I got this from another one of my list. I thought I would share. Tamara -- >I've gotten a lot of private email on working the LDS online site. >These are the instructions I wrote for one lady. Apologies to those for >whom it's too basic. > >Not every batch number seems to work. >So far, I've been successful with batches that begin with C or M and >with >one out of every 6 films. The rest of the time, the computer just >laughs at >me. But just in case I didn't explain the steps clearly.... > >Go to http://www.familysearch.org. You'll see a form that asks for your > >ancestor's name. Ignore it. Look above that form for a graphic that >looks >like file folder tabs. Select the one called "Custom." A page will >come up >listing various resources. Pick International Genealogical Index (IGI). > >Now comes the fun part. I'll use an example from my own research. > >I took an ancestor whose record I had previously found in the IGI: >Alexander Stewart, chr. 23 Aug 1815, Cambusnethan, Lanark, Scotland. I >typed in his name and his parents' names and selected the British Isles >as >my region. That's the pull down menu below spouse's name. Alexander >Stewart is a common name in Scotland, and there's no place to enter the >date; so I got about 10 records back. > >I spotted 3 that were my boy by the date and town (remember, I knew the >parents were right). I clicked on each one. Below the thick black line >was >the source. One was a film, say, 446711. One was a batch 7699115, >sheet 56 >(I'm making this part up), and was was a batch C116282. > >I clicked the back arrow on my browser to the custom name form. I >deleted >Alexander's first name and his parents' names. Now I just had the >Stewart >surname and the British Isles. I entered C116282 in the batch number >square. It's the one to the far left of the three below "Region." Then >I >pressed search again. > >Up came 73 Stewarts who had been christened in Cambusnethan between 1650 >and >1825, including all of Alexander's siblings. I printed out the whole >list. >I clicked on the ones close to Alexander in age just to make sure they >were >the children of Alexander Sr. and Jean Walker. > >A couple of siblings were missing; so I left Stewart as the surname, >deleted >C116282, and typed 446711 in the film square all the way to the right of >the >3 little squares. Yup, there they were, as well as all the names from >C116282 and some other Stewarts. I printed that out too. > >When I tried batch 7699115, nothing happened, not even when I entered >the >sheet number in the middle box. I try putting it in the film square. >Nothing. So I gave up. > >Now I wanted to know who Alexander's siblings married; so I typed his >mother >and father in the name and spouse section, went through the same >process, >and got a batch called M116283. (I later figured out that the last >digit >reflects the time period covered, but a smaller digit isn't necessarily >earlier.) I went back, deleted everything but the last name Stewart and > >typed in M116283 as my batch. Sure enough, I got a bunch of Stewart >marriages for Cambusnethan. No guarantee, of course, that the Janet >Stewart >who got married in 1857 was Alexander's sister, but it was a lead. > >Does this make sense? Give it a try, and if you get stuck again, write. > >Tell me exactly where your experience differed from what I've described, >and >we'll figure it out. > >If you do write me, please mention what list you're from. If you're >lost and brave enough to say so, someone else on the list is too. > >ktc > > > > > > > > >==== LEWIS Mailing List ==== >Have LEWIS info you are willing to share?? Be sure to send it to the >list! > >