Adventures in FamilySearch Indexing: Week 75

I guess I've been on the computer to much lately. My right arm is killing me. I had a hard time brushing my hair this morning. It's right where the muscle attaches to the elbow, well somewhere in that area. I've been putting ice packs on it but no relief yet. It's like my arm is permanently bend so I can hold a mouse or type on the keyboard. Which I know is exactly what I shouldn't be doing. So obviously I am trying to cut back on my computer hours. I work on a computer all day so that's a hard thing to do.

So now it comes down to do I work on indexing this week? I thought I would just work on one quick batch. Well, one is better than three! First I have to check to see if we have any messages, and yes we do, and one really important one to!

From the FamilySearch Indexing site:

February 19, 2009:Indexing Resource Guide

During the most recent update to the FamilySearch Indexing Web site, a resource guide was added under the Help tab. This page is a quick reference tool for finding answers to most indexing questions. It includes resources for indexers, arbitrators, group administrators, and stake extraction directors. It also includes language resources, such as handwriting helps for English, Latin, Spanish, Portuguese, French, Italian, German, and Dutch.

To find the resource guide, click the Help tab above, and then click Publications.

The next two messages are on My Messages in the FamilySearch Indexing application.

From: Headquarters
Subject: Semimonthly Message
Date: 16 Feb 2009

Some projects, such as the UK Cheshire School Records, include different types of documents and records. Because of this, sometimes the entry fields may not be in the same order as the data on the image. You can rearrange the order of the entry fields to match the image. To do this:

1. Click the View menu.
2. Click the Organize Fields...
3. In the Organize Fields window, click the field name.
4. Click the up or down arrow to move the field up or down in the list.
   

In the Organize Fields window you can also hide a field. Click the name of the field, and then click the right arrow to move the field to the Hidden Fields list. To unhide a field, click a field in the Hidden Fields list, and then click the left arrow.

This last message is really important, if you plan on indexing in the middle of the night.

From: Headquarters
Subject: Notification of Downtime
Date: 23 Feb 2009

PLEASE NOTE:

The FamilySearch indexing image server computer will be down for maintenance from midnight tonight, February 23rd, to 2:00 a.m. on Tuesday, February 24th (MST, GMT-7). No images will be available to download during these two hours; however, you may still be able to index batches that are downloaded before midnight and submit them during this time.

Well, now it's time to work on my batch. Darn, there are no Federal Censuses. I decide to work on the Arkansas Marriages III - 1837 to 1957. I did one record and sent the batch back. I had to do to much scrolling up and down to find the information. I just don't feel up to to that.

Now I decide to work on the Massachusetts 1865 State Census - Darn, no work available. Lets try the Nova Scotia 1871 Census. Yes, I got a batch and it only had 40 names to index. My grand total to date indexed is 10,981. If I had all my body parts working better I could of so reached 11,000 today. I didn't want to over do it so I didn't. That just shows you how much in pain I am to actually stop myself from reaching 11,000 today. I guess I will go into my corner now and whimper with an ice pack. At least my soul feels good inside because I did my indexing for the week.

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

Putin’s distant cousins in the US

New York, 20 February 2009 – International family network dynastree (www.dynastree.com) launches 9th language version: Russian relatives can now be searched for on semyaonline.ru.

About 142 million people live in Russia, more than enough to have a great probability of being related to at least one of them. dynastree, the worldwide family network has launched a Russian version of the free services offered all around the world in 10 languages. So far, all users can search the 75 million profiles database free of any charge to find out if they are related to for example the famous poet Alexander Pushkin, politician Vladimir Putin or tennis-starlet Anna Kournikova.

Here are 4 convincing facts to search for relatives on semyaonline.ru:

• since 1820 over 3,374,000 Russian people emigrated to the United States
• Russians have governed 15 republics with more than 151 million people for over 69 years
• Russia neighbors 14 countries and its territory extends itself over Europe and Asia
• 2008 was the family year in Russia, what made Russians more aware of their family legacy

Currently, there are more than 7.5 million family trees in the dynastree database, relatives can be invited to the family tree and several easy-to-use family communication features make staying in contact with even distant relatives a child’s play. The platform’s features are free to use and will continue expanding all around the globe.

About dynastree
Apart from the English site, the services are available in Germany (www.verwandt.de), in Poland (www.moikrewni.pl), Spain and South America (www.miparentela.com), Portugal (www.meusparentes.com.pt), Brazil (www.meusparentes.com.br), the Netherlands (www.verwant.nl), Italy (www.parentistretti.it), Russia (www.semyaonline.ru) and France (www.familleunie.fr). dynastree is supported by leading Business Angels, Hasso Plattner Ventures and Neuhaus Partners, a well-known venture capitalist.

FamilySearch Indexing Update: New Indexing Resource Guide

During the most recent update to the FamilySearch Indexing Web site, a resource guide was added under the Help tab. This page is a quick reference tool for finding answers to most indexing questions. It includes resources for indexers, arbitrators, group administrators, and stake extraction directors. It also includes language resources, such as handwriting helps for English, Latin, Spanish, Portuguese, French, Italian, German, and Dutch.

To find the resource guide, go to www.familysearchindexing.org, click on the Help tab, and then click Publications.

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 in preparation for future publication.)

· Argentina Censo 1869 – Buenos Aires 2

· Arkansas – 1920 US Census

· Colorado – 1920 US Census

· Connecticut – 1920 US Census

· Delaware – 1920 US Census

· Massachusetts 1855 State Census

· Massachusetts Death Records 1915

· Massachusetts Marriages 1906-1915

· Massachusetts Marriages – Part 2

· New Hampshire – Early to 1900 Deaths

· Tlaxcala 1930 Mexico Census

Current FamilySearch Indexing Projects, Record Language, and Percent Completion

Argentina Censo 1869 - Cordoba y San Luis	Spanish	66%
Argentina Censo 1869 - Corrientes y Entre Rios	Spanish	3%
Arkansas Marriages – Part 3	English	35%
Belgium - Antwerp Foreigners Index	English	19%
Brandenburg Kirchenbücher	German	38%*
District of Columbia - 1920 US Federal Census	English	38%
España Lugo Registros Parroquiales [Part 1]	Spanish	15%
España Ávila Registros Parroquiales	Spanish	32%
Florida 1885 Census	English	36%
Florida 1935 Census	English	95%
France, Coutances, Paroisses de la Manche	French	8%
Massachusetts - 1865 State Census	English	74%
Nayarit – Censo de Mexico de 1930	English	44%
New Brunswick 1871 Census	English	3%
Nicaragua, Managua Civil Records	Spanish	10%
Norway 1875 Census part 1	Norwegian	4%
Nova Scotia 1871 Census	English	3%
Ontario 1861 Census	English	42%
Sonora – Censo de Mexico de 1930	Spanish	12%
St Petersburg Kirchenbuchduplikat 1833-1885	German	1%
Tabasco – Censo de Mexico de 1930	Spanish	10%
Trento Italy Baptism Records, 1784-1924	Italian	49%
UK - Cheshire - Church Records	English	85%
UK - Cheshire - Land Tax	English	13%
UK – Cheshire – School Records	English	7%
Ukraine Kyiv 1840-1842	Russian	3%
Venezuela Mérida Registros Parroquiales	Spanish	1%

(*This percentage refers to a specific portion of a larger project.)

Current FamilySearch Affiliate Projects, Record Language, and Percent Completion

Arkansas Marriages IV	English	36%
Belgique – Registres Des Décès (Français)	French	14%
België - Overlijdens Registers - In het Nederlands	Dutch, Flemish	16%
Bremer Schifflisten	German	27%
Flanders Death Registration	French, Dutch, Flemish	37%
Indiana Marriages 1882-Apr 1905	English	69%
Nova Scotia Antigonish Church Records	English	54%
Ohio Tax Records – 2 of 4	English	67%
Vermont Militia Records	English	18%

FamilySearch Record Search Update 19 February 2009

Familysearch added over 6 million new indexed records and 1.4 million new images since January 5, 2009, to its Record Search pilot (see chart below).

The West Virginia birth, marriage, and death records, and the South Dakota state censuses for 1915 and 1925 are now complete. Many thanks to the thousands of online FamilySearch Indexing volunteers who helped make these wonderful records available. See the chart below for more details. The new records can be searched for free at FamilySearch.org (Click Search Records, then Record Search pilot).

Record Search visitors might also notice the following changes to the pilot site after the latest update.

1. Region map flyover now lists the number of collections in a region

2. Rotate an image clockwise or counterclockwise in the viewer

3. New full screen view in the image viewer

4. Search form now displays the collection being searched

5. Image navigation- moved previous, next & go to buttons to the bottom of the page

6. Collection list page is now a single column

7. Image only collections are identified

8. Changes to print selected area

1920 United States Census
Indexed Records: 3,652,688
Digital Images: 77,119
Comments: Added California

1915 South Dakota Census
Indexed Records: 613,769
Digital Images: 613,769
Comments: New and complete

1925 South Dakota Census
Indexed Records: 705,319
Digital Images: 705,285
Comments: New and complete

West Virginia Births
Indexed Records: 68,391
Comments: Updated – 3 new indexed counties (Brooke, Kanawha, and Upshur). Collection should now be complete.

West Virginia Deaths
Indexed Records: 184,426
Comments: Updated – 3 new indexed counties (Brooke, Kanawha, and Upshur). Collection should now be complete.

West Virginia Marriages
Indexed Records: 275,877
Comments: Updated – 3 new indexed counties (Brooke, Kanawha, and Upshur). Collection should now be complete.

Illinois, Cook County Birth Certificates
Indexed Records: 924,602
Digital Images: 910,059
Comments: New

Illinois, Cook County Birth Registers
Indexed Records: 63,933
Digital Images: 1,844
Comments: New

Resources for Family History Consultants - Family History Fair

To: Family history consultants and center directors on the Wasatch Front

Dear Family History Consultant,

In an effort to assist you in your calling, we want to make you aware of a family history fair that is coming up in the Bountiful, Utah, area. Information at this fair may benefit you in helping members find their ancestors.

The South Davis Family History Fair will be held Saturday, March 7, 2009, at Bountiful High School, 695 South Orchard Drive, Bountiful, Utah. The theme for the fair is "Walk with Me in White" (Revelation 3:4). The Fair will begin at 8:00 A.M. with a keynote address by Don R. Anderson, Director of the Family History Library in Salt Lake City and also Director of the Church's Worldwide FamilySearch Support.

Participants may choose from 90 classes—geared to beginning, intermediate, or advanced levels of experience. New this year: Four of these classes will be taught in Spanish. Meanwhile, vendors will display a variety of genealogy aids in the gymnasium, and a sack lunch will be served in the cafeteria.

The Fair is sponsored by eleven stakes in the South Davis, Utah area. Patrons within those stakes should register through their family history consultants. Patrons outside those stakes may register by downloading the registration form available at www.familyhistoryfair.com.

Please note that there are five classes specifically for family history consultants, as well as three classes for priesthood leaders.

The time to preregister has passed, so please register at the door (beginning at 7:00 A.M. on March 7th). The registration fee for this fair is $12.00. There is no guarantee that you will receive a syllabus.

For a complete class list, class descriptions, biographies of the presenters, a map to Bountiful High School, and other details, please visit www.familyhistoryfair.com.

Sincerely,

FamilySearch Support

support@familysearch.org

GenealogyBank Adds New Search Tools

GenealogyBank has added new search capabilities to speed up your research.

They are:
1. Limit search to most recently added content
2. Search multiple states at once
3. Search multiple cities (Click on a state and you'll see the list of cities)
4. Search multiple titles (Click on the cities and you'll see the list of newspapers)
5. Narrow search by article types (look on the left column once you've done a search)

Stop over to their blog and watch a tour of the new features.
http://blog.genealogybank.com/2009/02/genealogybank-adds-new-search-tools.html

Great job GenealogyBank!

Utah Valley Chapter of UGA Announcement

Dear UGA Members, and Guests

We do not have the resources or leadership to continue the Utah Valley Chapter of UGA. We have talked to the State UGA and agreed to temporarily close this chapter. So there will not be a February 2009 meeting or future meetings. I encourage each of you to go to the UGA website if you are willing to help with, or see results of, the pioneer project indexing. The website to volunteer is info@infouga.org and the website for data is www.utahpioneers.net.

You can get great help with your genealogy and family history at the PAF Users group (for more information go to thier website: http://www.uvpafug.org/
which meets the second Saturday of each month and has well known speakers (we have not had a large enough attendance to ask name speakers, although we have had a few that were personal friends of members). There are also classes at the BYU Family History Library, (their website is http://www.lib.byu.edu/fslab/) on each 2nd and 4th Sunday.They do a good job of specific classes and you can find a list each month on line. We hear that a Norwegian Researcher, John Christensen teaches there some Sundays -- so if you have Norwegian Research I urge you to check the date and time of his classes.

Also you can take an intensive hands on -- one on one computer help -- class at the south area familh history training center, website is www.familyhistorytraining.org.

All of these are excellent resources available in our area. Thank you for your support and attendance Best of luck in your research.

Becky Roberts

Announcement About the FamilySearch Research Wiki and a Request for Help

To: Family History Consultants in English-speaking Wards and Branches

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

We want to inform you about the launch of an exciting project from the FamilySearch Wiki community, the England Barn Raising. A wiki barn raising is a short, focused genealogical community effort to create or revise content relating to a single topic such as "getting started with genealogical research in England." During February 2009, we are looking for volunteers from the genealogical community to revise the England wiki pages for the four basic English record types and add pages for major English research Web sites. At the end of February, the FamilySearch Research Wiki will contain information about the latest and best basic records and Web sites to find English ancestors.

The FamilySearch Research Wiki is a resource to help individuals find their ancestors. This resource is available on the Internet at wiki.familysearch.org. The wiki is written by individuals around the world to help individuals with their family history research in all parts of the world. We encourage you to use it as you seek to help your ward members find their ancestors. The genealogical community asks for your help to make the barn-raising a success. Please pitch in and contribute a few edits to the England pages. You don't need to be an England expert to contribute, but experts are certainly welcome!

To see a list of pages to update and also a list of simple tasks that you can do whether you're a family history novice or a professional genealogist, see the England Barn Raising Tasks page at wiki.familysearch.org/en/England_Barn_Raising_Tasks.

The first barn raising activity for the U. S. state of Maryland proved to be a lot of fun, and we're learning things that will help improve future barn-raisings for other areas of the world. Hope to see you soon on the wiki!

Sincerely,

FamilySearch Support

support@familysearch.org

Why I Left Legacy for RootsMagic

I am asked all the time why I left Legacy Family Tree for RootsMagic. Finally I am going to attempt to explain that. It would be so much easier if I could have you sit beside me as I try to describe what convinced this once devoted Legacy user to jump ship. It all happened in July of 2007. I was watching a demonstration on the new Legacy 7 at a BYU Conference. I saw Bruce Buzbee the creator of RootsMagic attending the presentation. I thought he was taking notes so he could keep up with what Legacy had coming out. I actually wrote about that in a blog article and said the Legacy was ahead of the game.

My knowledge of RootsMagic was very limited at that time. I owned RootsMagic 1 but I don't think I ever used it. I had watched a demonstration of RootsMagic at the UVPAFUG but wasn't looking to change. I guess I needed a comparison. At the time I wasn't thinking about changing my genealogy program because I was so happy with Legacy. I still like Legacy it's a great program I don't think a person could go wrong with it. Choosing a genealogy program is all up to personal preferences and choice.

I was a member of the RootsMagic mailing list at the time my article came out, saying Legacy was ahead of the game. RootsMagic users were readers of my blog and they took offense to me saying Legacy was ahead. I read the comments and was struck when some RootsMagic users said they wanted to convert me over. It made me realize that I was not being very open minded about RootsMagic. Since I was happy with what I had in Legacy. I thought, in my narrow mindedness, how could there be anything better. I set out to give it a far chance.

The very next UVPAFUG meeting I attended the RootsMagic class taught by Bruce Buzbee. He patiently answered my questions and showed me how RootsMagic did things. They were in fact ahead of Legacy 7 and had been for quit a while. I was struck with how much information was on the screens yet how uncluttered and simplified they were. I love spreadsheets and tables and RootsMagic had that look and feel.

One of the other reasons I had attended the RootsMagic class was because my "new" used laptop did not have enough RAM in it to run Legacy. I was actually thinking of options. I found out how lite RootsMagic was and how it would run on my older laptop. The other consideration was how would the program run with new FamilySearch? Just looking at the RootsMagic edit screen made me realize that multiple facts for the same events would be put in chronological order and I would just need to look in one area to get the whole picture. I was a gut feeling that RootsMagic would run better with NFS. At the time I had no concept of what NFS API would even look like. I just thought Bruce had it laid his program out better.

Let me try to give some examples with a few graphics: (Click on the links below to open up a larger image.)

Here is a Legacy Family View.


Here is a RootsMagic 3 Family View.


Since I am a spreadsheet kind of girl I fell in love with the view of the children. I was forever in Legacy having to click onto the children's information to just view their full birth or death date. In RootsMagic I could now see the full event and more children on just one screen.

The other things, I couldn't get a screen capture of, is being able to see the siblings of my great-grandfather by clicking in the upper left hand corner on the "Parents 1" with an arrow. This will give me drop down box with a quick look at his parents and siblings. The spouses arrow does the same thing, giving me the names of any additional spouses. With just a simple click I can see so much and relate them together. In Legacy I need to move to the alt. spouse in a couple of clicks and same for siblings. Then I can't see the family I was trying to compare info with.

The best screens are the edit screens.

First a look at Legacy's individual edit screen.


Now a look at RootsMagic's individual edit screen.


If you will look closely you can see that all the events line up in chronological order. This is like a built in time line. You are also able to see the temple ordinances without having to click on another screen to see them. You can view the marriage date and if there where more than one you could see each spouse and the marriage date in order. You can see the alt. name without clicking on an icon to view it. There is so much more I can see on this one edit screen than when I look at Legacy.

If I had alt. birth or alt. death events my eye can view them right in chronological order on the RootsMagic screen. On the Legacy screen I have to jump from the primary information down to the Events/Facts box.

Now one of the other things I learned about was RootsMagic 4. The RM4 edit screen gets even better.


I don't have to click to open up an event to edit. I can just move my arrow keys to get to the fact and then on the right I can make the changes. The edit portion on the right changes its layout based on every event type.

I really hope you can tell all the great things you can view just looking at the screens. It's to bad you weren't sitting besides me. Then I could demonstrate better the differences.

The other thing that makes me love RootsMagic is the reports and lists. I can create lists out of any event fact I have used in my database. I can also perform searches on any fact. You want something you can create it.

Right now my status is I use Legacy for my main database. Any new databases I have created for others I am using RootsMagic 3. I am waiting for RootsMagic 4 to come out so I can use the direct import from Legacy feature. Everything will transfer over much more smoothly so that is the reason for the wait. Let me tell you the more I use RootsMagic 3 the more I am sold on RootsMagic vs. Legacy. I just move more quickly through the program. I can see more data on one screen yet at first glance it looks like less is there. It's just because it's much more effecient in it's use of retail space.

I can't wait for RootsMagic 4 to come out so I can sync with NFS. Because Legacy doesn't have a beta test available on NFS right now I can't compare their features on NFS. I did compare Legacy and RootsMagic IGI feature and RootsMagic was quicker and brought back more results.

Then there is RootsMagic-To-Go that will let me run the program from my flashdrive. I am always surprised when I go to a family history center and they don't have RootsMagic installed on their computers. It's available for free to FHCs. Now I don't have to worry about where I am I can always use RootsMagic 4 because the program will be on the flashdrive.

Oh, I can't forget RootsMagic 4 will also have a witness feature or the ability to share events. That is something Legacy definitely can't do. You just might want to take a look at the RootsMagic blog to find out all the new features coming in version 4.

Like I said before I was a very happy Legacy user until I gave RootsMagic a chance. Not everyone has the luxury of having the program creator sit down and demonstrate how their program works. But, you can always take a test drive of either program and see for yourself which one works with the way you operate. Just be open minded and you just might change or be strongly convinced that you have the best program for you.

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

Adventures in FamilySearch Indexing: Week 74

It's after 9 p.m. and I am just winding down enough for the day to actual think about working on FamilySearch Indexing. Normally this late in the night I would not start a batch to index on. I would just call it a night because I have to get up early to work in the morning. But, tomorrow is a holiday and I don't have to work it's a late night for me. YIPEE!! I just love my all night genealogy sessions.

For mood music I am listening to FM100.3 Soft Sunday Sounds. I really enjoy listening to all the songs LDS artists are creating. There is a mixture of other artists but I like to hear the new LDS songs the most. I just wish the NOW PLAYING notice on the website actually worked. I would like to know who I am listening to. Haha, I just figured out how to make it work - you have to manually refresh the page. What a pain! Oh well, I really only check when I want to know the title and artist info.

Ok, now I'm all comfy with mood music, I have my nightgown on and my fuzzy slippers. Yup, it's indexing time. First we have to check for any new messages. Nothing new on the website. The Family Search application does have one new message.

From: Headquarters
Subject: UK - Cheshire - Church Records
Date: 10 Feb 2009

Some images in this project look as if they are cut off. (Click here to see an example.) If your batch contains some of these images, you are only responsible to index the completely visible page. The other, cut-off page will be indexed elsewhere in your batch or in another batch.

Also, some documents in the project were recorded in Latin. The project instructions provided include excellent help for these records, including a glossary of common Latin words. Even if you do not read Latin you should still be able to index these records while using the help provided. You may even consider this a fun challenge.

The following links are also included in the project instructions and show word-for-word translations of common Latin documents in this project.

1. Baptism record on a Latin form
2. Baptism record handwritten in Latin
3. Marriage record on a Latin form
4. Burial record on a Latin form
   

If you still do not feel comfortable indexing a batch you've already downloaded, simply return the batch for someone else to complete.

I don't know learning Latin just doesn't sound fun to me. I've been working on my genealogy now for over 30 years and I have yet to attempt to work on any of my foreign lines. Did I ever to tell you that I took French in high school for two years. My parents wanted me to because I have a french first name. I did terrible in French. My sibling all took German and they would talk to each other in German, now that seemed fun to know a different language and speak it with a sibling.

Well I had no one that spoke French around me. Even my French teacher couldn't speak it right. He got shot in the jaw during the war and spoke it with a lisp. If you sat in the first few rows of the class he would be spitting all over you. I would listen to him pronounce the words and then listen to french language tapes in the lab and they sounded nothing a like to me. Others seemed to catch on but not me. My mother-in-law is from Paris, France and I can hardly understand her at times. I guess the gift of tongues passed me by.

Time for me to pick out the batches I will work on. I'm thinking something English, hehe. I am really into the Federal Census. There is one for the District of Columbia - 1920 US Federal Census that seems good.

That was so fast, I finished three batches. I did a total of 150 names. My total to date for names indexed is 10,941. Next week I should hit the 11,000 mark - cool!

My eyes are heavy so I better go to bed. I thought I would work on genealogy all night but I guess it will just have to wait until the morning.

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

Visit Family Pursuit at the St. George Family History Expo

Come meet us at the St. George Family History Expo and be the first to learn how to connect to New FamilySearch through a Private Family Tree on Family Pursuit. We will be teaching 2 classes on how to upload your research conclusions to new FamilySearch.

What: Family Pursuit: Getting your Family Involved with new FamilySearch - Even in Utah

Where: Entrada Room B

When: Saturday February 28th, 1pm or 4pm

You can attend either class to learn more about how Family Pursuit involves your entire family, novice to expert, in family history research and connects you to New FamilySearch to add your family to the FamilySearch family tree database.

We also have vendor booths 213 and 215 in the free Exhibit Hall. Stop by for demonstrations and more information.

About the St. George Family History Expo:

5th Annual St. George, Utah, Family History Expo
The Dixie Center at 1835 Convention Center Dr
St. George, UT 84790

Feb 27-28, 2009 – 8am to 6pm

Early registration is going on now for only $60, through Feb 14th. Thereafter and at the door the price is $65. Your registration allows you to attend two full days of classes from world-class genealogists and vendors of ground-breaking technology, like Family Pursuit.

2009 FamilySearch Developers Conference and Software Awards

9 February 2009

Platform expands with Family Tree v2 and other new Web services

Salt Lake City, Utah—FamilySearch announced today its second annual conference for software and Web application developers and its inaugural FamilySearch Software Awards. The 2009 FamilySearch Developers Conference will be held on Wednesday, March 11, 2009, in conjunction with the Brigham Young University Computerized Family History and Genealogy Conference in Provo, Utah. Attendees can register online at familyhistoryconferences.byu.edu/familysearch.

The 2009 FamilySearch Developers Conference provides a unique forum and opportunity for developers of genealogy-related desktop and Web applications to meet with other professionals who use similar development technologies to confront common technical challenges and share effective solutions. Conference attendees will learn about new and updated FamilySearch web services from FamilySearch engineers and best practices from current community developers.

FamilySearch engineers and community developers will discuss version 2 of the FamilySearch Family Tree Web service, Standards Authorities, Record Search, Timeline, and Catalog Web services.

Phillip J. Windley, Ph.D., Kynetx CTO and former Utah CIO, will be the keynote speaker. Dr. Windley said, "FamilySearch is taking the lead with an open platform, third-party services, and this annual conference for software developers interested in the growing family history and genealogical market." Dr. Windley will present his best ideas on how the genealogy industry can better embrace new emerging technologies. "Solutions to match the astonishing growing desire of families to find and share information about themselves and their ancestors can only be created and delivered by a network of providers committed to open data and open technologies," added Dr. Windley.

FamilySearch's annual Software Awards has been launched to encourage and recognize software development that benefits the family history and genealogy industry. "We are excited to announce the launch of the 2009 FamilySearch Software Awards. The purpose is to publicly and formally celebrate the software achievements of those developers and companies that are making important contributions to the family history and genealogy industry," said Gordon Clarke, FamilySearch Web services product manager.

The Best Features awards this year will be decided by a panel of judges. The awards will be for the best Web Features, Desktop Features, Productivity Features, Use of Media, and the Best Tree-Cleaning or Syncing Interfaces. The Develop Choice Awards are decided by the vote of members of DevNet.FamilySearch.org, an online community of developers, and will be for the best API Library, Most Useful to Developers, and Potential Future Impacts.

The FamilySearch Software Awards winners will be announced and presented at the conference lunch banquet.

Conference sessions will be divided into three tracks: FamilySearch API, Third Party Libraries, and Emerging Models and Technology. FamilySearch Web Services provides developers access at the programmer's level so developers can ensure that the data and functionality of their products and applications will interface transparently and effectively with FamilySearch and other industry applications as they are introduced or evolve.

Professional software and Web application developers interested in attending can register online at familyhistoryconferences.byu.edu/familysearch or call 1-801-422-8925.

Syncing with new FamilySearch - Part I

Some of you might remember that I had an article series called the "New FamilySearch Tree Sagas". It was about my adventures in working with NFS. It lasted 12 weeks and the last article was on August 16, 2008. Just because it ended doesn't mean that I finished the combining of my family members on NFS. I actually only got as far as the first four generations.

It was so hard to be motivated each week to work on my families in NFS and write an article about it. When I missed a few weeks I decided to just let it die. I love NFS, I just hate how painfully slow it is to do anything in it. Then I had to keep track of what I had in my own genealogy database vs. what NFS had. The switching back and forth just switched me off of using it. Besides, I knew there was a better way coming. I could afford to wait, since NFS wouldn't be live in my area for a long time.

Since my last article FamilyInsight and Ancestral Quest 12.1 have come out, and each will sync your PAF files with NFS. I have been invited to test both of these programs and write a review on them. Let me just say that since I don't use PAF or AQ I wasn't feeling to motivated to try either of them. But, I knew it would be a good thing for my readers. Plus and it would allow me to learn how to help family history center patrons that might be using those programs.

Then something interesting happened... I started participating in the RootsMagic 4 Community Preview. In this preview you can sync your RootsMagic database with NFS. It's been fun again to work on NFS. In fact it can be down right addicting. I know I should be helping out and testing other features of the program but I wanted to move through my people on NFS and work on the combining. Everytime there is a new build of RM4 I have to start all over again on the syncing with my RM database. The good thing is that the combining I did through the program on NFS stays combined. I am actually killing two birds with one stone.

This all got me to thinking about reviewing all of these family history programs that will sync with NFS, i.e. Ancestral Quest, Family Insight, RootsMagic and eventually Legacy. I am going to make myself do it! My first item of business is to watch the tutorials that each of the vendors have provided.

Ancestral Quest 12.1 - http://www.ancquest.com/Ver12-1Tutorials.htm
10 Tutorials = 50 min. One short overview = 11 min
(60 day free trial of the program)

FamilyInsight - http://www.ohanasoftware.com/?sec=lessons&page=FamilyInsightTutorial
3 Tutorials = 14 min.
(60 day free trial of the program)

RootsMagic 4 - http://rootsmagic.com/fs/
4 Tutorials = 25 min
Not yet available but will be soon! Watch for the Public Beta announcement on this blog.

If you followed along with me and watched all the tutorials it is now 1 hour and 29 minutes later! Here are some of my impressions of the videos.

Ancestral Quest scares me. So many, many screens and procedures to remember. The lack of color of the video made me almost fall asleep. Come on Gaylon get a little color into your life. It's so colorless and bland that it's distracting. That said, AQ does give you detail. I think I just need to appreciate what's in the package and not how it's delivered.

FamilyInsight - Love the new website design John! Made me look forward to seeing your videos. They were well done. It wasn't until I saw the video on "Edit places with FamilyInsight" that I remembered that's why I left PAF for Legacy. I needed to clean up my localities in my database and there was no easy way to do that in PAF. Appreciated the color on your screens. You have given PAF a new coat of paint. I also think FamilyInsight is the only one that shows how to uncombine people on NFS.

RootsMagic - Well, I am very biased on this program. It's also the only one I have hands on experience with. Appreciated the color Bruce - it's easy on the eyes. Hopefully those watching it could see that the pop-up screens are very intuitive and lead you as to where you need to go, while working with NFS. Love FamilySearch Central.

Well, if you haven't watched the videos I suggest you take the time to do so.

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

St George Family History Conference News

The following is from FamilySearch Support.

Dear Family History Consultant:

In an effort to assist you in your calling, we want to make you aware of a family history conference that is coming up in the St. George, Utah area. Information at this conference may benefit you in helping members find their ancestors.

The theme for this year's event is “Digging Roots: It’s that easy!” It will be held at the Dixie Convention Center on February 27-28, (Friday and Saturday) and is sponsored by Family History Expos.com.

Over 100 classes will be presented by experts and industry leaders from the local and national genealogical community as well as staff from the Church’s Family History Department. Products and services from genealogy companies will also be showcased in an exhibit hall.

Expo details and the class schedule are available online at: www.FHExpos.com.

There is no cost for attending the keynote address, the Family History Consultant Training classes, or visiting the exhibit hall. For those wishing to attend the other classes, pre-registration is $60.00 through February 14. After February 14, you may register at the door; cost will be $65.00 for both days, or $50.00 per day.

Please note that there are five consultant classes in the schedule. These classes begin on Saturday, February 28 at 9:30 am and are held in “Ballroom B”. For access to the consultant classes, simply bring this notice with you.

All questions should be directed to:
Family History Expos.com
PO Box 187
Morgan, Utah 84050
Email: Expo@FHExpos.com
Phone: 801-829-3295
Web: http://www.fhexpos.com/events/upcoming.php?event_id=44

We hope this information is helpful to you and ward members who may wish to attend.

Sincerely,

FamilySearch Support
support@familysearch.org

Upload Photos and Documents on Family Pursuit

Family Pursuit is pleased to announce the release of the photo and document upload feature for Private Family Trees. You can now upload photos and documents and attach them directly to individuals in your tree, allowing the entire family to view and download. With photo and document upload you can:

• Upload photos of family members and attach them to their record in the tree
• Document your research with images of source documents
• Upload scanned images of old photos, letters and other documents
• Upload scanned images of research notes and logs and attach them to your research projects
• Upload previously written histories and stories about your ancestors
• Upload all file types including: PDF, DOC, audio and video files
  

All images are stored at full resolution making it easier for family members to read scanned documents such as birth, marriage or death certificates and census records. Images and documents can also be attached to multiple individuals in the family tree as in the case of a family photo or census household record.

Uploading images and documents is only available in a Private Family Tree. To find out more about Private Family Trees on Family Pursuit, visit our website at www.familypursuit.com.

St. George Family History Expo early registration

Hurry before it's too late...Early Registration

Register today before the St. George Family History Expo early registration pricing goes up.

Sign up today at the $60.00 early pricing for two fun filled days of learning. After Saturday the 14th the price will go up.

5th Annual St. George Family History Expo February 27-28, 2009 - Details found at www.FHExpos.com.

When: Feb. 27-28th, 2008 ---8 AM - 6 PM

Where: The Dixie Center; 1835 Convention Center Drive; St. George, Utah 84790

Don't Delay Sign Up Today!
http://www.fhexpos.com/events/upcoming.php?event_id=44.

Happy Valentines!
Holly, Kimberly, and Janene

Adventures in FamilySearch Indexing: Week 73

My friend Henry Mantell in England gave me a heads up that there are some technical issues on FamilySearch Indexing right now. Some indexers are having difficulty uploading their batches. Since this is the time I normally index I thought I would see if I will be lucky working in it today.

I logged onto the FamilySearch Indexing site and there are no new messages there. I logged onto the application itself and there is one message for us there.

From: Headquarters
Subject: Technical Issues
Date: 06 Feb 2009

There are a few issues that have come up this week that we are working to resolve and should be taken care of soon. In the meantime, there are work-arounds that may help you as you index:

• If your cursor keeps jumping back to previously indexed fields, you can exit the program and then follow the steps in this document (or click here to open the document) to delete your Java temporary files. You can also run the Quality Checker on the batch by clicking on the Quality Checker tab in the lower right corner on the indexing screen.
• If you have a batches that will not submit, follow the steps in this document and then try again. If it still will not submit, please save your work and return the batches for someone else to complete.
  

Group Administrator or Stake Extraction Directors:

• If someone you are helping is getting an "Unable to Launch" error message, click here and walk them through the steps provided.
• If you are helping somone volunteer in an LDS stake and it won't seem to go past the first screen, be sure that when you type in the LDS stake name that you click on one of the options from the drop-down list. Until the name is selected from the list it will not recognize the stake has been chosen.

This all seemed kind of scary to me. Oh well, indexing is an adventure and I'm up for one. I wanted to work on a Federal Census and yes, there is one. The Colorado 1920 US Federal Census is available. I downloaded three batches to work on for tonight. I had no problem getting the program to launch or setting up the batch. Then the issue began.

Every time I typed in a field and hit tab it would have the quality check pop-up appear. That was major annoying and not workable for me. I knew about the instructions if my cursor jumps back to the previous field or my batch wouldn't submit. I thought well I will try the same instructions for a fix on my quality check pop-up problem. It shows you how to delete your Java temporary files.

It took hardly any time to follow the steps for the fix and what do you know I am right back into the business of indexing again. Since I wanted to relax while doing this I put on some mood music. The Your LDS Radio station on the internet was just the right thing.

I had no issues submitting my first batch. Appears that deleting my Java tempory files were just what I needed to do. Things appear to be working as a charm. Just wish it was as easy to read some of the handwriting like that.

There were also no issues with my next two batches being submitted either. The instructions to fix the problem work beautifully. I did three batches of 50 names each. The total today is 150 names indexed and 10,791 to-date indexed.

Now, for something extra this week. I have a link to an article on MormonTimes. It's about Dan Bradford that has done FamilySearch Indexing in Iraq. He did an amazing 10,000 names in one month.

I hope you are also following my other blog articles throughout the week. Since I am on the Church Media list I receive press releases that I pass along to you. The most recent one was FamilySearch Indexing Update: 6 Feb 2009. We usually get a list of projects completed and what is available now on Records Search. I hardly ever think to mention them in my weekly articles on indexing because I hate to repeat myself.

Since I have a little time left before bed I guess I will work on my TreePad database. I am moving all my old emails into the database for reference. I have a new project that I am planning on developing with my database. Making a Research Log in TreePad. It might be a while before it's ready for prime time but it's in the works. I just love how I can search every word in TreePad so I think a Research Log will be a very nice fit there.

One of my readers Stephen Younger from Oregon suggested it to me. We both have different visions of what it will look like but that's ok. Everyone has different ways of doing things and different needs. I just can't tell you how much fun I have been having with TreePad now that it works on a flash drive. Even my none techie husband has started to use the program. I gave him my U3 flash drive, that I can't stand, because he doesn't know any better, hehe. Actually after watching a tutorial on their site I understand it a little better. Still loads to slow for me but it's ok. Well, I'm off.

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

FamilySearch Indexing Update: 6 February 2009

FamilySearch volunteers wrapped up 14 online indexing projects already in 2009 and continue to make good progress on the 38 open projects. Great work! There are two new projects from the 1930 Mexico Census this week, and the Colorado 1920 U.S. Census project is also new.

As FamilySearch continues to expand into international record collections, there is a growing, continual need for indexers who can read the respective languages. Even if a volunteer can only dedicate a few hours a month to an indexing project, when multiplied by thousands of online volunteers, small contributions of time by individuals can have a significant impact. Volunteers can register and participate immediately at www.familysearchindexing.org.

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 in preparation for future publication.)

· Massachusetts Death Records 1906-1915

· Guanajuato 1930 Mexico Census

· New Hampshire Early to 1900 Births

· Arizona– 1920 US Federal Census

· Illinois– 1920 US Census

· Florida– 1920 US Census

· Massachusetts– 1920 US Federal Census

· Arkansas Marriages [Part 1]

· Prince Edward Island 1861 Census

· Nova Scotia 1861 Census

· New Brunswick 1861 Census

· Kentucky– 1870 US Census (Part 2)

· Guerrero– Censo de Mexico de 1930

· Queretaro– Censo de Mexico de 1930

Current Projects, Record Language, and Percent Completion Status

Argentina Censo 1869 - Buenos Aires 2	Spanish	84%
Argentina Censo 1869 - Cordoba y San Luis	Spanish	55%
Arkansas – 1920 US Federal Census	English	32%
Arkansas Marriages – Part 3	English	27%
Arkansas Marriages IV	English	34%
Belgique – Registres Des Décès (Français)	French	14%
België - Overlijdens Registers - In het Nederlands	Dutch, Flemish	14%
Belgium - Antwerp Foreigners Index	English	17%
Brandenburg Kirchenbücher	German	35%*
Bremer Schifflisten	German	20%
Colorado – 1920 US Federal Census	English	(new)
Connecticut – 1920 US Federal Census	English	55%
España Lugo Registros Parroquiales [Part 1]	Spanish	15%
España Ávila Registros Parroquiales	Spanish	16%
Flanders Death Registration	French, Dutch, Flemish	37%
Florida 1885 Census	English	26%
Florida 1935 Census	English	67%
France, Coutances, Paroisses de la Manche	French	8%
Massachusetts - 1855 State Census	English	76%
Massachusetts - 1865 State Census	English	33%
Massachusetts Marriage Records 1906-1915	English	84%
Nayarit – Censo de Mexico de 1930	English	12%
New Hampshire - Early to 1900 Deaths	English	83%
Nicaragua, Managua Civil Records	Spanish	9%
Norway 1875 Census part 1	Norwegian	2%
Nova Scotia Antigonish Church Records	English	52%
Ohio Tax Records – 2 of 4	English	66%
Ontario 1861 Census	English	20%
Sonora – Censo de Mexico de 1930	Spanish	(new)
St Petersburg Kirchenbuchduplikat 1833-1885	German	1%
Tabasco – Censo de Mexico de 1930	Spanish	(new)
Tlaxcala - Censo de Mexico de 1930	Spanish	82%
UK - Cheshire - Church Records	English	51%
UK - Cheshire - Land Tax	English	9%
UK – Cheshire – School Records	English	4%
Ukraine Kyiv 1840-1842	Russian	1%
Venezuela Mérida Registros Parroquiales	Spanish	1%
Vermont Militia Records	English	15%

(*This percentage refers to a specific portion of a larger project.)