The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints officially put a portion of its enormous genealogical database on the Internet recently. Almost 400 million names of deceased people will be available at the www.Family Search.org site. They are part of the church's Family History Library, the world's largest genealogical repository, located in Salt Lake City. An eight-week test of the site already has produced more than 200 million hits. The Mormon Church, which views tracing of ancestors as a religious obligation, indicated that more names will be available at a later date.

The FamilySearch Interact Genealogy Service includes a search engine that seeks specific names and relationships, online access to the library's catalog, and the possibility of sharing research with others looking into the same family lines. The service can search for surnames on thousands of smaller genealogical Web sites that already are on the Internet and have been evaluated by church volunteers. Mormons believe that it is important to perform religious rites--including proxy baptisms---on behalf of dead ancestors. They have gathered records for more than a century.

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