Guided Research Introduction

Purpose of Guided Research?

 * Prioritized Databases: The most comprehensive and complete databases were determined by FamilySearch genealogists for optimized research and are displayed first to the researcher. This is especially helpful in countries where there are multiple databases available on different genealogy websites.
 * Birth, Marriage and Death info: The experience focuses on finding birth, marriage, and death information by locality.
 * Online Databases and Images: Links to both free and subscription genealogy websites are provided for complete coverage of possible databases.
 * What Else You Can Find pages: The What Else You Can Try Wiki pages for each locality provides tips for problem solving if the initial result proves unsuccessful. These pages cover information regarding the lack and loss of records for the locality, substitute records available, and tips for better search results.
 * Easy to Use: Clear and concise presentation helps in navigating the experience and getting to the information you need quickly.

Is the Guided Research Project done?
No, it is still being actively worked on. The goal is to complete a Guided Research experience for each country - whether they have online records online or not. There are 4 phases for Guided Research:

Phase 1 – PHASE COMPLETE
Countries that have searchable databases with digitized images that would provide a 60% success rate.

List of Countries Completed
 * States of the United States
 * Provinces and Territories of Canada
 * Counties of England
 * Scotland
 * Wales
 * Ireland
 * Costa Rica
 * Norway
 * Denmark
 * Sweden
 * Finland
 * Italy
 * Mexico
 * Netherlands
 * Isle of Man
 * Jersey

Phase 2 - CURRENT PHASE
Countries with few searchable databases and browsable digitized images

Countries being worked on:
 * Czechia (Czech Republic)
 * Norway (adding browsable records)
 * Puerto Rico
 * Fiji
 * American Samoa

Phase 3
Countries with only browsable images online

Phase 4
No online records available; information will focus on how to locate birth, marriage, and death information from government and archive repositories

How do you find Guided Research?

 * Guided Research for Online Records