Start with one person, place or photograph. First preserve what your family knows, then frame a question that documents may help you check.
One private record with the origin of each detail, the gaps and a next research step.
Download worksheet · TXTComplete it locally. The site does not receive your notes.
For example: where did a relative live during a certain period, or who appears in a photograph? Record known name variants, an approximate date and the place name. Mark unknowns as unknown.
Ask what the person remembers directly and what they heard from others. Invite them to identify the place, approximate time and people in a photograph. Ask before recording; discuss separately whether the recording and the storyteller’s name may be shared.
For a story, record the conversation date and where the information came from. For a document, note its title, date, holding institution and page or archive reference, if known. Keep the original separate from working copies; label conclusions and doubts as your own notes.
In the FamilySearch Catalog, begin with a place or material title. On the State Archive of the Republic of Buryatia site, consult researcher information and the enquiry process. Frame a narrow request with a place, period and question; a catalogue entry does not guarantee access to a document image or establish kinship.
The catalogue lets you search by place, keywords, title, author and surname.
Check access in the individual record. This finds sources; it does not prove a family connection.
Catalogue recordThe archive’s official enquiry page, with links to researcher information, finding aids and catalogues.
The archive provides its own form and enquiry conditions. We do not submit requests on your behalf.
Catalogue recordFor a first enquiry, describe the topic and what you would like to preserve. Do not attach identity documents, restricted records or details about living relatives. Transfer and publication are discussed separately.
Prepare a contributionContributions are not published automatically. The editor first discusses the source and conditions.
What can a genealogy tell us? Reading a scholarly study
An introduction to male and female Buryat names and how to check meaning, spelling and a family’s account of a name.
Why a surname does not establish lineage or ethnicity, and how to connect spelling variants with family records and archival research.
From a family question to archive catalogues and documents: a research sequence and the limits of sources.