Success in our research depends on understanding the locality’s records, history, and required methodology. Whether we’re experienced in the research locality or a newbie, there is always more to learn.
In this blog series on the FamilySearch Research Wiki, guest blogger Virginia Pratt will help us understand what the wiki contains and how best to use it. Virginia worked on the FamilySearch Wiki team for five years, writing and organizing Wiki pages. We’re excited to have her share some insider tips on using this free and amazing resource. I invite you to follow this series and try out Virginia’s tips.
-Diana
By: Virginia Pratt
So far, we have learned how to navigate pages within the Research Wiki and what locality pages are and what information they hold. Next, we’ll focus on the topic pages in the Research Wiki and how they can help us find information about our ancestors. Topic pages help genealogists find background information on records for certain areas. Not all records are kept the same way or stored equally.
Topic pages in the Research Wiki provide information on helpful genealogical records, such as vital records and emigration/immigration records. The topic pages provide organized information, including database links to the desired records, historical background, and other pertinent details. These pages also provide information about missing records, discrepancies in recordkeeping, and other vital details a genealogist needs to find details about their ancestors’ lives. There are several ways to access topic pages. The first way is to type what you are looking for in the search box on the main page. (https://www.familysearch.org/en/wiki/Main_Page)
Type in a place and a record set to find, such as England Emigration and Immigration, and this will bring up the England Emigration and Immigration topic page. Another way of accessing the topic pages is from the country page. For example, on the Sweden Genealogy page (https://www.familysearch.org/en/wiki/Sweden_Genealogy), in the right sidebar under Record Types are the different record topic pages available for Sweden. Clicking on any of the record types takes you to the topic page, which explains different aspects of the record in detail.
From the Sweden Genealogy page, let’s choose and go to the Sweden Church Records topic page. (https://www.familysearch.org/en/wiki/Sweden_Church_Records)
Topic pages are organized in a way that is both helpful and user-friendly.
The first section is “Online Resources.” This is where the records can be found online. They are broken down by repository, date, and collection. On the Sweden Church Records page, the online resources are organized by the country’s digital archives, followed by the years that records are accessible, and then records found in catalogs. The symbol ($) indicates this is a subscription site, and a fee is required to view records. The word “index” means it is an index-only record set. The words “index and images” mean that there are indexes and images of the records. The word “images” means there may not be an index, and you may need to scroll through images to find the record you are looking for. The online resource section is the fastest way to get to the records you are looking for.
If information is in a language other than English, examples of words are provided to help you find the key genealogical terms they are looking for. On the Sweden Church Records page, the Swedish words for birth, marriage, and death are given to help you know what record you are looking at. The information found in the record is also listed.
Other sections on the topic pages include “Historical Background” and “Information in the Records.” These sections provide additional information for the records you are searching for.
On the left-hand side of the topic page is the table of contents. You can look at this to know what sections are on the page, and click on that section to read it, or you can scroll down the page to that section.
Let’s look at some more topic pages.
The England Census topic page (https://www.familysearch.org/en/wiki/England_Census) is an excellent resource for finding and understanding England Censuses. The page starts with online resources: which repositories have England censuses online, and whether you can see these collections for free. The next section is entitled “Background.” This section explains what a census is, how the censuses were taken, what missing censuses there are, and how to find out more information on these missing censuses. The next section, “Information in the Records,” has links to form layouts and tells what information can be found on the forms.
Next, let’s look at the United States Census topic page (https://www.familysearch.org/en/wiki/United_States_Census). As with the England Census top page, it starts with online resources and then goes to background information; however, it also includes a section linking to the different state census records topic pages. Clicking on a state, such as Alabama, (https://www.familysearch.org/en/wiki/Alabama_Census) takes you to the census page for that state and gives you information such as, non-population schedules for that state, existing and lost censuses, and lists of other census types such as Indian Rolls and Territorial Censuses.
The FamilySearch Research Wiki is a one-stop shopping experience for genealogists of all skill levels and all areas of research. The topic pages are an excellent example of the information the Research Wiki holds and of how easy it is to access. It is important to note that the Wiki is a work in progress. As more records come online and more information is gathered about different regions of the world, pages will update to reflect the new information.
Leave a Reply
Thanks for the note!