FamilySearch has about a gazillion records. Some, however, are not available to the researcher at home, except under specific circumstances. This is often due to licensing restrictions on providing images to researchers or other reasons. However, these pages are pretty easy to identify, as may be seen on the two graphics below. The upper one identifies a record for which images are available at a FamilySearch Affiliate Library or FamilySearch center, while the lower one identifies images only available at a FamilySearch center such as the one in Ocean Shores on Albatross Street.
If you are at home and run across either of these "Images Available" text, there are a number of things that can be done to make obtaining the image easier when at an affiliate facility. First, print the page image to a pdf. It will be easier if all such images are saved in a USB folder such as "Affiliate Library to do" or "FamilySearch Center to do." In addition, you want to be aware of some features that can make time more productive. The first of these is the familysearch internet address. Definitely have "headers and footers" in the print feature turned on. Clicking on that address while at a FamilySearch center will directly link to the same page and the image will appear if the user is logged on to FamilySearch. A second, less obvious item to consider is the "Similar Historical Records" in the upper graphic. Sometimes these have the same information as the record being sought. Sometimes these have a variation on the same record. For example, English birth register records are sometimes part of a 1000+ image filmstrip on FamilySearch while the exact same page may be individually sorted in another collection. In either event, it is usually worth clicking on the "similar" record if it is otherwise unfamiliar. In the example of Aaron Ringrose, the "similar collection" had the same name, but was organized differently by a different group.
Regardless, don't let those "Images Available" pages slip by you. In case you didn't look at it, our post on USB Drives went through how to download images from FamilySearch. There's also a post, here, on finding those "needles in haystacks" in FamilySearch. As it turns out, it is often easier than one might imagine to find that single image out of the 1000+ on the filmstrip.
If you are at home and run across either of these "Images Available" text, there are a number of things that can be done to make obtaining the image easier when at an affiliate facility. First, print the page image to a pdf. It will be easier if all such images are saved in a USB folder such as "Affiliate Library to do" or "FamilySearch Center to do." In addition, you want to be aware of some features that can make time more productive. The first of these is the familysearch internet address. Definitely have "headers and footers" in the print feature turned on. Clicking on that address while at a FamilySearch center will directly link to the same page and the image will appear if the user is logged on to FamilySearch. A second, less obvious item to consider is the "Similar Historical Records" in the upper graphic. Sometimes these have the same information as the record being sought. Sometimes these have a variation on the same record. For example, English birth register records are sometimes part of a 1000+ image filmstrip on FamilySearch while the exact same page may be individually sorted in another collection. In either event, it is usually worth clicking on the "similar" record if it is otherwise unfamiliar. In the example of Aaron Ringrose, the "similar collection" had the same name, but was organized differently by a different group.
Regardless, don't let those "Images Available" pages slip by you. In case you didn't look at it, our post on USB Drives went through how to download images from FamilySearch. There's also a post, here, on finding those "needles in haystacks" in FamilySearch. As it turns out, it is often easier than one might imagine to find that single image out of the 1000+ on the filmstrip.
