"How to" Guides for International Research
Are you searching for your ancestors from a country outside the United States? On this page you will find a variety of “How to” guides created by the international research specialists at the FamilySearch Library. Using these guides and their accompanying activities will enhance your research skills and knowledge and increase the likelihood of success in locating records of your ancestors.
| General | Africa/Asia | Central Europe | Eastern Europe | Northern Europe | Southern Europe | Central America | South America | United Kingdom |
| FamilySearch | South Africa | Austria | Estonia | Denmark | France | All Countries | All Countries | England |
| Czechia | Latvia | Finland | Greece | Mexico | Brazil | Ireland | ||
| Germany | Lithuania | Iceland | Italy | Uruguay | Scotland | |||
| The Netherlands | Russia | Norway | Portugal | Wales | ||||
| Poland | Ukraine | Sweden | Spain | |||||
| Slovenia | ||||||||
| Switzerland |
How to use the guides
Select a guide from the list below based on your interests. Please note that some guides need to be completed in sequence to ensure a successful experience. Build your research knowledge and confidence with each activity you complete.
Each guide comes with three parts - Instruction, which includes a guided activity, Assignment, to test what you've learned, and an Answer key, to check how you did on the assignment. The guides are also rated as either Beginner, Intermediate or Advanced. The majority are designed for beginners.
The guides are available in PDF form designed to be downloaded and printed. To view a guide, click on its title. Once the guide has opened, use the PDF tools found in your browser to print and save the document.
PLEASE NOTE: Some guides are designed to be completed using resources found in the FamilySearch Library, Salt Lake City, Utah. These are indicated by an * following the title of the guide. If you cannot visit the FamilySearch Library, check your local library or your local FamilySearch FamilySearch center for availability of the resources described in the guide.
Work in progress
This is a work in progress. Please check back often for new and/or updated guides.
Countries
General Help
- Accessing FamilySearch Digital Images - Instruction, Activity, Answer Key
- Inserting Special Characters - Instruction
Latin America
- Catholic Church Records - Instruction, Activity, Answer Key
- Inserting Special Characters - Instruction
- Reading Spanish Handwritten Records - Instruction, Activity
- Reading Baptism Records - Instruction, Activity, Answer Key
- Reading Marriage Records - Instruction, Activity, Answer Key
- Reading Death Records - Instruction, Activity, Answer Key
Brazil
- Brazil Civil Registration - Instruction, Activity, Answer Key
Mexico
Uruguay
- Church Records - Instruction, Activity, Answer Key
- Civil Registration - Instruction, Activity, Answer Key
Europe
Austria
- GenTeam Gazetteer Online - Instruction, Activity, Answer Key
Czechia
- GenTeam Gazetteer Online - Instruction, Activity, Answer Key
- Brno Archive Online - Instruction, Activity, Answer Key
- Plzeň Archive Online - Instruction, Activity, Answer Key
- Třeboň Archive Online - Instruction, Activity, Answer Key
Denmark
- Arkivalieronline: Church Records - Instruction, Activity, Answer Key
- Danish Census Records Online - Instruction, Activity, Answer Key
- FamilySearch Danish Gazetteer - Instruction, Activity, Answer Key
- Krabsens Gazetteer - Instruction, Activity, Answer Key
England
- England and Wales Census - Instruction, Activity, Answer Key
Estonia
- Church Records Online: Saaga - Instruction, Activity, Answer Key
France
Germany
- 1905 Prussia Gemeindelexikon - Instruction, Activity, Answer Key
- Archives Online: Archion - Instruction, Activity, Answer Key
- Family Books in Württemberg - Instruction, Activity, Answer Key
- Feast Days - Instruction, Activity, Answer Key
- Fraktur Script - Instruction, Activity, Answer Key
- German Script Tutorial Online - Instruction
- Germany Map Guide* - Instruction, Activity, Answer Key
- Hamburg Passenger Lists - Instruction, Activity, Answer Key
- Inserting Special Characters - Instruction
- Kartenmeister Gazetteer - Instruction, Activity, Answer Key
- Mecklenburg Censuses - Instruction
- Meyer's Abbreviations - Instruction, Activity, Answer Key
- Meyer's Gazetteer* - Instruction, Activity, Answer Key
- Meyer's Online: Meyersgaz.org - Instruction, Activity, Answer Key
- Meyer's Online on Ancestry - Instruction, Activity, Answer Key
- Online Genealogies - Instruction, Activity, Answer Key
- Posen Marriage Project - Instruction, Activity, Answer Key
- Reading German civil birth records - Instruction, Activity, Answer Key
- Reading German civil marriage records - Instruction, Activity, Answer Key
- Reading German civil death records - Instruction, Activity, Answer Key
- Schleswig-Holstein Censuses - Instruction
- Using Archion - Instruction, Activity, Answer Key
Italy
- Civil Registration Records Online: Antenati - Instruction, Activity, Answer Key
Latvia
- Church Records Online: Raduraksti - Instruction, Activity, Answer Key
Lithuania
- Catholic Church Records Online: ePaveldas - Instruction, Activity, Answer Key
The Netherlands
- WieWasWie: Indexed Records Online - Instruction, Activity, Answer Key
- Reading Dutch Birth Records - Instruction, Activity, Answer Key
- Reading Dutch Marriage Records - Instruction, Activity, Answer Key
- Reading Dutch Death Records - Instruction, Activity, Answer Key
Norway
- 1972 Postal Guide - Instruction, Activity, Answer Key
- Digitalarkivet: Church Records - Instruction, Activity, Answer Key
- Digitalarkivet: Death Notices - Instruction, Activity, Answer Key
- Digitalarkivet: Emigration Records - Instruction, Activity, Answer Key
- Digitalarkivet: Genealogical Collections - Instruction, Activity, Answer Key
- Digitalarkivet: Moving Records - Instruction, Activity, Answer Key
- Digitalarkivet: National Censuses - Instruction, Activity, Answer Key
- Digitalarkivet: 1664-1666 and 1701 Census - Instruction, Activity, Answer Key
- Rygh's Farm Names - Instruction, Activity, Answer Key
Poland
- Geneteka Indexed Records - Instruction, Activity, Answer Key
- Geneteka Images Online - Instruction, Activity, Answer Key
- Polish State Archives Online - Instruction, Activity, Answer Key
- Poznan Marriage Project - Instruction, Activity, Answer Key
- Reading Polish Birth Records - Instruction, Activity, Answer Key
- Reading Polish Marriage Records - Instruction, Activity, Answer Key
- Reading Polish Death Records - Instruction, Activity, Answer Key
- (1930s) Skorowidz Gazetteer Online - Instruction, Activity, Answer Key
Portugal
- Azores Parish Records Online - Instruction, Activity, Answer Key
Russia
- Cyrillic Alphabet - Instruction, Activity, Answer Key
- Cyrillic Script - Instruction, Activity, Answer Key
- Finding German Colonies - Instruction, Activity, Answer Key
- Finding Your Town in Websites and Gazetteers - Instruction, Activity, Answer Key
- Reading Russian Birth Records - Instruction, Activity, Answer Key
- Reading Russian Marriage Records - Instruction, Activity, Answer Key
- Reading Russian Death Records - Instruction, Activity, Answer Key
- RGN Gazetteer - Instruction, Activity, Answer Key
- Spiski Gazetteer - Instruction, Activity, Answer Key
Slovenia
- GenTeam Gazetteer Online - Instruction, Activity, Answer Key
Spain
- Catholic Archive Guide - Instruction, Activity, Answer Key
- Spain Gazetteer* - Instruction, Activity, Answer Key
- Madoz Dictionary - Instruction, Activity, Answer Key
- Reading Baptism Records - Instruction, Activity, Answer Key
Sweden
- Accessing Church Records - Instruction, Activity, Answer Key
- Finding Birth, Marriage, Death Records - Instruction, Activity, Answer Key
- Finding a Household Exam - Instruction, Activity, Answer Key
- Following a Family in Household Exams - Instruction, Activity, Answer Key
Switzerland
- Appenzell Archives - Instruction, Activity, Answer_Key
- Feast Days - Instruction, Activity, Answer Key
- Fraktur Script - Instruction, Activity, Answer Key
- German Script Tutorial Online - Instruction*Swiss Surnames - Instruction, Activity, Answer Key
- Zürich Marriage Index - Instruction, Activity, Answer Key
Africa and Asia
South Africa
- National Archives - Instruction, Activity, Answer Key
*This guide teaches the use of resources found in the FamilySearch Library, Salt Lake City, Utah. If you cannot visit the FamilySearch Library, check your local library or your local FamilySearch FamilySearch center for availability of the resources described in the guide.
Feedback
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