You are in: Home › Assisted searches › Assisted search service ›

Assisted search service

What is an assisted search?

A Family History Officer will sit with one customer for a maximum period of two hours for payment of a fee (payable at the end of the session) and help them trace their family tree and demonstrate the search facilities on the ScotlandsPeople Centre network. Customers will:

— Be shown how to use the ScotlandsPeople Centre software;

— Receive a general explanation about the digitised records held by the National Records of Scotland and what information to look out for when reviewing these records, and

— Receive general advice on how to compile a family tree and be given an A2 size paper print of a family tree for their own completion during or after the search session.

Please note that to ensure that the session is as effective as possible, the Family History Officer will work at the computer terminal with the customer watching for the first 30 minutes. If desired by the customer, the Family History Officer will hand over the computer mouse after the 30 minute period and allow the customer to carry out the searches themselves to let them familiarize themselves with the search systems and how to use them prior to the search session ending.

You should be aware that a Family History Officer is not a professional genealogist but a member of staff who is familiar with the records held by the National Records of Scotland.

A Family History Officer will be able to search for the Coats of Arms recorded in the registers of the Court of the Lord Lyon and the wills and testaments but they will generally have limited knowledge about these records and you may be referred to another area for further in depth information.

Generally it is expected that you may be able to go back one, two or more generations within the allocated time period but this will be dependent on what records can readily be found.

How much will an assisted search cost me?

The cost of an assisted search is detailed in our Charges page. This charge provides assistance by the Family History Officer (up to a maximum period of two hours). The day search fee for your search room place must also be paid.

Please note that an assisted search must be pre-booked. We require you to part complete the Assisted Search Form on our external website with any known information about your ancestors or relatives to allow us to determine whether it is possible to carry out any family history research for you.

Generally, 48 hours notice is required, however, to obtain the best results from an assisted search we highly recommend you allow us at least 5 working days. It might be possible to book an assisted search on the day you visit the ScotlandsPeople Centre but we would have to receive the completed form by 10:00.

Same day bookings will only be accepted in exceptional circumstances. This would depend on there being a staff member available at 14:00 that afternoon to assist with the search and to carry out some preparatory research before the session.

You may download electronic versions of the images found on to a USB memory stick or you may produce prints of the records, subject to certain restrictions. You may also order a formal extract copy of a document. Please see the charges detailed in our charges page. Other size prints can also be purchased and we will happily provide further details. It is possible to bring your own USB memory stick or you can purchase a branded 1 GB memory stick from the ScotlandsPeople Centre shop.

If we draw a blank with your own family tree within the allocated period, we will show you how to find famous Scots. The minimum charge will be one hour, even if we can only fill part of the time with your own family tree.

Where and when do the assisted searches take place?

Assisted searches take place in one of our public search rooms. When you arrive at the ScotlandsPeople Centre entrance/ shop, you will be guided to a reserved seat by the relevant member of staff. At the end of the search session, you will either remain in the same seat or you will be allocated a new seat in either the Reid, Matheson or Dundas search rooms for the rest of the day until closing time.

Assisted searches will be available five days a week Monday to Friday, excluding public holidays, and will commence at either 10:00 or 14:00.

What information do you require in advance of an assisted search?

The Assisted Search Form is required to be completed with as much information as possible.

Ideally we also need you to provide us with any known information about your ancestors or relatives by completing Part 2 of the Form. We need this information to allow us to find one of your relatives or ancestors and be confident that the individual is the correct person!

If you are adopted, you need to establish your birth details prior to the assisted search because we cannot establish them for you during the assisted search.

We require this information prior to the assisted search session to allow us to carry out some prior research and in turn to allow us to be confident that we will be able to help you build up your family tree.

Our commitment to you

— We will treat you with courtesy, respect and consideration.

— During the session, we will inform you of your options with the search as it progresses in terms of which family lines you could search within the allocated time and which records may be the most helpful.

— We will provide guidance on the facilities and resources available within the Centre and advise you on the records available.

— We will assist you with the printing of images, electronic saves and ordering of Extracts, if desired. Details of the costs are available on our Charges page.

You should be aware of the following

You may use your own laptop during the session for retrieving or storing information, however, downloading of ScotlandsPeople information directly to your laptop is not permitted.

No guarantee can be given that we will be able to start or indeed complete your assisted search request. This may occur for a number of reasons:-

— If records are not available

— If records found during the search have insufficient information to progress the search;

— If there are a multitude of similar entries and it is difficult to ascertain whether the entry is your own family, and

— If events - such as births, marriages and deaths - occurred outwith Scotland (although in the case of wills and testaments it may still be possible to find an individual in the index regardless of whether or not the event occurred in Scotland).

If we discover from our preliminary research into your family tree that we will struggle to carry out any form of family history research then we will inform you, cancel the search session, and refund you if you have already paid.