Browsable Images Instruction for FamilySearch Catalog

Step 1: You will see a catalog entry that looks like this. Scroll down to the list of microfilms below.
Step 2: Scroll down until you see a list of film notes with descriptions of what they contain. Look at the description on the far left column to help you decide which film you need. They may contain type of record, location and coverage years. Choose the one that best fits your research question.
Step 3: Click the camera icon for the film you want to search to view its images.
Step 4: Use the icons in the top-left side of the image viewer to navigate. The arrows move you from on image to another The + and the – to zoom in and out of the images. Clicking on the tiles icon under the + and – will let you see a series of smaller images for the entire collection. This is a quick way to jump forward many images at a time.
Step 5: Find the correct item number by scrolling through the images looking for a title board in the film. This is usually a black page with white letters on it and is larger print than the record images. For a better view, click on an image to enlarge it. You can return to the thumbnail view by clicking the menu item in the top left corner with several squares on it.
Step 6: Review the first several images individually while they are enlarged for an index or instructions for how the records are organized.
Step 7: Move from one image to another using the arrows on the top left corner of the page.
Step 8: If there is no index at the beginning, check at the end of that film.
Step 9: If there is an index, try finding your ancestor in that index. They are usually in alphabetical order by last name. Sometimes all of the names that begin with A are grouped together and not in any order. Sometimes there is no order and you may have to look through the index one image at a time. If you are researching in the United States, United States Index Systems explains different styles of indexes.
Step 10: Once you find your ancestor in the index, you may have a page number and or a book number that tells you where their record is. Use the page numbers on the images (not the image numbers) to find them.
Step 11: Pay attention to whether the images contain two pages or one page when determining where the image you need may be. If the film you are looking at only includes the index, you will need to go to another film. Use the information in your ancestor's index entry to determine which film in the collection you will need.
Step 12: If there is no index, check several images to determine how they are organized. They may be in chronological order, alphabetical order or by order recorded. There may be no order.
Step 13: If the images don't seem to be in any particular order, you may need to do a page-by-page search of the images.
Step 14: To find more specific guidelines when searching a collection, see the “Learn more” article link on the collection page.