Researching CHL Collections

The Church History Library
Keith Erekson, the library’s director, provides an overview of the Church History Library: who we are, what we do, and what kinds of records we preserve and make available to the world.
Three Types of Records You’ll Find at the Church History Library
In a follow-up article, Keith Erekson discusses important categories of records at the Church History Library and how they can be accessed and donated.
Ask Us
In this post, James MacDonald guides you through the library’s reference and consultation services and explains how it could help with your research.
Interpreting Church History Call Numbers
Learn about library call numbers and what they can tell you about the items in the Church History Library Collection in this post by Tyson Thorpe.
Understanding Dates in Bibliographic Records
In this post by archivist Michelle Sayers, learn how to read and interpret the dates in bibliographic records to improve your research experience at the Church History Library.
Local and Corporate Records of the Church
The Church History Library receives and stores thousands of local records from Church units and entities around the world. Archivist Jeff Anderson discusses their value and lists some important examples in this post.
More on Local Records
Reference librarian Tyson Thorpe breaks down the categories of local records series and explains how to decipher their call numbers and access them through the Church History Catalog.
Mission Histories and Historical Reports
This post by Steven Hepworth teaches how to explore the stats and stories you can find in mission records, including the newly digitized Southern States Mission history.
Where Are the Records?
In this post, Elise Reynolds describes some of the reasons why the Church History Library might not have the records you are looking for.