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The FamilySearch family history website offers free access to genealogical records worldwide. However, most users of the platform have not found much because 70% of the records lack a search form index.
Accept the challenge to search form and explore the Unindexed Records you can digitally browse for your ancestors.
Why Are Some Record Collections Unindexed on FamilySearch?
According to FamilySearch, the free genealogy website, the Granite Mountain Records Vault, which is connected with the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, will digitize and publish all microfilms. Unfortunately, they digitize record sets faster than volunteer indexers can process and making them searchable.
This manpower gap means billions of records in geographically arranged collections can only be viewed digitally through virtual pages. In my research, these collections include land, tax, and probate records, to name a few.
Whether you call them browse-only, image-only, or unindexed records, each image is a path to discovering more family members to add to your family tree.
Using the FamilySearch Card Catalog, you can access the browse-only images as if you were sitting in front of a microfilm reader or handling a book. However, you can access these resources online anytime you want.
Discover the process for finding elusive ancestors in FamilySearch Records.
How to Access Unindexed Records to Find Elusive Ancestors
While I can explain in words how to navigate to the Card Catalog, you'll want to watch the video for step-by-step instructions.
While many unindexed record collections appear on the Research Wiki, you will have more success accessing the records through the Card Catalog.
You can access the FamilySearch Catalog by clicking "Catalog" in the top menu bar or the Search sub-menu bar or using this direct link.
Use the search box and type in the partial name of a location. For instance, you can type "Wake" and quickly navigate through a drop-down menu prompt to Wake County, North Carolina.
After you select a location, you'll reach the catalog page for that location. You'll likely find a listing with categories such as:
You never know what you'll find. You just have to look for your location.
↪️ Are you new to genealogy? Grab your copy of this FREE Beginner Guide.
Some Browse Only Images Have Indexes
You will find waypoints in the images while using the image-only records on FamilySearch.
Some collections have digitized images, separate from the records you want to research. For instance, in the post 12 Essential Clues Found When Doing Genealogy Research in Land Records, you can view how an index to the deeds is a separate link from the actual deed record books.
Some collections have digitized books that contain an index at the front or back of the item. The index provides reference page numbers to the individuals named in the book. In the video linked above, you will see such is the case with the Wake County, North Carolina Alien Registrations.
Finally, some records lack an index, either separately or within the collection. In the video linked above, this is the case with a Jail Register for Licking County, Ohio, with this format.
With each digitally unindexed record collection, browse until you find the digitized paper index for the documents. If you see such a listing, the trackbook volumes and page numbers in your genealogy software To-Do list, on a spreadsheet of records to search, or in your research plan.
You will flip through the record, page by virtual page, for the collections without any index.
