FamilySearch Recognizes Volunteers at FGS

The Federation of Genealogical Societies (FGS) held its annual conference earlier this month in Springfield, Illinois, and FamilySearch was in on the action. As part of its participation, FamilySearch hosted an event to celebrate the contributions of more than 150,000 active volunteers who participate in FamilySearch efforts, such as the wiki, forums, indexing, and staffing family history centers around the world. The celebration included an announcement related to progress on the American Civil War project as well as recognition of the winners of the Great Illinois Genealogy Scavenger Hunt, which was a joint effort of the Illinois State Genealogical Society and FamilySearch.

Hundreds of people attended the celebration event, including several community members who have made significant contributions to FamilySearch. Thomas MacEnteeof the Illinois State Genealogical Society presented the results of the scavenger hunt contest that he had helped coordinate. He highlighted the efforts of two wiki contributors in particular: Darcie Hind Posz was recognized for providing the most valuable wiki contribution, which was an article about Chicago city and social directories. Angie Kelly was recognized for making the most interesting contribution to the Illinois wiki articles, which was a collection of links to “Tillie's Tales,” journal entries of Angie’s grandmother from the 1930s.

FamilySearch appreciates the vibrant community of volunteers that participate in activities to support family history and provide free and accessible information to those who are searching for their ancestors. You can become a FamilySearch Research Wikicontributor too! Visit our wiki contributor help page today to learn how.

Share Your TechTips!

Do you have a great idea on how to use technology to help with genealogy? If so, we need you! The FamilySearch TechTips team is looking for new authors to write articles about technology and genealogy. You don’t need to be a technology expert to contribute. Here’s what we’re looking for:

Step-by-step technical how-to guides that lead readers to accomplish tasks on their own. Articles that explain practical applications of technology that can help with a particular aspect of family history.
Product evaluation standards. While we don’t accept specific product reviews, we do like to discuss how to evaluate products for purchase or use and how product features apply to family history.
Personal viewpoints on technology and family history topics.
Tech news.

Visit our TechTips contributor page to learn more about becoming a TechTips author.

Research Help Forums Now Available in Spanish

Did you know that the Research Help forums are alsoavailable in Spanish? There is a separate forums page available for Spanish speakers, and more languages will be available in the future. Visit the Spanish forums site today and share it with others. Stay tuned for more language sites to become available!

What Do YOU Want to Know?

Do you have something you would like to see highlighted in our next newsletter? Let us know your ideas for upcoming newsletter articles, or tell us what you would like to learn more about. E-mail us at helpcommunity@familysearch.org with your suggestions.