The primary purpose of a family history center is to help members fulfill their divinely appointed responsibility to qualify their ancestors for temple ordinances. The most important resource in a center is the one-on-one assistance that staff provide.
Resources
The following are general resources about helping patrons:
- Creating the Center Experience (Open House 2012): View a video with a discussion about how to create a good patron experience.
- Principles for Successful Family History Classes: View a video with tips for conducting successful classes.
Getting Started with Your Family History
The following are resources about how to get started with family history:
- Getting Started Videos: Watch a series of "how-to" videos to help you get started with family history.
- Temple and Family History Course Materials: Access a beginning-level class designed to help Church members start their family history research and perform temple ordinances on their ancestors' behalf.
- Family Tree Training: View training resources to help you prepare and submit names to the temple using the Family Tree (this will replace new FamilySearch).
- Policies for Submitting Names for Temple Work: View a course on what names to submit for temple work.
Basic Family History Research
The following are resources to help you research your ancestors. Other resources are also available in the Learn center on www.familysearch.org.
- FamilySearch demos: Watch a series of “how-to” videos to help you get started using FamilySearch.org.
- 5-Minute Genealogy: Watch a series of “how-to” videos to help you get started with researching your family history.
Indexing
These are resources to help you learn about FamilySearch indexing.
Video: Indexing Quick Start
- Indexing Resource Guide: View a web page with links to indexing resources.
- How to Index: View a handout on how to index records.
- How to Arbitrate: View a handout on how to arbitrate records.
- FamilySearch Indexing User Guide: View the user guide for FamilySearch indexing.