly fee for one of the sites. My library does have a genealogy department and I think there is free access there for one of the programs. Honestly , I feel overwhelmed and don't know where to start or what to look for. Our local LDS church has a sign out front about a genealogy center. Do they open it to the public? What things do they offer? I am an introvert and a bit of a reserved person , so I don't want to feel foolish by going in there and talking to them if they don't offer it to the public. Other options for research ideas would be appreciated too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Butter Posted August 19, 2015 Share Posted August 19, 2015 Yes, the family history centers are free and open to the public! Sometimes people staffing them aren't even members. They will be happy to help you! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carol in Cal. Posted August 19, 2015 Share Posted August 19, 2015 My husband was immeasurably helped at the local Mormon center, and is not Mormon. He never felt any pressure to look at the Mormon faith there, either. It's a very generous service, and no strings are attached. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amiesmom Posted August 19, 2015 Share Posted August 19, 2015 Yes, you can go in any time they are open, our local center actually serves more non LDS people than LDS people. Also, you can set up a free account on familysearch.org and start searching things out pretty easily. They have a live chat option as well. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maize Posted August 19, 2015 Share Posted August 19, 2015 You should be able to find contact information for your local LDS family history center here: https://familysearch.org/locations/ 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lawyer&Mom Posted August 19, 2015 Share Posted August 19, 2015 You can accomplish *a lot* with Ancestry.com's two week free trial. Familysearch.org is a great free resource. Just remember that the Mormons haven't put all their records online, but it's a great place to start. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maize Posted August 19, 2015 Share Posted August 19, 2015 Ancestry.com and many other online databases should also be available through your local family history center. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Forget-Me-Not Posted August 19, 2015 Share Posted August 19, 2015 Yes. You might call or check the sign about hours. The family history in my local library keeps kind of odd hours, and they are currently closed until September. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
planner Posted August 19, 2015 Share Posted August 19, 2015 They'll help you. I'd suggest calling first and setting up an appointment. That way you know they'll be expecting you and it may reduce any anxiety you may have about going to the center. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gardenmom5 Posted August 19, 2015 Share Posted August 19, 2015 I want to get into genealogy and I do have a fair bit of info already on my mother's side. I don't have in the budget right now to pay a monthly fee for one of the sites. My library does have a genealogy department and I think there is free access there for one of the programs. Honestly , I feel overwhelmed and don't know where to start or what to look for. Our local LDS church has a sign out front about a genealogy center. Do they open it to the public? What things do they offer? I am an introvert and a bit of a reserved person , so I don't want to feel foolish by going in there and talking to them if they don't offer it to the public. Other options for research ideas would be appreciated too. I have been a librarian at the FHC library. it is very easy to get information overload - and document document document document! Honestly, I can't stress that enough! documenting can be tedious - but it is *essential*! a number of times I've had to disappoint someone because they linked to someone - who was NOT who they thought. (sorry - but that sarah ward didn't get married in 1880 - she died in 1877 . . . ) actually read the documents associated with a person. e.g. my grandfather's draft card had his sister as his contact. I had no idea what her married name was - but that not only gave me a name, but a location. with that information - I found more than a dozen family members. while there are many records that have been digitized, or microfisched, or somehow made available on a computer - many records are not. the FHC also has "films" you can order, (those do have a minimal fee associated) to view at a FHC library. some are on permanent loan, and you can access anything in the library for free. yes - the family history centers are open to the public for free. (not all volunteers are LDS.) some paid subscription services are available (e.g. ancestry***) - for free - at the centers. most areas have a day-long genealogy conference with classes once a year at a regional location. again - for free. librarians vary in their abilities - and some have more experience in some areas, and not in others. they'll usually be able to point you in a more specific direction. the librarians are there to help, and want to help. If you have a very specific area you want to research i.e. Scandinavia - there will often be a specialty genealogy group that meets somewhere else, that isn't associated - but they will know about it from your home computer, you can access familysearch.org and set up your own tree - for free. there are also records for searching that you can link to pertinent people. some other sites are rootsweb.com, Cyndi's list.org is a storehouse of information that links to almost every other site out there (some free, some fee). some states have very good digital archives (I <3 MO for death certificates :) ) - other's . . . not so much. internment.org, findagrave.com, billiongraves.org ***ancestry now has a direct upload link to familysearch. so, you can do your ancestry research for free at the FHC, upload (one person at a time) to your free tree at familysearch and access it from home. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gardenmom5 Posted August 19, 2015 Share Posted August 19, 2015 You can accomplish *a lot* with Ancestry.com's two week free trial. Familysearch.org is a great free resource. Just remember that the Mormons haven't put all their records online, but it's a great place to start. it's a very time consuming process - and it IS in process. what is available digitally - IS online. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Butter Posted August 19, 2015 Share Posted August 19, 2015 Familysearch.org is a great free resource. Just remember that the Mormons haven't put all their records online, but it's a great place to start. We're working on it! It takes a *long* time to properly index the records. Once they are, though, they go on-line. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sunflowerlady Posted August 19, 2015 Author Share Posted August 19, 2015 Thank you! I will check out the sites given also.! My mom and some of her relatives did a good bit of research back in the 1980s and they found a pretty good amount of info especially considering it was pre-internet days. I will be using the records I have from what she did as a starting point. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lawyer&Mom Posted August 20, 2015 Share Posted August 20, 2015 We're working on it! It takes a *long* time to properly index the records. Once they are, though, they go on-line. Keep up the good work! I didn't mean to imply the Mormons are holding anything back, just that there is more to be had then you can find online. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gardenmom5 Posted August 20, 2015 Share Posted August 20, 2015 Thank you! I will check out the sites given also.! My mom and some of her relatives did a good bit of research back in the 1980s and they found a pretty good amount of info especially considering it was pre-internet days. I will be using the records I have from what she did as a starting point. that's a good place to start. *always* include source info. one day, someone else may want to look at that source info. (or worse -you will, and won't be able to find it . . . don't ask me how I know.) remember too - different sources have greater and lesser degrees of veracity. gov't and most church records are very good (and some countries -the church records and gov't records are the same. Scandinavia is great . . . they say where the person came from - and where they went.) someone else's undocumented family tree can be considered a guide, NOT 'a source'. and always remember, when looking at someone else's work, people made mistakes. they got tired and put the wrong name in the wrong slot, or the wrong date - or transposed numbers . . . and, I've had people lie on their census records. . . . . (and some where there were misleading mistakes.) or change names from one census to the next because they were hiding from creditors . . . 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Butter Posted August 20, 2015 Share Posted August 20, 2015 Keep up the good work! I didn't mean to imply the Mormons are holding anything back, just that there is more to be had then you can find online. Anyone can index, actually. You can go to familysearch.org and make an account and download the indexing program. I find it fun. I do at least one batch a day. Our ward is doing a challenge this summer and I'm seriously competitive so I am doing 10 batches a day right now. I've done almost 10,000 names this month (tiny drop in the bucket, but every little bit helps). 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mommaduck Posted August 20, 2015 Share Posted August 20, 2015 My mother used to volunteer at one of the FHCs. She isn't LDS. They are very open to helping others. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mommaduck Posted August 20, 2015 Share Posted August 20, 2015 Just be careful trying to contribute to Find-A-Grave. The people are territorial and can be nasty about it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gardenmom5 Posted August 21, 2015 Share Posted August 21, 2015 Just be careful trying to contribute to Find-A-Grave. The people are territorial and can be nasty about it. :confused1: wow. there's also: billiongraves.com internment.net you can also internet search particular counties. I'm so grateful the main county I've done research in (re: ancestors starter arriving in the 1840's - and some of my mother's first -double - cousins are still there.) - a group went around and documented/digitized all the headstones in each cemetery. (it's a small county. very small.) I love doing genealogy in Missouri. at least the part my ancestors are from. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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