The following is from FamilySearch.

FamilySearch User Newsletter First Quarter 2012 In This Issue: FamilySearch at a Glance: FamilySearch Welcomes New CEO What's Hot: The 1940 Census 5 minute Genealogy: Find a Record in 5 Minutes Tech Tips: Digitizing Techniques for Old Documents and Books VIP Tips and Tricks Fresh From the Vault Site Scoop: What's New Spotlight Focus: FamilySearch Employee Todd Knowles Honored Success Stories: The Civil War Comes Alive FamilySearch at a Glance: FamilySearch Welcomes New CEO FamilySearch International is pleased to announce that Dennis C. Brimhall has taken over as chief executive officer, succeeding Jay L. Verkler. FamilySearch thanks Jay for his years of devotion to the department, and gives a warm welcome to Dennis!   Learn more about Dennis and read an interesting question and answer session about his thoughts on family history and his new role.       What’s Hot: The 1940 Census On Monday, April 2, 2012, the 1940 U. S. Federal Census records were released to the public! Get the latest status on image availability by state.       5 Minute Genealogy: Find a Record in 5 Minutes The 5 Minute Genealogy series is an on-going set of videos that covers a wide variety of topics in a simple and easy-to-follow format. They are available free of charge to the public through the FamilySearch website. View this video by clicking here!   Tech Tips: Digitizing Techniques for Old Documents and Books Whenever we talk about old books or old documents, it is a good idea to focus on the difference between old and valuable. Everyone has a different perception of what is an old book or document. Just because a book is “old” does not mean that it has any value. All you have to do is go to a local used book sale and see what “old” books sometimes sell for. Old documents are in the same category; age does not confer any particular value to a document. The real issue is scarcity and desirability. Both of these issues can be highly personal. For example, you might have a family history book written in the 1800s. I may attach a great value to the book because it is your family. To someone who is not related, the book may have no interest or value at all. The key here is to not confuse old with rare or limited edition books. Books that fall into the collectable category are always going to have a higher market value than books that are old but common and not viewed as collectable See the entire article here. VIP Tips and Tricks There is a powerful training video by Diane Loosle showing 5 excellent search strategies for finding names in FamilySearch. It's called "FamilySearch Tips." To see the video, click here.   Fresh From the Vault New collections are added each week to FamilySearch. Collections that are marked with a camera indicate collections for which digitized images are available. Collections marked with the term “Browse Images” refer to the fact that the collection has not been indexed yet but is available for browsing. These collections have helps added to assist you in narrowing your search down to specific times, places, and record types. Click here to see the new collections. When you get to this page, click on the Last Updated link above the collection dates. Site Scoop There are two new exciting features that have launched at familsearch.org. First is the migration of the IGI (international Genealogical Index) to familysearch. Read more about IGI here. Second, is the addition of a new feature called My Source Box. Learn more about My Source Box. Spotlight Focus: FamilySearch Employee Todd Knowles Honored Todd Knowles, a British reference consultant and Jewish genealogy specialist who works in the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, was recently added to the Jewish Genealogical Society of Great Britain's Roll of Honour at the group's annual meeting in London. Knowles was recognized for his distinguished service in the development and publication of resources relating to the Jews of the British Isles. His free online database (search theKnowles Collection) contains linked and sourced entries for more than 100,000 Jews from the British Isles and over 100,000 Jews from other parts of the world. The online collection provides invaluable information for those researching their Jewish ancestors. See the full article. Success Stories: The Civil War Comes Alive A touching story about how a young boy discovers his great great grandfather who served in the Civil War. Read it here.