The following article is from Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter and is copyright 2000 by Richard W. Eastman. It is re-published here with the permission of the author. Family History Library Catalog on CD-ROM This week I had a chance to use the new Family History Library Catalog on CD-ROM. This valuable resource is produced by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (the Mormons). The Family History Library Catalog is a listing of available family histories; birth, marriage, and death records; census records; church registers; and many other records that may contain genealogical information. These records may be in a book, on microfiche or microfilm, or in a computer file. You can use these items at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City. Most of the same records are also available to you locally. While this new CD- ROM is titled the "Family History Library Catalog," it really is a catalog of records that you can obtain locally as well. You can visit any of the 1,000+ local Family History Centers located around the world to order a microfilm or microfiche rental for a fee of about $3.00. Before you visit the center, you should identify the films you want to order and either print the full records or the microfilm or microfiche numbers. Doing this in advance can save a lot of time at the local Family History Center. Keep in mind that this applies to microfilm and microfiche only; the books normally cannot be ordered in local Family History Centers. Books usually are available only at the Library in Salt Lake City. Three or four weeks after ordering the microfilm or microfiche you will receive a postcard telling you that the items have arrived. You then go back to the local Family History Center and use the microfilm and microfiche readers there to read the records contained on the films. I installed the CD-ROM software on a Windows 98 system and was looking at the catalog entries about one minute later. The Family History Library Catalog uses Microsoft's Internet Explorer as its software, and all operations are done in the browser. However, the data is on CD-ROM, so you do not have to be connected to the Internet to use this CD-ROM. Before using the Family History Library Catalog, you normally choose a person you want to find more information about, and then decide what you want to learn about him or her. For example, you may want to find your great-grandmother's death date and place. To do this, you need to decide what types of records are likely to contain that information. You can then use the catalog to see whether the library has those types of records. You can search by any combination of the following criteria: * surname * location * keyword * microfilm/microfiche number * title of the record(s) * call number * subject * author The capability to search by keyword, title, author, and call number is new with this version of the Family History Library Catalog on CD-ROM. The previous edition could only search by place, surname, subject, and film number. As an example of how this works, I'll describe a search that I conducted looking for records of an elusive great-great- grandfather. I knew that he spent most of his adult life in the small town of Corinth, Maine, so I wanted to view records available for that town. I clicked on "Place Search" and entered a Place name of CORINTH and then specified that it was a part of Maine. The Family History Library Catalog found two microfilms: Place: Maine, Penobscot, Corinth Topics: Maine, Penobscot, Corinth - History , Maine, Penobscot, Corinth - Vital records I clicked on the title of "Maine, Penobscot, Corinth - Vital records" and the following was displayed: Topic: Maine, Penobscot, Corinth - Vital records Titles: Vital records 1811-1895 Corinth (Maine). Town Clerk I then clicked on "Vital records 1811-1895 Corinth (Maine). Town Clerk" and the following was displayed: Title: Vital records 1811-1895 Authors: Corinth (Maine). Town Clerk (Main Author) Notes: Microfilm of original records at East Corinth, Maine. Some volumes are indexed. Contains family records listing births and deaths, intentions of marriage 1812-1895, marriage records 1811-1895. Subjects: Maine, Penobscot, Corinth - Vital records Format: Manuscript (On Film) Language: English Publication: Salt Lake City : Filmed by the Genealogical Society of Utah, 1955 Physical: 1 microfilm reel ; 35 mm. I clicked on the "View Film Notes" button in the upper right corner, and the words "FHL US/CAN Film 10809" appeared. I can now go to my local Family History Center and order microfilm 10809 to read these original records myself. The Family History Library Catalog CD-ROM software also allows the user to mark information for easy future retrieval. It also maintains a history of records reviewed during each search. This makes it easy to back up and repeat or modify an earlier search. The Family History Library Catalog on CD-ROM contains similar information about more than 2.5 million microfilms and microfiche as well as 300,000 books. The CD-ROM requires Windows 95, 98, or NT, a Pentium processor (or higher), 8 megabytes of RAM memory (although 16 megabytes is strongly recommended), a 4-speed or faster CD-ROM drive, and a VGA monitor with 256-color-capable video card displaying 800-by-600 pixels. Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.0 (or higher) is also required. Family History Library Catalog on CD-ROM is a convenient and useful resource for all genealogists. It lists the many records available through the Family History Library and local Centers. The same CD-ROM disk is available at both the Library and the local Centers. However, you have to share the computers there, so you may not have as much time on the CD-ROM as you would like. By ordering your own copy, you can spend as much time as you like at home finding what is available. You then can maximize your time spent in the Family History Library or your local Family History Center. Now comes the best part: the price. As with the other CD-ROM products available from the LDS Church, this one is a bargain. It costs $5.00 (U.S. funds) at Church distribution centers worldwide or can be ordered by phone at 1-800-537-5971. It can also be ordered on the Internet at http://www.ldscatalog.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ProductDisplay?prrfnbr=1632783& prmenbr=1402&CGRY_NUM=1440462&RowStart=1&LocCode=FH For those who asked: Subscription information: There are two different methods to subscribe to this free newsletter: Method #1: to subscribe, to cancel an existing subscription or to modify an existing subscription in any way, go to: http://rootscomputing.listbot.com If you want to see the current issue as well as back issues of the newsletter, look on the World Wide Web at: http://www.ancestry.com/library/view/news/articles/d_p_1_archive.asp Method #2: Send an e-mail to [email protected] Cheryl Rothwell [email protected]