Mark Your Calendar - UVTAGG (formerly UVPAFUG) Monthly Meeting!

UTAH VALLEY TECHNOLOGY AND GENEALOGY GROUP MEETING (UVTAGG)


The next regular, second-Saturday-of-the-month meeting of the Utah Valley Technology and Genealogy Group - UVTAGG (Formerly the Utah Valley PAF Users Group - UVPAFUG) will be on Saturday, 13 Aug 2011, from 9 am to noon in the LDS "Red Chapel", 4050 North Timpview Drive (650 East), Provo. Information about the Group, main presentations, classes, and class notes are available on their website http://uvtagg.org and the press releases are athttp://blog.uvpafug.org/ . With the organization's name change the latter URL will also be changed eventually.

The main presentation for this meeting will be by Laurie Werner Castillo on NEW FAMILYSEARCH IN THE TRENCHES - BEST PRACTICES. There are many day-to-day issues facing genealogists today, including new FamilySearch. This presentation is designed to help with practical information that will clarify the best approach to dealing with things like: Do I need to keep a personal database? What contact information should I post? What do I need to know about Family Ordinance Requests (FORs) and Ordinance Cards? How can I correct information on an Ordinance Card? How can I get help with Temple Ordinances? Where can I get the latest information on how NFS works? Where can I find out about software that is compatible with NFS? 


A mother and grandmother first, Laurie works as a professional researcher, speaker and free-lance writer. Currently serving at the BYU Family History Center, she has been a consultant and teacher there for 20 years. She also served 8 years as a trainer of consultants at BYU and 7 years as an LDS Family History Missionary Trainer for those called to staff Family History Centers around the World. Other Family History service opportunities included three years as Stake Family Records Extraction Coordinator and 20 years as Ward Family History Consultant. She has spent 18+ years as a Family File volunteer, first at the Provo and then at the Mount Timpanogos Temples. Laurie is Past President of the Utah Valley Chapter of the Utah Genealogical Association and former vice-president and member of the Board of Directors of UGA. She currently serves with the Utah Valley Technology and Genealogy Group where she is First Vice President and teaches and writes about family history research on the Internet. Her research specialties include: German, Swedish, Dutch, early LDS, and the U.S. regions of New England, Mid-West and the Western Frontier. She loves to teach people how to maximize their research time and effort by using all the Internet has to offer.

Following the main presentation there will be several classes about family history and technology with something for everyone at any level of expertise. The teachers and classes presently scheduled for this meeting are as follows:

1. Getting the Most From Ancestry.com, by Lisa Arnold
2. Where's Your GPS (Genealogy Proof Statement) - Navigating the Research Process, by Bret Petersen
3. Personalized Help, by Don Engstrom & Finn Hansen
4. Q&A on NFS Best Practices, by Laurie Castillo
5. Video of last month's main presentation on FamilySearch Products and Features, by David E. Rencher
6. Family Insight, by Andrea Schnakenburg
7. Ancestral Quest, by Gaylon Findlay
8. Legacy 7.5, by Dean Bennett
9. RootsMagic 4, by Bruce Buzbee

All meetings of the 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; Laurie Castillo, 1st VP; Don Snow, 2nd VP; Liz Kennington, Newsletter Editor; Kay Baker, Gerry Eliason, and Don Engstrom working with finances and membership; and Bruce Merrill and Marie Andersen, working with the DVD Library. Several of these will be there to answer questions, help with membership, distribute the current issue of the monthly newsletter, and check out DVDs of past presentations and classes to members of the group. Information about the Group, presentations, classes, and class notes can be found at the websites mentioned above. For further information contact President Gerhard Ruf atpres@uvtagg.org (801-225-6106) or 1st VP Laurie Castillo at laurie@everythingisrelative.net, or 2nd VP Don Snow atsnowd@math.byu.edu.