Research Question
Can I get access to microfiche records from an Affiliate FamilySearch Center? I'm trying to pull data from the Polk's Salt Lake City Directories for the years 1896 - 1906. These Gazetteers have not been digitize. I cannot travel to Salt Lake City.
Answers
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I am not connected with FamilySearch
I looked at the catalogue entry and these are appearing to me as digitised MICROFILMS, not microfiche. (Microfiche generally have not yet been digitised although I have seen comments that some are available)
However from a practical point of view, it probably doesn't matter whether they are digitised microfilms, or microfiche, they appear to be only available if you visit the Salt Lake City Family Search Library in person, and I see you say you cannot travel there. The other option would be to hire someone to visit on your behalf . You could look at Cyndi's List. There is a page United States » Utah » Professionals, Volunteers & Other Research Services https://www.cyndislist.com/us/ut/professionals/
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@CathleenCollins3 - based on a browse, they appear to be on Ancestry so if your affiliate has access to Ancestry, that is probably your best bet.
I didn't check for completeness of the list of titles and I certainly didn't check how many pages there were in each (I have seen oddly abbreviated "books" on Ancestry) but that would appear to be a good start.
There are other sources of online directories such as the Internet Archive and Hathi Trust as well, but they can be infuriating to navigate.
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Thank you both for responding to my question! Much appreciated! I have tried Ancestry, the Internet Archive and HathiTrust. No luck at any of those locations. I did visit my local library, which is an affiliate FamilySearch Center, but was not able to pull up what I needed. I wasn't sure if the librarian that day was just new to the process and may have misdirected me or if the records I'm looking for are not available even to an affiliate center. I will see about contacting someone thru Cyndislist or Family Search for someone who is in Salt Lake City and able to access these records. I am still unclear as to why some gazetteers are not available to the general public.
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Looking again at a catalog entry, the following is that for 1896 https://www.familysearch.org/en/search/catalog/koha:1225069 it is hard to think of a reason why this would not be available without restriction. Perhaps it has something to do with the Library/Archive where the volumes were filmed, however this Library/Archive is not stated. You could perhaps use the Feedback button on the side of the catalog entry to enquire.
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@CathleenCollins3 - this is strange. I've just been looking at a browse of the 1896 SLC Polk on Ancestry. So it's there - but I missed it the first time and I wonder if you did the same as me...
To get to the directories, you need to go to Ancestry, go into their Search / Card Catalogue and enter the collection Title "U.S., City Directories, 1822-1995" (no quotes). Hit Search but make sure that you don't have any geographic filtering set.
Do not search for Salt Lake City, Polk, or any of those obvious things. You must search for the collection name "U.S., City …" etc. (I tried searching for SLC just, and failed dismally)
On the collection page, there is a browse facility further down the page. Use that, not the search by person because Ancestry can often omit indexes for some images. Browse for Utah, Salt Lake City and the desired year.
Good luck
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I will try what you suggested. Thank you so much!!
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