Mark Your Calendars - UVTAGG 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 Apr 2013, 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 at http://blog.uvtagg.org .

The main presentation this month will be by James L. Tanner on ARE YOU READY NOW THAT FAMILYSEARCH FAMILY TREE IS LIVE?  FamilySearch Family Tree is taking the place of "new FamilySearch" and is now available to everyone, whether LDS or not.  The data comes from new FamilySearch, but in Family Tree it is easier to edit, add sources, and remove.  It also requires that you cite reasons for what you are claiming and has ways of entering links to webpages that substantiate your data.  You can also add photos and stories so it becomes more than just a collection of names, dates, and places.  Someone at RootsTech 2013 last week said, "Genealogy changes charts; family history changes hearts.", and James Tanner will discuss these features with us.  

He is a retired attorney living in Mesa, Arizona, and is the author of Genealogy's Star blog at http://genealogysstar.blogspot.com/ , an early and important family history blog and one of the official blogs for all three of the RootsTech conferences.  He has been actively involved in genealogy for many years, is on the support staff of the FamilySearch Research Wiki, and is moderator for Arizona and Utah.  He is also the author of The Guide To FamilySearch Online, published in hard copy and pdf and available from http://www.familyrootspublishing.com/store/product_view.php?id=1593 .  His blog has a good collection of articles about current items in family history and helps keep us up to date on what's happening.  He has over 30 years experience in law and computers and over 20 years doing genealogy research.  He presently serves as a volunteer at the Mesa Family History Center where he helps patrons and teaches classes.  We are pleased to have him talk to our group while he is in Utah.  After his main presentation he will also teach a class during the class period.

After the main presentation the following classes are presently scheduled.  Check the meetings page at  http://uvtagg.org/  for last minute changes or additions to the class offerings.  

1. Effectively Using the Cloud: Dropbox, Evernote, Skype, etc., by James L. Tanner
2. Tips and Tricks for Searching Historical Records on FamilySearch, by Sue Maxwell
3. Ask an Expert (Personal Help), by Don Engstrom and Finn Hansen
4. MAC:  Using iPhoto and Google Maps for Genealogy, by Ron Snowden
5. Video of last month's main presentation: Solving Difficult Family History Problems, by David Ouimette
6. Ancestral Quest, by Merlin Kitchen
7. Legacy: Putting Your Genealogy File in Focus For Great Results, by Jim Kendall
8. RootsMagic, by Bruce Buzbee

All meetings of UVTAGG are open to the public whether members of the Group or not. The Group has the goal of helping individuals use technology to further their family history and there are usually about 100 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; Renee Zamora, Secretary; Kay Baker, Don Engstrom, and Rayanne Melick working with membership and finances, 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 TAGGology, and check out and sell DVDs of past presentations and classes to members of the group.   Many members don't live close enough to participate in the monthly meetings, but belong so they can receive the monthly newsletter and purchase DVD's of the presentations and classes.  And gift memberships are wonderful presents for your family history minded relatives and friends.  Information about the Group, presentations, classes, and class notes can be found at the websites mentioned above.  For further information contact President Gerhard Ruf at pres@uvtagg.org (801-225-6106), or 1st VP Laurie Castillo at laurie@everythingisrelative.net, or 2nd VP Don Snow at snowd@math.byu.edu.