Wiki User Lesson One

I. What is the Wiki?

A. A place to get genealogical research advice, or learn where to find record collections in our 80,960 articles.

B. It is not a database of names, but it has many links to websites that do have names.

C. Volunteers contribute to the Wiki.

D. Church Employees assign Wiki projects to Missionaries.

E. Full time missionaries and Church Service Missionaries work on the Wiki. Some Church Service Missionaries serve on campus while others serve from home.

II. How to get to the Wiki?

A. Familysearch.org – sign in.

B. Click on “search”.

C. Select Wiki from the bottom of the list.

III. Learning more about the Wiki

A. In the purple sidebar on the right hand side, under “getting started”, click “Wiki tools”.

1) Read the “Notifications of Changes – Watching Pages.' Locate the “watch” link.

2) Scroll down to “Learn more about the Wiki”. And click “about the Wiki”. Read the first three paragraphs.

3) The Wiki is about finding records about your ancestors and the topics in which the records might be found (census, marriage, birth, death, probate, and military records.)

B. Notice the number of articles.

C. Think of the Wiki as a “Google" for Family History Research!

IV. What is the process to research the Wiki?

A.) Prepare to use the Wiki

1) Follow the Research Process

a) GATHER: You don’t need to gather everything you know about all of your ancestors – just the one you want to research.

b) CHOOSE: Select a specific item you want to research such as birth, marriage or death information.

c) FIND: Go to the Wiki to try to find the information (more information to follow.)

d) Evaluate: Once you have located the information you need to evaluate it to make sure that the information is what you are looking for.

e) Share: Enter the information into you family tree to share it with other.

B. Being prepared before you start searching the wiki will help you stay focused.

C. Go to the Wiki and in the search bar, enter either a location or a topic to search. A typical starting point might be a State (location) where your ancestor might have lived, or a census record (topic) during the years your ancestor would have been alive.

V. Case Study number one:

This is an example of a search where a birth certificate was actually found. Please follow the steps below on your computer to see how to use the wiki.

A) Let’s say you wanted to find a birth certificate for Ivan Rogers who was born in 1922 in Arizona.

1) In the search bar, type in Arizona

2) From the response, click on Arizona Genealogy.

3) In the blue box in the middle section of the page, click on “birth information”

How to Find Information about Arizona Ancestors
1. Birth Information} 2. Marriage Information 3. Death Information}

B) You will get a response that says, “How to Find Arizona Birth Records”. Notice this is a link taking us to a State Page.

1) He was born in 1922, so select the link that says, “Births from 75 years before present year thru 1989.

2) Click on the blue link under, “Arizona Birth Database – includes Index and Images” just under where it says, “Try

Arizona Births.JPG

3) It will take you to the Arizona Department of Health Services Webpage.

a) Under last name, type in Rogers

b) Under first name, type in Ivan

c) Press submit

4) Look at the list. You will see in red, ROGERS, IVAN (JUAN) WILLARD

a) Click on his name

b) This is the unofficial birth certificate. Notice how the first name does look like Juan. How do we know if it is who we are looking for?

c) Click the back arrow. Notice under the name, Document #2. Click on that.

d) This is where the parents have named the child and shows their signatures. On this document the name is clearly, Ivan Willard Rogers.

e) The birth certificate and the second document both show the names of the parents.

f) Not all states have their birth records on line for us to view. Sometimes (in fact most of the time) we will be directed to a place to order the record.

VI Case Study Number two:

An example of a search that directs you where to go to order a birth certificate.

A) Let’s say you want to find the birth certificate for Dominick Rizzo who was born in Wisconsin in the early 1900s.

1) Go to the Wiki. In the search bar, type in Wisconsin.

2) Click on Wisconsin Genealogy

3) In the blue box in the center section of the page, click on “birth information”.

4) Click on 1853 thru 1907

5) Under Wisconsin Births Databases –includes Index and Digital Images, click on the link 1820-1907 under the Try 1st header.

Wisconsin Birth Records.JPG

a) This will take you to Familysearch, Wisconsin, Birth Index, 1820-1907.

b) Type in the name, Dominick Rizzo

c) Only one name comes up. It shows the birthdate and the city of birth.

d) Click on the name

e) This is an index, so it shows you the same information as before. The Affiliate Film Number and Record Number are referring to the Wisconsin Birth Index 1820-1907. You could write to them and request a copy of the birth certificate. If you include those number when you make the request, it will make it faster and easier for them to find the birth certificate.

6) Return to the search results and click on the link for 1825 – 1926 under the heading, Try 2nd.

7) This will take you to “Wisconsin, Births and Christenings, 1826-1926

a) You will need to type the name in again.

b) Look for Dominick Rizzo. There are two names that are displayed. One is Dominick Rizzo and the other is Domenica Rizzo. Notice this record shows the name of the father and the mother for Dominick Rizzo.

c) Click on that name, Dominick Rizzo

8) This shows you the name, gender, date of birth, place of birth, father’s name, father’s birthplace, mother’s name, mother’s birthplace.

a) If this is all the information you need from this record, you can add it to your source box and your family tree.

b) If you want to view the record itself, you can find the microfilm number at the bottom of the page.

c) It will be under GS Film number, or on the gray bar below under FS Library microfilm number.

9) You can take this number to the Family Search Library and view the record. This is often additional information on the actual birth record.

VII Case Study number three: 

Another example where there is a link that takes you to a website.

1) You are looking for the death record for Antoniette Spano Frasco. She was born in Italy and immigrated to the United States. She lived and died in Massachusetts. She was born in 1904 and died in the early 1950s. She was married and had several children. She is found in the 1930 and 1940 census records. There is also a record of her immigration. However, there is no record of her parents. 

2) The research process says to start with the most recent information, so you will want to look for her death certificate. Hopefully that will have her parent’s names. It is usually easier to find records in the United States than other countries

a) Go to the Wiki and type in Massachusetts.

b) Select Massachusetts Genealogy

c) Go to the blue box in the center section of the page and click on death information.

d) Select deaths from 1921 thru present.

e) Look for the dates that correspond with her death date – 1950-1960

3) Did you select the “1901-1980 – use Ancestry institution at FamilySearch Centers/Libraries”? If you have a subscription to Ancestry you can access it from home. Otherwise you will need to go to a FamilySearch center or FamilySearch Library where you can use it for free.

a) Type in her name. Be sure to use the last name Frasco, as that was her name at the time of her death.

b) Did you find Antoinette Frasco who died in 1958 in Newburyport, Mass? Click on “view record”

c) This is a death index. It lets you know that there is a death record here for her. When you click on “view” you will see that it shows you her maiden name as well, so you can be almost certain that this is her death record. But where do you go to see the death certificate?

d) Be sure to copy down the volume and page number. If you are able to order the death certificate, be sure to include that information. It may speed up the process.

e) Arrow back in the Wiki and scroll down where it says “Order Death Certificate”.

f) You have three options, From town clerk, Massachusetts Vital Records or From the Registry of Vital Records and Statistics. If you read the pros and cons it will help you decide which way to go. Take time to look at both of the options. The first option says it is cheaper and faster. The second one says only certified copies are issued. In order to receive a certified copy you need to prove your relationship to the deceased.

g) There are two types of records that you can order. One is a transcribed copy. This means someone simply types the information that is on the record. It is not for legal purposes, but for genealogy it is sufficient. It is less expensive to order.

h) Look through both of these options and see if you can find the fastest, least expensive and most effective way to get the information you are looking for. This will be the answer for the first question in the next lesson.

i) This process may be different depending on the state.

V. Homework: Finding a link to your ancestor.

A. See if you can find a website to help you locate information on one of your ancestors by using the Wiki. You can even start with someone you know the information for. The idea is to learn the process of searching for someone.

B. Reading through this information is time consuming and tedious, but it is the process to find what you are looking for. There are so many variables that it is impossible to streamline everyone’s individual search. Thus it is up to you to narrow down your options.

C. Spend some time looking at wiki articles that interest you.

D. Write down any questions you have and talk to your mentor.

To access available information, first log into FamilySearch.