ROOTS & BRANCHES

My cousin Cindy Cruz reached out to me earlier this about an important impending trip she was taking: Her very first research trip to the FamilySearch Library in Salt Lake City.

“Since you have lots of experience in the hallowed halls there, I thought I would ask if you have any sage advice?” Cruz asked. “I can’t think of anyone who knows my general areas of interest better than you! I am especially interested in any German or Berks County related resources that I should not miss.”

My first thought upon receiving her email was one of nostalgia—it’s been almost exactly 27 years since I took my first trip to what was then called the Family History Library.

I’ve been back virtually every year since, but what I do there has changed markedly with the alterations in technology and access. Back then most everything was on microfilm and to have remote access you needed to pay to have copies of the microfilms sent to a Family History Center that was local to you; therefore, a trip to Salt Lake was an opportunity to short circuit that process and get a year’s worth of research done in a week with the ready access to go from one microfilm to another.

As I read Cruz’s email, I was struck by organized she was already; she has already put together a list of books to which she doesn’t have easy access (such as the late renowned immigrant finder Annette K. Burgert) as well as the town genealogies of German villages called Ortssippenbücher for her confirmed villages of origin.

 “I also plan on making a consultation appointment with a German specialist to ask for some advice on a family or two,” Cruz said. “I want to take in the Tabernacle Choir rehearsal and a noon organ recital if they are on the schedule. I am also meeting a distant cousin there who can help me with my husband’s Hispanic/Mexican research.”

A few more observations I’d make:

• Prioritize digitized films that are “locked” from home desktop computer use (usually due to alleged rights issues), since these are by and large accessible in the library but won’t be back home.
• Look carefully at the library catalog for different versions of records; there may be several transcripts (published or unpublished) of American church records, and not all will be reliable.
• Even for European church records she’s checked out on sites such as Arcion.de or Matricula.eu, it’s worth seeing if the FamilySearch Library has better digital copies. While usually it’s the case that the FamilySearch versions were done from old analog microfilms and therefore inferior, every once and awhile you’ll find that a register has deteriorated since it was first microfilmed by FamilySearch and therefore their copy is better.

Cruz said she’s not particularly driven to solve any genealogical mysteries on this trip. “I just want to revel in the plethora of resources and enjoy the experience,” she said. “I am trying to prepare enough that I will be likely to find some ‘good stuff’ but I also want to relax and familiarize myself with the library for future visits.”

And, with that, she’s giving herself her own best advice!