by AGS member Philip Spivey
FamilySearch is an amazing resource for genealogists and family historians. With over 14 billion searchable names and images, it is clear why FamilySearch.org had 200 million visits last year. Not only is there a wealth of historical data to help us piece together our family histories, it is also a remarkable learning resource with over 100,000 genealogical research articles and finding aids.
Fortunately, much of this information can be accessed for free from home. You just find the record you need and click on the little camera icon to view the digitized image:
FamilySearch gathers these records from many different repositories, so the rules to access them can vary. Some are not available anywhere and anytime from home. You will know this is the case when you see the dreaded key over the camera:
When this happens, you usually need to go to a Family History Center to view them from their computers. These centers are typically located in one of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints locations. There are a couple of these in Albuquerque. You can also go to the huge Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah, but that isn’t always practical. While volunteers at the church have always been friendly and helpful to me and the other researchers I know, hours of operations are often limited and there are generally few resources other than their computers.
However, there is a huge Family History Center in Albuquerque that many people don’t know about. Not only can you unlock valuable records, there are thousands of other books and databases for family history research. The location of that Family History Center is in the Genealogy Center on the second floor of the downtown Albuquerque Public Library.
This is the Main Branch at 501 Copper NW. The Library and Genealogy Center are open from 10am to 6pm, Monday through Saturday. There’s plenty of room with a large bank of computers available for this purpose. And all the other library resources are readily available.
So, the next time you are locked out of the information you need, consider the Albuquerque Public Library.
