Family History Consultants Church Handbook Family History Course Church Handbook 5.4.5

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1 Family History Consultants Church Handbook Under the direction of the high priests group leader, family history consultants have the following responsibilities. They use the Member s Guide to Temple and Family History Work as a resource. They help members identify ancestral family members. They help members prepare information so that temple ordinances may be performed for their ancestral family members. They help members who do not have access to computers or who are uncomfortable using computers. Where possible, they provide this assistance in members homes. They serve regularly as staff members in a local family history center, as assigned. They may also be assigned to teach family history classes in the ward. For additional information on the responsibilities of family history consultants, see the Family History Consultant s Guide to Temple and Family History Work, which is available on LDS.org. Family History Course Church Handbook A family history course may be taught during Sunday School or at another time that is more convenient for members. This course is organized under the direction of the bishopric rather than the Sunday School president. The teacher uses the Instructor s Guide to Temple and Family History Work to teach the lessons. The teacher is usually a family history consultant assigned by the bishopric. Lessons are generally conducted as workshops in which members actually complete family history work. Access to Online Family History Resources Church Handbook The Church s online family history resources help members identify their ancestral family members, organize ancestral information, and submit requests for temple ordinances to be performed for these family members. The majority of these resources are available through the Church s family history Internet site, FamilySearch.org. Where a stake or ward meetinghouse has computers with Internet access, or where family history programs are installed on stake or ward computers, the stake presidency and bishopric ensure that these computers are available for members to use at reasonable times. Family history consultants can help schedule the computers and teach members how to use them. Members who use Church administrative computers for family history work should not have access to membership or financial information.

2 The first thing you should do as a Ward Family History Consultant is to register as one. Note: all blue underlined prints in this document are links to websites! Do the following: Go to To complete the registration you will need the following: o Your membership number o Your ward unit number o An address Secondly, after you have registered as a consultant you need to complete the consultant training. This can be done as follows: Make sure you have an LDS Account. If you don t, then go to and click on Register for the new FamilySearch. You will need the following: o Your membership number o Your birth date o An address

3 You will have to confirm your registration in your . Log on to Click on Help Center (at the bottom of the home page). Click on the Training & Resources tab and then click on the E-Learning Courses. Complete these courses All of Them! This will take a while; don t expect to complete them in one day. Take your time, but become thoroughly trained. Then you will understand your calling and how you should fulfill it. Let the Spirit guide you. If possible, you should serve in a local family history center. This is a great way to receive the training you need to help fulfill your calling.

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5 Two Manuals You Should Have: Member s Guide to Temple and Family History Work Family History Consultant s Guide to Temple and Family History Work In addition a class instructor should have this manual. Instructor s Guide to Temple and Family History Work

6 The next thing you will want to do is become proficient with However, this handout will not include new FamilySearch as we have separate classes and handouts on it. Please click here for a handout on new FamilySearch. One of the features new family search incorporates is the standardization of place names. Therefore we should be sure to have place names in our personal databases conform to that standard. Each of our data fields should be entered with proper standards. Listed here is a brief explanation of those standards: Name Fields When you enter a name, you enter the full name (maiden name if female). Never use a period in the name field, or any other field for that matter. Make sure the names are entered into the correct fields. Prefix is like Dr (no period remember), suffix is like Jr (no period), and if you wish to enter a nickname, make sure it goes in the nickname field and not in the name fields. Don t ever use special characters in the name field such as ( ) or. Never use Mr, Mrs, Miss, etc. The only exception is if you have Thomas Green you can list his wife as Mrs Thomas Green. Don t include twin, unknown, or living, etc. Sex Field Enter either M or F. A sex must be listed in order to do temple work. Date Fields When entering information in the date field the standard format is 27 Jul New FamilySearch will expand the month out to its non abbreviated form, but you will still enter dates this way. You do not need to put in leading 0 s such as 04 Sep Place Fields When entering a place field do not abbreviate anything. Place fields need to be in the standardized form that the church uses. Never put anything in a place field except City, County, State, or Country. Never use the word county in your place name and always add United States to place names in the United States. Never put a cemetery, address, hospital, or like terms in your place fields. Rather put them in a proper location as your program allows. Ordinarily place names such as Mt. and St. should be listed as Mount and Saint, respectively. However, in some parts of the world, St is the complete form of the location. (Still don t use periods). o A proper place field would look like the following: Logan, Cache, Utah, United States Cache, Utah, United States Utah, United States United States

7 If in doubt go to new FamilySearch and select search and type in your place name and it will bring up the proper way that it is to be listed. Clean up your personal database so that it has correct information in it. Check for duplicate individuals in your database. Check to see if you have unlinked individuals in your database. You will need to use a newer program than PAF to accomplish these tasks. Right now the best available programs in alphabetical order are the following: Ancestral Quest Family Insight Legacy MacFamily Tree (for the Mac user) RootsMagic MacFamily Tree Advanced Genealogy built for Mac

8 For other programs that can be used with new FamilySearch please go to the new FamilySearch login page and click on: Getting Help: There are actually so many places to get help now that it is almost impossible to visit all of them. A few are listed here, but there are many more. 1. New FamilySearch At the home page or at the bottom of every page is the Help Center. Use it; virtually any question you can propose already has an answer in the help center. Also use the before mentioned e-learning courses available through the help center. 2. Research Wiki Great resource for knowledge on how to search in all locations. Every location has different records available and this site will assist you in finding material on the location you are interested in. 3. Logan Family History Center Web Page Go to the web page and look for class handouts about the program or subject you are interested in. Many handouts are available for classes here at the center that can assist you in your quest. 4. About.com There are many articles on this site that may assist you in reaching your family history goals. 5. Cyndi s List Probably the best of all lists of family history web sites. Many also include helps on using the sites. 6. Google Don t forget Google. Just type in what you are looking for, be specific in your search. You can just search for your subject s name as well. I have found enormous amounts of information using Google after I had searched everything else with no results. 7. Volunteer at local Family History Center Most family history expertise comes from experience. At the family history center there is an excellent training program and you are quickly made aware of updates, changes, etc. Note: This course will explore your needs as a Ward Family History Consultant, New FamilySearch, correct procedures in entering family history data and any questions that you may have about your calling. Please come prepared to share your needs.