Legacy Family Tree is at it Again!

Photo from legacyfamilytree.com

Can I just stay that I LOVE LegacyFamilyTree Webinars! They are always so informative and easy on the ears! The next webinar will be Wednesday, May 4th. The presentation is Preserving Family Photographs: 1839 to the Present by Maureen Taylor. The presentation is at 2:00 pm EST, 12:00 noon for us in the Mountain Time Zone. Go to legacyfamilytree.com/webinars to register. You won't be sorry! Another nice thing about these webinars is that if you miss them at the scheduled time, most of them are recorded and posted for a week (or more) so that you can catch them on your time!

Free Database Record Collection Hits 600!!!

SIX HUNDRED!!!

The online collection of historic records at FamilySearch has just hit the 600 mark! Amazing! I found a very insightful and informative article about this by Leland Meitzler on his Genealogy Blog! To see all of the collections available, go to FamilySearch.org.

If you would like to help with the indexing, become a volunteer. This would be a great way to "give back!" Check out the details at indexing.familysearch.org. Who knows, you just may end up indexing some of your relatives!

Devin Ashby presents "The Google Genealogist"

The UGA has a virtual chapter meeting every third Thursday of the month. Through May, the meetings are free for members AND nonmembers of UGA. The wonderful thing about these meetings is that they have both audio and video and can be accessed from anywhere with Internet access. The information below and the banner above is from the Utah Genealogical Association blog.

Devin Ashby presents "The Google Genealogist"

April's Virtual Chapter Meeting!!

Date: April 21.7:00pm MDT (Your time zone)

Address to access the chapter meeting:http://ugagenealogy.na5.acrobat.com/vc_april_2011

Title of Presentation: The Google Genealogist

Synopsis: What are the latest tools from Google and how can I use them in my research? Come learn about products like Picasa, Alerts, Sites, Books, Video, Maps and much more that can help you save time and money as you utilize the Internet to help you get the job done.

Bio: Devin Ashby is a Project Coordinator for FamilySearch, the largest genealogical organization in the world. Devin has been involved in family history for years. In 2004 he received Bachelor degrees in History and Spanish, and the following year earned a Masters Degree in Educational Leadership from Northern Arizona University.

Genabloggers Radio Tonight!

Are you related to this man? You might be!!

Robert E. Lee

This week our country celebrated the 150th anniversary of the Civil War! Maybe it's time to find out if you have Civil War ancestors!

Tonight on Geneabloggers Radio the topic will be "Family History and the American Civil War." The program starts at 10pm EDT, 9pm CDT, 8pm MDT (That's us in Utah folks!), and 7pm PDT. The guests tonight will include Michael J. Varhola, author of Life in Civil War America; photograph expert Maureen Taylor, author of Finding the Civil War in Your Family Album; and genealogist and blogger Angela Walton-Raji of The USCT Chronicle who will discuss the United States Colored Troops.

Thanks again to Thomas MacEntee for his post about this program!

Who Has Time for Genealogy in Today's World?

Who has time for genealogy?
I'll work on that when I'm...(name the age!).
I have more important and pressing things to do!
I think it's boring.
My family doesn't care who they are.
Why waste my time when Aunt Sally knows everything there is to know about our family.
Why bother?

I have heard a variation of these comments for many years now. I realize that I am a genealogy nerd, but with genealogy approaching the #1 hobby of people in the world, I can see that I'm no longer alone. People have many reasons that they want to know about their families. Do you look like any of your ancestors? Whose hands do you have? Can you see some of the same mannerisms coming through the generations?

Personally, I think that everyone has time to work on genealogy. I know I am very biased, but we find time to do what we want to do! The one thing that I do want to point out is that:

GENEALOGY ISN'T JUST PEDIGREE CHARTS AND FAMILY GROUP RECORDS!

Genealogy is stories...
Genealogy is pictures...
Genealogy is scrapbooks...
Genealogy is letters...
Genealogy is videos...
Genealogy is family vacations...
Genealogy is togetherness...
Genealogy is sharing...
Genealogy is traditions...
Genealogy is research...
Genealogy is discovery...
Genealogy is connections...
Genealogy is journals...
Genealogy is a labor of love...
Genealogy is...never ending!

This is what genealogy is all about!!!

FAMILY!

 
I think that we can work on some piece of genealogy during all seasons of our lives. It may not be extensive researching while we have little kids at our feet. It may be that at that season of life, you can keep track of birth certificates, baby blessings, pictures, and maybe jot a few observations in a journal. That is genealogy!!!

When you are older and the kids are in school, you'll keep those school pictures, report cards, and the zillion papers that they bring home. That is genealogy!!!

When the kids hit high school, now may be the time you write to them about your own experiences in high school. Kids have a hard time believing that you were once their age. Show them that you were. Talk to them about your struggles. Let them know that they aren't alone! That is genealogy!!!

When the kids leave for college, LDS missions, and marriages, the dynamics change a little, but you can still keep track of their lives through letters (emails), notes from phone calls, pictures, and even family vacations. That is genealogy!!!

Grandkids will capture your heart! Start traditions with them. Let them know that you are on their side. That is genealogy!!!

When we are older and not so agile, maybe recording your personal history is what you will work on. Again, that is genealogy!!!

So, my point today is that genealogy is alive and well in much of what we do! We just need to be a little more conscious of it! If you need a little inspiration, Google family history project ideas! You will be amazed at what you find!

Kip Sperry's List of Family History Internet Sites

This original post is from Dick Eastman!

Kip Sperry is a well-known professional genealogist, author, and lecturer. He has created a list of his favorite genealogy sites. This is NOT a list of all the genealogy sites on the web, but rather a list of his favorite sites, the ones he refers to often. You might find some good resources here that are new to you.

Kip Sperry's List of Family History Internet Sites may be found at https://sites.google.com/site/familyhistoryinternetsites/

Kip's bio can be found at http://www.kipsperry.com/

Riverton Seminar Series--April 2011 Classes

This information is from FamilySearch!

April 8, 2011

                                                                                                                                Information and tips

Riverton Seminar Series—April Classes

Many people want to do family history. But after we go to work to provide for our temporal needs and wants; care for our families, friends, and neighbors; and serve in our church or community, there just doesn’t seem to be much time left at our disposal. However, it doesn’t have to take a lot of time to do family history work, and help is nearby when you need it. The Riverton FamilySearch Library stands ready to help with research tools and personal assistance six days a week, in addition to a monthly Saturday seminar. This month’s seminar, to be held on Saturday, April 16, 2011, will be a three-hour seminar from 9:00 a.m. to noon featuring a keynote address and eight classes.

Tim Cross, the keynote speaker, will present a message entitled “Family History: Isn’t It About Time?” During his presentation, he will help you discover ways to do family history in 30 minutes or less using FamilySearch, and he will also provide a glimpse of the new source feature for new FamilySearch. Cross has worked as a product manager for FamilySearch for 7 years. Prior to that he worked in the computer industry for Price Waterhouse, Booz Allen & Hamilton, and Novell. He is currently responsible for integrating all the FamilySearch components into familysearch.org and linking source records into the Family Tree (new.familysearch.org).

Following the keynote presentation, there will be two blocks of four classes that will cover topics of interest to both beginning and advanced family historians.

Classes to be held from 10:00 to 11:00 a.m. are:

• “Blog Your Way to Genealogical Success”—Robert Raymond
• “Beginning English and Welsh Ancestry”—Raymon Naisbitt
• “Best Strategies for Searching Ancestry.com”—Christa Cowan
• “Solving Really Tough Research Problems”—Jason Harrison

The classes available from 11:00 a.m. to noon are:

• “Mobile Apps for Genealogy”—A.C. Moore
• “An Overview of New English Research”—Jason Harrison
• “Synchronizing PAF 5 Data with New FamilySearch Using Ancestral Quest, the Program from Which PAF 5 Was Derived”—Gaylon Findlay

• “A Personal Journey in Discovering and Recording Our Family Heritage”—Brigham Cheney

Registration is not required for this free seminar. 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.        

Spread the word to friends, ward members, and neighbors!

Sincerely, 

FamilySearch

Online Research Classes from FamilySearch

Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Utah

Vision: Deliver free online training to the world!

 Family History Research Online Training (Travis Jordan, Family History Center Open House, April 1, 2011)

We no longer have the excuse that we don't know how to do research in our particular area. If you haven't looked at the online research classes offered by FamilySearch, you are in for a big surprise! There are now 135 online classes in different formats and many of them have PDF handouts to boot! I download the handout and take my notes right on that. FamilySearch is working right now to produce a series of 30 beginning genealogy lessons that should be available in 2011 (Travis Jordan, Family History Center Open House, April 1, 2011). Until then, go explore the great classes that they do have! Hey, I'm off to work on my Russian geography!

Do You Have Your Own Genealogy Research Toolbox?

Photo courtesy of Legacy Family Tree

Yesterday I listened to a really great webinar by one of my favorite speakers, Thomas MacEntee. His topic was "Building a Research Toolbox." This webinar will be available for free until April 18th and you can listen to it on your own time. One of the points that Mr. MacEntee makes is that we all have our favorites for our research, but we spend way too much time trying to locate them. We think we have a system of organization, but then our system fails us just when we need it most!

Mr. MacEntee goes on to talk about Contents and Containers and encourages us to pick our container first and then put the contents in. If all of this seems like mumbo jumbo to you, then go listen to the real deal! I will never be able to do this webinar justice!

Kudos to Legacy Family Tree for their great assortment of webinars. If you haven't attended one of their webinars, I would encourage you to do so! It's amazing what you will learn!

Don't Forget the PAF Users Group Meeting!

PAF Users Group

The monthly meeting of the PAF Users Group is tomorrow, April 9, 2011. The featured speaker is Marilyn Thomsen. She will be presenting "Eating an Elephant One Bite At a Time!" Looks like we are in for a little time management lesson! For more information, click here!

Sunday, April 10, 2011 Genealogy Classes at BYU

Last Episode of "Who Do You Think You Are?"

Tonight, the season's finale of "Who Do You Think You Are?" features Ashley Judd. Check your local listings for exact time! I wish the season didn't go so fast! Luckily, there is still "The Generations Project" on KBYU (http://www.byutv.orgthegenerationsproject/) to keep my genealogy addiction alive!

Ashley Judd on Who Do You Think You Are?

Civil War Records!!!

This information is from Ancestry.
Free Access to Civil War Records April 7-14th!

Thanks Ancestry!

Tsunami, Earthquake, Fire, Computer Crash???

http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/images/nature-CM079001922.aspx?qu=tsunami#ai:MP900423052

Are your genealogy files safe? Do you have backup in more than one place? If you have pondered these questions like I have, have you come up with a plan?

I have been looking at my own records and trying to come up with some sort of organized plan for backup, storage, etc. In my Internet search about this topic, I stumbled upon a plan that really struck  a chord with me. Maybe it is because it is straightforward and point by point. That is how I think! So, take a look at Luxegen Genealogy and Family History.  Maybe it will become your inspiration too!

Internet Access Marching Forward!

ldstemplephotos.blogspot.com

 This year the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is making a big push to get the Internet into more of it's church buildings around the world. Buildings in the United States and Canada have more Internet access at the moment, but the Church is now working diligently to get Internet access into buildings in Africa, Asia, the Pacific, and Latin America. Poor infrastructure hampers the technology in some countries, but the church is working to help solve that problem. (LDS Tech Conference, 2011) Think of the power of this technology in terms of family history work!  Imagine going into a Family History Center in Cape Town, South Africa and being able to access everything available to those patrons in Salt Lake City, Utah! What a blessing!

Indexing is providing FamilySearch with new records at a rapidly expanding pace. If you want to become part of the team indexing millions of records a year, consider indexing. Go to indexing.familysearch.org if you are interested!

Cyndi's List

cyndislist.com

Did you know that Cyndi's List is 15 years old! Could any of us live without Cyndi's List? I sure couldn't! If you haven't checked in with her lately, she is up to 291,330 links for family history. She covers the world and everything in between! Spend a few minutes with Cyndi's List today!

What is a Research Toolbox? Come Find Out!

Legacy Family Tree will be hosting a great webinar this coming Wednesday, April 6, 2011. The presenter will be Thomas MacEntee (Geneabloggers.com). His topic is "Building a Research Toolbox." Sounds intriguing and definitely something I need! The post below is from the GeneaWebinars website. Thanks GeneaWebinars for presenting great educational opportunities!

Building a Research Toolbox with Thomas MacEntee

When: Wednesday, Apr 6, 2011

Where: Legacy Family Tree - https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/926215616 (map)

Description: Building a Research Toolbox - Thomas MacEntee 

REGISTRATION: Free, but sign up at: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/926215616 

Are you overwhelmed with the number of online resources for genealogical research? Are you constantly working with unorganized bookmarks or favorites? Printing out lists of websites you use most? Learn how to build a research toolbox that is organized, easy-to-use, and can be accessed from almost anywhere. Presented by professional genealogist and Geneablogger.com's Thomas MacEntee, participants will learn not only some of the most important online resources for genealogical research, but also how to organize these resources into an easy-to-access and portable virtual toolbox. 

Wednesday, April 6, 2011. 

2:00 PM Eastern (U.S.) 

1:00 PM Central 

12:00 PM Mountain 

11:00 AM Pacific 

6:00 PM GMT

Do You Keep a Journal?

ldsjournal.com

Ah, a journal! We have heard about journals all of our lives. If you aren't LDS, maybe you call it a diary! Still, it is a written record of your life. We, in the LDS church, consider journals to be a top priority. While we know in our hearts that it is a top priority, we still don't always do what we should. You're sure that your life is boring and that your descendants will never be excited about your life! At least those are the signals that your children are sending to you! Well, it ain't so! I have a book that was written by a great, great aunt of mine. She lived in the Pennsylvania coal mining country of Luzerne County. It is fascinating to read about her life and the lives of her parents and brothers and sisters. Catherine owned a children's dress shop for a while in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. On a couple of pages, Catherine lists the cost of everyday items. Wow, have times changed! Thread is no longer 5 cents and I have never in my lifetime seen ground beef for 10 cents a pound! Fascinating reading...Anyway, my point is that your descendants WILL be interested in your life. So, keep a journal! I type a whole lot faster than I write so I have been using a journal program online that I found. I have to say that it makes journal keeping so easy! LDSJournal.com. It's easy, it's free and you don't have to be LDS. And no, I have no connection to the company except that I am a fan of their site!  :)

Gwyneth Paltrow on this week's "Who Do You Think You Are?"

http://www.nbc.com/who-do-you-think-you-are/

Next up on NBC's hit genealogy show "Who Do You Think You Are?" is Gwyneth Paltrow. Come learn about genealogy through her journey tracing the roots of her paternal grandfather.

Do You Like Genealogy? Would You Like to Serve Your Fellow Man?

FamilySearch Indexing

Think INDEXING! FamilySearch Indexing is always looking for volunteers to index the world's records! You don't have to be a member of the LDS Church to do this. You just have to have access to a computer, 30 minutes of time, and a willing heart! FamilySearch has indexed 1.5 billion records since 2006. Think of what it would be like to find a record of YOUR ancestor! Seeing a census record with your grandparents listed on it could send chills down your spine! Wouldn't that be great? We all belong to the great family of man. Come help put the puzzle together. So far this year, volunteers have indexed more than 45 million records. The goal is 220 million more records this year. There are a variety of records to index. If you know a language, there's probably an international record that you could help with! Go to FamilySearch Indexing and click on "Get Started" on the right hand side of the page. In 30 minutes or less, you will be hooked! Click to see the Current FamilySearch Indexing Projects that you can help with!

Online Microfilm Ordering is Here for the Utah South Area

www.familysearch.org

One more thing goes online! Microfilm and microfiche ordering is now online and not at your local family history center anymore (applies to Utah South Area only, with roll-out coming across the U.S. and the world). As of March 23, 2011, the only way to order microfilm in our area is to go online and order just like you do when you purchase anything online! You can order at home, at the public library, or anywhere that has Internet access. Yahoo! It may take a little time to adjust, but I have been playing with it for a few days and I am liking it more and more! I particularly like the option of ordering a film for an extended time right up front! No more renewing over and over! Take it for a test drive at film.familysearch.org. If you need some help, look for the "Ordering Help" link on the right about the gray line.

Do You Know Who You Are?

http://www.byutv.org/thegenerationsproject/

Are you enjoying the TV show on Friday nights called "Who Do You Think You Are?" Do you ever wonder what it would be like to see some everyday people searching for their roots instead of just celebrities? The Generations Project is back for Season 2 on BYU TV. This program is available through different programming avenues around the country and also available on the Internet 24/7 at BYU TV. It airs on Monday nights on BYU TV at 7:00 MST. Come follow the stories of everyday people! Get inspired!

Next Up on "Who Do You Think You Are?"

Actor Steve Buscemi at www.nbc.com

Actor Steve Buscemi is up next on NBC's hit show "Who Do You Think You Are?" Watch it tomorrow night (March 25th) on NBC.

Sunday, March 27, 2011 Genealogy Classes at BYU

BYU has some fabulous classes! You really need to check them out!

Mocavo?

mocavo.com

 This announcement is straight from the home page of Mocavo, a new, and billed as the largest, free genealogy search engine. So far, I haven't had much luck, but it is definitely a new site to check out!

About Mocavo

The world’s largest free genealogy search engine, Mocavo.com, provides genealogists access to the best free genealogy content on the web including billions of names, dates and places worldwide. Mocavo.com seeks to index and make searchable all of the world’s free genealogy information. While Mocavo.com discovers new sites every day, some of the existing sites searchable on Mocavo.com include genealogy message boards, family trees, state and local historical societies, the Library of Congress, National Archives, Ellis Island, Find A Grave, the Internet Archive, various U.S. state archives, and many tens of thousands of genealogy sites built by individuals. Similar to other search engines, Mocavo.com honors site owners by linking directly to their content.

See the great reviews of Mocavo by Dick Eastman and Randy Seaver at http://www.eogn.com/ and http://www.geneamusings.com/! See our blog and watch our home page for more developments over the coming days!

A Perfect Genealogy Program?

Mark Tucker, author of  the blog thinkgenealogy.com

I ran across a unique post from Mark Tucker who writes the blog ThinkGenealogy. His March 17th post is called GenPerfect-My Perfect Genealogy Software. It is enlightening! He pretty much describes my perfect genealogy program too! Read the whole article! I think that you will find it interesting! Developers out there? Are you listening?

Genealogy Guys Podcasts!

http://genealogyguys.com/

 

As you  have probably figured out, I am big into education! I love to learn and I am constantly searching for new venues of education! With the many MP3 players these days, it is very easy to tap into the many podcasts about different subjects. One of my favorites is The GenealogyGuys Podcast by George G. Morgan and Drew Smith! Up above that's Drew on the left and George on the right! On their homepage (genealogyguys.com) they list   news articles they covered about genealogy and also listener emails. Their easy banter makes the podcast fun to listen to. Try it out!

Mythology?

GENEALOGY WITHOUT DOCUMENTATION IS MYTHOLOGY!!!

GOT IT!!!

     GOOD!!!      

Don't leave your descendants scratching their heads trying to figure out where you got your information! Or, as Elder Gene R. Cook stated in March 1995:

"...Leave such good genealogical tracks that anyone could easily follow your Pedigree Charts, Family Group Sheets, and Document Trail, and no one will ever be able to question where you obtained the information shown in your records, nor exactly what it said."

Classes at Riverton FamilySearch Library on Saturday, March 19, 2011

This information about the Saturday classes is straight from the Riverton FamilySearch Library website.

Saturday, March 19, 9:00 a.m. - noon


9:00 a.m. - Keynote Address - "The Power of We: A Watershed Movement in Discovering Where to Find Your Ancestors" - Michael Ritchey

10:00 a.m. - “Family History - A Vital Resource” - Tara Burgeson

10:00 a.m. - "Utah Research Advice: Creating a One Stop Shop Together" - Michael Ritchey

10:00 a.m. - “Care and Repair of Photographs" - Janet Hovorka

10:00 a.m. - "Cut 10 Years off Your Learning Curve" - Barry Ewell

10:00 a.m. - “New FamilySearch Advanced Issues - Part 1” - Cathy Anderegg

11:00 a.m. - "Using FamilySearch Wiki in African American Research" - Joan Healey

11:00 a.m. - “Synchronizing Roots Magic Data with New FamilySearch" - Sue Maxwell

11:00 a.m. - “Are You My Mother? - Finding the Maiden Names in Your Tree” - Bret Peterson

11:00 a.m. - "New FamilySearch Advanced Issues - Part 2" - Cathy Anderegg

Geneabloggers Talk Radio!!!

Listen to internet radio with Geneabloggers on Blog Talk Radio

Do you ever listen to talk radio? I have to admit that I'm not much of a fan, but I have found a program that I like to listen to. Geneabloggers is on talk radio! Thomas MacEntee (creator of Geneabloggers.com) says "Geneabloggers TalkRadio is "about as much fun as you can have with your genealogy on a Friday night!" Thomas is a larger-than-life personality who makes genealogy education fun. Check out the live feed on Friday nights after "Who Do You Think You Are?" where you can hear more discussion about the program, among other things. He also features interviews with prominent people in the genealogy community. I also enjoy the fact that I can download a program on demand. Now that is doing genealogy "my way!" The button above has also been added to this blog, not just this post. That way you can always find Geneabloggers on blogtalkradio!

Genealogy That Lasts!

Do you want to make sure that your family history lives past you? Barry Ewell presented a great class at the RootsTech Conference called "Strategize and Organize---Digitizing your Family History. There is a great write up about it in the MormonTimes this week. Barry Ewell is a great presenter and is always willing to share his information and help fellow genealogists. Don't forget to look for his email address at the bottom of the article. From my experience, he has always followed up!

Another heads up for Barry Ewell. He is preparing to launch a genealogy website of his own that is poised to be a great research help! I got to see a preview of it at the St. George Family History Expo last month. It will be located at MyGenShare.com. Watch for it in 2011!

Classes at BYU

Here is the list of Sunday classes being taught at the BYU Family History Library this coming Sunday, March 13, 2011.

RootsTech Keynote Speakers!

Online videos of the three keynote speakers for the RootsTech Conference plus a few other presentations have been posted on the RootsTech website. Come enjoy the enthusiasm of these speakers and SEE the future of genealogy! It's exciting!

PAF Users Group, Utah Valley

PAF USERS GROUP

March 12, 2011 Meeting

Red Brick LDS Chapel 4050 North 650 East, Provo, Utah

 Stephen Ehat

Back-Door Research Breaks Through Brick Walls

 

Search and Ye Shall Find!

I know that I am mixing up all of my latest conference info, but I have to tell you that today I found a link to Curtis Witcher's keynote speech (The Changing Face of Genealogy) from the Roots Tech Conference 2011 in Salt Lake City.  Time for a happy dance! He was my favorite speaker and I wished all during his presentation that I could have recorded it! Well, thanks to a post by Thomas MacEntee on Geneabloggers, I can now watch the presentation in full again! Curtis Witcher of the Allen County Public Library, has such a way to motivate and inspire. Special thanks to the Middle Peninsula African-American Genealogical and Historical Society of Virginia (MPAAGHS) for posting this on their website. Look under Videos. There are other videos from the conference too! Watch this presentation and see if you don't get excited about the future of genealogy!                

GeneaWebinars-A Brand New Site!!!

 

Do you know what a webinar is? This may seem like a dumb question, but I am still running into people who haven't even heard the term before! A webinar is basically an online seminar. In other words, for me (and hopefully you!) it is a place to gain more education about a particular topic. Lucky for us, there is a new website devoted to webinars about genealogy. The site just went live last week and I was fortunate to learn about it from DearMYRTLE herself! A big thanks to DearMYRTLE and colleagues for putting this together so that we can have all of the genealogy webinars listed on a calendar in one place! The cool thing is that there are live webinars, on-demand webinars, and archived webinars. Definitely something for everybody! If you look at the speaker list so far, it reads like a who's who of the genealogy world. To take a peak at what is coming up, click on the link above and scroll down to the Google Calendar. If you are interested in a class, click on the link in the calendar and follow the instructions given. How I love technology!!!

I Made it Home!

I finally made it home from the St. George Expo! I went over to the family history center shortly after that! How is that for all genealogy, all the time! More posts from classes to follow this week! I just need to catch my breath!

A Minor Interruption!

More to post from the conference, but dealing with a minor interruption at the moment! Winter weather forced me (and a zillion others) to stop and spend the night in Cedar City! So, as soon as I make it home I will post the rest of my fun conference info! All I want to say right now is KUDOS to Holly Hansen and her help for making the conference the success that it was!

Article in Mormon Times

Mormon Times (published by Deseret News) has an article about FamilySearch that gives you so idea of recent changes. It's a good read!

LIfe After the IGI

Robert Raymond, Used with permission

 

 

 

Is there life after the IGI? Yes there is! This class gave quite a bit of history of the IGI and what it's purpose was. Each entry identifies one person or one marriage. The IGI existed primarily to assist members of the LDS Church to verify completion of temple ordinances. The IGI WAS NOT designed as a genealogical tool! Now, with the genealogical community shifting and more people doing genealogy (LDS or not), the design had to change.There were many shortcomings with the IGI and as technology has advanced, these shortcomings have become quite glaring! The new design of FamilySearch IS designed as a genealogical tool! That is the goal going forward. If you want to know more about the IGI and where that information has gone, go to the FamilySearch Wiki!

Little Gray Keys Everywhere!

This is what I have been looking at all day today. It has been wonderful, but I think I have reached my limit! More posts to follow!

Changes to New FamilySearch Website

Some significant changes have been made to the New FamilySearch Website as of February 2011. You will want to look at this. A major change is that the database is starting to roll out to the public. Please see the changes so that you can know what they are and how you can help yourself, patrons, and ward members.

Dear MYRTLE

Dear MYRTLE's class talked about using Ancestry's Family Tree feature to help your research. I have played with it a little, but I never realized how much I was missing! Now I'm ready to dive right in! Dear MYRTLE suggests that we follow four steps in getting started with Ancestry's Family Tree: 1) Create GEDCOM (export) file and privatize living individuals, 2) Upload GEDCOM (follow instructions!), 3) Check for the shaking leaf (quick search). 4) Check on the magnifying glass (deeper search). Play with it a little. Try it out with your family information.

A parting note from Dear MYRTLE...if you find information from Ancestry, don't forget that you have the responsibility to give...share your information!

Opening Session-Glen Rawson-Where Ol' Dogs Learn New Tricks: The Power and Drama of Original Records!

The opening session of the St. George began with Glen Rawson. He is the producer of the program "History of the Saints" that airs on KSL. He said that when he first started on this project he made the mistake of saying "that he couldn't make a show interesting from dusty old documents!" WRONG! One of the things that changed his mind was that he was visiting with Ron Esplin from the Church Archives (?). Brother Esplin handed him a book to look at. It was old and dusty! Brother Esplin asked Brother Rawson if he knew what the book was. Brother Rawson replied that he didn't. This dusty old book was Joseph Smith's first journal. What a treasure!

Brother Rawson said that "old records give you a sense of purpose, belonging, culture, and heritage." When he started the program about the Joseph Smith papers, the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (LDS/Mormons) gave him the charge to instill faith! These dusty old books belonged to real people who felt joy, pain, and suffering just like we do! We need to take the time to tell those stories. Brother Rawson says to "not miss the history by ignoring the original documents."

Brother Rawson went on to tell some individual stories of Mormon pioneers' lives that can be broadly applied to our day. He mentioned that researching individual records ties you to the people, you get the whole, complete story that is unfiltered, and you meet people on their terms.

Another quote from Brother Rawson..."The past is a foreign country...they do things differently there." He couldn't remember who this quote was from, but the meaning is clear. Our ancestors did things differently, just as just as we do things differently. Laws were different in their day. Laws are different in our day. Don't be so quick to judge and wonder why they did what they did. Our descendants will also do things differently from the way we do! Appreciate and learn life's lessons from your ancestors!

As a closing, Brother Rawson encourages us to tell the stories of the past, so that we may inspire and change our lives in the present.

I Lied! :)

I forgot that I needed to report that our Grove Creek Family History Center has the Family History Library edition of Ancestry.com. I had reported that it was the Library Edition, but I checked it today and the title page says "Family History Library Edition." For those of you who want to know the difference, please go to the Ancestry Insider Blog (22 February 2011)  for an explanation! Woo Hoo! Is that a word? Anyway, lets get crackin'! We have all heard many moans and groans from patrons that have missed Ancestry.com in the family history center. Now is the time to bring them all back! Please announce or put this in your ward bulletin so that ward members are aware of this change. For those of you who aren't family consultants, we'd love to see you in the Grove Creek FHC.

I Made It!

Tomorrow morning starts the St. George Family History Expo. The opening session is "Where Ol' Dogs Learn New Tricks: The Power and Drama of Original Records." Well, this ol' dog is ready to learn some new tricks! Staying with the whole dog theme, my first class will be "Lassie! Go for Free Genealogy Help!" Wait up! Lassie is on her way! See you tomorrow! :)

On My Way to St. George Family History Expo!

 

The Family History Expo is finally here! I will be blogging during the expo (Friday and Saturday) so check back here often to see what is happening.

Class Opportunities at BYU Family History Library

Classes coming up on February 27, 2011 at the BYU Family History Library!

Do You Want to Know What Was Really Talked About at the RootsTech Conference?

No Internet service this weekend made for no posting but on Granite Geneaolgy, Sue Maxwell posted and linked to three great articles about RootsTech from the LDS Church News publication. This publication is part of the Deseret News newspaper on Saturday mornings. The articles (February 19, 2011) are very informative and give you some idea of the direction family history is heading! That is your reading assignment for today!  :)

Keep it Going!

In my attempts to keep the spirit of RootsTech 2011 firmly planted in my brain, I went searching for videos from the conference. One of my favorite keynote speakers was Curt Witcher, Manager of the Historical Genealogy Dept. of the Allen County Public Library in Ft. Wayne, Indiana. I enjoyed him so much because it is obvious that he is passionate about what he does. This is a podcast that he did at the conference. It is a little long, but I thought that maybe you could catch the spirit of RootsTech too!

Can You Believe It?

Who would have thought that there would be a prime-time television program on the subject of genealogy? Hard to believe! If you haven't jumped on the bandwagon yet, now is the time to do it! Ignore those naysayers who complain that the spotlight is on celebrities! This has generated interest in family history. Stories touch hearts! Run with it! If you have missed the first couple of episodes of Who Do You Think You Are click on the link to watch them! Next up, Rosie O'Donnell, this Friday night (2/18/11)! Check your local listings for the time.

Jay Verkler from the RootsTech Conference!

 Jay Verkler from FamilySearch was the opening keynote speaker at the RootsTech Conference in Salt Lake City last weekend. The Ancestry Insider was one of the "official" bloggers at RootsTech and he has done a great job of summarizing the opening comments. Read them here! Hopefully, you will catch the vision of where genealogy and technology are going in the future (at warp speed, I might add!). It's exciting!

Richard G. Scott on Technology and Genealogy

Listen to what an apostle of the Lord has to say about technology and genealogy.

There's a New Blog in Town!

Does technology have you befuddled? There is a new resource that has just been launched by FamilySearch. It's called FamilyTech and it bills itself as a resource for technology tips for genealogists and family historians. Want to know how to use Twitter for genealogy purposes? How about camera basics for the genealogists? Can you use Android devices for genealogy? These are just a sampling of the topics covered on FamilyTech. The great thing is that if you are knowledgeable in a certain area, you are encouraged to contribute to the site! Jump on the technology bandwagon! You can run, but you can't hide!

Did You Hear?

We now have access to Ancestry.com in our center. It is the library version, not the total version, but better than the institutional version! Did you get that? Right now this access is a test agreement between FamilySearch and Ancestry.com. The testing will go on for a few months before it is evaluated again. At that time, there may be some changes made. This information was given at the RootsTech conference this past weekend. Jay Verkler of FamilySearch and Tim Sullivan of Ancestry.com were both in attendance. We appreciate having this resource in our FHC. Check out the other paid subscription resources that we have in our center. They are accessed through the Family History Library portal. We are in the process of making that portal easier to find!

19th Century British Library Newspaper Digital Archive
Alexander Street Press – The American Civil War
Find My Past
Footnote.com
The Genealogist
Genline Family Finder
Godfrey Memorial Library
Heritage Quest Online
Historical Map Works Library Edition
Paper Trail (from the Oregon-California Trails Association)
World Vital Records

What is Family History?

As I learn to post on this blog, I find that there are so many great examples out there! As I am attending the RootsTech Conference, I am finding that there is an amazing group of bloggers out there that write so well what I am trying to say. An example of capturing the excitement of family history is Elisa Scharton who writes on mormonmommyblogs.com. Check out her "Boy Was I Wrong Article!" Maybe this article will inspire others to view family history differently. Maybe we will get past my son's observation that "Mom, whenever people ask you what you do for fun, you say family history. Do you ever notice that their eyes glaze over?" Thanks CAM for the vote of confidence!

Legacy 7.5 is Here!

 

The long awaited 7.5 is here! I spent a couple of days last week playing with the new features that work with new FamilySearch and I have to say that I am impressed! I play with many of the database programs but Legacy has always been my first choice. Maybe that is because I think the way that it is set up! I particularly like the way that Legacy writes sources for me. Here are some of the new features of Legacy. 

• Match your Legacy individuals with FamilySearch individuals
• Combine potential duplicates that exist at FamilySearch
• View the real-time ordinance status of individuals (LDS)
• Reserve and print Family Ordinance Requests (LDS)
• Assign your ordinance cards to others and track their progress (LDS)
• Share information back and forth (optional) between Legacy and FamilySearch

Legacy's free standard download works with new FamilySearch. If you want to go with more bells and whistles, go for the deluxe version! There are lots of good programs out there and there isn't one set "perfect" program. In the next few weeks, I will be highlighting the other programs that are certified to work with new FamilySearch! As a side note, Legacy 1.0 is now available for Android devices! Go mobile!

No Takers!

Unfortunately, I didn't have any takers on my tickets for the St. George Family History Expo. I realize that the prize only fit a select group of people, so I will chalk up this attempt to experience! I also found out about this a little late and only had two days to conduct a contest! Never fear, I will try again in the future!

Chasing Women?

Do you "chase women?" Are you looking for those elusive female ancestors? LegacyFamilyTree.com is the place to go for scheduled webinars about a variety of topics that will help you in your research. Just click on the training tab and then scroll down to webinars. "Chasing Women" is just one of the webinars coming up. The nice thing about these webinars is that they are archived for 30 days and you can listen and learn at your leisure.

Come on Guys! I've Got Tickets to Give Away!

I know I am a novice at this, but I NEED SOME ENTRIES FOR THIS CONTEST! Please pass the message around!

WANT FREE TICKETS?

 

Dear Blogging Friends,

I am so excited to attend the St. George Family History Expo 2011, which will be held in St. George, Utah on February 25-26, 2011.  As a Blogger of Honor, I have been given two tickets for free registration to that conference. If you are interested in attending the conference, I have a contest whereby you can qualify for the tickets. The contest is pretty simple and has to do with the topic that I am personally very intrigued with. The topic is “Using Social Networks for Genealogy.” 

Here’s how the contest works:

·      Contest begins NOW and ends at midnight on February 8, 2011. (I realize this is short notice, but I have faith in you, my blogging friends!)

·      To qualify for this drawing you must submit (to: rayannemelick@gmail.com )

o   a question about how to use social networking in genealogy that you would like answered at the conference, or

o   an idea that you have used to enhance your genealogy research through the use of social networks

o   your entry must also include name, address, phone number and email address

·      All entries received by midnight February 8, 2011 will be entered into a random drawing.

·      Two winners will be selected and each winner will receive one ticket for free registration to the conference.

My commitment to you is to share with you what I learn about this topic at the conference in a future blog posting. Best of luck! I look forward to meeting my winners in St. George!

Rayanne

Why Come to the Grove Creek Family History Center?

Family History Center located in the Grove Creek Stake Building, south side

Did you know that the Grove Creek FHC has lots of great information about Pleasant Grove in earlier times? For instance, did you know that we have (on microfilm) the American Fork Citizen Newspapers from January 1914-March 1945? These microfilms also include the Pleasant Grove Review and the Lehi Banner! On microfilm, we have the separate Pleasant Grove Review Newspaper for the years 1984-1995. We also have Pleasant Grove cemetery records, some ward records, and other assorted miscellaneous records. If you have Pleasant Grove ancestry, please come check out these resources! To see what else we have in this FHC, go to the link on the right side of the page under Grove Creek FHC permanent films. Hope to see you soon!

Link Has Been Fixed!

The link to the catalog of permanent microfilms in the Grove Creek FHC has been fixed! Thanks for the heads-up on the broken link!

I'm So Excited!!!

Follow Vanessa Williams as she travels from the National Archives in Washington, D.C. to the historical battlefields of South Carolina to discover the amazing stories of her ancestors who were trailblazers in the classroom, the courtroom and beyond. Learn more on NBC.com   Watch a preview

More BYU Classes on February 13, 2011