Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Mark Your Calendars - UVPAFUG Meeting!

UTAH VALLEY PAF USERS GROUP MEETING

The next regular, second-Saturday-of-the-month meeting of the Utah Valley PAF (Personal Ancestral File) Users Group will be on Saturday, 11 Jul 2009, from 9 am until noon in the Edgewood/Riverside LDS Chapel, 3511 North 180 East, Provo, Utah. The chapel is in the Provo "River Bottoms" behind the Jamestown shopping plaza on the east side of University Avenue. You get to it by turning east from University Avenue at 3700 North ("Will's Pit Stop") and then south on 180 East. There is a map showing the new and old locations on the group's website http://uvpafug.org .

The main presentation for this meeting will be by Lance McIntosh on SUPPORT RESOURCES AVAILABLE TO FAMILY HISTORY CONSULTANTS. He will be discussing the various support resources available to family history consultants and how they can get answers to their questions. With the Utah LDS temples coming online with New FamilySearch soon he will also be updating us on what is happening in our area. He will have a PowerPoint presentation as part of his discussion.

Lance McIntosh is the LDS Church's North America Area Manager for FamilySearch Support and that provides family history assistance to priesthood leaders, family history consultants, family history centers, and patrons in the United States and Canada. He has over 20 years of experience in the area of support and training and holds a BS degree from the BYU College of Life Sciences in 1986. He is a popular speaker at genealogy conferences throughout the U.S. and will be speaking again at the BYU Genealogy and Family History Conference in July on these same topics. He and his family live in Lindon, Utah.

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. The classes currently scheduled for this meeting are the following:
  1. Searching for Completed Ordinances in the IIGI and nFS, by Duane Dudley
  2. Genealogy Software for the MAC, by John McKinney
  3. Q&A: FamilySearch Support, by Lance McIntosh
  4. DVD of last month's main presentation: Genealogy in 2020, by Beau Sharbrough
  5. Legacy, by Joel Graham
  6. RootsMagic, by Sue Maxwell
  7. Ancestral Quest, by Donald Engstrom.
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. The officers are Gerhard Ruf, President; Don Snow and Brian Cooper, VP's; Beth Ann Wiseman, PAFology Editor; Kay Baker and Gerry Eliason working with finances and membership; and Bruce Merrill, Lynne Shumway, and Marie Andersen, working with the DVD Library. Several of these will be there to help with membership, answer questions, distribute the current issue of the monthly newsletter PAFology, and check out 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 and the press releases are online at http://blog.uvpafug.org/. For further information contact President Gerhard Ruf at pres@uvpafug.org (801-225-6106), VP1 Don Snow at snowd@math.byu.edu, or VP2 Brian Cooper at vp2@uvpafug.org.

Friday, June 26, 2009

New FamilySearch update - 26 Jun 2009

More news from my source at FamilySearch.
Renee,

I believe you are already aware of this but the official invitation for early access to new FamilySearch went to the registered consultants and registered priesthood leaders in the Jordan River Temple district yesterday.

I am also hopeful to have something official about the consultant model that has replaced the “view-only” model by the end of today.

Thanks,
Thanks for the info. I am really curious about the second part.
Renee,

It looks like the new popup and information is now there when you attempt to search in the IGI. The new message indicates that temple ordinances are no longer updated in the IGI and that members should work with a consultant or a family history center to check for names in the new FamilySearch. Of course they should check both the IGI and new FamilySearch to verify that the names have not been done.

Thanks,
I actually saw the pop-up message last Sat morning when I was working in RootsMagic 3's IGI search feature. Then went to the FamilySearch.org website and saw that is was coming from there.
There’s actually a new popup. The one you saw last Saturday indicated that IGI users were being given “view-only” access. This is not the case now. Rather than providing a limited, view-only option in new FamilySearch, members are being instructed to have a consultant or center director assist them as a “helper” in checking the names in new FamilySearch.
Oh, I see the difference. Thanks.

-end-

Now we just have to wait to find out the rest of the story on the consultant model!

I would imagine that the family history consultants in the Provo temple district should get word of NFS access soon too. They are the last of the temple district without access along the Wasatch Front. I'll let you know when I have further word.

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

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

New FamilySearch update - 24 Jun 2009

Just received this piece of information from my source at FamilySearch.

Renee,

The “go live” notice went out this morning to the final group of stakes in the Logan Temple district. These stakes will go live next Monday, June 29th. This will be reflected shortly on the Utah Idaho rollout website.

The official notification to begin preparing for new FamilySearch was sent to the Boise Temple district stakes today. This will also be reflected on the website.

I noticed that you have the “view-only” information for IGI users posted on your blog site. As a heads up, the “view-only” model is being replaced with a model where the local family history consultant will assist the patron in checking for duplication. Additional information on this is forthcoming. I will get it to you as soon as it becomes available.

I will have another update for you tomorrow.

Thanks,

Sunday, June 21, 2009

New FamilySearch Access

By now some of you know about the message that appears when you look up temple ordinances in FamilySearch.org.


The link to more info, takes you to a knowledge document "All temple will record ordinances using the new FamilySearch System July 2009". Here is what is says:
By the end of July 2009, all temples (with the exception of Asian temples) will record ordinances using the new FamilySearch system. Ordinances are no longer being updated in the International Genealogical Index (IGI) by temples on the new system. Because of this, members should use the new FamilySearch site to view and verify the latest ordinance information.

Members who have registered in the existing FamilySearch.org site will be given access to register in the new FamilySearch system. To register for this new system go to http://new.FamilySearch.org and click the “Register for the new FamilySearch” link. If you are unable to register in new FamilySearch, please contact FamilySearch Support at one of the numbers listed on http://contact.familysearch.org.

Some members living in Utah and Idaho temple districts will not be able to add or make changes to data in new FamilySearch for several months, but will be able to view the data. If you live in one of these temple districts, please contact your ward or branch consultant with questions or for additional information.

Members who do not have full access to new FamilySearch should continue to prepare and submit names for the temple using TempleReady. However, to avoid unnecessary duplication, members should use the new FamilySearch to view the latest ordinance information for the names they are submitting. In addition, to expedite processing at the temple, Family History Centers will be able to help you prepare your TempleReady submission so it can be used by the new system.
Several days ago I asked my source at FamilySearch about which temple districts are taking FORs and which ones had consultant access to NFS. Here is their reply:
Renee,

I’m not sure on the temples and FORs. Every temple has ability to process FORs but I believe it’s up to the individual temple when they actually begin accepting them.

All registered consultants and registered priesthood leaders in the following districts have access to new FamilySearch:

Mt Timpanogos
Bountiful
Salt Lake
Boise
St George
Ogden

Thanks,
Since then I have learned from Sue Maxwell's Granite Genealogy blog, that family history consultants in the Draper temple district now have access to NFS. I also learned on the Ancestry Insider Blog that Idaho Falls received consultant access too. I updated my New FamilySearch Roll-out spreadsheet with the information.

At this point it's much easier to say the only Jordan River, Provo, and the Asian temple districts are without NFS access, for their consultants anyways. That could change in days for Jordan River and Provo. The Asian temple district will be a while.

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

Changing from the Old to the New

I have been busy every month working on a project for an older gentlemen that wants to make sure his genealogy is all done before he dies. He has four very large volumes of books that he is having me check to make sure all their temple work is done. Thank goodness there was an old PAF database that I could resurrect, so I didn't have to manually type everything in.

Once I had an in tack PAF database it was nothing at all to import it into RootsMagic 3. Yes, I know RootsMagic 4 is available, and I have it. But, I wanted to use the old IGI feature. Every month I would work 20 hrs on this genealogy project. I would go through each page in the book, which is basically a bunch of family group sheets.

I would find the family in RootsMagic and then check each family member against the IGI. I would then copy any ordinances that were done. Those that were incomplete I would record in my TreePad program, where I tracked my progress. At the end of the month I would simply go through my list of individuals needing work done and prepare the names for Temple Ready. Since all the ordinances are being submitted to the temple it was then an easy matter of dropping a Temple Ready disk off at the temple and I could call it good.

Well, that was until new FamilySearch came into the equation. I live in the Mount Timpanogos temple district and we starting having to submit Family Ordinance Requests (FORs) from new FamilySearch (NFS) since the beginning of June. Since I had checked everyone against the IGI I was pretty confident I wasn't going to create duplication by taking my Temple Ready disk and uploading it into NFS and submitting the names to the temple.

I used my May Temple Ready disk as an experiment in learning how to do just that. What a mess. It appears creating an FOR out of a Temple Ready disk is easy, but not when you want to submit the names for the Temple to do. I wasn't sure what happened but I thought I would just take my Temple Ready disk over to the Provo temple and hand them in and call it good. I know really bad of me but I was lazy.

Several weeks go by and now I find out that the Provo Temple is or will be closed for cleaning and they will be on NFS and FORs when they reopen. Drats, I really blew it. In the mean time I have done another 20 hrs of genealogy for this gentlemen and have more names to submit. What am I suppose to do?

Saturday morning I awoke to a surprise when I opened up RootsMagic IGI feature. The church had put this notice on FamilySearch.org, so it showed up in RM too.

Oh dear, I think I have to change my old ways into new ones now. I love technology and learning new ways to do things. But for some weird reason I was not anxious about changing officially over to new FamilySearch. It was soooo slow, it would change my rhythm. I just didn't know if I could handle this. I had hoped I would have this genealogy project over by the time the change would take effect. One of my concerns was how would I submit these names under this gentlemen's ID and not mine. Last time I asked him for his membership number he told me to just do it under my name. I don't think he wanted to be bothered to go get it since he didn't understand totally why I needed it.

I wanted to get this project over with so I just decided I better import my RootsMagic 3 database into RootsMagic 4. I was not going to play on the new FamilySearch website because it just took to long. I hadn't used RM4 since the pre-release so using the Ordinance submission feature for NFS was new to me. One problem was not being able to sign in under this gentlemen's ID because number one, I don't have it and two, his would be read only access right now if I did. Second problem, RM4 doesn't have a feature to let you sign in as a helper for someone else. (It's in the works, but not available right now.) Ok, so I will just signed in as myself and submit things under my name. I guess it wouldn't be so hard to answer people's questions if they contacted me about this gentlemen's genealogy. I keep copies of everyone's genealogy that I have worked on.

As for any other problems using RM4, that was kind of it. My hurdle was accepting that fact, that I need to use my own ID, since there was no other option. Just grin and bare it. Then I started to do the actual work in RM4. Oh, my gosh it moves so much faster than the NFS website does. You find out so much more about a program when you use it in actual production than you do when your just kinda messing around in beta. The most surprising thing to me was how easy it is to submit the work for the temple to do. Just a few clicks and it's on it's way.

The first thing I am working on is the mess I made with my May submission. Surprisingly my submission to the temple actually worked earlier. I could see that some ordinances where already done and others in progress. I was happily transferring the new ordinance data into RootsMagic. I experimented getting into the NFS feature in RM from different access points. I could access NFS information in the Family View, Pedigree View, Descendant View and through FamilySearch Central.

FamilySearch Central is really cool. The "What's New" section tells me that there is new information on some of the people I synced with NFS. I could see how combining information on one person created more combining opportunities on other individuals.

I discovered after doing some combining that some of the work I had submitted previously was done - like years ago. Oops, I have been creating duplication, and I thought I had been good checking the IGI. Lesson learned and new process going forward. This has been a fascinating and insightful adventure.

I strongly encourage everyone to consider using one of the commercial programs to sync your genealogy database with NFS and submit your temple ordinances that way. I'll have to do my homework but I think RootsMagic is the only one that will currently lets you submit ordinances and create FORs for you. But I'm sure, Ancestral Quest, FamilyInsight and later Legacy will have that feature too.

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

FamilySearch Record Search Update: Louisiana and Idaho Death Indexes Part of Six Million New Records Added

17 June 2009

Six million new records were added to the FamilySearch Record Search pilot this week. The much anticipated Louisiana and Idaho death records are now available. The states of Delaware, District of Columbia, Michigan, Nevada, New Hampshire, and New Mexico were added to the 1920 U.S. Census collection. Digital images of church records were also added for Mexico (Baja California, and Baja California Sur).

These collections can be searched for free at the FamilySearch.org Record Search pilot (click Search Records, and then click Record Search pilot).

Special thanks to the FamilySearch volunteers who help make these collections freely available.

1920 US Census
Indexed Records: 5,477,143
Comments: Added Delaware, District of Columbia, New Mexico, Michigan, Nevada, and New Hampshire) Note: Images will be added at a later date when additional features are available.

Louisiana Deaths 1850–1875; 1894–1954
Indexed Records: 664,511
Comments: Note: Images will be added at a later date when additional features are available.

Idaho Deaths 1911–1937
Indexed Records: 106,484

Mexico, Baja California and Baja California Sur, Church Records 1750–1983
Digital Images: 29,063
Comments: Browsable images only—no index.

Correction to the date of the newFamilySearch class

I received the following correction to the BYU Class on new FamilySearch.
Stake Presidents and Stake Family History Center Directors

I’m sorry. Somehow I entered the month of the class as SEPTEMBER and the month should have been JUNE. So the class on newFamilySearch is on Sunday JUNE 28 at 4:30.

Elder Jenkins

BYU Family History Library Missionary Coordinator
This has been updated in my previous article.

FamilySearch Indexing Update: New User Tools and 4 International Projects Added

16 June 2009

Overview

Significant updates were made recently to the FamilySearch Indexing application and Web site. Batch Sharing seems to be the most popular of the new features. Following are brief descriptions of the updates:

Batch Sharing. This exciting new feature appeals to indexers who enjoy online social networking capability. It allows two volunteers (indexers or arbitrators) to collaborate on a batch. Both indexers can view the same batch, and using the indexers’ preferred instant messaging tool or phone, they can discuss and index the batch together. One indexer will have read-write capability and the other will have read only.

Tip of the Day. A dialog box will greet indexers when they sign in to the indexing application. Best practices and other quick time saving tools will be shared.

Project Selection Dialog Box. This feature (which appears when you click the Download From… button) will have the option to show all projects or only those that match an indexer’s preferences. It will also display the difficulty level of each project.

Fields Marked for Review. Indexers can choose to display either a red wavy line or colored background in fields marked for review. The color and transparency of the background can also be changed.

Image Type. This will now be the first field in every batch. Indexer will select the description of each image (Normal, Blank, or Duplicate) from the list provided.

Header Data Tab. A new tab in the data entry area will enable indexers to enter information that applies to an entire document just once. Not all batches will include this tab. It will open first when a batch is downloaded.

New Icons. The icons used to mark a field or record “unreadable” will have a blue question mark on them instead of a red slash.

Volunteers can register anytime and begin indexing immediately at Indexing.FamilySearch.org.

New Indexing Projects

New indexing projects added this week are:

· Argentina Censo 1869—Santiago y Santa Fe

· Australia, Greenwich—Genealogical Records, 1776–1980

· Australia, NSW—Bounty Immigrants, 1824–1842 (This is a regional project.)

· Pennsylvania—1920 U.S. Federal Census

· U.K., Cheshire Parish Records [Part 2], 1538-1850

(See the chart below for a complete list and current status of all indexing projects).


Recently Completed Projects

(Note: Recently completed projects have been removed from the available online indexing batches and will now go through a final completion check process in preparation for future publication.)

· Argentina Censo 1869—Corrientes y Entre Rios

· Canada, British Columbia Births, 1854–1903

· Illinois, Cook County Birth Certificates, 1916–1922 [Part 1]

· Mississippi—1920 U.S. Federal Census

· Rhode Island—1920 U.S. Federal Census

· UK, Cheshire—Land Tax, 1778–1832

· Vermont—1920 U.S. Federal Census

Current FamilySearch Indexing Projects, Record Language, and Percent Completion

Argentina, Buenos Aires 1855 Census

Spanish

35%

Argentina Censo 1869—Jujuy Salta Tucuman

Spanish

23%

Argentina Censo 1869—Santiago y Santa Fe

Spanish

(New)

Arkansas County Marriages VI, 1837–1957

English

29%

Australia, Greenwich—Genealogical Records, 1776–1980

English

(New)

Austria, Wiener Meldezettel, 1890–1925

German

1%

Belgium, Antwerp Foreigners Index, 1840–1930

Dutch, Flemish

38%

Brandenburg Kirchenbücher, 1789–1875

German

64%*

France Registres Protestants, 1612–1906 [Part 1]

French

54%

France Registres Protestants, 1612–1906 [Part 2]

French

1%

France, Coutances, Paroisses de la Manche, 1792–1906

French

88%

France, Paroisses de Cherbourg, 1802–1907

French

1%

France, Paroisses de Coutances, 1802–1907

French

1%

France, Paroisses de Saint-Lo, 1802–1907

French

2%

Germany, Mecklenburg 1890 Volkszählung, Div 24–38

German

16%

Indiana, Adams County Marriages, 1811–1959

English

18%

Indiana, Allen County Marriages, 1811–1959

English

10%

Indiana, Blackford County Marriages 1811–1959

English

74%

Italy, Trento Baptism Records, 1784–1924

Italian

82%

Jamaica, Trelawny Births, 1878–1930

English

9%

Mexico, Censo de 1930Mexico

Spanish

3%

Mexico, Censo de 1930Tamaulipas

Spanish

89%

Mexico, Censo de 1930Yucatan

Spanish

25%

New York 1905 State Census

English

32%

Nicaragua, Managua Civil Records, 1879–Present

Spanish

52%*

Pennsylvania—1920 U.S. Federal Census

English

(New)

Peru, LimaRegistros Civiles, 1910–1930

Spanish

30%

Russia, St Petersburg Kirchenbuchduplikat, 1833–1885

German

1%

South Carolina—1920 U.S. Federal Census

English

82%

Spain, Avila, Moraleja de Matacabras, 15401904

Spanish

34%

Spain, LugoRegistros Parroquiales [Part 1], 15301930

Spanish

19%

U.K., Cheshire Parish Records [Part 2], 1538-1850

English

(New)

U.K., Warwickshire Parish Registers, 1538–Present

English

2%

Ukraine, Kyiv, 1840–1842

Russian

19%

Venezuela, Mérida Registros Parroquiales. 1654–1992

Spanish

20%

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

Current FamilySearch Partner Projects, Record Language, and Percent Completion

Arkansas Marriages IV, 1837–1957

English

35%

BelgiqueRegistres Des DécèsCharleroi, 1851–1900

French

28%

Belgique—Registres Des Décès—En Français, 17961910

French

22%*

BelgiëOverlijdens RegistersIn het Nederlands, 1796–1910

Dutch, Flemish

88%*

BelgiëOverlijdens RegistersKalmthout, 1851–1900

Dutch, Flemish

63%

BelgiëOverlijdens RegistersMechelen, 1851–1900

Dutch, Flemish

8%

Bremer Schifflisten, 1904–1914

German

56%

Flanders Death Registration, 1796–1900

French, Dutch, Flemish

79%*

Indiana Marriages, 1882 to April 1905

English

91%

Norway 1875 Census [Part 1]

Norwegian

38%

Nova Scotia, Antigonish Church Records, 1823–1905

English

84%

Ohio Tax Records2 of 4, Post 1825

English

77%

Ohio Tax Records3 of 4, Post 1825

English

1%

Vermont Militia Records, 1861–1867

English

43%

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

Current FamilySearch Regional Projects, Record Language, and Percent Completion

(These projects are being indexed by volunteers in specific areas of the world.)




Australia, NSW—Bounty Immigrants, 1824–1842

English

(New)

Australia, Sydney Cemetery Inscriptions, 1800–1960

English

6%

Australia—Victoria Probate Records, 18531989

English

65%

Canada, British Columbia Marriages, 1859–1932

English

7%

Quebec—Trois-Rivières IC, 18001900

French

52%

Entire 1911 Census Now Available Online for the First Time

The following is from FindMyPast.com

*Records for Wales, Channel Islands and Isle of Man and military serving overseas now online

Following the initial release of the Southern English records in January 2009, 1911census.co.uk now hosts the complete 1911 census records for people living in England, Wales, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man. What's more, for the first time in a British census, full details are available of British Army personnel and their families stationed overseas. There were 135,866 people serving in the British Army and 36,804 people serving in the Royal Navy across the British Empire in 1911, including 69,785 serving in India.

The 1911census.co.uk website service has been developed by UK-based family history website findmypast.com, owned by brightsolid, in association with The National Archives. Completed by 36 million householders on Sunday, 2 April 1911, the census records show the name, age, place of birth, marital status and occupation of every resident in every home as well as their relationship to the head of the household and the online records include images of our ancestors' own handwriting. For the first time the enumerators' summary books for the whole of England and Wales have also gone online today, recording details of all properties in the country in 1911 - a great resource for anyone interested in local history or house histories. The 1911 census records have been released three years earlier than the scheduled 2012 date as a result of public demand for the 1911 census, which will be a key resource for family historians.*

Debra Chatfield, Marketing Manager at findmypast.com, says: '"We're delighted that the final records from the 1911 census have been published online including the military records and the records for Wales, the Isle of Man and Channel Islands. We hope people of all ages will gain a huge amount of valuable information about their ancestors by consulting the records and that they'll discover new chapters of their family history that they previously knew very little or nothing about."

Oliver Morley, Director of Customer and Business Development at The National Archives, commented: "It's wonderful to see that so many people are discovering a new passion for family history through the 1911 census. Bringing this project to completion has been one of the most exciting events for us this year, and to know that so many people have been able to access part of their personal history online shows how valuable it can be to make these records available via the web."

Monday, June 15, 2009

Family History Library Sponsors SUMMER of SLEUTHING

Are you looking for a fun activity to keep your children occupied this summer? Would you like to learn more about your family? Do you need a kick start to organize your family records?

“Summer of Sleuthing—Save Our Ancestors” (SOS) is a family summer activities program sponsored by the Family History Library to introduce families to the fun of family history. With a series of weekly challenges, families can participate in activities that will help them learn more about themselves and their ancestors. The program materials are available online at wiki.familysearch.org listed under Activities for Youth.

The challenges can also help youth in accomplishing goals in Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts, Primary Achievement Days, Young Women, and Young Men.

As part of the challenges, family members are encouraged to keep a journal of their experiences and create memories together as a family. We encourage you to share this message with all families, both Church members and those who are not. We hope that this experience will bring families closer together as they gain an appreciation for the lasting treasures to be found in family history work.

Sincerely,

FamilySearch support@familysearch.org

U.S. and Canada: 1-866-406-1830

International: go to http://contact.familysearch.org for more toll-free phone numbers

MyGenShare.com Update

I received the following from Barry Ewell about MyGenShare.com. I had been wondering what was happening with the site. I am personally very excited and anxious to see it go live, and think it will be a fantastic resource.

MyGenShare.com is almost ready for beta testing.

The planned launch of MyGenShare.com was set for May 2009. The launch of the website has been delayed for late summer. I have chosen to delay the launch so that the MyGenShare can team can:

· Take advantage of new technology that will greatly enhance the user experience.

· Expand available content for patron use.

Prior to the launch of MyGenShare, we will conduct beta testing to give the website a thorough review to make sure it is ready to serve the needs of genealogists.

MyGenShare.com is a website where genealogists will find thousands of educational and mentoring resources for the beginner to the most passionate across hundreds of topics. Resources include a rich and growing selection of articles, tutorials, videos, podcasts, and slideshows.

Kindest regards,

Barry J. Ewell

barry.ewell@mygenshare.com


MyGenShare.com is coming soon

Click here for more information: http://www.mygenshare.com

Register to become a beta tester for MyGenShare.com

http://www.questionpro.com/akira/TakeSurvey?id=1175822

AncestralSpace is having a birthday!!

I received the following from AncestralSpace. It's been a while since I dropped in so I appreciated the reminder.

That's right, we are one year old and still growing every day!!! June of 2009 saw my baby come to life. My wish to have a social networking site without all the "drama" of myspace that was just for genealogists came true. Many of you know it came as a result of an interview I was asked to take part in, on my opinion if Myspace helped with genealogy...which of course it hadnt helped me one single bit, other than to identify other genealogists with the same thoughts.

My wish was not so much to be a repository for family trees via gedcom files..there are plenty of other sites that do that...my wish was for a place where genealogist could get together, brainstorm, share information, tips, tricks, news and help each other for FREE. With over 1100 registered users (and growing every day) and 40 discussion groups, hundreds of blogs and thousands of photos, AncestralSpace is carving a place out in the genealogy society that makes me proud. We have been mentioned in a national genealogy magazine, and written about in other genealogy blogs, groups, forums and mailing lists.

I grow prouder of it every day and appreciate all of the members that have gone out of their way to get others to join, sometimes getting slapped on the hand for daring to mention it in certain places. Its members like that, that will make sure we stay around and grow.

Happy Birthday to us!!! And remember, the more people you tell about its, the more people we can help!!!

Here's to another year everyone, and if you havent logged in, in awhile stop by, log into the account you registered and see the new faces and info you've missed!!! http://www.ancestralspace.com

Shannon

Owner AncestralSpace

BYU Class on new FamilySearch

This was just passed onto me from my family history director.

Stake Presidents and Family History Directors,

I am Elder Clark Jenkins and serving as the Missionary Coordinator at the BYU Family History Library. We have over 130 missionaries that are in the process of certifying on newFamilySearch (nFS). I was also a serviced missionary with World Wide Support on nFS, answering members question and problems.

I will be holding a class for consultants who have access to the (nFS) at the BYU Harold B. Lee Library on Sunday June 28 at 4:30 PM in room 2234. To find the room, enter the Library through the Atrium and go down the stairs to the second floor

The class will be like a workshop in that I will expect the consultants to have gone through the e-learning courses available in newFamilySearch. So they need to bring their Sign-in name and password. I will be covering what is not covered in the e-learning training, how to find answers in the Help Center, etc.

Please let me know if you or your ward consultants are coming by email: byufhl.director@byu.edu

Elder Jenkins

BYU FHL Missionary Coordinator

Are you free tomorrow at 2PM?

I know this is short notice but if you happen to be free tomorrow at 2p.m. there is a great class going on at the Orem Public Library. There will be a WorldVitalRecords Tutorial given by Jim Ericson. He will teach you about the site and why it's one of the best online family history resources out there. Space in this tutorial is limited, so call 229-7377 to reserve a place.

Library Internet Training Room
June 16
2 p.m.
Free

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Early Access to new.familysearch.org for Family History Consultants in the Bountiful Utah Temple District

I was forwarded the following from one of my readers in the Bountiful Temple District.

4 June 2009

To: Family History Consultants in the Bountiful Utah Temple District

During the past two years, the Church has been introducing a new process for preparing ancestral names for the temple, which includes the new.familysearch.org Web site. After making some changes to the system to support the large number of expected new users, we have begun introducing the new process in Utah and Idaho.

Please accept a special invitation to begin using the new.familysearch.org Web site before it becomes available to the members in your ward and stake. As a family history consultant, you are a member’s primary source of individual family history instruction and help. In this role, you will be a key contact for members who may have questions about this new process to prepare ancestral names for temple ordinances. We will notify priesthood leaders in your stake at a later date with specific information about the release of new.familysearch.org to the members.

We have prepared some new online training courses for you that are designed to help you prepare to help the members of your ward and stake. The information for accessing these courses may be found on the Utah and Idaho release section of consultant.familysearch.org. This release section will be a valuable resource to you throughout your preparations to help members. You will be able to see up-to-the-minute information on preparation resources, helpful tips for using the new.familysearch.org, and regular updates in the progress of the release to stakes in Utah and Idaho.

We encourage you to visit consultant.familysearch.org, and click on the Click Here to go to the Utah and Idaho Instructions button. Then follow the simple instructions to prepare for the release of the new process in your stake. Go back often for updates.

Please encourage any consultants in your ward and stake who have not already done so to go to consultant.familysearch.org, click on the Click Here to Register button, and complete the registration form as instructed so that they too may have early access to new.familysearch.org and begin preparing to help the members in their ward.

If you have questions or problems with this process, please contact FamilySearch.

Sincerely,

FamilySearch

support@familysearch.org

Toll-free: 1-866-406-1830