Burley Idaho Family History Center/Resources

Computers and Internet Access
The Burley FHC has 20 new Windows-10 touchscreen computers in the upstairs lab, with an additional 20 Windows-10 computers in the downstairs classroom. All library computers have Internet access. Personal laptops can connect to the Internet wirelessly. Many helpful research resources are available from the desktop of the library computers and include free use of many subscription websites, use of popular data management programs, and direct Internet links to other resources.

Free Subscription Websites
The BFHC provides free use of several family history research websites that normally require a subscription fee for access. These include Roots Magic, Legacy, Ancestry Quest, FamilySearch Family Tree. Research Websites - Ancestry.com, Findmypast, MyHeritage, World Vital Records.com, 19th Century British Library Newspaper Digital Archive, Access Newspaper Archive, Alexander Street Press (The American Civil War), ArkivDigital Online, Fold3.com, Historic Map Works Library Edition, LegacyStories, Paper Trail, Who Do You Think You Are? Stories, Puzzilla Premium Edition, and ProQuest Obituaries.

Discovery Center
Three 55 inch touch screens in our Discovery Room for discovering all about your own family. There is a fourth screen in the adjacent Family Room. Data used for the interactive experiences is drawn from Familysearch.org- to get the full experience accounts on Familysearch.org are recommended. These interactive screens are fun for all ages. Bring your family and explore together. Great for Primary and youth activities. The Discovery Center is available in the evenings by appointment only for groups, including families and youth groups. For evening appointments, or to schedule groups during the day, please call the center to make a reservation.

After signing in on the touch screen, there are three options to choose from:


 * All About Me- Learn about the meaning of your name, what happened the year your were born, and other fun facts.
 * Where I Came From- See where your family came from, view photos of family members and read their stories.
 * My Famous Relatives- Patrons can learn how they are related to famous people. Did their ancestors sail on the Mayflower? Do they descend from famous Americans, such as the Founding Fathers, or U.S. Presidents? Are they related to Church leaders?

Family Room/Conference Room
A large touch-screen computer monitor can be used for viewing FamilySearch pedigrees, or Discovery Activities. This sound-proofed room contains a large table and seating for six persons.

Family Story Room
The Burley FHC has a Family Story Room available for use to record family stories. The space is designed with state-of-the-art audio and video technology. The comfortable furnishings and sound proofed interior provide a quiet secluded area, ideal for recording personal histories. The finished video can be accessed and downloaded by texting a code to a telephone number that will be provide on screen or from a link that will be emailed to the individual. A copy of the audio portion can be automatically added to an individual's FamilySearch Memories gallery.

Printers, Scanners, and Copiers - Memories Digitization
The Burley FHC has recently added some new equipment for digitization of memories. The center's options for digitizing now include:

1- Epson V600 flatbed scanner- capable of digitizing photos, documents, slides and using OCR for text editing capabilities for documents. The software for this scanner also offers some automatic editing options. And this scanner has a fully auto option that's super easy to use.

2- Epson fastfoto 680W photo scanner- capable of scanning hundreds of photos in minutes. This scanner has an auto-enhancement option for assisting in making minor adjustments.

3- Kodak Photo Scanner- capable of scanning hundreds of photos in minutes.

4- Two Wolverine Moviemaker Pro 8mm / Super 8 home movie digitizers. This takes about 30 minutes to digitize a 25 feet tape roll.

5- Wolverine slide scanner (a new one) for digitizing 35 mm slides, as well as film negatives and can take images from 8 mm movie film. This new machine comes with three 4 slide speed loaders for faster loading of slides. The images are viewable on a 4.3 inch screen as they are being digitized. There are a few editing options on this scanner, if used, they will increase the time needed to digitize. Once the slides are loaded into the carriers, it's just a few seconds to digitize each slide.

6- Hammacher Schlemmer Rapid Feed Digital Slide Convertor. This slide scanner has a 25 capacity slide tray. There are automatic exposure and color balance to aid in producing high quality images. The images are viewable on a 2.5 screen as they are being digitized. Images of the slides are captured in 3-5 seconds.

7- The Lexmark copier/scanner can upload files directly into your FamilySearch account in the "Memories Gallery" or to a flash drive. Copies can also be printed on this machine. As we are a cashless facility, we ask patrons to limit their copies and pages printed to 10 pages per visit.

8- Elgato software on a laptop computer attached to the VHS/DVD machine to enable digitizing home movies from VHS cassettes, DVD, or camcorders. We have the adaptor to use for VHS-C. This VHS/DVD machine will also copy from VHS to DVD if that is the desired format. At current time we can not digitize Beta tapes or JVC mini-cassettes. The recording is done in real time- i.e. if the tape is 2 hours long, it will take two hours to digitize.

9- SONY Multi-Function DVD Recorder. This will transfer VHS tapes and camera cards (SONY memory stick or SDHC) to DVD. It also has jack for plugging in camcorders for direct transfer to DVD. (We do not have the camcorders or the cables- bring your own.) The recording of VHS to DVD is done in real time-  i.e. if the tape is two hours long, it will take two hours to digitize. Please bring your own DVD-R if you wish use this machine.

10- Audicity software on a laptop computer for digitizing recordings from cassette tapes, or reel-to-reel recording, as well as a high quality microphone for making a recording to be uploaded to FamilySearch. This recording is done in real time- i.e. if the tape is 45 minutes long, it will take 45 minutes to digitize.

11- Two 3.5 floppy disk readers for copying old floppy disks to newer formats.

All of these digital options can be saved to a flash drive (please bring your own) or sent via email, google drive or other cloud based options. The Wolverine machines and the Hammacher Schlemmer Slide Convertor use SDHC cards (a capacity of 32 GB maximum- we have a few at the center for use there) for digitizing. The files from the SDHC can be transferred to a flash drive; or one may bring their own SDHC for these machines if you wish.

If you wish to preview some of what our equipment can do- Click here for a list of video tutorials.

Books and Other Printed Material
The library has a collection of print books which cover many aspects of genealogical research including records from Idaho, the United States and some foreign countries. Over 425,000 full text books are available online through the FamilySearch Catalog.

Microfilm Readers and Microfilm
The FHC is equipped with a microfilm reader as well as microfilm microfiche copier/scanner that has the capability to save them in digital format. The library has a small collection of films that are not yet online. Most microfilms can now be viewed online through the FamilySearch Catalog.

Local Collections
Burley Public LibraryNewspaper Digital Archive including:


 * Burley Bulletin (1919-1939)   12,604 Pages
 * Burley Herald (1919-1940)   11,785 Pages
 * Rupert Pioneer Record (1908-1923)   6,151 Pages
 * Rupert Pioneer (1905-1908)   1,064 Pages
 * Cassia County Courier (1920-1922)   1,038 Pages
 * Southern Idaho Advocate(1913-1914)   425 Pages

Minidoka County Historical Museum Digital Archive:


 * Minidoka County News, Rupert Pioneer, Rupert Democrat 1905 - 1960
 * Rupert High School Yearbooks 1913 -1948

Burley Family History Center:


 * Obituaries 1987-present from Cassia and Minidoka counties, and some obituaries prior to 1987.
 * Southern Idaho Counties Obituaries. The collection consists of obituaries from a variety of Idaho newspapers and housed at different Family History Centers throughout the state. The collection covers the years 1943 to 2013. (Maintained by FamilySearch)
 * Eastern Idaho Death Records Index This is an index of deaths in eastern Idaho and surrounding area from the early 1900s to the present.  (Hosted by BYU Idaho)


 * Cemetery records, Albion Valley Cemetery to 1970, Declo Cemetery to 2005, Marion Cemetery to 2010, Oakley Cemetery, Valley Vu cemetry 1863-2005


 * Minidoka County marriage records from its inception in 1913 through 2000.

Class Instruction
Select “Classes and Class Schedules” from the library menu above for details.

Personal Assistance
The library has a staff of volunteer workers and service missionaries available to assist patrons. They can provide personal help with the many aspects of genealogical research and record keeping.