Getting to know more about your family means that you will do a lot of different key searches. These also include membership of all sorts of associations and groups.

A search for a surname is a so-called one name study and the results will reveal details of the family name you were looking for, way back in time from father to son.

There is also a one place study that may be of help. That might give an answer to where your family have lived. Every community, parish, village that comes up in your search might be of importance.

You could also search for a particular person if you try to connect the history of your family to that of another person’s.

Fact is you will do a lot of these searches to get any further and you might even look in places you didn’t know of at all in connection with your family.

Although your family might never have had anything to do with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, known as LDS, their records might be of great help in your search for answers.

In the past century the people of LDS have moved all their records on family history on microfilm. That way the records were safe. They also set up an index they could use to follow all their members and keep the records up to date.

These two jobs were enormous and well performed, so nowadays they are one of the best tools one can wish for in a search for family history. The two projects now are put together in two databases, ready to use.

IGI, the International Genealogical Index, is another tool to use. It is a record of both civil and cleric filmed records from all over the world. Of course only from areas and locations that cooperated when the task was done.

Then there is the database of AF, the Ancestral File. In it is the information about the contribution of members, over time.

How can you use these databases? The IGI has one of the best records regarding birth and marriage from the LDS. It has data of people being born, marrying and dying starting around 1500. The majority of the records come from the United States, Canada and Europe.

From these sources the information on members has been revealing a lot about family histories.

How to use the records of LDS? The microfilms we spoke of before are in the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah. The Library is an enormous source of information when it comes to the entire society. You don’t have to travel to Utah to use that information. At approximately 4000 LDS-locations around the country and worldwide they are willing help you.

You can go there, ask for information or even rent it for your research. They have now a search option on the Internet as well.

For a visit to this rich resource of information you go to FamilySearch.org