THE FAMILY HISTORY LIBRARY
CATALOG

The key to finding a record in the Family History
Library's collection is the Family History Library
Catalog. The catalog describes the library's records
and provides the call number and floor location.
Microfiche copies of the catalog are at the Family
History Library and at each family history center. At
the library and at most family history centers, you
can also search the catalog on computer.

The Family History Library Catalog is divided into
four sections:

* Locality        * Subject

* Surname       * Author/Title

To find the records described in this outline, you
will most often use the Locality section. The section
headings in this outline that describe types of
records (such as "Church Records") are the same as
the subject headings found in the Locality section of
the Family History Library Catalog.

The Locality section of the catalog lists records by
the area they cover. Records about more than one
part of the British Isles, such as military records, are
usually under Great Britain. Records relating to all
of England are normally found under England. You
will normally find records applying to a county
listed under that county. Most parish and city records
are listed under the specific place name.

You may need to look at each geographic level
(Great Britain, England, county, city, and parish) to
find all records that apply to the locality in which
you are interested. For example, look in the Locality
section for the following:

* The place where an ancestor lived, such as:

GREAT BRITAIN              (kingdom)
ENGLAND                    (country)
ENGLAND, KENT             (country, county)
ENGLAND, KENT, LINTON    (country, county, parish)

* Then the record type you want, such as:

GREAT BRITAIN - MILITARY RECORDS
ENGLAND - GENEALOGY
ENGLAND, KENT - HISTORY
ENGLAND, KENT, LINTON - CHURCH RECORDS

The record type, or subject, may be further
subdivided, for exarnple:

[LOCALITY] - GENEALOGY - HANDSOOKS AND
MANUALS
[LOCALITY] - CENSUS - 1851 - INDEXES