Family History Lesson – Partner Sites

This is a lesson that I created for my family history class. It helps students to walk through the process of signing up for the family history parter sites. When you access these sites, you will be able to use their genealogical records to help find your ancestors. This lesson is intended for members of the Restored Church of Jesus Christ, who have free access with their membership.

Researching: Partner Sites

Now comes the fun! It’s time to start seeking information and evidence to prove and complete the information on your family in FamilySearch. You will be going beyond Record Hints in your pursuit of sources. FamilySearch has many sources that do not automatically appear in Record Hints that require more advanced search skills.

Additionally (with your Membership in the Church) you have access to American Ancestors, Ancestry, FindMyPast, and MyHeritage where you can search for additional information and sources. Becoming confident in your ability to search is a skill you now need to master. 

For this assignment:

1. Watch this video for background
   • Family Search Tips from FamilySearch
2. Tips for Finding Your Ancestors in Genealogy Databases (Links to an external site.) is another resource that will give you tips on researching ancestors.
3. Create accounts with all four Partner sites by going to www.familysearch.org/partneraccess (Links to an external site.)  (these accounts are free with your membership in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints).
   • Notes:
     • FamilySearch –  does not allow you to download a GEDCOM from the site
     • My Heritage  – will bring over a full FamilySearch Tree (takes a while to download) but will create a GEDCOM
     • Ancestry – will only import 4 generations from FamilySearch, but will create a GEDCOM
     • American Ancestors – allows an import from FamilySearch but this is what they say on their website – 
       • You can import up to 4 generations of ancestors and one generation of their descendants, or up to 8 generations of ancestors without descendants.Because we import not only facts and relationships but also stories and media, importing more generations would take a long time.You can import additional generations at any time by navigating to an end-of-line ancestor and selecting Download more from the FamilySearch icon in the toolbar.
     • Find My Past – will only take GEDCOM (will not import directly from FamilySearch)
     • Geneanet  – will only take GEDCOM (will not import directly from FamilySearch)
4. If you are unfamiliar with a GEDCOM (Links to an external site.), it is a computer file for genealogy. In fact the word is short for Genealogical Data Communication. Here is a video from Ancestry on how to create a GEDCOM from their site. It should give you a good idea of what it is and how it is used. 
   • How to Create and Download a GEDCOM , from Ancestry Academy, on Ancestry.com
5. Assignment: Using Google searches and help found on the sites listed above, pick one of the five main family history sites you will use for research and become an expert on advanced searching techniques for the site you selected.

Thank you!