Look What's Lighting Up the 4th of July Weekend!!!

The 4th of July doesn't get any better than this...

http://www.ancestry.com/

Well, maybe this...

My family...a few years back!

Happy 4th of July everyone!!!

I Love Dear Myrtle!

http://blog.dearmyrtle.com/

This past week Dear Myrtle, a favorite blog of mine, has written a 21st century series about citing sources and evidence for genealogists. This is a hot topic in genealogy and frustrates most genealogists at one point or another. I think that more people would cite their sources if they felt comfortable with the process. As it stands now, the process is complicated and multi-layered, even for the pros! To gain some perspective on this problem, please read Dear Myrtle's blog!

Serendipity=Finding Something That You Weren't Expecting!!!

www.mormonlifehacker.com

Reading the Mormon Times is one of my favorite things to do! A couple of days ago I ran across this article and discovered a new blog! Boy, I love those moments! The blog is MormonLifeHacker and it's latest post talks about the FamilySearch Wiki. As I scrolled through the most recent posts, I noticed that many of the posts deal with genealogy and family history. Scrolling through a little more, I am liking what I see! So, what is a Mormon Life Hacker? I didn't have a clue. Go here for an explanation! It will make a ton of sense to anyone who wants to do the most important things in life, but has a hard time getting through the good to get to the best!

BYU Classes on June 26, 2011

101 Best Websites for 2011...According to Family Tree Magazine!

www.familytreemagazine.com

Family Tree Magazine has just released it's 101 Best Genealogy Websites for 2011. I love having a place where I can go to to get opinions on new websites that I may have missed over the year! Since they do such a great job, you need to read the article for yourself! Head over to 101 Best Websites for 2011.

First Year Down!

A Note from FamilySearch!

Riverton FamilySearch Library Open House

Come Celebrate Our First Anniversary!! 

The Riverton FamilySearch Library will celebrate its first anniversary on Tuesday, June 21, 2011, by holding an Open House from 2:30–8:00 p.m. This is an event for the entire family, including family history activities for children, youth, and adults.

Presentations will begin every half hour:

Introduction to the FamilySearch Library and Computer Desktop

Introduction to Indexing

Introduction to the new FamilySearch

Introduction to Family History (Youth)

There will also be continuous video presentations:

The Granite Mountain Vault

Celebration of Family History

Perhaps you have hit a brick wall in your research. Experts will be on hand to give you some new research ideas. With approximately 30 million new records being added monthly to familysearch.org, there has never been a better time to find success.

The Riverton FamilySearch Library is located in the LDS Riverton Office Building at 3740 Market Center Drive. The facility is near the intersection of Bangerter Highway and 13400 South, just east of The Home Depot.

Sincerely, 

FamilySearch 

Where Were You Born?...

http://www.lonelyplanet.com/maps/europe/czech-republic/

Salt Lake, Bermuda, Illinois, China, England, South America, Russia, Philippines, Tonga, Cape Verde Islands, California, Alaska, Egypt, Czech Republic

How about you?

I found a new family history site today that was mentioned in the Mormon Times. It is called Family History Teacher. The newest post has 25 questions to ask your relatives about family history. Go check it out for yourself. Again, a reminder that it is summer (duh!) and family reunion time. Use these questions to find out some fun stuff about those relatives!

Are You Ready?

1940's

Franklin D. Roosevelt, circa 1940
http://americasbesthistory.com/abhtimeline1940.html

For what you may ask? For 1 April 2012! Date doesn't ring a bell? Oh yeah, it's April Fool's Day, but this is no joke! Well, yeah, it is. 1 April 2012 is a Sunday, so we will have to wait until 2 April 2012 for the release! For humble (or not so humble) genealogists, that date is significant because the National Archives will release the 1940 Census films. Yahoo! That date marks the end of the mandatory 72 year privacy window. Of course, there won't be an index available at that time, but we know how to work without indexes, don't we? To see all of the questions asked and to learn more about the 1940 Census, go to http://1940census.net. This site will give you information about the census form itself, 1940 maps, and general information about the 1940 Census. Click on the above link and learn all about the decade of the 40's. It will definitely give you a backdrop for your ancestor's lives!

Riverton Saturday Seminar for June

Here is the list of classes offered this month on June 18, 2011 at the Riverton FamilySearch Library. Yes...it is in duplicate! I didn't want you to miss anything!

Family Reunion in the Near Future?

The beginnings of a family reunion?

It's summer! It's warm and everyone seems to have the travel bug! Are you heading to a family reunion this summer? Are you in the midst of making plans for a reunion? I found a great article talking about planning family reunions. It was published in the Mormon Times on 6 June 2011.


“Genealogy is something that should be part of every reunion, even if it’s a little corner of it,” said Marci Wahlquist, a service missionary and teacher at the Riverton FamilySearch Library, who has been involved with genealogy work and its technologies for more than 30 years.


Here are a couple of ideas from Sister Wahlquist that might whet your appetite!


1. Base the reunion around a culture. 
2. Choose a reunion site with significance.
3. Make a display
4.-8. Definitely read the article. It will give you ideas! Click on the link above to read the whole article.

Happy Reunion-ing!

UVTAGG!

http://www.uvtagg.org/

The Utah Valley PAF Users Group has recently changed it's name to the Utah Valley Technology and Genealogy Group. This name now reflects the group's intentions more succinctly, namely using technology and doing family history. The old name came from the time when the PAF program was the most widely used software program for recording genealogy. The early focus of the group was to assist others in learning how to use the evolving features in PAF (Personal Ancestral File) more effectively. Now there are multiple software programs to choose from and technology continues to march forward, aiding us greatly in our family history endeavors. Hopefully the name change will help our community and others to understand a little more of what this group does...family history with the help of technology!


The next UVTAGG meeting is this coming Saturday, 11 June 2011 from 9:00 am to 12 noon at "The Red Brick LDS Chapel,"  4050 North 650 East, Provo, Utah. 


 Presenters: Don and Diane Snow

Topic: Forming and Analyzing A Database of Letters 
Using the Erastus Snow Family to Illustrate

Interested in Publishing your Family History?

How will you preserve all of your hard work? How will you share your work with your family and the world? In the olden days, you waited, researched, worked, and sweated through lots of family history information until you felt that you had enough information to merit the cost of a book. At that point, it was hard to find a printing company that would print a very small number of books for a cost that wasn't prohibitive! Not anymore! Here are some great ideas from geneabloggers.com that help anyone to get their information out there You too can be a published author! Go for it!

Family History Publishing

BYU Classes Coming Up on June 12, 2011

5 Minute Genealogy

One of the questions that I get asked a lot is "Where do I start my family history? It is so OVERWHELMING!" Granted, it can be overwhelming but if you follow the elephant principle, you CAN "eat your elephant" (family history) one bite at a time. Again, I am always looking for new educational materials and FamilySearch has done it again! A new series called "Five Minute Genealogy!" These videos are clear, informational, quick, and fun! There are four total at this moment, but it sounds like there are more to come! You definitely have to check this out!