01 September 2012

Come Join Me! UVTAGG Classes

Note: Come join me and learn from presenters who have a great deal to offer. I'm teaching a class on Using Mobile Devices called "Research, Collaborate and Learn On-The-Go". --Sue

UTAH VALLEY TECHNOLOGY AND GENEALOGY GROUP MEETING (UVTAGG)

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 Aug 2012, from 9 am to noon in the LDS "Red Chapel", 4050 North Timpview Drive (650 East), Provo. Information about the Group, main presentations, classes, and class notes are available on their website and the press releases are at on their blog .

The main presentation this month will be by Kory Meyerink on GENEALOGY JEOPARDY: THE TECHNOLOGY EDITION. Plan to have some fun while learning! The questions, answers really, will be about genealogy and family history technology, so come and learning in a game environment. As in the TV game show, there will be game-show contestants in front, but the entire audience will also be participating here. Kory has put on this game show at several large genealogy conferences and we are looking forward to having him host it at our UVTAGG meeting. Kory Meyerink, MLS, AG, FUGA, is a Senior researcher at ProGenealogists. He is a former product manager for Ancestry and was publications coordinator for the Family History Library. He is a Past President of UGA, founding director of the Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy, editor and author of the book Printed Sources: A Guide to Published Genealogical Records, and adjunct professor of BYU and SJSU. This promises to be a fun meeting and all are invited.

After the main presentation the following classes are presently scheduled:
(1) Evaluating Databases and Overcoming Their Errors, by Kory Meyerink;
(2) Research, Collaborate and Learn on the Go (Using Mobile Devices), by Sue Maxwell;
(3) Personal Help (including information for FH Consultants), by Don Engstrom and Finn Hansen;
(4) Video of last month's main presentation: New Ways to Share and Get Others Interested in Family History, by Marlo Schuldt;
(5) Ancestral Quest, by Gaylon Findlay;
(6) Legacy, by Dean Bennett;
(7) RootsMagic, by Bruce Buzbee.
The MAC class has been canceled for this meeting.

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 100-125 attending the monthly meetings on the second Saturdays.

I'm Back!

Just want to convey my apologies for disappearing off the face of the earth the last two months. You all know how that goes --- too many thinks to do in too few hours. I'll try harder to get caught up and keep you informed. ---Sue

08 June 2012

Free Conference for the Deaf by FamilySearch

SALT LAKE CITY — 8 Jun 2012 -- In conjunction with a Bi-Annual Genealogy Workshop for the Deaf, there will be a Conference for the Deaf on Sunday, June 24, 2012, held in the Little Theater of the Conference Center from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. All deaf and hearing friends of the deaf are invited to attend. Elder John K. Carmack will be speaking.

The Conference Center Little Theater is located to the north of Temple Square on West Temple between North Temple and 200 North Streets in downtown Salt Lake City. Free parking is available underneath the Conference Center accessed from West Temple Street.

2012 BYU Family History and Genealogy Conference

We invite you to attend the 44th Annual Conference on Family History and Genealogy. July 31-August 3 at the Brigham Young University Conference Center in Provo, Utah. This year's theme is "Strengthening The Ties That Bind Families Together through Family History." Family historians of all skill levels are encouraged to attend.

Keynote speakers for the conference include Richard E. Turley, Jr., assistant Church historian and recorder for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Under his guidance in 1999, the Family History Department launched the popular FamilySearch.org website. Wednesday's keynote speaker will be John Titford, a writer, broadcaster, and genealogical consultant from England. The Thursday keynote speaker will be Rod DeGiulio, director of FamilySearch Data Operations. More then 130 classes will be offered on a variety of topics, including: exploring family trees, hands-on workshops, FamilySearch, international research, German research, youth and genealogy, getting support from priesthood leaders, computers and technology, methodology, etc. A complete schedule can be viewed on the conference website .Two hands-on workshops will also be offered.

"The German Gothic Handwriting Workshop," taught by Warren Bittner, will be held from 9:45 a.m.–noon on Tuesday. Participants will learn to decipher the German Gothic handwriting used on many genealogical records in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and Scandinavia.

The second hands-on workshop, "Building a Genealogy Website," will be held 1:30 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Tuesday. Millions of genealogists and historians are using the Internet to find lost ancestors. This workshop teaches you how to make your research available to the world and collaborate with others by creating your own family history website. Learn the basics of Google Sites and how to share your information through stylish, professional, and interesting ways for researchers to browse. It will be taught by Rebecca Smith, Noel Coleman, and Hannah Allan.

More Than Half of the U.S. 1940 Census Community Project Completed

From FamilySearch...

1940 U.S. CENSUS COMMUNITY PROJECT MAKES HISTORIC RECORDS FOR 18 STATES SEARCHABLE BY NAME, CELEBRATES MILESTONE OF 75 MILLION NAMES INDEXED THROUGH NATIONAL VOLUNTEER EFFORT

More than Half of the 1940 U.S. Census Records Indexed in Just Two Months Thanks to Thousands of Volunteers Across the U.S.

07 June 2012

SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH (June 7, 2012) – The 1940 U.S. Census Community Project announced today that its searchable index of 1940 U.S. census records has reached – and surpassed – the halfway mark toward completion. Thanks to the efforts of more than 125,000 volunteers, more than 75 million names from the 1940 U.S. census have been indexed with 18 state records already available to the public on all Project partner websites, including the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), Archives.com, FamilySearch.org and findmypast.com. The records will also be made available in more than 7,000 public libraries nationwide in the coming months by ProQuest. The national service project, the first and largest of its kind, aims to establish a comprehensive searchable database and make the 1940 U.S. census records available for free.

Following just two months of volunteer indexing, records for the following 18 U.S. states are currently available and searchable by name, location and family relation:

Alaska
Arizona
Colorado
Delaware
Florida
Hawaii
Idaho
Kansas
Louisiana
Mississippi
Montana
Nevada
New Hampshire
Oregon
Utah
Vermont
Virginia
Wyoming

“We believe that all people deserve free access to the 1940 U.S. census records so they can learn more about their family history, ancestors and the past. With the help of the Community Project partners, and especially volunteer indexers across the nation, we’re halfway to our goal,” said Megan Smolenyak, spokesperson for the 1940 U.S. Census Community Project. “We didn’t expect to make this much progress only two months after the 1940 census records were released, so we’re excited and thankful to all of the enthusiastic volunteers.”

Since April 2, Community Project volunteers have indexed more than 75 million records and this number continues to grow quickly as more than 7,000 volunteers sign up each week. The timely progression of making the census records freely searchable online is a direct result of the growing numbers of volunteers. Those interested in lending a hand can learn more and sign up to be an official 1940 U.S. census volunteer indexer at the 1940 census website (the1940census.com). The project will release free searchable records for individual states as they are completed.

The 1940 U.S. Census Community Project is a joint initiative between the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), Archives.com, FamilySearch.org, findmypast.com, ProQuest and other leading genealogy organizations. Thanks to advancements in technology, online volunteers worldwide can lend a voice to countless untold stories of their ancestors living, working and persevering as the “Greatest Generation.”

“Volunteer indexers have the unique opportunity to step into the past and read through hand-written records captured by census enumerators as they walked from house to house,” said Joshua Taylor, spokesperson for the 1940 U.S. Census Community Project. “Through indexing, volunteers are essentially reliving history and helping provide others with the access they need to gain greater insights into the life and times of their own ancestors more than 72 years ago.”

To learn more about the 1940 U.S. Census Community Project, track real-time progress of volunteer indexing efforts or become a volunteer, visit the1940census.com.

About the 1940 U.S. Census Community Project

The 1940 U.S. Census Community Project is a web-based, national service project with the goal of creating as soon as possible a free, high quality online index linked to the complete set of census images. The index will allow the public to easily search every person found in the census and view digital images of the original census pages. The collection will be available online for free to the general public at 1940census.archives.gov, , Archives.com, FamilySearch.org, findmypast.com, ProQuest.com through public libraries. All of these organizations are respective website sponsors of the community project. Archives.com, findmypast.com, and ProQuest will make substantial financial contributions to make the 1940 U.S. census online name index possible and will work with the nonprofit organization FamilySearch to bring additional new historic records collections online—making even more highly valued family history resources available to the entire genealogical community.

Dennis Brimhall, Managing Director of Family History Department to Speak

Dennis Brimhall

Come to the Riverton FamilySearch Library on

Tuesday, June 12, 2012, 7:00 p.m.

The Doctrines of Family History Work

A Discussion with Dennis Brimhall, Managing Director, Family History Department

Elder Dennis C. Brimhall was named a member of the Sixth Quorum of the Seventy of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on April 4, 2009.

Elder Brimhall received a bachelor of science degree in Zoology from Brigham Young University in 1972. He later received an MBA from Northwestern University. He began his career in 1974 working as an Associate Administrator at the University of Utah Medical Center and later as Chief Operating Officer at the Medical Center at the University of California San Francisco and then as Chief Executive Officer at the University of Colorado Hospital. Currently he is managing director of the Family History Department for the Church.

Elder Brimhall has served in numerous Church callings, including full-time missionary to Auckland, New Zealand, elders quorum president, stake mission president, high councilor, stake president, and mission president.

For more details, see our website: www.familysearch.org/fhc/riverton

FREE Seminar-Riverton FamilySearch Library

Riverton FamilySearch Library to Host Seminar on

Using Google Search to Connect with Your Past

June 16 from 9:00 A.M. to Noon

RIVERTON, UTAH¾Doing genealogical research has historically involved combing through dusty records in courthouses and scanning rolls of microfilm. But today, Internet searches bring the world’s genealogical treasures to your fingertips.

In his keynote presentation, “Using Google Search to Connect with Your Past,” speaker Michael D. Rossetti will use live Google search examples to demonstrate tips and techniques for maximizing the efficiency of your family history research on the Internet.

Michael is a software engineer and has worked for some of the most exciting companies in the computer world: Google, Apple, Intuit, and Informix. He has as also worked for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and Brigham Young University. He has had the opportunity to work with both software and hardware on everything from nuclear reactor simulators to today’s Google Chrome browser. Lately, Mike has been spending his time assisting Google in the development of web page tagging standards that will help improve the quality of family history-related search results.

Following the 9:00 a.m. keynote presentation, there will be two blocks of four classes each that will cover topics of interest to both beginning and advanced family history enthusiasts.

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

· “Be a ‘Fan’ of the Genealogy Research Communities on Facebook”¾Fran Jensen

“Organizing Your Genealogy”¾Beth Taylor
“Top 20 Lessons Genealogists Need to Know”¾Barry Ewell
“Finding Descendants of Your Ancestors”¾Don and Diane Snow

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

· “Be a ‘Fan’ of the Genealogy Research Communities on Facebook”¾Fran Jensen

“Solving Really Tough Research Problems”¾Beth Taylor
“Where Did That File Go?’ Understanding and Organizing Computer Files”¾Sue Maxwell
“New England Resources at the Riverton FamilySearch Library”¾Linda Baker

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.

02 June 2012

FREE UVTAGG Classes in Provo

UTAH VALLEY TECHNOLOGY AND GENEALOGY GROUP MEETING (UVTAGG)

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, 09 Jun 2012, from 9 am to noon in the LDS "Red Chapel", 4050 North Timpview Drive (650 East), Provo.

The main presentation this month will be by Don and Diane Snow on YOUR PERSONAL GENEALOGY LIBRARY: FAMILY HISTORY BOOKS ONLINE. The Snows will show information about family history books online, how to find them, what formats they are in, and how to use them. They will show various organizations that are scanning and posting FH books such as the Family History Library, Google, Internet Archive, and others. There are already thousands of FH books online and most are free to download.

Donald R. and Diane M. Snow are both Californians with Utah roots; Don's ancestors are the Snows from Southern Utah and Diane's are the Manwarings from Northern Utah. They are both retired from BYU where Don taught Mathematics and Diane taught Humanities. Since retiring from BYU, they have been on four Family History missions for the LDS Church. One of these was as the Directors of the New York Family History Center in Manhattan and another was serving in the London Family History Center in the Hyde Park Chapel. They have been involved with family history for many years and Don has been a Vice President of the Utah Valley Technology and Genealogy Group since the 1990's. They are frequent speakers at genealogy and family history conferences and the details of their talks and schedules are at http://uvtagg.org/classes/dons/dons-classes.html . They have 6 children, 30 grandchildren, and 4 great grandchildren and are snowbirds spending half the year in Provo and half in St. George.

Following the main presentation will be the class period and, as always, there will be something about family history and technology for everyone at any level of expertise. The teachers and classes presently scheduled for this meeting are:

(1) FamilySearch Family Tree, by Merlin Kitchen;
(2) Q&A, by Don and Diane Snow;
(3) Video of a past presentation or class - Your Choice;
(4) Personal Help, by DonEngstrom & Finn Hansen;
(5) MAC Projects Discussed and Reviewed, by Ron Snowden;
(6) RootsMagic, by Sue Maxwell;
(7) Legacy, by Dean Bennett; and
(8) Ancestral Quest (teacher to be announced).

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 100-125 attending the monthly meetings on the second Saturdays.

13 April 2012

UVTAGG Meeting - April 14 - Come Join Me!

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, 14 Apr 2012, from 9 am to noon in the LDS "Red Chapel", 4050 North Timpview Drive (650 East), Provo. Information about the Group, main presentations, classes, and class notes are available on their website http://uvtagg.org.

The main presentation for this meeting will be by Stephen Ehat on FIND ALL YOUR RELATIVES IN THE 1940 U.S. FEDERAL CENSUS. The 1940 US Federal Census was released on 2 Apr 2012 and digital images are now posted on several sites including the National Archives at http://1940census.archives.gov . Several organizations are coordinating efforts to index the entire census. These include FamilySearch Indexing and everyone is encouraged to sign up at https://www.familysearch.org/1940census/ to help. It will take several months to complete the entire index. The presentation at the UVTAGG meeting this month will help people get into the census before it is indexed. Small towns, of course, will be pretty easy; large cities will take more effort, but can still be done, as Steve Ehat will show.

Stephen Kent Ehat was born in San Francisco in 1951. Baptized a Latter-day Saint as a convert at age 10, he first attempted to do genealogical research at age 11. He knew too little, but at age 17, when he began studies at BYU, he successfully began a lifetime of family history research and discovery. He has served as a Records Examiner (Remember those?), as a Stake Extraction Director (back in the day when that opportunity first existed), and recently as the Director of a six-stake Family History Center serving Orem and Lindon. He has made a number of presentations at recent BYU Family History Conferences and at the BYU Family History Center Sunday classes and is constantly helping people with their research. He has been to Italy twice for family history research on his own Italian line that arrived in San Francisco 45 years before the earthquake and fire in 1906. He is a California attorney who lives with his wife, Jeanine, in Lindon, Utah, and they have five sons and thirteen -- now almost 14 -- grandchildren.

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:

Are Your Ancestors Frozen in Time?, by Claire Brisson-Banks
"Where Did That File Go?" - Understanding and Organizing Computer Files, by Sue Maxwell
Analyzing Census Records, by Stephen Ehat
Personal Help with Family History, by Don Engstrom and Finn Hansen
Video of last month's main presentation: Increasing Productivity on FamilySearch with Sharing Time, by Andrea Schnakenburg
Everything Mac for Genealogy, by Ron Snowden
RootsMagic, by Renee Zamora
Ancestral Quest, by Paul Johnson
Legacy, by Joel Graham.

All meetings of the Group 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 100-125 attending the monthly meetings on the second Saturdays.

12 April 2012

WWII Records FREE on Ancestry.com thru April 30!

I received a notice from our friends at Ancestry.com. What a great opportunity for those of you who do not have full access to Ancestry's wealth of records.

In 1940, Americans were recovering from the Great Depression and on the brink of entering a world war. The recently released 1940 U.S. Census gives us data snapshots of people and families poised between two of the most devastating world-wide events of the 20th century.

After you locate someone in the 1940 Census (on Ancestry.com), use that information to find records on Fold3, especially within the World War II Collection. Then build their personal histories with images and other details you've discovered.

Examples of what you might find include:

"Old Man's Draft" Registration Cards. Any man between the ages of 43 and 62 in 1940 would be required to register in 1942. It's called the "Old Man's" draft because it was a registration of an older generation with skills that would be useful on the home front, not in military action. (Hint: You can also use the addresses on these cards to help you search for people on the census before the index has been created.)
Missing Air Crew Reports recount riveting tales of planes shot down with and without survivors. Some of these reports include names and addresses of family members back home, as in this example for the men in this crash report.
War Diaries are official Navy accounts of command units' strategies and actions in battles on land, sea, and air, as well as between engagements.
European Theater Army Records. Shortly after the 1940 census, millions of Americans were serving in Great Britain and Europe. These records include virtually all administrative and strategic documents relating to U.S. operations in the European Theater during World War II.

There are also many compelling records and images within WWII Photos, the Interactive USS Arizona Memorial, WWII Hero Pages, and Holocaust Records. Pair the people you find in the 1940 Census to their service in World War II through documents, pages, and photos in Fold3's World War II Collection.

03 April 2012

UGA Virtual Chapter-Indexing the 1940 U.S. Census

29 March 2012

Handy Links to 1940 U.S. Census Info

Exciting 1940 U.S. Census Kick-Off Event at Riverton FamilySearch Library

Mark your calendars for Thursday, April 12th, from 5:00 to 9:00 p.m at the Riverton FamilySearch Library. The Library along with the Family History Area Advisers serving the Salt Lake City Area are pleased to host this 1940 Census Kick-Off Event! This will be an open house so you can attend any time during the four hours.

Enjoy special classes on indexing, arbitration, and stake indexing leadership each hour. Bring along a laptop if you have one, and, invite your family, friends and neighbors to join the fun!

Go to the1940census.com to register for the indexing project -- even if you already are doing indexing!

Find Your Family in the 1940 Census

From our friends at Archives.com:
The 1940 Census is almost here! Are you ready? Archives.com has prepared this infographic to show some of the cool things you can discover about your family in the 1940 Census. It also shows the steps you'll take to find them when the Census is released on April 2, just a few short days away!

Archives.com is proud to have been selected by the National Archives to host the 1940 Census. Starting April 2, go to 1940census.archives.gov and find your family.

So, who is that with great-grandpa?!

28 March 2012

RootsMagic 5.0.3 Update Released

Just in case you have been hiding out, on a long vacation, or just haven't had a chance to think about it, RootsMagic 5 was released about 4 months ago to include a number of new features. Three main features that I am finding so useful include the following:

Research Manager: No longer do you need to keep track of individual papers and files hanging out in your office or computer. The new Research Manager keeps track of all research logs you create, listing all you have found and all you have not found in your research and links to each person/family in your database. The more I use it the more I love it. I'm starting to get a better handle on my organization.

Timeline View: The new tab displays a full timeline of the person's events and those of his/her parents, siblings, spouses, and children. So I can select my great-grandmother, for instance, and immediately see how old she was on the day each of her children was born, when her husband died, or how old she was when her siblings died and where they died. I have access to my notes on this page and can therefore add notes to a fact that makes the narrative more meaningful and clear.

County Check: Once I got used to this I found I really like this feature. Based on a date that I enter for a fact, the county check tells me if the location I enter existed in the county name I entered and suggests the right one for the time period. So one person may have been born in Salt Lake City, Great Salt Lake, Utah Territory and died in Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah, United States. This works for all places in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and Australia. This feature also links to an online historical map with county boundaries included.

Just a few days ago an updated version of RootsMagic (Version 5.0.3) was released with some things I've been waiting for!

Here is a breakdown of MY best-of-the-best "new" features added since version 5 was first released.

5.0.3 - 27 March 2012

New: New "Who Was There" list prints all people in a selected place at a selected time
New: "Fix Broken Media Links" now lets you select the starting drive and/or folder (This is one of my favorite features! It saves tons of time. Now, if I could only drill down further! )
New: Media Gallery now lets you sort media by either file name or caption
New: Added options to custom reports to shade alternate records or draw lines between records
New: Added "Living" checkbox to "Add Person screen"
New: Changed 95 year rule to 110 years in New FamilySearch features

5.0.2 - 25 January 2012

New: Added ability to split a place into separate place and place details (on Edit Place screen)
New: Added option to print place details in place index

See a detailed listing and images of new features in RootsMagic 5.

See a complete list of all new features and fixes added since version 5 was released.

27 March 2012

Updated Info About the FamilySearch Indexing App

Last month I posted about the new FamilySearch Indexing app. There were several questions that were raised about how the app operates that were not covered or were not clear in the Guide. I was able to speak with an employee at FamilySearch who is involved in the implementation of the app and he was able to shed some light on a number of issues. So here are a few questions and answers that you might find useful.

If you want to refer back to the original post click here: FamilySearch Indexing App for Apple and Android...

1. I noticed that if you swipe your finger across an entry in the History Tab, the image can be removed. Does it "undo" the submitted transcription?

Answer: No, the only thing the DELETE does is remove the image from the history screen. The transcription has already been submitted.

2. The Guide does not say anything about viewing the tiny image in context by clicking on the right-hand icon at the top center of the app. So do you transcribe ONLY the portion of the name viewed in the small image or do you look for the full name as listed on the full-sized document and transcribe it?

Answer: Yes, view the name in the full image and find the full name. Then transcribe the entire name, but, do NOT transcribe titles such as Mr., Mrs, Miss, etc. You may end up with several submissions with a surname only.

3. Sometimes there are two names inside the name box. Which one do I transcribe?

Answer: Always transcribe the top name only.

4. Why do I not get every name on a full document when I start indexing? Sometimes I will get a name somewhere on the page and sometimes on a new document.

Answer: As you are indexing a name on a document the next name may be distributed to some other indexer. There is no arbitrator involved with indexing within the app. Each name is distributed to about three different indexers and continues until either a consensus is made, or it is pulled for audit. This process is referred to as "crowd sourcing model".

5. After I submit a transcription and realize that I either made a mistake or hit the submit button in error, can a fix it?

Answer: Yes, but only the very most recent submit. When you click on the UNDO button in the upper left of the app after submitting the transcription, the image will return and it can be corrected. This only works on the one document. It will not continue to bring back multiple submissions.

6. Will you explain the Queue size listed in the settings?

Answer: Offline Queue Size - Indexing on the app can be worked on without an internet connection after first downloading or queuing up a number of records while connected to the internet/wifi. You can download as many as 500 records while connected and, then without an internet connection, transcribe all 500 records. Then when you reconnect to an internet/wifi connection the 500 records will be submitted and another 500 records will be automatically queued up.

History Queue Size is simply the number of records that you have indexed that you want to continue to display in the History tab.

7. Why are my stats so low?

Answer: You submissions may take a while to make it through the system long enough to gain a consensus by all indexers. Also, handwriting can be very difficult to interpret.

26 March 2012

FamilySearch Records Updated

We continue to have new FREE records added to FamilySearch and the last couple of months are no exception! As you remember, some of the following databases are new records being added; some are new images added to existing databases; or are new indexes or additional indexes to existing databases. So if you have tried these databases in the past with no luck, try again!