Granite Genealogy

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!

15 March 2012

Intro the 1940 US Census at Riverton FS Library

Riverton FamilySearch Library to Host an Event

Introducing the 1940 Federal Census

On March 17th from 9:00 A.M. to Noon

When you think of the 1940s, images of World War II, big band music, Casablanca, Humphrey Bogart, and Ingrid Bergman come to mind. It was the era of swing dancing, victory gardens, rationing sugar, and when you might have referred to someone old-fashioned as a “fuddy-duddy.”

Popular genealogist Tim Bingaman will bring the 1940s to life in his keynote address at the Riverton Saturday Seminar on March 17. In his presentation, “The 1940 Federal Census: The Greatest Generation,” he will explain what genealogical gems can be gleaned from the 1940 census, how to get involved in indexing it so it will be made available free online, and how individuals can be located on the census until indexes are available.

Tim Bingaman was born in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and has lived in Utah since 1980. He began to research his family lines in 1982 and has never stopped. After a three-year stint in the U.S. Army, he attended Harrisburg Area Community College and received his B.A. in history from Brigham Young University. Tim taught high school in St. Johns, Arizona, from 1984-1989, teaching U.S. and world history, geography, economics, and health. He has been an accredited genealogist since 1991 in Mid-Atlantic States research. Currently he is a reference consultant at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City.

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:

• “FamilySearch and Billion Graves--Family History Sources Right at Your Feet”--Curtis Tirrell

• “Ireland Research Online”--Phil Dunn

• “Synching Legacy 7.5 with the new FamilySearch”--John Baker

• “Searching for Interesting Information about Your Utah Pioneer Ancestors”--Delwin Remington

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

• “FamilySearch and Billion Graves--Family History Sources Right at Your Feet” (Repeat) -- C Tirrell

• “Genealogy Gifts and Games”--Kim Woodbury

• “Increasing Productivity on the New FamilySearch Website”-- Andrea Schnakenburg

• “Hatching Eggs: The Chart Chick Tries to Engage Her Teenage Children with Their Family History”--Janet Hovorka

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.

15 February 2012

1940 Census - 47 Days Away From Release!

The time is drawing near - are your ancestors in the 1940 census? Maybe your parents, your grandparents -- or even yourself?

Join the excitement and sign up to help index the 1940 census beginning April 2, 2012! Click on the image below.

10 February 2012

New FamilySearch WILL (Eventually) Become FamilySearch Family Tree

If you follow my blog you know that I hate to reinvent the wheel and I just want to get the important info out to my readers. So I am going to refer you to a couple of other blogs where the authors have done a fantastic job of discussing and presenting the features of the new FamilySearch Family Tree.

I have enjoyed a number of presentations given lately by Ron Tanner of FamilySearch; (about five, I think!) on the subject of the changes coming later this year with new.familysearch.org. New FamilySearch will become part of FamilySearch.org and become Family Tree. I'm testing this Family Tree now and, even though it still needs work, it will be a worldwide family tree. Eventually it will have sources, links to online sources, stories and pictures.

A couple of my fellow bloggers, Ancestry Insider and James Tanner from Genealogy's Star each has posted about this change and the ensuing product. So rather than me redoing the same thing, I want to send your their way.

These changes will be opened to the public, hopefully by the end of the year, for everyone to utilize, including both adding to and editing the family trees! We should all be extremely excited! So hop on over and read!

"A Monstrosity, Wonderful Thing" by Ancestry Insider

"Family Tree to Replace New FamilySearch by Year's End" by James Tanner of Genealogy's Star

08 February 2012

Flip-Pal Mobile Scanner Valentine's Day Special

The Flip-Pal mobile scanner Valentine's Day "Gift of Love" Sale

Do you know someone that has shoeboxes of old photos that are waiting to be scanned? Perhaps a few heirloom items? What better way to show your love this Valentine’s Day then by giving them a Flip-Pal mobile scanner to preserve those memories!

From February 8 through Valentine’s Day (February 14) 2012, you can make sure that their memories are safe and preserved—to share with future generations. Just use the coupon codes below when ordering on our shop page.

Save $20 when you purchase a Flip-Pal mobile scanner plus a Deluxe Flip-Pal mobile scanner Carry Case with Pocket (both items must be in your shopping cart).
Use Coupon Code: LOVE12FP

Save $30 when you purchase a Flip-Pal mobile scanner with Creative Suite Craft Edition DVD plus a Deluxe Flip-Pal mobile scanner Carry Case with Pocket (both items must be in your shopping cart). Use Coupon Code: LOVE12CS

Happy Valentine's Day!
—The Flip-Pal mobile scanner Team

(Disclaimer: I am not employed by Flip-Pal or in any way connected except that I own one that I purchased and love it!)

07 February 2012

RPAC ANNOUNCES STOP ID THEFT NOW! CAMPAIGN WITH WHITE HOUSE PETITION

NOTE: This is a critical issue for everyone!

Genealogy Community Responds To Efforts To Remove Access to Social Security Death Index and Other Records

February 7, 2012– Austin, TX: The Records Preservation & Access Committee (RPAC) – a joint coalition of international genealogical societies representing millions of genealogists and family historians – announces the launch of its Stop ID Theft NOW! campaign with its We The People petition posted at WhiteHouse.gov.

Call To Action For IRS To Do Its Job

Each year, fraudulent tax refund claims based upon identity theft from recently deceased infants and adults are filed with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). The current target is the Social Security Death Index (SSDI) or Death Master File since this file, as found on numerous genealogy-oriented websites, could possibly be the source of identity thieves acquiring a deceased person’s Social Security number.

The IRS could close the door to this form of identity theft if, in fact, it were to use the Death Master File for the purpose for which it was created: to reduce fraud. If returns claiming a tax refund were screened against the Master Death File and matching cases identified for special processing, the thief should receive a rejection notice for the filing.

Tax Fraud and Identity Theft: Genealogists Are Not To Blame

The House Ways and Means Committee Subcommittee on Social Security is proposing to completely shut down use of the SSDI by genealogists as well as other industries such as banking and insurance that rely upon its information. Such an attempt is short-sighted and runs counter to the original purpose of the SSDI: to actually combat fraud.

Loss of Access to SSDI Affects More Than Genealogists

The SSDI is accessed by many different companies, non-profits and other entities besides individuals researching their family history. Forensic specialists utilize the SSDI when reuniting remains of military veterans with their next-of-kin and descendants. Law offices, banks and insurance companies utilize the SSDI to resolve probate cases and to locate heirs.

All of these entities would be required to spend more money and more time leveraging other resources of information when the SSDI has served this purpose, uninterrupted, for over a decade.

RPAC Petitions Obama Administration

The We the People petition, now posted at http://wh.gov/khE and accepting signatures, has a simple yet effective mission:

Take immediate steps that would curtail the filing of fraudulent tax refund claims based upon identity theft from recently deceased infants and adults.

[Note: Visitors to the WhiteHouse.gov website must log in to sign the petition, or click Create an Account to register. Once registered, return tohttp://wh.gov/khE to sign the petition.]

No need for lengthy hearings in front of a Congressional committee. No need for filing statements for or against any House action. No need to waste time and effort which could be directed to more pressing national issues. In fact, the National Taxpayer Advocate in 2011 issued suggestions which do not require additional legislation but can be implemented collaboratively between the IRS and Social Security Administration (SSA) almost immediately in time to impact the current tax filing season.

About Records Preservation & Access Committee (RPAC)

The Records Preservation & Access Committee (RPAC) was formed to advise the genealogical community on ensuring proper access to historical records of genealogical value in whatever media they are recorded, on means to affect legislation, and on supporting strong records preservation policies and practices.

The genealogical community works together through The Records Preservation and Access Committee (RPAC), which today includes The National Genealogical Society (NGS), the Federation of Genealogical Societies (FGS) and the International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies (IAJGS) as voting members. The Association of Professional Genealogists (APG), the Board for Certification of Genealogists (BCG), the American Society of Genealogists (ASG), ProQuest and Ancestry.com serve as participating members.

To learn more visit http://www.fgs.org/rpac/.

Instructions for signing up at WhiteHouse.gov and signing the petition can be found at http://fgs.org/pdf/rpac_petition.pdf.

NOTE: Dear Myrtle has posted an excellent followup to this post about RPAC that should answer any questions you may have.

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