Newbie here. How helpful are the LDS family centers?

[woodsprite]

I have one right down the street from me and didn't even know it. I also have an Ancestry.com account. Would it be worth going to the LDS center, or is that just paper and microfiche of what is online at Ancestry.com? All the research I've done so far has been either home research, the Univ. of Delaware library, or the internet.

[Momgonepostal]

1. It kind of depends

If you need assistance from actual people, they can be helpful, but then again, the people there are volunteers and some more knowledgable than others.

Some centers subcribe to Ancestry.com and if you used the center, wouldn't have to fork over big bucks for your own subscription.

They might also have books and other things of local interest that are not (yet) available online.

If it really is so close, I'd check it out, just to see what they have. If it's no use to you, then you'll know. :-)

[woodsprite]

2. I hope they have local docs

I went into the Delaware Genealogical Society library a while back. I could only get there at night and they encouraged everyone to wait and walk out to their cars together as one big group. Didn't make me feel too healthy about being in that part of Wilmington.

I finish up rehearsals tonight, so I'll have my Tuesday nights and Sat mornings free all summer. I can see spending alot of time there if they have local histories. :) I subscribe to one Ancestry.com database a year (keeps hubby from going off the deep end because of cost). I just dropped my subscription to newspapers and picked up the US Census.

[Momgonepostal]

3. The one near me does

People have donated books, histories of the area, local people etc. The kind of thing that was never mass produced and is now out of print.

They also should have a many of the things available at Ancestry but for free. :-) On second thought, there may be a fee for photo copies, but it's minimal, since the centers are not trying to make a profit.

Let us know how it goes!

[Greylyn58]

4. I have found some interesting stuff on-line with the LDS

http://www.familysearch.org/

It's a good and free resource.

[CBHagman]

5. I haven't tried one yet, but they should be able to get items.

I understand that it's an easy way to obtain microfilm of things you need. Sooner or later, if you are truly serious about genealogy, you're going to want something in either book or microfilm form, and you're going to need a facility for it.

I use the Library of Congress and the National Archives myself, as they're closer than the Family History Centers in my area.

[hfojvt]

6. it depends on what you are looking for

I do not think they are useful for census information which is all that I get from ancestry.com. I do not think ancestry has church and probate records on-line. familysearch.org has some church records on-line because they have extracted some of them, and other researchers, such as myself, have done partial extractions. However, I would rather see the records myself than rely totally on what other people have done. Their catalog is on line at familysearch.org. You can order most of the films to the center for $3.25 for sixty days, 3.25 for another 60, and another 3.25 to make it permanent.

[bobbieinok]

7. used it a lot in the 80s....got a lot of 'possible' from their various

member post list...'personal ancestry file' (?)

and then used these to check out names in books

I found it helpful

the stuff on the LDS internet site doesn't seem as complete what I found in the branch libraries. but then I don't go to LDS much anymore

(edit for spelling)

[Lefty48197]

8. VERY VERY HELPFUL

For about $4 you can order a microfilm reel from the depository in Utah. They'll keep it at your local branch library for about 1 month, and you can renew the rental, if you want.
The microfilms give you access to many many vital record from around the world. I'm always squinting at old films of birth records, marriage records, death records etc...

[Xipe Totec]

9. The best

Take full advantage of what they offer, and If you do find important information about your family, then submit it to their archives for safe keeping. Do not be discouraged, it took almost a year for my posted records to make in to the archives, but now I know that my family history research is in safe hands.

[woodsprite]

10. I've found some info on Ancestry.com's One World Tree

that links in with my family (family of 12 - kids names and birth years all the same, parents the same). Pretty good chance it's the same line, so they should have some info for me to get started with. This data doesn't list a contributor, so I believe it's from their data that LDS has put in.

Looks like I have one more week to wait until my schedule frees up. It's literally 1 mile down the road and with the FHC short hours, my work schedule and such, the hours I *THOUGHT* I would be able to get down there haven't materialized yet.

Do you just submit your tree after you've "proven" and sourced the people?

[Xipe Totec]

11. That's Pretty Much It

When you submit it eventually gets posted in the Pedigree Resource File and made available to other researchers on-line and on CD. It only gets posted on the ancestral file if you happen to be a member of the LDS church (which I am not).

You do have to register with the site in order to submit. You get a user name and password just like at DU.

As a genealogist I am fortunate that my records are all coming from the Catholic church in Mexico, which was meticulous about keeping records that include not just parents but grandparents. Even so it was quite a challenge. Most of the records I've had to research are microfilm copies of the original parchment and goose quill ledgers, over three centuries old.

[shraby]

12. Try the USGenWeb site at

<http://www.usgenweb.org>

They have someone in almost all counties in the United States who will assist you with local records if they can. They also have a link to World GenWeb with a similar setup in different countries.
Their service is free.

[CBHagman]

13. That's a really useful site.

I located my great-grandparents' marriage license and my great-great-grandmother's will through USGenweb. Resources vary from state to state, but keep at it and you'll find something helpful -- an address, a city directory, a place to post queries, etc.

Also, county genealogical societies are really useful. The Genealogical Research Society of Northeastern Pennsylvania, for example, has gotten me all manner of useful documents and newspaper accounts, at reasonable prices.