Free Seminar on a Watershed Movement in Discovering Where to Find Your Ancestors

The Riverton FamilySearch Library Hosts Event on March 19

RIVERTON, UTAH—The rapid digitization of records online is a crucial event in genealogy today, but records are appearing so fast on so many websites that most genealogists have no way to know where to find the best record. At this month’s Saturday Seminar, hosted by the Riverton FamilySearch Library, keynote speaker Michael Ritchey will address the topic “The Power of We: A Watershed Movement in Discovering Where to Find Your Ancestors.” He will discuss the efforts of the genealogical community to harness their collective knowledge to show the records currently available worldwide.

This month’s seminar will be held on Saturday, March 19, 2011, from 9:00 a.m. to noon. Following the keynote presentation, there will be two blocks of 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:

• “The Joy of Family History: How to Inspire Members and Leaders”—Tara Burgeson

• “Care and Repair of Photographs”—Janet Hovorka

• “ Cut 10 Years off Your Learning Curve”—Barry Ewell

• “Advanced New FamilySearch Techniques, Part 1”—Cathy Anderegg

• “Utah Research Advice: Creating a One-Stop Shop Together”—Michael Ritchey

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

• “African American Research”—Joan Healey

• “Using RootsMagic with New FamilySearch, LDS Features”—Sue Maxwell

• “Are You My Mother? Finding the Maiden Names in Your Tree”—Bret Peterson

• “Advanced New FamilySearch Techniques, Part 2”—Cathy Anderegg

Registration is not required for this free seminar. Also, the library will be open until 5:00 p.m. that day for patrons desiring to do individual family history research. For more information, please visit www.familysearch.org/fhc/riverton.

The Saturday Seminars will be held on the third Saturday of each month. 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.

UTAH VALLEY PAF USERS GROUP MEETING

The next regular, second-Saturday-of-the-month meeting of the Utah Valley PAF Users Group will be on Saturday, 12 Mar 2011, from 9 am to noon in the LDS "Red Chapel", 4050 North Timpview Drive (650 East), Provo. Information about the Users Group, main presentations, classes, and class notes are available on the Group's website.

The main presentation for this meeting will be by Stephen Kent Ehat on BACK-DOOR RESEARCH BREAKS THROUGH BRICK WALLS. Steve will be showing what to do when you hit a brick wall in your family history research. What do you do then? Perform research on others, such as neighbors and those named in records in reasonably close proximity to the names of your relatives. This type of research helps you break through brick walls. Learn how to do it and be amazed at the results. Stephen Ehat is member of the State Bar of California. He recently served as the Director of a six-stake Family History Center in Lindon, Utah where he lives. A convert to the LDS Church at age 10, he has been doing family history research since 1967. He and his wife, Jeanine, have five sons and eleven grandchildren (with two on the way, but who's counting?).

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) MAC: Reunion Tips,Tricks, Q/A, and using Skype, by Ron Snowden; 
(2) Strategies for Searching Ancestry.com, by Sue Maxwell; 
(3) Personalized Help, by Finn Hansen & Rudy Johansen; 
(4) Q&A and Back-door Research Examples, by Stephen Ehat; 
(5) Video of last month's main presentation: The Future of New FamilySearch, by Ron Tanner; 
(6) Family Insight, by Andrea Schnakenburg; 
(7) Ancestral Quest, (TBA); 
(8) Legacy, by Joel Graham; and 
(9) RootsMagic, by Diana Olsen.

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.

As you can see, I am teaching a class on Ancestry.com search techniques so please come join me, especially now that we have Ancestry.com back in our Family History Centers.

RootsTech: Reducing the "friction", Convergence, and Blessings

The LDS Church News, a weekly publication of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, is published by the Deseret News newspaper. In today's edition three great articles were published about last week's RootsTech Conference held in Salt Lake City, Utah. 

Jay Verkler by R. Scott Lloyd

Conference Brings Technology and Family History Together The title was changed to "Reducing the 'Friction' Between Genealogy and Technology" in the print edition. Conference brings together family historians, technophiles. 

M. Scott Simpkins by Sue Maxwell

Convergence Brings New Technological Uses Gadgets, Internet are boon to genealogists. Discussion include the Wiki, Digitization and the FamilyTree.

Elder Scott by R. Scott Lloyd

Blessing Invoked Upon Family History Consultants Apostle leads discussion of wide-ranging questions. Some of those questions include the state of PAF software and the continuation of Family History Centers around the world.

Family History Expos to Be Held in St. George Next Week

This is a final reminder about the upcoming St. George Family History Expo sponsored by Family History Expos (a private company). The event will be held February 25–26, 2011, at the Dixie Center, located at 1835 Convention Center Drive in St. George, Utah.

Over 100 classes will be presented by more than 50 national and local speakers as well as FamilySearch employees and staff from the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah. With classes ranging from beginning to advanced topics, there is something for everyone. Many classes are dedicated to studying the latest techniques and technologies being used in genealogical research, as well as the most up-to-date information about different cultures being studied. You can review the class schedule at www.fhexpos.com.

There is no cost to attend the keynote address or visit the exhibit hall. Registration for the classes is $75 for both days ($65 if you preregister online) or $40 for a single day. The cost to attend a single class is $12 at the door. The following free classes will also be offered on Saturday for family history consultants, stake extraction directors and assistants, and priesthood leaders:

·         “Family History Work: A Vital Resource in the Work of Salvation.” This class will discuss the newly released Leader’s Guide to Temple and Family History Work: To Turn the Hearts, as well as new approaches to involve the ward council.

·         “Family History Centers and In-Person Assistance.” This class will discuss the evolving role of family history centers and how to integrate them more in family history research.

·         “Research Resources and Branching Out.” This class will review the latest developments in indexing, the research wiki, forums, and online training, and will discuss how these resources can best be used.

The St. George Family History Expo is a great opportunity for the ward members you are working with to learn more about finding their ancestors. You may want to share information about the expo with them.

Saturday Family History Seminar Series at Riverton Library

LATE NOTICE

Saturday, February 19, 2011, from 9:00 a.m. to noon is the scheduled time for the next monthly Saturday Seminar at the Riverton FamilySearch Library!  There will be three hours of instruction by family history experts covering a wide range of technical and research subjects.

The keynote speaker, Merrill White, will address the topic “FamilySearch—a Library without Walls,” focusing on the vision and scope of FamilySearch products and services. White is the manager of Library Patron Services and has worked for FamilySearch for 11 years.

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:

• “There’s Gold in Them Thar . . . Land Records”—Ron Ray
• “Genealogy Gifts and Games”—Kim Woodbury
• (Webinar) “Legacy Family Tree Interface with New FamilySearch”—Geoff Rasmussen
• “Basic Danish Research”—Orla and Karen Pedersen

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

• “The Google Genealogist”—Devin Ashby
• “Early American Handwriting”—Pat Jensen
• “Do You Really Belong in My Family? Tips for Successfully Combining and Separating Records in New FamilySearch”—Suzanne Curley
• “Finding Your Ssons and Dotters in Swedish Research”—Linda Baker

Registration is not required for this free seminar. Also, the library will be open until 5:00 p.m. that day for patrons desiring to do individual family history research. For more information, please visit www.familysearch.org/fhc/riverton. 

Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy Changes Dates to Coincide with RootsTech 2012

Salt Lake City—The Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy (SLIG) announced today that its conference, historically held during the second week of January, will be moving the 2012 seminar to January 23-27 at the Radisson Hotel in downtown Salt Lake City, the week before RootsTech 2012 (February 2-4).

“It just made sense for us to connect ourselves to RootsTech in this way,” said Adele Marcum, Director of Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy. “We hope this union of scheduling will offer genealogists the best educational experience: first at Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy and then at RootsTech.”

Although not affiliated with RootsTech or any of its sponsoring organizations, Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy sees the importance of collaborating with RootsTech to provide varied and valuable educational opportunities to genealogists.

“We applaud what RootsTech has done in their inaugural year; we want to share what they’ve done with our attendees at SLIG—and now that the schedules for SLIG and RootsTech align, we can begin discussions with RootsTech on how our two conferences can provide greater value to our attendees. Working together, I think we will see some magnificent synergy,” Marcum said.

The courses for the 2012 Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy were announced at the Friday banquet of SLIG 2011.

• American Research and Records: Focus on Families with Paula Stuart-Warren, CG, FUGA
• Welsh Research with Darris Williams, AG
• Scandinavian Research with Geoffrey Morris, AG
• Genealogy Software and Research Tools with George Morgan
• Advanced Research Tools: Land Records with Rick Sayre, CG and Pam Sayre CG, CGL
• Principles of Effective Genealogy Librarianship with Drew Smith MLS
• Beyond the Library: Using Original Source Repositories with John Philip Colletta Ph.D., FUGA
• Advanced Methodology with Thomas Jones Ph.D., CG, CGL, FASG, FUGA
• NEHGS: Advanced New England Research with D. Joshua Taylor
• Problem Solving with Judith Hansen, AG, MLS

Registration for the Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy 2012 opens June 4, 2011 atwww.ugagenealogy.org.

About Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy (SLIG)

The Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy (SLIG) is one of the premiere genealogy seminars in the United States and is sponsored by the Utah Genealogy Association (UGA). Each January hundreds of genealogists converge on Salt Lake City to participate one of the many week-long courses SLIG offers, taught by some of the best genealogy instructors in the industry.

About the Utah Genealogical Association (UGA)

Since 1971, the Utah Genealogical Association has been a non-profit educational organization whose interests are worldwide. It is not affiliated with any religious or political organization. UGA provides genealogical information, sources, and education through personal instruction and published media on state, national, and international family history topics, while promoting high standards and ethical practices.

The filming and record acquisitions done by the LDS (Mormon) Church is through the Genealogical Society of Utah, which started in 1894 and is not connected with the Utah Genealogical Association.

Where's Your Passion?

You can forget the genealogy of yesteryear! What?  Yes!  Dig down deep and find a passion and enthusiasm for your family and learn to tell THEIR story and share it with the world!

Curt Witcher, the Historical Genealogy Department Manager from the Allen County Library was the keynote speaker at this mornings opening session of RootsTech. He knows that we are living in the absolute best of times for genealogists! We have advanced from the "old days" of spending days to find one document to enter one date into a family pedigree. Now we have the technology to gather hundreds of records in a few minutes so we can spend the time to preserve and share our ancestor's story. Tell that story better and more often by sharing it with the world!


Technology has transformed our "hobby" into a PASSION! The genealogist of today is no longer focused on crossing the "t" or dotting the "i" ... let the technology take care of that. Rather, make genealogy fun and exciting! 


Truly, wouldn't you rather be playing a genealogy game (more on that later) or visualizing the life of your ancestors in some more fun and exciting way than filling out a pedigree chart, or just toiling over the abc's of bmds? 


According to Curt Whitcher that's the reason for the great synergy at the RootsTech conference! We mesh the tech with the action! The tech community has developed thousands of ways for us to speed up the process and allow the genealogists to focus on the fun.


Evaluation is key! Let's gather the data quickly and learn to evaluate what we find. We will likely find a story, a fascinating story of worth or excitement!  


I found one of those and I'm challenging myself to find the rest of the story. I had a great grand-uncle that died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound over 100 years ago. There were a lot of suicides in the family -- so why another one? I found a little of the story in the newspaper article about his death which related that his "intended bride-to-be, Lena" had died several months earlier of a very sudden "illness". He could not tolerate or live without her and found no reason to continue with life. No further explanation about Lena's death. 


I have so far found little to explain his sweetheart's life or any indication of what the illness may have been. However, I ran across several newspaper articles during those same weeks about a "gentleman" in the town who was being charged with murder in the poisoning deaths of a number of young ladies who had previously worked for him. Very suddenly these young ladies disappeared or became deathly ill and died.  Now I can't wait to see if Lena may have been one of those poison victims! So the fun begins in my quest to find more about Lena!


Don't be afraid to move to the next step of genealogy. So many of us came from the old school of genealogy. We now have the opportunity to step out of our comfort zone and join the genealogists of today! Beyond the Boomers are the Gen-Xers, the Millenials, and the 21st-ers ready and willing to pull genealogy into the next century. 


Change can be painful, so let's change the focus to OPPORTUNITY! Engage yourself in the fun and excitement of the genealogy of today!

Where Do Your Ordered Microfilms Come From?

The RootsTech conference sponsored by FamilySearch began yesterday afternoon for bloggers and other media. We were treated to a very special and rare tour of The Distribution and Print Center of The Church of the Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Th.is is the distribution point for any microfilm you might order at any one of the over 4,600 Family History Centers around the world.

The center covers over 1 million square feet which is about the size of 19 football fields! It houses about 750,000 copies of microfilm rolls consisting of the most often requested films. And this is only a small portion of what goes on in this distribution site. The warehouse contains over 2,000 different products and ships out over 5.1 million items per year!

We were supplied with photo's to share which are the property of Intellectual Reserve. We were not allowed to photo inside the building. This first picture is of the conveyor and cataloging system used to retrieve the film(s) you order. The films are stored in large trays that are accessed via the crane type mechanism you see here in the middle. 

The films are hand-picked from the trays, barcode scanned, and and shuttled to the next stop which packages and ships your films directly to your location. Turnaround time can be as little as two days or could be several weeks depending on whether your requested film is popular or extremely unique. Also, the shipping location can affect delivery time.  In fact, there are 43 international distribution centers that may take the original shipped packages and redirect the films to the appropriate Family History Center or Library.

So when you wonder where your film came from or you wonder why it may take a little extra time realize that the center processes about 255,000 microfilm every year! 

* * * * *

One more thought about the Distribution Center...It is so efficient that it is recommended that you order ALL your Church supplies directly from the LDS Online Store rather than visiting a local retail outlet. It's much less expensive for both the Church and you. You save gasoline and your valuable time. All product except films are shipped directly to your home!

New Conference Encourages Innovation in Genealogy Technology

SALT LAKE CITY—FamilySearch has been helping people find their ancestors for over 100 years, but the non-profit, volunteer-driven organization has never participated in anything quite like this before. FamilySearch is hosting a new annual conference called RootsTech that begins in Salt Lake City today. The goal of RootsTech is to foster innovation in the world of genealogy technology. Keynote addresses will be streamed complimentary at RootsTech.org, and Twitter users can follow real-time updates using #rootstech.

 “FamilySearch is committed to working with others to provide the records and resources that help people discover their family history,” Jay L. Verkler, chief executive officer of FamilySearch said. “We believe that one of the best ways to achieve that goal is to encourage new technologies that can make it even easier for people to find their ancestors.”

RootsTech grew out of an effort Brigham Young University began several years ago with its Conference on Computerized Family History and Genealogy. BYU is now a key partner in this new conference, along with other leaders in genealogy and technology including Microsoft, Dell, FamilySearch, Ancestry.com, brightsolid, the New England Historic Genealogical Society, the Federation of Genealogical Societies, and the National Genealogical Society.

Nearly 3,000 people are expected to attend RootsTech, which will be held in the Salt Palace Convention Center. The unique conference appeals to genealogists of all skill levels, who can learn new technology-based approaches to their research. The event will also attract the creators of genealogy-related technology, who can get feedback from peers and users on their ideas and creations.

RootsTech will help developers and others who create technology that is used by a broad swath of family history consumers to learn about the challenges facing the genealogy community. According to Verkler, that’s what makes this conference truly unique.

“The purpose of RootsTech is to encourage innovative technology solutions in the fields that have a bearing on genealogists. Therefore attendees will find that the conference topics and discussions apply to a wide variety of disciplines,” Verkler said.

The format of RootsTech is designed to encourage collaboration and discussion. There will be a variety of classes and hands-on workshops for both genealogists and technologists, as well as demonstrations and virtual sessions. Verkler will be one of the keynote speakers at the conference, along with several other leaders in the technology and genealogy world:

·         Shane Robison - Executive Vice President and Chief Strategy and Technology officer at Hewlett-Packard

·         Brewster Kahle - founder of the Internet Archive and the Open Content Alliance

·         Curt Witcher - Historical Genealogy Department Manager, Allen County Public Library in Fort Wayne, Indiana

About FamilySearch

FamilySearch International is the largest genealogy organization in the world. Millions of people use FamilySearch records, resources, and services to learn more about their family history. To help in this great pursuit, FamilySearch has been actively gathering, preserving, and sharing genealogical records worldwide for over 100 years. FamilySearch is a nonprofit, volunteer-driven organization sponsored by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. 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.

Follow the Tweet Feed for Genealogy and RootsTech Info!

Here's a simple way to follow what is going on in the genealogy community and all the conversation about RootsTech going on in Salt Lake for the next several days. Click on the RED link above for the LIVE Genealogy Twitter feed. Be patient and the feed will start momentarily! Enjoy!

Saturday Family History Seminar Series at Riverton Library

You are invited! You and any of your friends, neighbors, ward members, or interested genealogy enthusiasts are invited to attend the Riverton FamilySearch Library’s monthly Saturday Seminar, which will take place on Saturday, February 19, 2011, 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.

The keynote speaker, Merrill White, will address the topic “FamilySearch—a Library without Walls,” focusing on the vision and scope of FamilySearch products and services. White is the manager of Library Patron Services and has worked for FamilySearch for 11 years.

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:

• “There’s Gold in Them Thar . . . Land Records”—Ron Ray
• “Genealogy Gifts and Games”—Kim Woodbury
• (Webinar) “Legacy Family Tree Interface with New FamilySearch”—Geoff Rasmussen
• “Basic Danish Research”—Orla and Karen Pedersen

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

• “The Google Genealogist”—Devin Ashby
• “Early American Handwriting”—Pat Jensen
• “Do You Really Belong in My Family? Tips for Successfully Combining and Separating Records in New FamilySearch”—Suzanne Curley
• “Finding Your Ssons and Dotters in Swedish Research”—Linda Baker

Registration is not required for this free seminar. Also, the library will be open until 5:00 p.m. that day for patrons desiring to do individual family history research. For more information, please visit www.familysearch.org/fhc/riverton. We have also attached a flyer if you choose to  print it out and distribute it.

Ancestry.com Full Edition Back in Family History Centers!

It's been confirmed! Ancestry.com has been put back into all the Family History Centers. Give your FHC a little time to get it set up but it is available for download in every center! Thanks so very much to FamilySearch and to Ancestry.com for working together and making this work! Genealogists everywhere will be so happy! Get busy now and find your family!

RootsTech Conference Will Broadcast Select Sessions Free Online

Are you not able to attend RootsTech this year? Well, here's a great way to participate in RootsTech and get a feel for what it is all about!

SALT LAKE CITY—RootsTech, a new family history and technology conference held in Salt Lake City, Utah, February 10-12, 2011, announced today that six of its popular sessions will be broadcasted live and complimentary over the Internet. The live broadcasts will give those unable to attend worldwide a sample of this year’s conference content. Interested viewers can watch the live presentations at RootsTech.org. The first-year conference has attracted over 2,000 registered attendees.

The free online sessions include some of the keynote speakers and a sampling of technology and family history presentations.  Following are the six broadcasts, speakers, and times of the presentations. All times are in Mountain Standard Time (MST):

Thursday, February 10, 2011

·         8:30-9:00 a.m., A world of Information, Shane Robison, chief technology officer, Hewlett Packard

·         9-9:30 a.m., Turning Roots, Branches, Trees into Nodes, Links, Graphs, Jay L. Verkler, chief executive officer, FamilySearch International

·         3-4:00 p.m., Digitally Preserving Your Family Heritage, Barry Ewell, founder of MyGenShare.com

Friday, February 11, 2011

·         8:30-9:30 a.m., The Changing Face of Genealogy, by Curt Witcher, manager of the Historical Genealogy Department, Allen County Public Library

·         9:45-10:45 a.m., Cloud Computing: What is it and how it has been used to create the next familysearch.org, by Brian Pugh, senior engineer, FamilySearch International               

Saturday, February 12, 2011

·         8:30-9:30 a.m. Personal Archiving and Primary Documents, Brewster Kahle, founder of the Internet Archives

·         1:45-2:45 p.m., Virtual Presentations Round Table and Collaborative Panel Discussion, Thomas MacEntee, professional genealogist and technology specialist

·         3:00-4:00 p.m., The Power of PDF: Tools for Every Genealogist ,  D. Josh Taylor, Director of Education and Programs at New England Historical Genealogical Society.  

About RootsTech

RootsTech is a new conference designed to bring technologists together with genealogists to learn from each other and find solutions to the challenges faced in family history research today. The conference’s activities and offerings are focused on content that will help genealogists and family historians discover exciting new research tools while enabling technology creators to learn the latest development techniques from industry leaders and pioneers.

RootsTech Attendees: Schedule a Free Photo Detective Session with Maureen Taylor!

FamilySearch will be hosting Maureen Taylor, photo detective, as a free service to registered RootsTech conference attendees, February 10-12, 2011. The photo detective services will be offered as part of the activities at the FamilySearch technology booth in the exhibit hall during the conference. Interested individuals can register online now for any available 10-minute session. There are limited sessions available. Don't delay! Register at http://photodetective.eventbrite.com/, and figure out what historic family or mystery photo you want Maureen to interpret for you.

Registrants will have 10 minutes with Maureen during their scheduled time at the FamilySearch booth. It is recommended that you bring only one image or photo with you to the consultation. Be sure the photo you select fits one of the following criteria:

. An original photograph in a protective covering to prevent damage during transport. 
. High-quality color photographic copy of both the front and back of the image to improve clarity.
. High-resolution color scan (of at least 300 dpi) of both sides of the photograph. 
 
For the past 10 years, Maureen has been providing in-depth analysis of historical photos, primarily for people who are researching their family histories. Maureen estimates that she's studied over 10,000 photos in the past decade, and the Wall Street Journal recently called her "the nation's foremost historical photo detective." Maureen has been interested in old family photos since she was a child. She has a graduate degree in history and has worked as a photo curator, genealogist, and writer. Combining all these interests as a photo identification and preservation expert, the focus of her work has centered on family photography, history and genealogy.  
 
Maureen finds it extremely rewarding to be invited to play a part in piecing together the most important history of all-the story of your family! Don't miss this terrific opportunity during your RootsTech stay in Salt Lake City, Utah!
 
Watch Maureen solve cases at www.vimeo.com/photodetective.

Ancestry.com in Family History Centers?

Stay tuned! Word is circulating that Ancestry.com will again be added to all Family History Centers. Stay turned for an official word!