While most people know about the Familysearch.org Web site and its Ancestral Search feature, however,  the real backbone of the service is the Family History Library Catalog (also available on the Web site). This is the "card catalog" for the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, and it is through this online version of the catalog that you can determine what types of original records might be available for your ancestor.

Currently, there are over two million reels of microfilm housed in the Family History Library. These films contains such information as:

• Bible Records

• Cemetery Records

• Census Records

• Church Records

• Immigration/Emigration Records

• Newspapers

• Probate Records

• Published Family Histories

• Vital Records

These microfilm records are organized in the Family History Library by location, so it is important to be familiar with the records which were kept for the locality in which you are researching.  In New England, for example, many records are kept at the town level, and not at the county level as is prevalent in most other areas of the United States.  Records are also organized differently in different countries of the world.  One of the best ways to learn more about these available records and where to look for them is on the FamilySearch Web site itself in the Research Guidance section.

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