People and civilizations are lost in time when information regarding them is not
recorded and preserved. The same relates to families, as families are an
essential part of society and culture.

On November 18, 06 the Family History Center held its open house. It was founded
in 2002 in Armenia by the Genealogical Society of Utah, which has resources and
experts worldwide. The Society is headquartered in Utah, USA and is known as the
world’s largest genealogical and family history library in the world with its
immense database. Over one billion names in searchable databases, two and a half
million microfilms, more that 800,000 microfiches, and about 300,000 unique and
rare genealogical books and literature – such is the library collection today.

The purpose of the Open House was to inform the public of this facility’s
existence and of the various services it offers. The Center provides a great
opportunity to those who are interested in the research of their family history
and in genealogy in general. It provides such services as: creating pedigree
charts, internet search in the genealogical websites, training on working with
microfilms, consultations on research methods and data resources, education
seminars, etc.

Similar centers (about 4000) operate in 88 countries and are sponsored by the
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. The Church places strong emphasis
on creation and conservation of families and on preservation of family history
records. Even though the centers are usually located in the church buildings,
they are open to and serve people of all nations and religions worldwide. There
is also a www.familysearch.org website available for further research. The
website has over 50,000 visitors per day.

The Center in Yerevan has a collection of specialized books, records,
dictionaries for geographical names, reference books and microfilms, which have
been donated by the Armenian Genealogical Center in Utah, USA. The collection
contains records on Armenian emigrants and refugees from 15 countries spread
throughout the world after the Armenian Genocide. The 15 countries are: USA,
Australia, Albania, Austria, Egypt, Turkey, Greece, Syria, India, Indonesia,
Jordan, Holland, Israel, Bangladesh, and Poland. Trained volunteers of the
Center assist attendees making their research more efficient.

The services of the Center are free to the public. It is located on Vratsakan
St. 5, Yerevan and is open every day including Sundays. For verification of
hours and for further information, please, call 25-32-06.