This website is a fantastic in that it has allowed me to go from reading transcripts on wiewaswie to actually being able to view and download the original documents. This website interfaces with the Family Search database and provides links to the exact document you're looking for - often with an index for easier searching.
While the website is only in Dutch, copying words into Google Translate provides translations that will help you select the right type of document for the information you are seeking. I'll take you through a simple search by way of introducing you to this amazing resource.
Upon accessing the website, you will see the following header (March, 2015). This provides you with a link back to the homepage, but more importantly it allows you access to all the Dutch provinces, along with access to records from Belgium. There are other options down the left column that provide information about the collection and new acquisitions.
The majority of my research has been in Limburg, so far, which means I click on LB. This leads me to the page below, which is essentially a list of places.
When you've selected the place you'd like to investigate, click it. you'll then be shown the screenshot below with all the record options, such as births, marriages, deaths, and population registers.
This is the area I haven't used as well as I could have as I only tend to look for records I've already found in wiewaswie - apart from population registers when I know or suspect a person or family I'm looking for was living in a certain location. But it's an area that is likely to be a rich source of information when I reach brickwalls or when I look at a person in greater detail.
At this point I clicked 'index per film' for Geboorten 1883-1902 as I'm looking for the birth of my maternal great-grandfather - my Oma's father, Johannes Joseph MAGERMANS - in 1898. This brings me to a page that lists each year (sometimes it will be a decade or other timespan), the pages for the actual records, and the index pages (sometimes there aren't any). If you have the information from wiewaswie then you should already have the record number, which can make it easier to find your record if no index is available.
Upon clicking any of the links on this page, you'll be transferred to the FamilySearch website and directly into the document you want to inspect. At this point you're at the mercy of whoever wrote the document, some having excellent handwriting - and others having handwriting like mine! If you're in the index, this will provide you with the information you need to find the correct page - normally the record number (in this case 15 - as seen on the right-most column).
You can either go back to the Zoekakten list, or click the left or right button to search the document. This is an easy process, however the pages can take a few seconds to first load and then to focus. I tend to go back to the Zoekakten tab as I forget to look whether the index is at the beginning or the end of the document!
When you find the record you're looking for you can print the page or download it. I tend to download them so I can save them and crop them if I need to. Also FamilySearch have made citations very easy. Just click the 'Show Citation' link on the bottom left, then click 'Copy Citation' and paste into your document or spreadsheet.
For an English speaker, who can only recognise a few Dutch words, it does take a while giong back and forth for translations, but that's the only problem I could find with this clutter-free and easy to get to grips with site. The way that it seamlessly connects to FamilySearch makes the whole process a joy.
I hope this guide was helpful. It certainly was for me as I hadn't realised I was missing the scan for my great-grandfather's birth certificate!
| Cost: | Free |
| Language: | Dutch |
| Usability: | 90% |
| Links |
| Zoekakten |
| zoekakten on Twitter |
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