Description
At the Family History Library in Salt Lake City I will search a United States microfilm of your choice. For choices, look at the FHL catalog at: http://familysearch.org (Click on “Library Catalog”).
You can expect a turnaround time of one week or less, unless there are unexpected problems.
This look-up offer is only for microfilms that have an index. The FHL catalog listing should tell if there is an index. This is usually listed under the category “NOTES” which is the third item down in the catalog listing.
This look-up offer is for one name (first and last name, for example “William Jones”).
You will get 1 scanned page for $10.00. Additional pages from the same microfilm, at $5.00 per page may be requested in a “customized order”.
Scanning microfilm documents is not as simple as scanning papers. There are a number of adjustments that may need to be made like straightening the page, zooming in or out, adjusting the focus, or brightness, or contrast.
Sometimes the page is bright in the center and dark in the corners. If scanned like it is, the corners are too dark to read when the center is right. If this is the case, I will provide two scanned images, one dark enough that the center can be read and the other light enough that the corners can be read.
Your scan will include the whole page. This way you will have all column headings and page numbers that appear on the page. You should be able to zoom in as needed to increase the size of the letters, using your photo editing software.
If there is no index, there are three possible situations where I will do the look-up.
1. If the listings are in alphabetical order.
2. If the listings are in date order, and you have the exact date.
3. If there are document numbers or page numbers, and you can provide that information to me, from your findings on another index.
Occasionally I have seen microfilms for which the FHL catalog listing says that the entries are in alphabetical order, but in reality only some of the sections are in alphabetical order. I will let you know if I find this to be the case on the film you have asked me to look at. This would require a customized order.
Because of copyright law, this offer is not for look-ups in published books that are on microfilm at the FHL. This offer is only for unpublished records like – court records, church records, and so on.
“Found” means the entry was found for the name in the index, which I will scan. If you wish to have a copy of the record that the index refers to, I will be happy to scan that (assuming it is available) for an additional fee of $5.00 per page. This can be requested in a “custom look-up” request. Oftentimes the customer is interested in other individuals with the same surname listed on either side of the primary individual, so there is value in having a copy of the index.
“Not found” means the person was not listed in the index. I will scan the page of the index where I would have expected to find the name. So you will get one scanned page, documenting that the name was not there.
Thank-you!
