Steven,
The majority of Americans able to find information by themselves in Swedish parish records know little to no Swedish but they learn quickly. It helps to use the guidebooks. There are at least two English language guidebooks about how to use Swedish genealogical records. Your Swedish Roots is best for beginners, and Cradled in Sweden is more detailed.
http://tinyurl.com/57dqv http://tinyurl.com/57exb This site tells how to get a free booklet about researching in Sweden and you could also download that booklet for free.
http://www.swedenabroad.com/pages/general____15063.asp Read more about the Swedish parish records on the SweGGate site.
http://www.rootsweb.com/~swewgw/ Follow this pathway.
Themes --> Church Records
Click on Dictionaries & Encyclopedias on the home page of SweGGate to reach one Swedish genealogical glossary developed by the webmaster. The top of that page has links to more of his Swedish genealogical glossaries plus links to glossaries developed by others. There are many hundreds (if not more) genealogical words defined. It is necessary to use a genealogical dictionary because most of the words have archaic meanings and spellings and can't be found in a modern dictionary.
Many of us use the Genline site to do our research.
http://www.genline.com Genline is very popular and has scans of the same microfilms you can order from a Family History Center. You don't have to leave your home to order the films at the Family History Center and you don't have to wait for the new films to arrive. You can do your research from the comfort of your computer chair and if you have problems reading a location (for example), you just post the page number (GID #) and others with a subscription to Genline are able to quickly find the same page and offer suggestions, interpretations, etc. Genline is perhaps the easiest way to see the Swedish parish records. There are various types of subscriptions and frequent specials.
You can order films, as you know, from a Family History Center. You can travel to Salt Lake City to use the films at the Family History Library or you can purchase fiche of the same parish records from SVAR in Sweden or from the Swenson Center in the U.S.
http://www.augustana.edu/swenson/svar.html You can travel to Sweden to use the fiche there or even look at the original records, for free (not counting the plane travel, hotels, restaurant meals, etc.)
Genline (fee-based) is probably the most convenient way to see the records.
http://www.genline.com If you don't try to use the Swedish parish records because of fear of the language (and that is a fear many have until they start that research), then you are cutting yourself off from the best source of information. People are willing to do lookups up to a point but then we really want to do our own research. That is impossible if someone else (and usually many someone elses) takes up all our time doing searches for them. It is best that we become at least partially able to do our own research and only ask for help when we are truly stuck.
You can do this. Many others had your concerns and now are able to do their own research and I have seen many of those same people helping newbies.
To find parents, we go to the parish of birth and check the birth records. That provides the birth date, parents, baptism (if the time period is earlier than 1860ish, plus baptism witnesses.) The location of the parents within the parish is also provided.
To find the siblings, we go to the parish record called the husförhörslängd (or HFL or household examination record or clerical survey record). We have already learned the residence in the parish from using the birth record. There often is an ortregister (place name index) at the start or end of the HFL. That ortregister tells the first page where that location can be found in the HFL. Once you find the family in the HFL, you can find the full names of the members of the family and household (which may include grandparents or maids or farmhands), plus the date of birth and place of birth for all of those people. The HFL lists where those people came from and where they moved to, marriages, deaths, etc. There are also separate books for marriages, deaths, etc. with even more detail but the HFL is the skeleton upon which we build the details from the other books. Study the online guides and get at least one guidebook and you will be set to do this research on your own, with some help from board members. If I can do this, so can you. We are all nervous when we start and then we figure out that the records are mostly in a set format and it isn't that hard to figure out many details. It takes experience to get all the details, of course. When I look now at records I found a few years ago, I notice details which I didn't find right away, but that is also true of records I've found in U.S. sources. Still, even back in 2000 (when I started), I found a great deal of useful information.
Just jump in. We won't let you drown! :-)
Judy
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