I was always frustrated at trying to find information about my South African Ancestors. I felt like there were all these secondary sources eg South African Genealogies (Suid-Afrikaanse Gelagsregisters), Compiled lineages and biographies, but when it came to primary sources I was left to fumble my way through the archives. I then discovered NAAIRS (National Automated Archival Information Retrieval System), and learned how to search the system for death notices, estate files and many other records.
I had been told that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints had filmed many primary sources. It was however unclear to me HOW to go about finding it in the Family History Library Cataloge. Since most LDS Family History Center could have film ordered to it, I could therefore do research anywhere in the word. I didn’t HAVE to go to the archive in the respective area. However, I couldn’t figure out HOW to take the NAAIRS reference number and transfer that information to the FHLC.
Until….
I found this link on the Genealogical Society of South Africa’s link page. Thanks to Ellen Stanton from Birmingham, Alabama. She had written a great article about locating the right film. It was not only accurate and informative but easy to understand. I would advise everyone to try this resource in finding primary sources.