FamilySearch Family History Consultant Update

The following is from FamilySearch.

Family History Consultants Training Support

Consultants are skilled teachers who work and communicate well with others. While consultants need not be experts in family history research, they are comfortable using and helping others use the resources at familysearch.org andnew.familysearch.org. Over the next few months we will survey family history consultants and members of ward and stake councils to gather information about successful consultants, how they have overcome frustrations and how they have built relationships with ward and branch leaders.

If you are currently serving as a 
Family History Consultant

We encourage you to complete the survey that we will be sending out shortly. Watch your inboxes very soon!

Free Online Collections Reach 600

The latest additions to FamilySearch's free online collection of historic record collections have pushed the total to 600! There are new international records from Argentine, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, El Salvador, France, Honduras, Italy, Jamaica, Mexico, Peru, Poland, Spain, Switzerland, U.S. and Wales. The updates to the U.S. collections include - California, District of Columbia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky,  Louisiana, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Mississippi, New York, Pennsylvania, Texas, Washington State, Wisconsin and the Virgin Islands. More digital images poured out of the FamilySearch pipeline - over 2 million, in fact.Collections

Historic Records Indexing Volunteers Going Strong: 23 New Projects; 5 New Partners

Indexing volunteers continue to set new milestones, indexing 1.5 million historic records a day on average now. Volunteers wrapped up 16 projects in March and have indexed over 500 million records since 2005!
We are also very excited to announce that our list ofFamilySearch indexing partnersis growing. Indexing partners are invaluable. They bring additional zeal and expertise to the indexing projects they sponsor. The partners' members and FamilySearch patrons will benefit from high quality, highly searchable, and desirable online indexes as a result of their participation. Our latest partners and their currently sponsored projects are:

• California State Genealogical Alliance—U.S., California, 1852 State Census
• Guild of One-Name Studies—U.K., Yorkshire, Parish Registers, 1845–1930
• JewishGen Hungarian—Hungary Jewish Vital Registers and Records
• Texas State Genealogical Society—U.S., Texas, County Tax Rolls 1837–1920 [Part A]
• Western Pennsylvania Genealogical Society—U.S., Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh—City Deaths, 1870–1905

140 Free Online Genealogy Research Courses

The number of free online FamilySearch courses has grown to over 140, with new courses being added monthly. Most recently, over 25 courses were added for Australia, England, Germany, and the U.S. Additional courses have been added that focus on basic tools and techniques for anyone just getting started in family history research, as well as courses for intermediate and advanced researchers.

"The goal of the initiative is to educate more people worldwide about how to find their ancestors. We do it by filming the experts teaching a particular class of interest and then offering free access to that presentation online—complete with the PowerPoint (presentations) used and any electronic handouts that the user can download or print for future reference," said Candace Turpin, FamilySearch instructional designer.

NGS 2011 Collections (Rolled out Specifically for the 2011 NGS National Conference in Charleston, South Carolina)

New Digital Image Browseable Collections:

1. Without Index:
   • South Carolina Probate Records
   • South Carolina Estate Records
   • United States, Registers of Enlistment in the US Army, 1798-1914 (see New FSI Projects below)
   • United States, 1890 Census of Union Veterans and Widows
2. With Index:

          United States, Naval Enlistment Rendezvous, 1855-1891

 Existing index now new to FamilySearch:

          United States, Civil War Soldiers Index (also on US Park Service site)

New FSI project to be launched for NGS:

          United States, Registers of Enlistment in the US Army, 1798-1914: Civil War years to be indexed first

Civil War Buffs and Volunteers Enlist in Campaign to Publish Millions of Civil War Era Records

As the United States marks the 150th anniversary of the Civil War, people who had ancestors involved in the conflict can access millions of historical records recently published on the familysearch.org website. And millions more records are coming, as Civil War volunteers enlist in an epoch online campaign over the next five years to provide access to the highly desirable historic documents.

FamilySearch announced the release of hundreds of millions of online records. The collections include service records for both the Confederate and Union armies, pension records, and more. Some of these records have been available for some time, but they are now being added tofamilysearch.org/civilwar as part of this project.

Many of the records are specific to the war itself, such as enlistment or pension records. These documents can provide key family data, including age, place of birth, or the name of a spouse. Other collections, such as census records, tell the story of ordinary civilians who lived during that turbulent time. Even a local or state death recorded far away from the battlefront by a family member back home may contain death information for a soldier.

Newspaper Archive Now Available Through Family History Centers

An additional site, "Access Newspaper Archive", has been added to theother subscription fee-based Premium Family History Websites offered for free at Family History Centers. Here is a description of the site:

NewspaperARCHIVE.com is the world's largest online newspaper archive. Featuring billions of articles from historical newspapers around the U.S. and the world, NewspaperARCHIVE makes exploring history and genealogy easy and fun. Discover fascinating news in archived newspapers hundreds of years old—including obituaries, birth announcements, sports articles, comics, and more—to fill in the life stories you are interested in. And share those stories with others through our community at OurNewspaperARCHIVE. All of our historical newspapers are full-page and fully searchable - try exploring above and discover your history today!

Online Resources

Stay up to date and access the latest resources whenever you need them by visiting FamilySearch.org/serve.