Behind the Scenes of Image Capturing

Have you ever wondered what happens behind the scenes of indexing and image capturing? There are more than 1. 5 million images are captured each week. Who makes this possible? Records preservation missionaries, contractors, FamilySearch employees, archive employees, and many volunteers are responsible for capturing millions of images each year. These historical records are captured so that they may be indexed, preserved, and published on FamilySearch.org.

There are about 222 cameras located all over the world; 92 cameras in the Western Hemisphere, and 130 in the Eastern Hemisphere. These industrial cameras can each take millions of images ranging from 16 to 50 megapixels. Computer software is used to calibrate the camera, capture the image, manage the project, and capture metadata or information about the records. Clamps and foam wedges are used to keep the book level and the image in focus. All images are saved on an external hard drive at the end of each week, placed in a protective case, and sent to Salt Lake City, Utah. Once the hard drive arrives in Salt Lake, it is sent through an auditing process where rejected images are sent back for rework and approved images are processed and published. View the video, “FamilySearch Records Preservation Missionaries,” to see the record preservation missionaries in action. 

Once these images are captured, they need to be indexed to be searchable on FamilySearch.org. Volunteer to index these images today. 

Current and Completed Projects 

To view a list of currently available indexing projects, along with their record language and completion percentage, visit the FamilySearch indexing updates page. To learn more about individual projects, view the FamilySearch projects page. 

New Projects Added 

· België, Oost Vlaanderen, Sint-Lievens-Houtem—Burgerlijke Stand, 1901-1910 [Deel 2] 

· Brasil, Rio de Janeiro—Cartões de Imigração, 1900–1965 [Parte 3II] 

· Brasil, Rio de Janeiro—Cartões de Imigração, 1900–1965 [Parte 3JJ] 

· Canada—1911 Census 

· Colombia, Antioquia—Diócesis de Sonsón y Rionegro, 1814-2008 [Part 3] 

· Deutschland, Hessen, Landkreis Marburg-Biedenkopf—Sterberegister, 1946–1980 

· Italia (Antenati Italiani), Bergamo—Nati, 1875-1894 [Part 2B] 

· Italia (Antenati Italiani), Modena—Nati, 1875–1902 [Parte 2] 

· Magyarország, Szabolcs—polgári anyakönyvi adatok, 1895–1978 [5. Rész] 

· South Africa, Orange Free State—Estate Files, 1951–1980 [Part 2A] 

· Suisse, Fribourg—1834 Recensement 

· U.S. (Community Project), New York—New York Passenger Lists, 1942–1957 [Part J] 

· U.S., Indiana, Wayne—County Marriages, 1811–1959 

· U.S., Iowa—1905 State Census [Part A] 

· U.S., Iowa—County Marriages, 1838–1992 [Part D] 

· U.S., Massachusetts—State Vital Records, 1841–1920 [Part A] 

· UK, Kent—Register of Electors, 1825–1900 

· UK—WWI Service Records, 1914–1920 [Part 3] 

· UK—WWI Service Records, 1914–1920 [Part 4] 

· Zimbabwe—Death Notices, 1904–1976 [Part 1] 

· Россия, Тверь—Метрические книги церкви, 1722–1918 [часть 1] 

View the FamilySearch projects page to see the full list of available projects and to learn more about how to participate in various projects. 

Recently Completed Projects 

Note: Recently completed projects have been removed from the available online indexing batches and will now go through a final completion check process. They will be published at FamilySearch.org in the near future. 

· Italia (Antenati Italiani), Pesaro e Urbino—Nati, 1885–1902 [Parte 2] 

· Italy, Trento - Baptisms 1784-1924 [Part 2A] 

· Nicaragua, Masaya - Registros Civiles 1879-1984 

· Sverige, Örebro—Kyrkoböcker till 1860 [Del 6] 

· Sverige, Örebro—Kyrkoböcker till 1860 [Del 6] 

· U.S. (Community Project), Florida, Key West—Passenger Lists, 1898–1945 

· U.S. (Community Project), New York, Northern—Arrival Manifests, 1902–1956 

· U.S., Maine—Delayed Returns for Births, Marriages, and Deaths, 1670–1891 

· U.S., Mississippi—Military Grave Registrations, 1936–1951 

· U.S., Ohio—County Births, 1856–1956 [Part C] 

· U.S., Oklahoma—Land Allotment Records of the Five Civilized Tribes, 1899–1907 [Part 1E] 

About FamilySearch 
FamilySearch International is the largest genealogy organization in the world. FamilySearch is a nonprofit, volunteer-driven organization sponsored by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Millions of people use FamilySearch records, resources, and services to learn more about their family history. To help in this great pursuit, FamilySearch and its predecessors have been actively gathering, preserving, and sharing genealogical records worldwide for over 100 years. Patrons may access FamilySearch services and resources free online at FamilySearch.org or through over 4,600 family history centers in 132 countries, including the main Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah.  

Thanking a hero after 57 years!

It's the unexpected joys that make me love being a genealogist. Family is the most important thing we have. I had a favorite grandmother growing up and we lived about 700 miles apart most of my life. She and I would cry with joy whenever we got to see each other and cry from heartbreak whenever we parted. She just simply loved me. Life was simple and the little things made me happy.

Today I often wonder who was her favorite relative - a grand parent, and uncle, a cousin? I so wish I had asked her that simple question while she was still alive. That's why I get so exciting when I have the chance to help someone else discover someone in their life or the life of someone in theirs.

About two weeks ago one of my friends, Kathy Peavey Gritton, contacted me and asked if I could help her find someone from her late father's life. Her father had a serious accident in 1955 and she so wanted to locate the man who saved his life, if he was still alive. Kathy had a worn out newspaper article that didn't have a date nor did it identify the newspaper. The man's name was Richard Falkner. So we spend the next several hours piecing together her father's life including the accident that cost him both of his legs. And, we discovered that the hero in all of this was still alive and living just about 30 miles away. His name had been misspelled in the original article which made it a little more difficult to locate him.

Kathy decided she would contact Mr. Falkner the next day, however, she also wanted to publicly acknowledge his heroism so I suggested a local newspaper columnist, Lee Benson, who loves to share human interest stories. Kathy contacted them both the next day. They all met together a couple of days later... AND...here's the rest of the story...
*Hero thanked 55 years after Logan sawmill tragedy
*After 57 years, a family thanks its hero

Like I said...it's the unexpected joys in life! Thanks Kathy, for letting me play a part in your joy!

UVTAGG Saturday Seminar-Come Join Me!

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 May 2013, 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 and the press releases are at http://blog.uvtagg.org . 

The main presentation this month will be by Don E. Norton on WRITING YOUR PERSONAL AND FAMILY HISTORY. This presentation will help all of us write and preserve our own and our ancestors' life stories. Don Norton is a retired professor of BYU's Department of Linguistics and English Language. For thirty years he taught the Personal History class at BYU, as well as senior seminars in oral history. A special interest is oral histories of military veterans, notably veterans of WW II, but of other "wars" as well. He has interviewed literally hundreds of military veterans and compiled their stories. He has written books and articles and headed the Faculty Editing Service at BYU for more than 20 years. As a professional editor for 45 years, he edited several volumes in the Collected Works of Hugh Nibley series at BYU. More information about him is online here.  

After the main presentation the following classes are presently scheduled. Check the meetings page athttp://uvtagg.org/ for last minute changes or additions to the class offerings.

1. Effective Use of Websites and Their Search Engines or Why Didn't I Find Them the First Time?, by Laurie Castillo
2. Organizing Your Computer Files, by Robert Lasson
3. Using Dropbox, Keynote, and Skype for Genealogy, by Ron Snowden
4. Q&A: Writing A Personal or Family History, by Don Norton
5. Ask An Expert (Personal Help), by Don Engstrom, Bud Wood, and Jim Kendall
6. Video of last month's main presentation: Are Your Ready Now That FamilySearch Family Tree is Live?, by James L. Tanner
7. Ancestral Quest, by Merlin Kitchen
8. Legacy, by Dean Bennett.
9. RootsMagic, by Sue Maxwell

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.

FamilySearch Indexing: How It Works

Help Index the US Immigration & Naturalization Community Project