Saturday Seminars at Riverton FamilySearch Library

I received the following email this morning from FamilySearch. There are so many opportunities to learn so take advantage! By the way, this doesn't have to be just for consultants.

Saturday Family History Seminar Series at Riverton Library

Dear Family History Consultants,

We invite you and any of your friends, neighbors, ward members, or interested genealogy enthusiasts to attend and to help publicize the Riverton FamilySearch Library’s second monthly Saturday Seminar, which will take place on Saturday, August 21, 2010, from 9:00 a.m. to noon. There will be three hours of instruction by family history experts covering a wide range of technical and research subjects.

All are invited to come and attend these free classes, which range from basic to advanced level.  Details of the classes can be found at www.familysearch.org/fhc/riverton.

Sincerely, 

FamilySearch            

VOLUNTEER at the Family History Expo Conference in Sandy, Utah!

Ok, so now you know about the Salt Lake City Family History Expo conference coming to Sandy, Utah on August 27th and 28th. Well, this year I am the volunteer coordinator for this event and         I NEED VOLUNTEERS!   This is a perfect opportunity for you to get involved and still be able to enjoy the conference.

I need volunteers for pre-conference preparation, registration, prize drawing support, and ushering and room monitoring during the scheduled classes.

The great thing is if you volunteer for either Friday or Saturday's events you can attend all the classes you want on the other day for FREE! So take advantage of this great opportunity and contact me on my contact section at the bottom of the blog!

Sandy Family History Expo - August 27-28, 2010

Here's the perfect chance for all of you FH Consultants, Center Directors, Extraction Directors and every one of you who either now works on family history or wants to get started!

The annual Salt Lake City Family History Expo (which is actually held right here in Sandy, Utah) is coming August 27-28, 2010 to the Sandy Expo Center, 9575 South State Street. The Expo is presented by Family History Expos (a private company) which does a fantastic job with their conferences.

There will be over 100 classes presented by more than 50 national and local speakers as well as staff from the Family History Center in Salt Lake. Classes range from the beginner to advanced topics so don't think you know too little or too much! You will learn about the latest techniques and technologies being used in genealogical research. You can read more about it and check the class schedule at www.fhexpos.com/expos/.

Exhibitors from throughout the U.S. will teach about their latest products and services. FamilySearch affiliated software vendors will be there to help teach you how to interact with new FamilySearch using their products using a "hands-on" approach.

You can attend the keynote address and visit the exhibit hall without any cost. However, I highly recommend you attend both days if at all possible. It's very much worth the minimal cost to attend. Register quickly because the the Early Bird registration is only good for the remainder of July.

FamilySearch will be offering four extra free classes for FH Consultants, Stake Extraction/Indexing Directors and assistants, and Priesthood Leaders.

Get together with your friends, neighbors and ward members and plan to attend the conference this year!

Orem library partners with FamilySearch | Mormon Times

Free Revolutionary War Records on Footnote.com until 7 July 2010!

In recognition of America's Independence Day, Footnote.com is opening their Revolutionary War Collection free to the public. Take advantage of this opportunity for the next four days!

Time for Utah Valley PAF Users Group Meeting!

Remember that UVPAFUG is not really about PAF these days - but it's still the organization's name! This is a great group and you should plan to attend whenever possible! Here is the press release:

The next regular, second-Saturday-of-the-month meeting of the Utah Valley PAF (Personal Ancestral File) Users Group will be on Saturday, 10 Jul 2010, from 9 am to noon in the LDS "Red Chapel", 4050 North Timpview Drive (650 East), Provo. For directions to get there see the map on the group's website http://uvpafug.org .  (OR click on the address above.) The main presentation for this meeting will be by Bret Petersen on ARE YOU MY MOTHER? - FINDING MAIDEN NAMES. This will be a discussion of various types of records and research techniques that can provide clues in determining more about missing mothers. It can often be difficult to discover the maiden name of female ancestors, however, such a find can create a whole new branch on your family tree opening up connections to more and more families. Join us as we explore a few of the resources where you might look for more information regarding those elusive maiden names on your family line. 

Bret Peterson loves teaching and helping others learn all they can about using technology in researching their family history. He is a frequent presenter for classes ranging from just a few users to several hundred. He developed a love of family history research at a very young age and this continued through his college years where he graduated from BYU with a degree in communications/Journalism and a minor in Education/Sociology. His interest in computers began through newspaper writing, editing and design, and this led him into a professional training and support role with a company that supplies newspaper publishing systems internationally. His passion for family history research and the advancements in computer-assisted research led him to the Utah Valley PAF Users Group where he now serves as Webmaster. He is currently working towards accreditation with ICAPGen. Following the main presentation there will be several classes about family history and technology with something for everyone at any level of expertise. The teachers and classes presently scheduled for this meeting are as follows: 

1. Military Research on the Internet by Laurie Castillo
2. Individual Help with PAF & New FamilySearch by Don Engstrom & Finn Hansen
3. Cemetery Symbolism in Stone by Bret Petersen
4. Video of last month's main presentation How to Light a Fire Under Your Ward by Andrea Schnakenburg 
5. Family Insight by Andrea Schnakenburg
6. Ancestral Quest 12.1 by Gaylon Findlay
7. Legacy 7.4 by Joel Graham
8. Roots Magic 4 by Bruce Buzbee

All meetings of the Users Group are open to the public whether members of the Group or not. The Users Group has the goal of helping individuals use technology to further their family history and there are usually 100-125 attending the monthly meetings on the second Saturdays.

Updated "Standardized Place Name List" in new FamilySearch

Ron Tanner, the Product Manager of Family Tree in new FamilySearch posted a comment that should clarify an issue with the Standardized Place Names in nFS. There are some place names that are most definitely incorrect. You should be able to have them corrected now. Here are his comments posted to FHCNET on July 1:

" Everyone,

There have been some issues in the past that have restricted us from taking updates of the standards catalog into nFS. The last time that a standardize place catalog was updated was several years ago. And although your feedback on standardized places have been taken and the catalog updated, you never saw the fix because of this problem.

The release that was put out in June has been updated with the latest catalog that diligent engineers have been working to improve for years. We also have changed the way that standardized places are chosen and have more strongly separated the place you enter from the standardized place.

Now you can enter a place and it will pop-up with suggestions from the database, but if there are none you believe are close enough to select so you don't have to keep typing, then just don't select any from the drop-down. Then the system will attempt to match what you entered and fill in the standardized version of the place. If you don't believe the standardized place is close enough, then click on the arrow next to the standardized place and pick the closest one. By doing this we keep your original place data but also have the closest standardized place.

If entries were made by the system or others that have a poor choice for a standardized place, then just enter another opinion and correct it with the technique above and then make sure your entry is selected in the summary.

We have now corrected the issues with taking the standards catalog and expect to have more regular updates as we take your feedback and correct the errors.

Thanks,
Ron"