At some point in your genealogy journey you will likely need or want to visit the renowned Family History Library (FHL) in Salt Lake City, Utah.
My first visit was in 2008, which I will call “the spark”.
At this point I was not the family genealogist and was in Salt Lake City to pickup my daughter from finishing her 3 months program of building hiking trails for Student Conservation Associaton (SCA).
While here, I visited the Family History Library, did some rudimentary searches and came away with a few census record printouts.
This “spark” spurred me on in 2009 to officially start my ancestry tree and a few years later become a volunteer consultant at my local Family History Center.
Now that I am a 12 year ancestry veteran, my second visit I was more prepared with “My To Do List”.
One Thing You Need to Know:
One thing you need to know is that the only time you need to visit the Family History Library is when your search on FamilySearch reports the only option to view the item is at the Family History Library.
As in my other blogs: How to Further Your Ancestry With FamilySearch: Part One and Part Two, I walked you step by step to view film numbers that were cited on Ancestry index record and how to view the original digitized document on FamilySearch or find a Family History Center.
Before, in order to view a microfilm that wasn’t on FamilySearch you either ordered the film, which had a cost, and had to send it to the Family History Center to view it or you went to the Family History Library in Salt Lake City.
As of September 8, 2017, patrons were no longer allowed to order microfilms to view at their local Family History Center. Instead, they upgraded to digital imaging to stay in tune with today’s technology.
By switching to digital imaging they have:
- Eliminated the microfilm costs
- Increased the access to more records
- Decreased the need to go to Family History Library
How to Plan/Prepare For FHL:
To prepare for my visit to the Family History Library, I went back through all my notebooks for any documents/books I could not see because of restrictions.
To organize my research for my visit, I used this research log (see Photo below). I originally found this research log at the Family History Center where I am a volunteer consultant.
Next, I searched for the research log on FamilySearch and found it on their FamilySearch Wiki Research Forms page.
This is a great website as it gives you all sorts of other resources that can help you with your Ancestry.
Below is the direct link to my favorite Research Log.
Research_Log.pdf (familysearch.org)
I like that it is in pdf so that you can:
- Save the PDF on your computer
- Type the information on the form (The form is fillable on the program)
- Print blank copies
Visiting FHL:
When I arrived at the FamilySearch: Family History Library, I was welcomed by the library greeters and explained that I needed to find the Sackelhausen Book for my research and he knew right away to send me to International Library B2 (Lower Level 2).
Once on B2, I picked out my work space, which included a nice big computer desk area that included three computer monitors.
With my list in hand, I went straight to work locating my Sackelhausen book.
Reading the book was difficult only because the book is in German. Luckily, I knew enough German to find what I was looking for and made my copies, which were free.
Any copies that I had questions about I could send to my German cousin to translate.
Next, on my To Do List it was easy as all I had to do was Sign In on FamilySearch computer for the restrictions for these item and go to:
- Catalog.
- Enter film number.
- Find the page or pages.
- Download to thumb/travel/flash drive.
- Take screen shot (Snip & Sketch) of the Index Information & save on travel drive.
Wrap-up:
To wrap things up, my second visit was a success as I have digital images of documents and the pages from the Sackelhausen book that could only be viewed at the FamilySearch: Family History Library in Salt Lake City.
Next time, I will know to plan for the entire day as, even though I was organized, it did not leave me any time to explore the rest of the library.
Now that I found my favorite research log resource, I can keep a running list of only the research I couldn’t find at FamilySearch because of restrictions and will be ready for my next visit to the FamilySearch: Family History Library.
