Religious Education

Lesson 4.2
  Record Search

What is Record Search? 
Record Search, also referred to as FamilySearch Pilot, (http://pilot.familysearch.org) is the current database where indexed records from the FamilySearch Indexing project are made available to search.  Because this is currently a pilot database, there may be times when Record Search will not be accessible due to uploading of new images and improvements being made. After a project is completely indexed, it becomes available to the public for research, thus the site is continually updated. Original records are provided for most records and may be viewed for no charge through Footnote.com (www.footnote.com).

Records Available
Records are available through Record Search include: United States Censuses, State Censuses, birth, marriage, and death records, pension records, immigration and emigration records, church records, probate records, and civil registration records.

Research using Record Search
When using Record Search, users may perform a general search or choose to search a specific record set within a region (i.e., 1900 U.S. Census).One of the great strengths of Record Search is the various ways that users may narrow their searches.  If a particular record search yields a large number of results, a user may narrow any search by place, date, collection (a specific census, passenger list, death certificates from a specific state or city, etc.), gender, last name, first name, record type (census and lists, legal records, vital records, etc.), role of the individual (principal, groom, mother, etc.), or event type (birth, christening, residence, etc.).  With these various narrowing options, users may effectively narrow their searches to those records with a higher relevance to their research. 

General Search
Include as little or as much information as you wish. For a broader search use less information and for a narrower search use more information. Keep in mind that if you are too specific, your ancestor may not appear. A general search will provide a list of results which may or may not relate to your ancestor.
Regional Records
To see what projects are available to be searched, select a specific region on the map on the main screen. A list of completed indexed records will then allow you to select those that will most benefit your research.

How to Help
Record Search is constantly being updated in order to provide users with more indexed documents. You can help in this effort by indexing records through FamilySearch Indexing. Instructions on how to participate in FamilySearch Indexing are explained in Lesson 4.3.

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