Another RootsTech 2015 Keynote Speaker Announced

Image: FamilySearch.org

The founder of Global Family Reunion, A.J. Jacobs will be the keynote speaker at RootsTech 2015 on Friday, February 13, 2015. See the announcement here!

Russian Handwriting Classes

Is Russian handwriting Greek to you? If it is, these classes are for you!  You are invited to this free webinar on Russian Print and Handwriting from The Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah. The class will be taught by Dennis Everett. Dennis has a degree in Russian studies from BYU and worked 30 yrs. for the Department of Defense. He has also taught Russian.  The first class is Wednesday, November 5th at 2:00 pm (Mountain Time). Take advantage of this opportunity. It is a great way to hone your skills! There are four classes in all. For more information, click here. 

BYU Family History Library Classes for October 26, 2014

For upcoming classes, click here!

First Speaker Announced for RootsTech 2015

The first speaker for RootsTech 2015 has been announced! Guess who? Does the picture below give you any ideas?

Image: Michael Schamis

Donny Osmond will be the keynote speaker on Saturday, February 14, 2015. Click here for information on RootsTech 2015! Even if you aren't a Donny fan, RootsTech 2015 has something for everyone to cheer about! There are keynote speakers every day, so stay tuned for more announcements.

Webinar Exploring Norwegian Parish Registers

Image: Hesse 1309

Do you have Norwegian ancestors? Are you interested in searching the parish records of Norway? This webinar is for you! This webinar will be taught on Wednesday, October 22, 2014  at 7:00 pm (Mountain Time) by Anka Magee, BA, AG., from The Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah. For more information on times, etc. click here.

Extracting Information from German Records

Do you have German records and have no idea what they say?  Fritz Juengling, PhD, AG., will be teaching a class called Extracting Information from German Records on Tuesday, October 21, 2014 at 7:00 pm (Mountain Time). Take advantage of this free international webinar presented by The Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah. Click here for more information.

BYU Family History Classes

BYU Family History Library

If you are in the Utah County area, BYU offers family history classes on the 2nd and 4th Sundays of the month. The above schedule is for this coming Sunday, October 12, 2014. Notice the diversity of classes offered! All skill levels are welcome.

Danish Church Records

Image: Wolfgang Sauber

Have you ever used Danish Church Records?  Want to research them but don't know how? You are invited to this free webinar on Danish Church Records from The Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah. The class will be taught by Naomi Newbold, BA, AG,.  It will be this coming Thursday, October 9, 2014 at 7 pm (Mountain Time). Take advantage of this opportunity. It is a great way to hone your skills! For more information, click here. 

Danish Research Information

Many thanks to an old college roommate who posted this information on Facebook. Since I am a family history missionary, I am always on the lookout for new information to help me when patrons ask questions. This website looks like a great one to check out if you and your ancestors are Danish or if you suspect that your family is from that area.

UVTAGG October Meeting

The next regular, second-Saturday-of-the-month meeting of the Utah Valley Technology and Genealogy Group - UVTAGG (Formerly the Utah Valley PAF Users Group - UVPAFUG) will be on Saturday, 11 Oct 2014, from 9 am to noon in the LDS "Red Chapel", 4050 North Timpview Drive (650 East), Provo.  Information about the Group, meeting location, main presentations, classes, and class notes are available on their website  http://uvtagg.org  and the press releases are at  http://blog.uvtagg.org .  On the blog you can subscribe to receive the press releases via email when they are posted a week before the meeting.

The main presentation this month at UVTAGG is by Sharon Monson on THE FAMILYSEARCH CATALOG:  KEY TO THE COLLECTION.  The FamilySearch Catalog is the new version of the old Family History Library Catalog which has been retired.  It now includes much more than it used to.  Locating available books, microfilms, or microfiche for a certain place or subject depends on the depth of the catalog search criteria.  Basic searches such as Place, Last Name, Title, Author, Subject and Keyword, will be demonstrated and Ms. Monson will show how you can now instantly view original records in a Historical Records search.  Thousands of books are now online and many have updated indexes and all are every-word searchable.  She will show how to filter your searches to save time and effort.  Sharon D. Monson is the founder of "GenSearch and more".  She is an author and frequent conference presenter with extensive research experience spanning 30+ years in courthouses, the Family History Library, and repositories.  Her family history presentations cover a wide range of research methods, useful tips, source document locations and unusual resources.  She specializes in the Southern US region, where burned out counties and loss of records is the norm, and has learned to dig "deeper" and polish the skills necessary to find missing documentation.  As a Residential Appraiser for most of her life, she has learned to pay attention to details.  Examining what doesn't look right, or what appears to be in the wrong place, will often yield that previously missed clue.  She feels it is extremely important to use accurate information to support family data.  As the founder of GenSearch and more, her vision is to teach younger people how to search for their families.  So that no one gets left out, she also teaches those who aren't tech savvy how to use new technology in their search for ancestors.  More information about her is available at  http://icapgen.wordpress.com/2012/10/11/sharon-d-monson/ .  

After the main presentation the following classes are scheduled; check the meetings page at  http://uvtagg.org/  for last minute changes or additions.   (1)   Sharon Monson on Treasures Found in US Military Records;  (2)   Sue Maxwell on LDS Partner Web Sites:  MyHeritage;  (3)   Don Snow and Linda Westover on Family Tree Certified Programs: TreeSeek, RecordSeek, Puzilla, and RootsMapper;  (4)   Don Engstrom and Finn Hansen on Ask An Expert (Personal Help);  (5)   Video of last month's main presentation by Don Snow and Linda Westover on  Presenting and Preserving Your Family History: You Can't Take It With You, So How Do You Leave It?;  (6)   Gaylon Findlay on Ancestral Quest;  (7)   Renee Zamora on RootsMagic; and  (8)  Marilyn Thomsen on Custom Design Your Toolbar - Amazing Legacy Tools at Your Fingertips.

As you can see, there is something for everyone no matter what their level of family history expertise, and this includes youth and those just getting interested in genealogy.  All meetings of UVTAGG are open to the public whether members of the Group or not.  The Group has the goal of helping individuals use technology to further their family history and there are usually about 100 attending the monthly meetings on the second Saturdays, most of whom are Family History Consultants. The officers are Gerhard Ruf, President; Laurie Castillo, 1st VP; Don Snow, 2nd VP; Renee Zamora, Secretary; Liz Kennington, Newsletter Editor; Don Engstrom and Rayanne Melick, Membership and Finances; Bruce Merrill and Marie Andersen, DVD Library; and Chris Stevenson, Webmaster.  Several of these will be at the meeting to answer questions, help with membership, distribute the current issue of the monthly newsletter TAGGology, and check out and sell to members of the Group DVDs of past presentations and classes.  Many members don't live close enough to participate in the monthly meetings, but pay the $10 per year online dues to belong so they can receive the monthly newsletter via email and purchase the inexpensive DVDs of the presentations and classes.  Gift memberships make great presents for family history-minded relatives, friends, and Family History Consultants.  See more information about the presentations, classes, class notes, and to join the Group on the websites above.  You can also contact President Gerhard Ruf at  pres@uvtagg.org  (801-225-6106), or 1st VP Laurie Castillo at  laurie@everythingisrelative.net , or 2nd VP Don Snow at  snowd@math.byu.edu .

Free Webinar US Research Series: United States Military Records—October 11, 2014

LET FREEDOM RING!

Image: David Maiolo

Image: SSG Sun L. Vega

David Dilts, AG. will be presenting a class on using United States Military Records to help document the lives of our ancestors. The class is on Saturday, October 11, 2014. This should be a great class as military records contain some great information to help us round out our ancestors lives. We had some horrendous military conflicts in the 20th century and I, for one, am very grateful for those individuals who answered the call to action. I am very aware that my freedom was paid for by many self-sacrificing individuals, including some of my ancestors. For information about this class, click here.

Audio on Family Search!

Did you know that FamilySearch has now added audio to Memories? Wouldn't it be great if you could have heard your grandparent's voice? Maybe you can! If you have audio of family members, please share!

FamilySearch supports two audio file types, mp3 and m4a. The maximum file size is 15MB. Apple iOS only. I suspect that there will be support for Android users in the future. For more information and instructions on how you can make your Family Tree talk, click here!

Genealogy Bank and FamilySearch Partner to Digitize One Billion Obituaries

As an avid reader of obituaries, I am thrilled with this announcement! Obituaries provide so much interesting information, particularly for family history enthusiasts. I have found unknown relatives listed in obituaries as well as info about occupations, hobbies, political affiliations, etc. Start reading obituaries! You never know what little tidbit you will find that will be a golden nugget for your research!  To see the full article in the Deseret News, click here.