page_title: Genealogy
section_title: FamilySearch collections
hierarchical_section_title: Genealogy / Records and documentation / FamilySearch collections
caption_attribution_description: English: Family History Library of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Salt Lake City, Utah.
context_page_description: Genealogy is the study of families, family history, and the tracing of their lineages. Genealogists use oral interviews, historical records, genetic analysis, and other records to obtain information about a family and to demonstrate kinship and pedigrees of its members. The results are often displayed in charts or written as narratives. The field of family history is broader than genealogy, and covers not just lineage, but also family and community history and biography.
  The record of genealogical work may be presented as a "genealogy" or a "family history". In the narrow sense, a "genealogy" traces the descendants of one person, whereas a "family history" traces the ancestors of one person, but the two terms are often used interchangeably. A family history may include additional biographical information, family traditions, and the like.
  The pursuit of family history and origins tends to be shaped by several motives, including the desire to carve out a place for one's family in the larger historical picture, a sense of responsibility to preserve the past for future generations, and self-satisfaction in accurate storytelling.
context_section_description: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has engaged in large-scale microfilming of records of genealogical value. Its Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah, houses over 2 million microfiche and microfilms of genealogically relevant material, which are also available for on-site research at over 4500 Family History Centers worldwide.
  FamilySearch's website includes many resources for genealogists: a FamilyTree database, historical records, digitized family history books, resources and indexing for African American genealogy such as slave and bank records, and a Family History Research Wiki containing research guidance articles.
caption: The Family History Library, operated by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, is the world's largest library dedicated to genealogical research.
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