FamilySearch Research Wiki Exercise

Transcription

1 FamilySearch Research Wiki Exercise OBJECTIVES: To learn how to access, use, and search for articles in the FamilySearch Research Wiki that will help you research your family tree. The FAMILYSEARCH RESEARCH WIKI is a large, online library where you can find thousands of articles and free research advice for doing your family history. There are no actual records on the Wiki, but it often provides links to online databases where records can be found. It can help you learn how to choose, find, and use records to search for and document your ancestors. I. HOW TO ACCESS THE FAMILYSEARCH RESEARCH WIKI A. Double click on an Internet browser icon on the computer desktop. At the Training Center the home page or beginning page is FamilySearch.org. Then click on the Search icon under the top picture. (At home, type familysearch.org into the address field of your Internet browser and press Enter. Then click Search ) B. In the menu under the FamilySearch logo click on WIKI. This takes you to the home page of the Research Wiki. Note: The content of the FamilySearch Research Wiki is constantly changing to make it more useable, more comprehensive and more accurate. What you see today may be changed tomorrow! II. HOW TO USE A SEARCH FIELD AND A SEARCH RESULTS LIST Click in the field underneath the Search by place or topic title at the left of the home page. Here you can type in key words or search terms to find answers to your family history questions, or you can type in the title of an article you want to find. Example: How can the Wiki help me learn how to search for the articles that it contains? A. Type search tips in the search field. A one item search option list appears below the search field. Click on it. (This list is usually a longer list from which you can select any one of the possibilities by clicking on it.) If no list appears press Enter. B. A list of search results will appear. Note that: 1. Results with keywords in the article title will be listed first. 2. Results with keywords in the body of the article will be listed next. 3. Articles containing the search terms many times will rank higher in the search results than those that only contain the search terms once or twice. 4. Text inside articles that matches your search terms will be highlighted. 5. Each article will show the date the article was last modified. Yellow Research Wiki Ex. 2013, W-1 Intellectual Reserve, Inc. (24 September 2013) 1 Utah South Area Family History Training Center -Orem

2 C. The number of articles in the results list will be at the top. If you need to see more search results than those shown on the first page, you can click on (next 20), etc. at the bottom of the page. Locate the title of the article you want to read and click on it. For this exercise, find and click on Help: Search Tips. The article will appear at the left of the page. D. In general, the first paragraph in a Wiki article is an explanation or introduction to the article. Read the first paragraph of the article. 1. Scroll through the Help: Search Tips article to see what it contains. Note: As you look through an article, look for links to other web sites or to other articles. 2. This article has a Contents list as a first item. Most have one. 3. In some articles you will see blue lettering with an outward arrow symbol. It indicates a link to a website outside the Wiki. These outside sites may be free use or charge a fee. 4. Blue lettering without a symbol indicates a link to another page within the Wiki. (Note: At the bottom of the page find the word Categories. To the right is a list of categories in which the article appears. If you were to click on one of these links you would get a list of all Wiki articles in that category. Do not select one at this point.) E. Note at the top right corner of the page there are Watch, Share, and Print options. These are at the top of every article. See Topic IX. B. following for descriptions of them. F. In the Contents list click on Advanced Search Tips to go to that section of the article. G. If you want to return to the Search Results list, click on the Back arrow at the left of the address bar. III. HOW TO DO A NEW SEARCH: Some examples Example 1. How can the Wiki help me find forms such as blank family group records, census forms, pedigrees, research logs and others? A. Scroll to the top of the Help: Search Tips page B. At the top right of the page is the Search Learning & How-To s field. This search field is on every page so you can quickly type in Yellow Research Wiki Ex. 2013, W-1 Intellectual Reserve, Inc. (24 September 2013) 2 Utah South Area Family History Training Center -Orem

3 new search terms for another article. Note: Below the search field are options to browse the Wiki articles by country or by topic. These options will be covered later in the exercise. C. Type the word forms into the Search field. Press Enter. D. Click on Use Appropriate Forms in the Search results list. Browse through the article briefly to see what it contains. E. Click on the Back arrow to return to the Search Results list. Find and click on a link where you can find blank census forms. Example 2. How can the Wiki help me learn more about and use the Research Process? A. Go to the Search Learning & How-To s field at the top right of the page. B. Type research process in the Search field. Press Enter. C. Click on Research Process in the Search Results list. D. At the lower left of this page each step of the Research Process is a link to more information about that particular step. At the bottom of the page is an expanded list of these same 5 steps in the Research Process. Each step there has links on the right that will take you to the sections within that step and show you how to complete it. 1. Click on the STEP 1: Identify What You Know link. An expanded version of Step 1 will appear with an explanation at the top and the Table of Contents for that step following. Each title in the Table of Contents is a link. 2. Scroll through the listings in the Table of Contents and find the sections that advise you to use appropriate forms and to organize your records. 3. Find the expanded five steps of the Research Process table at the bottom of the page, and the links to information included in each step at the right. 4. Click on Organize Your Records in either the Table of Contents section or in the list at the right of Step 1. Identify What You Know at the bottom of the page. Find the five things that your filing system should be or do. Browse through the article. 5. Find links to the five steps of the Research Process again at the bottom of the page. Yellow Research Wiki Ex. 2013, W-1 Intellectual Reserve, Inc. (24 September 2013) 3 Utah South Area Family History Training Center -Orem

4 Click on Step 2. Decide What You Want to Learn. Find the table of contents for the Decide What You Want to Learn page. Browse through the page to see what is there. Find the link to the next step, Step 3. Select Records to Search, at the bottom. Other articles on the Wiki can be studied by browsing and clicking on links in a similar way. IV. HOW TO BROWSE BY COUNTRY TO SEARCH FOR RESEARCH ARTICLES How can the Wiki help me find information about doing research in a particular country? The Wiki has helpful country pages with links to articles about the country s records and how to do research in that country. Most country pages in the Wiki will follow a similar form. We will demonstrate how to access and use these pages using the United Sates as an example. A. Go to the Search Learning & How-To s section at the top right of any page. B. Click on by country in the browse section below the Search field. C. Click on the U in the Index at the top. D. Click on United States in the list under U. The United States page will appear. Find the list of Topics for the United States in the column at the left of the page. Each Topic is a link to another Wiki page. Many items in the Topics list are the types of records that can also be found using the Family History Library Catalog-the catalog of all the records in the Family History Library, and more. 1. Scroll down and click on Record Selection Table in the list of topics. Locate the table in the article. A record selection table helps you decide which records to search for a particular research goal. For example, if you are looking for information about a United States ancestor s age, what records should you search first? 2. Click on the Back arrow to go back to the United States page, OR click on United States under the United States Record Selection Table title at the top of the article. 3. Click on Census in the Topics list to see helpful information about United States census records and where to find them. Browse through the article and find the following: a. A list of Key U.S. Census Internet Links. Note most links have outgoing blue arrows that take you to an outside website. Many fee-based. Yellow Research Wiki Ex. 2013, W-1 Intellectual Reserve, Inc. (24 September 2013) 4 Utah South Area Family History Training Center -Orem

5 b. A list of Non-Population Federal Schedules c. A link to see the Contents of Federal Censuses d. A list of links to census information for each state under Censuses in U.S. States. 4. Click on Alabama in the list of states. Find and study the chart titled Online Federal and State Population Schedules for Alabama. 5. Scroll to the top of the Alabama Census page and look under the title for United States. Click on this link to return to the United States page. E. Scroll down to find the list of Research Tools under the map. Browse through the list to see what types of research tools are available. F. Go to the map of states on the United States page. Clicking on a state will take you to that state s home page. (Other countries may also have a map or list of states, provinces or areas.) Click on the state of Illinois. Find the following on the Illinois page: 1. The list of Illinois Topics and the Illinois Record Selection Table link near the top 2. The list of Counties in Illinois (The county map below can be used to select county records.) 3. The list of Research Tools G. To return to the United States page click either on the Back arrow or click on United States under the Illinois title. V. HOW TO BROWSE BY TOPIC TO SEARCH FOR RESEARCH ARTICLES How can the Wiki help me find records about specific topics such as business or migration? Go to the section titled Search Learning & How-To s at the top right of any page and click on by topic. Scroll through the alphabetical topic list and click on a topic of interest to you. See what information you can find to help you in your family history research. VI. HOW TO RETURN TO THE WIKI S HOME PAGE At the upper right of every page is a block of five drop-down menus that starts with Research Articles. Find the Volunteer, Views, Toolbox, and Personal Tools menus. Some menus may already be open. A. To return to the Research Wiki home page, do the following: If neither the Volunteer menu nor Research Articles menu is open, click on one of them to see the menu. Yellow Research Wiki Ex. 2013, W-1 Intellectual Reserve, Inc. (24 September 2013) 5 Utah South Area Family History Training Center -Orem

6 B. At the bottom of the menu click on Wiki Home. VII. OTHER FEATURES ON THE WIKI HOME PAGE How else can the Wiki help me? A. Learning about the Wiki. 1. Locate the New to the Research Wiki? section in the column at the right. This section is on every Wiki page. 2. Click on the Learn More button This opens up a Help:Tour page titled Welcome to the Research Wiki! This article gives you an overview of what you can do in and with the Wiki. Browse through the article. Click on the Back arrow or use the right menu block described above to return to the Wiki home page. B. In the center of the Wiki home page are several large clickable icons like those shown here. These are shortcuts to activities that you may want to pursue. Examine some of these. Note that under the pictures there are links to further narrow your activity interest. Each of these lists can be expanded with the More or All countries links below them. C. At the very bottom of the page are two links: View popular articles and View featured article archives. Click on these and select an article or month. Are there any of interest to you? VIII. FEATURES IN THE COMMUNITY CENTER How can the Wiki connect me to obtain help from experts and other users? A. In the menu block at the right of the page, click to open the Volunteer menu if it is not already open, and select the Community Center link. B. The Community Center page provides links to help you: 1. Meet and Talk with other Wiki contributors 2. Join the Team to Learn to edit and contribute articles to the Wiki. 3. Request a mentor or contact FamilySearch Support to report a Problem (Under Questions ) 4. Connect to news articles about the Wiki You may want to explore these links in depth at another time. Yellow Research Wiki Ex. 2013, W-1 Intellectual Reserve, Inc. (24 September 2013) 6 Utah South Area Family History Training Center -Orem

7 IX. OPTIONS ON EVERY WIKI ARTICLE PAGE How can I get help, help create or edit a Wiki article, join in a discussion about an article, or get notification when a Wiki article is changed? You do not have to be signed in or even registered to find and read articles on the Wiki. However, if you want to join in discussions, edit and write articles, receive notification when an article changes, send to other users or participate in forums, you must Sign In with your user name and password from your LDS FamilySearch Account (for members of the Church) or FamilySearch Account (for the general public). A. The Get Help and Sign In links are at the top right of every page. Clicking on the Get Help link takes you to the FamilySearch Help Center where you find: Product Support, Research Assistance, Getting Started, and Learning Center. Click on each to see the options. 1. The Product Support link lets you browse by topics and search for documents called knowledge documents (KD) by number and subject. 2. The Research Assistance link allows you find research help. 3. The Getting Started link lists steps to start your family history. 4. The Learning Center link provides-among other things-5 minute video courses for beginners and courses for research in various countries. B. At the upper right of each Wiki article there are the Watch, Share and Print options. 1. The Watch option allows you to add a notice to your watch list if you are signed in. You will be notified if the page is changed. 2. The Share option allows you to the article to a friend. 3. The Print option allows you to print the article. X. IF TIME PERMITS, SEARCH FOR OTHER ARTICLES ON THE WIKI Go to the FamilySearch Research Wiki and search for some of the terms below or use your own terms. Click on the name of an article in the Search results list to see what it contains. Keys to success using the Wiki, How to document sources (look for Cite Your Sources and Document AS YOU GO! ) Organize (look for Organizing Your Files ) Record Selection Table (name of country first, such as Scotland record selection table ) Census or church records (country first, such as Norway census or Germany church records) Birth records, christening records, death records, etc. (place name first, such as New York City birth records or Denmark christening records ) LDS membership records Boolean searches Tracing immigrant origins Find a person in the 1930 Census Yellow Research Wiki Ex. 2013, W-1 Intellectual Reserve, Inc. (24 September 2013) 7 Utah South Area Family History Training Center -Orem

8 Yellow Research Wiki Ex. 2013, W-1 Intellectual Reserve, Inc. (24 September 2013) 8 Utah South Area Family History Training Center -Orem