Mark Your Calendars - UVPAFUG Meeting!

UTAH VALLEY PAF USERS GROUP

The next regular, second-Saturday-of-the-month meeting of the Utah Valley PAF (Personal Ancestral File) Users Group will be on Saturday, 11 Aug 2007, from 9 am until noon in the LDS "Red" Chapel at 4000 North Timpview Drive (650 East), in Provo. The main presentation will be by Jay G. Burrup on A BRIEF INTRODUCTION TO LDS RECORD SOURCES AT THE CHURCH HISTORY LIBRARY.

This presentation provides an introduction to the purpose of the LDS Church History Library and focuses on research sources available there for documenting and enhancing LDS ancestral biographies and local histories. Many of the sources, such as the Brigham Young papers, minutes of LDS congregational meetings, and thousands of diaries, manuscript collections, and photographs are unique to the Church History Library.

Jay Burrup is a native of Downey, Idaho. He served an LDS mission in Milan, Italy, and graduated from BYU with a B. A. in History (1982) and Master's degree in Library and Information Science (1984). He has been employed as an archivist and information specialist at the LDS Church History Library since 1985. In recent years he has completed over 150 oral history interviews with LDS Church leaders and members in the United States and Europe. Jay is a certified archivist with the Academy of Certified Archivists and has published numerous articles regarding archival and family and local history topics. He is married to the former Dorothy Anderson of Taber, Alberta, Canada, and they are the parents of four daughters, two of whom are attending Utah State University. The Burrups reside in West Valley City.

Following the main presentation there will be several classes taught concerning technology and family history. As usual, there will be something for everyone at all levels of expertise. Following are the classes currently scheduled for this meeting.

1. Using Tags and New Events/Attributes in PAF, by Lila Sowards
2. Using Google in Genealogy, by Duane Dudley
3. Ancestry.com Basics, by Kendall Hulet
4. Q&A on Using LDS Church History Sources, by Jay Burrup
5. Individual Mentoring, by Claudia Benson and Debra Archuletta
6. Video of last month's main presentation on Using PDA's in Genealogy, by Beau Sharbrough
7. Legacy Q&A, by Dean Bennett
8. RootsMagic, by Sue Maxwell

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. Several of the officers, including Gerhard Ruf, President; Brian Cooper, 2nd VP; Lynne Shumway, PAFology Editor; Kay Baker, Membership Chairman; and Bruce Merrill, DVD & Video Librarian, will be there to help with membership, questions, distribute the current issue of the monthly newsletter PAFology, and to check out videos and DVD's of past presentations and classes to members of the group. Information about the Users Group, main presentations, classes, and class notes are available on the Group's website http://uvpafug.org. For further information see the web site or contact President Gerhard Ruf at pres@uvpafug.org (225-6106), VP1 Elder Don Snow at snowd@math.byu.edu, or VP2 Brian Cooper at vp2@uvpafug.org.

Sneak Peek of Legacy 7

Well the day for the Sneak Peek of Legacy 7 at BYU's Family History & Genealogy Conference has arrived and boy am I excited for this new version. To tell you the truth I was happy with what I already had and couldn't imagine what Legacy had up their sleeve.

Geoff Rasmussen was our presenter. There was no handout so I tried to take good notes for you.

1. When you set relationships Legacy will now figure non-blood related relationships. Finally a way to determine how you are related to everyone in your database, even if only by marriage. The other thing relationships will show is on the family view it will give you a + sign to tell you if you are related more than one way to that person. You could then look in the relationship calculator to see all the ways you are related.

2. On the Main Toolbar there is a little icon for the homepage. You don't need to only use the Legacy Home tab to get there.

3. IGI Search feature has a field to see BESP temple ordiances that are completed. (They actually have the feature in Legacy 6 latest download.)

4. This was major WOW for me - SOURCE TEMPLATES. Legacy built their source templates around Elizabeth Shown Mills author of "Evidence" guidelines. In fact with this whole new animal - Legacy Sources, you wouldn't even need to buy Elizabeth Mills new 885 page book that is coming out. When you choose your template and fill out the fields you can see the Output Preview of how it will appear as a Footnote/Endnote, Subsequent Citation or Bibliography. The source will be compiled using genealogical standards ready for publication. You can define what method you want to use. The other cool thing with sources is that you can enter "Keywords" and then be able to filter and search by them. The keywords fields are Locality, Year Span and Major Surnames.

Since Source Templates are new you will need to gradually transfer your existing sources over to the new format. When you upgrade to version 7 your version 6 or older sources will be generic so you will have to go in and tweak them so you can show them as a U.S. Federal Census, Book source, etc. Unless you are planning to publishing your genealogy Geoff didn't recommend that you rush to transfer over to the new format. Just use the templates as you enter new sources and work on the updating the old format ones as you have time. (I know myself and new toys, I will work on all my sources and transfer them over right away!)

5. You read it right earlier Legacy is going to add the ability to create Footnotes. That will make life easier for many users wanting that feature for creating books.

6. With Legacy Multimedia you can now attach Documents. You can add them as RTF or PDF format. Not sure about the other formats but I know those two were available.

7. Reports - Interview Questions. You can now get a list of tons of interview questions to ask your relatives. You can even select what relative you are interviewing and the questions will be geared toward them. Not sure how to explain this very useful tool but it will make me more prone to use Legacy over my Personal Historian software. What I plan on doing is copying the questions into Text format, copy and pasting them into Legacy notes and just writing the answers right in Legacy as I get the responses. I just hate a lot of extra paper floating around. How you use it is really your own preference.

8. Now this is a BIGGIE, every Legacy users has been asking for better CHARTS. Legacy 7 will have the combined features of PAF Companion and TreeDraw built right into it. No need to export your gedcom into FTM just to get those drop down boxes. The types of charts available: Ancestor, Descendants, Fan, Hour glass, and Bow Tie. You can make charts using Legacy, a GEDCOM, PAF, FTM and RootsMagic files.

There are various themes and colors. You can use Mary E.V. Hill's color-coding system. You can make charts on a single page up to Wall Size charts. You can choose page boarders, box styles, line color and width and backgrounds. All these charts can be printed on nice paper and beautiful enough to frame. You can grab boxes on the charts and rearrange them to your liking. It seems very easy to use and not at all confusing as GenBox was for me. Oh ya, you can even make a father or mother chart. The father chart would show direct line ancestors on your father's surname. The mother chart shows the female side of the family. That would be very useful for those researching your DNA. You can even choose an ancestor and just print out a chart of all their male descendants for possible targets for hair plucking samples.

You can print charts, export to file, create a PDF, bitmap or jpeg - might be more options later. You can also choose to email the chart to someone right from Legacy. It will open your email client, attach the chart you created and let you type a message and sent it. Legacy also has the option for you to order the chart right from them from within the program. Not sure of the cost on the charts.

One thing Geoff kept saying to us was that he didn't even get to the good stuff yet. He couldn't cover everything in the hour that we had. I was kind of hoping conference attendees would get to buy and take home the new version, but no such luck. Legacy is planning on version 7 to be ready for released in October. The only way to buy it now is to purchase Legacy 6 and then you will automatically receive version 7 when it is released.

I will be going back Thursday to see the rest of the sneak peek preview and report back.

See ya tomorrow, for tomorrow is always another genealogy day.

Preparing to Index

I thought I would update you on my progress in FamilySearch Indexing. I was to tired Sunday night after being accepted as a volunteer to actually do anything so I went to bed instead. I worked at the Family History Center today and I was helping patrons instead of looking at the tutorials for indexing as I planned. Well the patrons are a priority after-all! Once things settled here at home very little time was left.

I have only spent the last hour looking over all the tutorials they have under the Help section. I find before I start any project I always look for the instructions if there are any. I was surprised that many didn't realize when beta testing new FamilySearch that there were tutorials and helps for them. Anyways I found the Indexing tutorials very instructional.

I liked how the lessons had quizzes with them to test what you had learned. I got two errors. Overall I didn't think that was to bad. I can already tell that Lesson 4: Basic Indexing Guidelines is going to be the one I reference the most. That was also where my two errors came from. I would think anyone not use to doing genealogy would need to go over those tutorials several times. There is a lot of information to take in, especially if you've never seen a presentation on it before. I'm kind of lucky I've attended several of them.

The instructions seem well thought out and look like they cover every situation you might find yourself in while indexing. Now I just can't wait to index. It's to late and I'm to tired to start tonight. Not sure how much I will get done tomorrow I'm going to the BYU Family History and Genealogy Conference tomorrow. Gotta go see my vendors and take in the free class on Legacy. Even though I can't afford to attend the conference I still go to the free stuff available.

See ya tomorrow, for tomorrow is always another genealogy day!

I Repent

Sunday is usually a good day to confess your sins and repent. I started feeling guilty about not signing up for FamilySearch Indexing. I mean I've written about it in my blog and encouraged others to participate. I even had a reader write me with some tips on using it. People assume since I have been writing about it that I must be actually doing indexing. Boy was I feeling guilty that I didn't even always know what they were talking about.

I've been procrastinating my day of repentance until the August Ensign came out. (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints puts out the Ensign as a monthly magazine.) It has such a beautiful article written by Constance Palmer Lewis, “FamilySearch Indexing,” Ensign, Aug 2007, 34–41. This article is now available online if you don't have the magazine. I read it and knew my day had come.

Why haven't I been indexing - well my excuse is time, isn't that the way for everyone! Every free minute of my waking day is spent doing genealogy. I am constantly doing research on my family lines or working with something that deals with genealogy. I am absorbed into my hobby. My kids have asked me why I don't try to get accredited and I tell them because I'm selfish and can't imagine doing someone else's genealogy when there is so much to do with mine. I'm the only LDS family member actually doing something with it. I do assist people at the Family History Center or in my calling as Family History Consultant in doing research, but I'm not going to do it for them.

You see I am one of those guilty genealogist not doing indexing because I feel like it's a good activity for those not really into genealogy. I was kind of thinking it's a good activity for those that feel their genealogy is all done (whatever!). People that are just not as overwhelmed in research work like me.

I've recently had the chance to hear some really faith promoting stories from people doing FamilySearch Indexing and I wanted to start sharing them on my blog. But I knew I needed to get involved in the work myself. After all I plan on actually using the indexed materials as they become available. All this got me thinking how selfish of me to want to eat the bread the little red hen baked and not help in the work after all.

I reasoned that I could donate my Sundays to doing FamilySearch Indexing. Rest from my daily genealogy labors and do something for the greater good of society. I was totally repentant and ready to mend my wild ways. I planned all week that Sunday I would sign up and get some facts and report my results and finding back to you. If I could do it so could you.

That is until I tried to get on FamilySearch Indexing today to sign up as a volunteer. I guess too many people are trying to participate in this same Sunday activity. Now I sit repentant but unable to atone for my sins and make restitution by starting to Index. I called FamilySearch Support but I couldn't get through. I am left in the cold this Sunday evening. Even when I finally could get on the site I then couldn't even sign up to volunteer. It appears the button to pick a country is not working properly.

As I sit on the outskirts to the Indexing world I feel so disappointed. I so wanted to join in the all the fun and faith promoting experiences you are having. Feels kind of like being able to look at the temple but not having a recommend to come in.

WAHOO!!! As I was finishing up this article I gave FamilySearch Indexing one last try and success! The country button is now functioning and I am now signed up. Within seconds of signing up I received my confirmation email. Part of me wants to rewrite this article but I realize you might want to see my humble beginning on the road to FamilySearch Indexing. Anyways I have to leave you know and go play in my latest genealogy playground - FamilySearch Indexing.org

See ya tomorrow, for tomorrow is always another genealogy day!

Insider - Genealogy Style

Sometimes when I just feel like hanging out I will stand in a long line in the grocery store so I can read that latest gossip magazines. I would never actually buy one but I do like to read them. Well now the gossip world is available to us a la "The Ancestry Insider" blog.

The mysterious owner of this blog promotes and promises that they are: "The unofficial, unauthorized view of the big four genealogy and family history websites: Ancestry.com, RootsWeb.com, FamilySearch.org, and Genealogy.com. Since the parent companies of these sites rarely publicly comment on ANYTHING, there's a big need for an unofficial outlet. I'll be upfront in saying I'm sympathetic to the problems faced by these companies. If you have an inside scoop send it to AncestryInsider@gmail.com. Your identity will remain completely confidential."

It looks like this blog has been around since April 2007. I guess my big question is - who is this guy or gal and is anyone other than the mailing lists feeding them inside information? If you have the scoop on it's author I sure would love to know!

See ya tomorrow, for tomorrow is always another genealogy day!

New Collection of Claims by Early American Citizens

Columbia, Maryland – 23 July 2007 -- Archive CD Books USA announces the availability of a major new resource for those who are researching their early-American family histories. The “Digested Summary and Alphabetical List of Private Claims Which Have Been Presented to the House of Representatives” represents nearly one hundred years of claims by citizens of the United States to their government for reimbursement for property or expenses.

Referencing approximately 100,000 names, this unique collection spans the period 1789-1882 and includes petitions for a wide variety of personal reimbursements, most notably in relation to the acts of the government during the Revolutionary War, War of 1812, Mexican-American War, the Civil War, and various Indian engagements. Barbara Vines Little, Genealogical Consultant for Archive CD Books USA, noted that the collection contains claims for “restitution for property lost, damaged or destroyed due to government actions (or inaction); bounty land; land titles; patent extensions; payment for services rendered; and a myriad of other personal items that its citizens wanted the government to fix.”

“No claim was too large or too small,” said Ms Little. “One woman applied for relief for loss of husband in public service. Jonathan Painter, a black man wanted payment for services as a spy in 1812, and J.R. O’Bierne wanted part of the reward for capturing John Wilkes Booth.” Many of these claims never became law but, as Ms. Little explained, “they generated paper­paper that provides details about our ancestors. Locating your ancestor in one of these volumes will start you on a whole new adventure in your search for your ancestors.”

“There is no other known searchable source for this complete set of five volumes, including high-quality images of the original pages,” said Bob Velke, President of Archive CD Books USA. It is, therefore, a vast untapped resource for researchers of 18th and 19th century. “Best of all,” said Mr. Velke, "you can search all five volumes at once using advanced search capabilities which include single words or phrases, proximity searches, and Boolean (and/or) searches.”

For a limited time, this major new collection is available for the introductory price of just $19.97 which is 50% off the regular retail price of $39.95. For more information about “Digested Summary and Alphabetical List of Private Claims,” please visit:
http://www.ArchiveCDBooksUSA.com/privateclaims.htm


About the company: Archive CD Books USA was founded in 2005 in order to make digital reproductions of old books available to family historians, to donate original publications to libraries and other institutions, and to cooperate with these repositories to preserve their existing collections for future generations. It is a member of the international Archive CD Books Project whose other affiliated companies digitize books from Great Britain, Ireland, Canada, and Australia.

Contact:
Elizabeth Vinci
9110 Red Branch Road, STE O
Columbia, Maryland 21045
410-715-2260 x132
marketing@ArchiveCDBooksUSA.com

Mark Your Calendars!

Family History Live Online, www.familyhistoryliveonline, will present an online family history fair on Saturday, July 28th from 8:00am to 2:00pm (Mountain Daylight Time). This free event will include 6 presentations by genealogists.

Scheduled to present are:
Jonathan Walker, “Using Catholic Records”
Gena Philibert Ortega, “Needle in the Haystack: Finding Female Ancestors”
Peter Barrie, “A Transatlantic Case Study”
Barry Ewell, “Effectively Tapping into Local, County, and Historical Societies.” and “Effective Strategies for Researching Newspapers”.

This online fair is free. To participate you will need a computer with an internet connection and a free membership to Family History Live Online. Once you have signed up for a free membership you will be able to download our free software viewer that will allow you to hear and see the presentation.

For more information, please see Family History Live Online’s website at www.familyhistoryliveonline.com or email the Fair Director, Gena Philibert Ortega at gena@fhsupport.com.

Pioneer Day - Early LDS Doc Online

I saw the following posting by Tom Kemp on the Gen-Newbie Rootsweb Forum

Pioneer Day - Early LDS Doc Online

Digging on the Internet I am always surprised by the value of what you can find. More and more digital copies of original documents are going up every day.

I found this timely item: *Mormon Petition to U.S. Congress for Relief from
Persecutions* - written in 1840. It is a detailed chronicle of the murders, attacks, home burnings and the like that were endured in the 1830s.

With Pioneer Day coming up on July 24th I have put a digital copy of this document up at: www.GenealogyBank.com/free

Anyone may download and keep this document for their personal use. The document is an 1840 U.S. Congressional report containing the "petition" of Elias Higbee and Robert B. Thompson of Nauvoo, IL. At a church conference in October 1840 Higbee and Thompson were tasked with writing this report which they did in the form of a petition or memorial to Congress requesting help to end the persecution and obtain protection. It was written 28 November 1840 and officially accepted by Congress the following month. No action was taken by Congress on this petition but it remains a forceful, detailed record of the painful events of those early years.

This document is posted by permission of www.GenealogyBank.com

Download it and read it.

Tom

New Jewish Family History Resources Online

FamilySearch Releases Free Database and Research Guides

SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH— FamilySearch added to its substantial Jewish genealogical collection with the addition of its new Jewish Family History Resources online. The announcement was made in conjunction with the 27th International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies Conference in Salt Lake City this week. The new web page includes a new Jewish genealogy database, the Knowles Collection, as well as a new research guide, Tracing Your Jewish Ancestors. The new features can be accessed for free at FamilySearch.org. FamilySearch provides numerous free tools and resources for anyone researching Jewish ancestry.

The Knowles Collection contains information for thousands of Jews from the British Isles. Building on the work of the late Isobel Mordy, the collection links individuals into family groups with more names added continuously. The collection is available as a file that can be viewed and edited through most genealogy software programs. Genealogy software is also available as a free download.

“The Tracing Your Jewish Ancestors guide is an excellent, free reference tool for anyone with a Jewish ancestor who came to the United States from Europe,” said Paul Nauta, manager of Public Affairs for FamilySearch. “Users will be able to follow simple steps to identify an ancestor’s birthplace or place of origin—a difficult task for many with Jewish ancestry,” Nauta added. It provides instructions on which records to search first, what to look for, and what research tools to use. It includes 30 colorful pages of examples and rich, helpful details. The digital document is available in a high quality, easy-to-use PDF format. The popular Jewish Genealogy Research Outline has also been revised and is accessible for free.

Other FamilySearch Jewish Family History Resources highlights include:

• Links to relevant records and searchable databases

• Helpful guides and forms to view online or print

• Online indexing projects, where individuals can register to volunteer or to see what databases are forthcoming

• Free genealogy management software

• Directions to receive free personal assistance through a family history center near you

Those with Jewish ancestry should bookmark the site. Links to new resources and tools will be added as they become available.

FamilySearch is a nonprofit organization sponsored by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. FamilySearch maintains the world's largest repository of genealogical resources accessed through FamilySearch.org, the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, and over 4,500 family history centers in 70 countries.

Mark Your Calendars - UVPAFUG Meeting!

UTAH VALLEY PAF USERS GROUP

The next regular, second-Saturday-of-the-month meeting of the Utah Valley PAF (Personal Ancestral File) Users Group will be on Saturday, 14 Jul 2007, from 9 am until noon in the LDS "Red" Chapel at 4000 North Timpview Drive (650 East), in Provo.

The main presentation will be by Beau Sharbrough on YOUR GENEALOGY IN YOUR POCKET: PDA'S. This will be "PDA Roundup 2007" and will discuss five aspects of PDA uses in family history:
1. Hardware - what's available, what's it cost, what the difference?
2. Accessories - Which ones are for me?
3. Software - What can I do with this thing?
4. Genealogy software, Carrying your tree in your pocket
5. Gadgets - 12 things you can with a PDA that you can't do with a regular PC.

Beau Sharbrough is a popular lecturer writer on technical topics in family history. He is employed by the history website Footnote.com where he is Senior Director of Content Strategy and Acquisition. In his 4th year of Utah residency, he's one of the few non-LDS to regularly give fast offerings.

Following the main presentation there will be several classes taught concerning technology and family history. As usual, there will be something for everyone at all levels of expertise. Following are the classes currently scheduled for this meeting.
1. Searching the Internet IGI for Completed Ordinances, by Duane Dudley
2. Record Search (from FamilySearch Indexing), by Merlin Kitchen
3. Newspaper Research on the Internet, by Laurie Castillo
4. Q&A on Using PDA's, by Beau Sharbrough
5. Individual Mentoring, by Becky Roberts and Lynne Shumway
6. Video of last month's main presentation on Footnote.com, by Justin Schroepfer
7. Legacy, by Joel Graham
8. RootsMagic, by Bruce Buzbee.

All meetings of the Users Group are open to the public whether members of the Group or not. The Users Group has the goal of helping individuals use technology to further their family history and there are usually 100-125 attending the monthly meetings on the second Saturdays. Several of the officers, including Gerhard Ruf, President; Brian Cooper, 2nd VP; Lynne Shumway, PAFology Editor; Kay Baker, Membership Chairman; and Bruce Merrill, DVD & Video Librarian, will be there to help with membership, questions, distribute the current issue of the monthly newsletter PAFology, and to check out videos and DVD's of past presentations and classes to members of the group. Information about the Users Group, main presentations, classes, and class notes are available on the Group's web site http://uvpafug.org. For further information see the web site or contact President Gerhard Ruf at pres@uvpafug.org (225-6106), VP1 Elder Don Snow at snowd@math.byu.edu, or VP2 Brian Cooper at vp2@uvpafug.org.

Mark Your Calendars!

Publicity for July Utah Valley UGA meeting

The Utah Valley Chapter of the Utah Genealogical Society is proud to present Renee Zamora Author of 'Renee's Genealogy Blog' Speaking on What You Can Gain From Genealogy Blogs July 20, 7 pm, 100 North 600 East, in Provo, UT. You do not need to be a member of UGA to attend.

Genealogist National Anthem

Jennifer and I have been sharing blog links and she has found this wonderful song by Josh Groban - Remember Me. It is so great I think it qualifies to be the Genealogist National Anthem. I guess I need to go buy the Troy Movie Soundtrack now.



If you thought that was good wait until you see it with these new graphics. It really brings it all home. Jennifer was also kind enough to supply us with the lyrics to the song.

http://jacksbox4you.blogspot.com/2007/05/remember-me.html

Thanks for letting us know about this Jennifer!

See ya tomorrow, for tomorrow is always another genealogy day!

Green with Envy

I was just sharing blog links with Dorene Paul, a Reference Assistant for the Sandusky Library in Ohio. Boy, does her blog on Sandusky History make me "green with envy". I sure wish the local historical societies in Warren and Washington Counties of New York would create a blog like them. Sandusky has such lovely photographs it makes me want to be a native. Well, Ok, almost - I sure do love my New York.

What's with the photo of the sulky driver and horse. Well I used to own a retired standard bred race horse named Fritzy Hal. Sorry to say I can't find any of my photographs of him. Good ole' Sandusky has just the right picture I can show my kids what I am talking about.

Oh, that's an idea I need to look up Saratoga, New York Historical Society and see if they have a website and blog. I do have family down there. Well there's always hope.

See ya tomorrow, for tomorrow is always another genealogy day!