Friday, June 27, 2014

Consultant Webinar: Engaging Members with Free Partner Access

The following is from FamilySearch. Please keep in mind that only LDS Family History Consultants are gaining access at this time. If you are not a Family History Consultant please don't overwhelm FamilySearch with your request for early access.  Access is slowly being rolled out. LDS Members will have a separate roll-out..

Consultant-Webinar-Hero-Image.jpg
Exciting things are happening! Soon LDS members will have free access to other great genealogical websites: Ancestry.comfindmypast.com, and MyHeritage.com. A recent consultant webinar discussed these new partnerships. Watch the recording to learn:
  • How to access these sites now
  • The advantages of each site
  • Why the sites can be exciting to LDS members
  • How access to these sites will be rolled out to members
You can download the presentation slides for your own use. You can also download the handout.
Try it yourself and then help someone else!

WatchNowBtn

2014 Family History and Genealogy Conference

I'm excited to be an official blogger for the BYU 2014 Family History and Genealogy Conference. I hope to see you there!

2014 Family History and Genealogy Conference

July 29-August 1, 2014 ::: BYU Conference Center, Provo Utah




Free Youth Classes


Free Consultant Training


Registration is Now Open

The 46th annual BYU Conference on Family History and Genealogy will offer more than 100 classes, allowing participants to gain new skills and helpful information.
Class topics include:
  • Youth and Genealogy
  • LDS Family History Callings
  • FamilySearch Family Tree
  • DNA Research
  • Google Genealogy
  • ICAPGen
  • U.S. Research
  • Methodology
  • International Research
  • Scandinavian Research

The conference will be in the BYU Conference Center (770 East University Parkway, Provo, Utah).
genealogy fan chart
For a free black and white copy of your family’s genealogy fan chart, please visit (genealogywallcharts.com). Family ChartMasters is also offering a free fill-in the blank chart to BYU Family History Conference Participants (familychartmasters.com). Order these charts online by clicking on the name of the company. Your free chart is available for pick up at the Family History and Genealogy Conference.

Help us Improve RootsMagic

The following is from RootsMagic.

Help Us Improve RootsMagic

Let Your Voice be Heard

We want to hear from you on how we can improve RootsMagic to better serve your family history wants and needs. To this end, we have set up a short survey.

And to show our appreciation for your time, we are giving away five $50 Amazon.com gift certificates to randomly-selected survey respondents.

The survey will be available until Tuesday, July 15, 2014. But don’t wait, take the survey today!

Give Feedback

About RootsMagic

For over 20 years, RootsMagic, Inc. has been creating computer software with a special purpose- to unite families. One of our earliest products- the popular “Family Origins” software, introduced thousands of people to the joy and excitement of family history.

That tradition continues today with “RootsMagic”, our award-winning genealogy software which makes researching, organizing, and sharing your family history fun and easy.

Mocavo Acquired By Findmypast: A New Chapter Begins

The following is from Mocavo.


Today is an exciting day for genealogists everywhere as we're announcing that Mocavo has been acquired by Findmypast/DC Thomson Family History. This is a groundbreaking development for the industry and a major turning point in Mocavo's quest to bring all the world's historical information online for free. The wonderful folks at DC Thomson Family History share our vision of the future of family history, and we couldn't be more excited to join them.

For the past few years, the Mocavo team and I have dedicated ourselves to bringing innovation and competition to an industry that is sorely lacking in both. From the very beginning of Mocavo's history, we had this burning desire to figure out how to organize all of the historical information disparately spread across the Web. Not long ago, even with a hard-working and incredibly talented team, our service wasn't resonating with users and our business wasn't working. In October of last year, we decided to do something audacious and bold – something never before tried in the industry. We launched our Free Forever revolution and this became the day when Mocavo’s soul was born. Everything turned around once we put a stake in the ground and stood for free genealogy (and now Mocavo is growing rapidly, putting more than 1,000 free databases online every single day and more users discovering us than ever). We have our loyal and supportive users to thank more than anyone!

One of the immediate benefits of the acquisition is that we’re putting the complete US Census index online for free (forever!), making us the first commercial provider in history to ever do this.Search the United States Federal Census Now.

The next few months are going to be incredibly exciting as we bring together two companies with enormous resources, content, and technology to bring you more of what you love. I’ll also note that nothing on either site will be going away – just getting better (and quickly!).

Lastly, we could not have done this without the support of our loyal community members. We appreciate your dedication and patience, and we look forward to helping you discover even more of your family’s story.

Best regards,
Cliff Shaw, Founder

Just in case you were wondering...
Is Mocavo’s Free Forever movement going away?

Not remotely. It’s only getting better. As part of our commitment, we’re now putting the US Census index online for free. No commercial provider has ever done that in the history of this industry, and we’re just getting started.

What will change about Mocavo?
Mocavo and Findmypast will only get better as we merge an enormous amount of technology with vast amounts of content (and great people on both teams).

Heritage Collector Webinar - Create a Family History Geography

The following is from Heritage Collector.

Create a Family History Geography
 With Heritage Collector
Webinar

Tuesday, July 1st.
7:00 PM MDT

Click here to sign up for the FREE Webinar
Have Fun Making Storybook Pages
Come and learn how to create a personalized map to show and tell your children and grandchildren about the geographic history of their heritage - anywhere in the world!

Family Reunion Idea At the next reunion give everyone a personalized map you have created. Take them on a guided tour. Children and adults will learn and love this activity.  We did this tour with our family last weekend. We had over 50 people (children and adults) go with us on the car tour. They all loved it!

WEBINAR
Tuesday, July 1st.

7:00 PM MDT

Best Wishes
Marlo E. Schuldt
President
LifeStory Productions, Inc.

One Billion Images of Ancestral Historic Records Rebirthed Online

The following is from FamilySearch.

One Billion Images of Ancestral 
Historic Records Rebirthed Online

Milestone is result of new digital preservation and publishing technology

SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH—FamilySearch International (FamilySearch.org) announced today the online publication of its one billionth image of historic records at FamilySearch.org, a feat that took just 7 years to accomplish. If you don’t have the time or means to travel where your ancestors walked, perhaps you can begin unveiling their fascinating lives through the tidal waves of new online historic records that can recount the stories of their lives. The billionth image was published in FamilySearch.org’s growing Peru civil registration collections.

Puno Peru Death Certificate 1“Although a few social sites like Flickr and Facebook can boast over a billion photos contributed by users, there is no site like FamilySearch.org that has published over 1 billion images of historic records online,” remarked Rod DeGiulio, director, FamilySearch Records Division. “And a single digital image can have several historic records on it—which means there are actually billions of records in our browse image collections online for people to discover and volunteers to index.”

Hidden in the growing collections of digital images are billions of census, immigration, military, birth, marriage, death, church, and court records that are priceless for family historians seeking to connect the family tree dots to their elusive ancestors. And the images come from national, state, municipal, and religious archives all over the world.

FamilySearch started preserving and providing access to the world’s historical records for genealogy purposes in 1938 using microfilm and distributing copies of the film through its global network of 4,600 local FamilySearch centers. In 2007, it made the shift to digital preservation and access technology and began publishing its massive historic records collections online.

It took 58 years to publish the first two billion images of historic records on microfilm—which was limited to patrons of its local FamilySearch centers and affiliate public libraries. In the past 7 years, it has been able to publish one billion images at FamilySearch.org, which expands access to anyone, anywhere, with Internet access. DeGiulio projects the next billion images should take about 3 to 5 years to publish.

70% of the online images currently come from FamilySearch’s initiative to digitally convert its huge microfilm collection for online access. 25% comes from new camera operations—275 camera teams digitally imaging new historic records in 45 countries that have never seen the light of day or the Internet. And 5% come from agreements with partnering organizations.
Currently, FamilySearch publishes about 200 million images of historic records online each year (averaging about 500,000 per day) making the vast majority of them accessible for the first time to more people from anywhere in the world.

FHD120710_NewIt also means more historic records are being preserved and protected against future damage and loss, and the speed at which they are being made available online for research is rapidly increasing. For example, it took 18 months on average for FamilySearch to make a historic document available to the public using microfilm. With the new digital technology, a camera team digitally captures the image from its current resting place in some archive somewhere in the world today, and in just 2 to 4 weeks, it can be accessible online for the first time. It’s a new dawn for historic records preservation and access.

“These historic records are now literally going from the archive to your living room in brilliant, high definition images, just like that. The world’s archives are coming to you online,” added DeGiulio.

FamilySearch’s ultimate goal is to make the information from the billions of historic records in the digital images more easily searchable online for family history purposes. That will happen as FamilySearch’s growing base of online volunteers pore through each document searching for names and other relevant information. They have already indexed 3.2 billion records in this manner at FamilySearch.org. The most popular FamilySearch.org record collections today indexed by volunteers are the U.S. Censuses, immigration, and birth, marriage, and death records.

FamilySearch has worked with more than 10,000 archives in over 100 countries. Patrons will be impressed at the large diversity of records available online, like the Swedish church records and Peruvian civil registration.

“We are very pleased with the excellent cooperation we have enjoyed for many years between FamilySearch and the National Archives to microfilm and scan the Swedish church records. The simplicity of finding and reading about one’s ancestors on the web in the millions of scanned records will attract many beginners of all ages,” said Tomas Lidman, former Director, National Archives of Sweden (SVAR).
“The National Archive of Peru is very happy with the cooperative relationship we maintain with FamilySearch. It is already bearing beneficial fruits to the people of Peru,” Added Dr. Lizardo Pasquel Cobos, former Director, National Archive of Peru.

What to Do
Visit FamilySearch.org, register for a free account, and use the Search feature to explore indexed records and the “Browse All Collections” feature to search digital images of historic records for your ancestors. If you want, attach your discoveries to their respective ancestors in your free FamilySearch Family Tree online.

About FamilySearch

FamilySearch International is the largest genealogy organization in the world. FamilySearch is a nonprofit, volunteer-driven organization sponsored by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Millions of people use FamilySearch records, resources, and services to learn more about their family history. To help in this great pursuit, FamilySearch and its predecessors have been actively gathering, preserving, and sharing genealogical records worldwide for over 100 years. Patrons may access FamilySearch services and resources free online at FamilySearch.org or through over 4,600 family history centers in 132 countries, including the main Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Gospel App and Game Contest 2014

The following is from LDSTech. I'm sure someone could make a game with a genealogy theme.

Create Something Worthy - with Games



We’ve all seen people locked into games on their mobile devices. Even the littlest children can find games that will entertain them, even fascinate them for hours. Have you ever wished that there were games that could uplift, even inspire? Where are the games that can connect people to the gospel?

Somewhere there is an app developer who can create something a little better, something a little more Christ-centered, something worthy. Maybe it’s you!
The Gospel Game & App Contest, sponsored by the Church’s IT department in conjunction with this fall’s LDSTech Conference, encourages developers to “create something worthy”.
Wouldn’t you love to see a marketplace filled with engaging, uplifting, creative games and apps? Enter the contest and have fun! Many starter ideas are on the Contest wiki page. Add more ideas. Get some development and creative people together to make your own app. See tech.lds.org for more information.
Just think about the potential: you can help boys and girls build a Nephite city, help them recognize the apostles, or learn the scriptures! The possibilities are endless – maybe even eternal.

FamilySearch New Collections Update 19 June 2014

The following is from FamilySearch.

FamilySearch Adds More Than 4.9 Million Indexed Records and Images to Belgium, Canada, Colombia, Costa Rica, United States, and Venezuela

FamilySearch has added more than 4.9 million indexed records and images to collections from Belgium, Canada, Colombia, Costa Rica, Mexico, Portugal, Switzerland, United States, and Venezuela. Notable collection updates include the 2,596,134 indexed records from the Costa Rica, Civil Registration, 1860–1975, collection; the 638,381 images from the Portugal, Viana do Castelo, Miscellaneous Records, 1636–1962, collection; and the 403,057 indexed records from Venezuela, Catholic Church Records, 1577–1995, collection . See the table below for the full list of updates. Search these diverse collections and more than 3.5 billion other records for free atFamilySearch.org.

Searchable historic records are made available 
on FamilySearch.org through the help of thousands of volunteers from around the world. These volunteers transcribe (index) information from digital copies of handwritten records to make them easily searchable online. More volunteers are needed (particularly those who can read foreign languages) to keep pace with the large number of digital images being published online at FamilySearch.org. Learn more about volunteering to help provide free access to the worldís historic genealogical records online at FamilySearch.org .

FamilySearch is the largest genealogy organization in the world. FamilySearch is a nonprofit, volunteer-driven organization sponsored by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Millions of people use FamilySearch records, resources, and services to learn more about their family history. To help in this great pursuit, FamilySearch and its predecessors have been actively gathering, preserving, and sharing genealogical records worldwide for over 100 years. Patrons may access FamilySearch services and resources for free at FamilySearch.org or through more than 4,600 family history centers in 132 countries, including the main Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Collection
Indexed Records
Digital Images
Comments
0
56,613
Added images to an existing collection.
334,375
0
Added indexed records to an existing collection.
0
167,753
Added images to an existing collection.
2,596,134
0
Added indexed records to an existing collection.
10,922
0
Added indexed records to an existing collection.
0
472,737
Added images to an existing collection.
0
638,381
Added images to an existing collection.
272,894
0
Added indexed records to an existing collection.
13,423
0
Added indexed records to an existing collection.
27,071
0
Added indexed records to an existing collection.
403,057
0
Added indexed records to an existing collection.

Genealone - A Genealogy Website Builder

The following is from Genealone (Genealogy Website Builder).


I am pleased to announce that Genealone version 1.2 with many new features has been released.

Main new features:
- Mapping: Maps can be displayed in Person and Place sections.
- Custom web pages: You can write custom text pages like biographies
  and link them to persons or the front page.
- Merging persons: You can now find and merge duplicate persons.
- Merging and editing places: You can edit a place, let the program
  find its longitude and latitude for mapping or you can merge duplicate
  places.
- Main menu configuration tool: You can remove or add links to
  sections or custom web pages from or to main menu.

Customers who purchased Genealone Expert can download the updated version for free here: http://genealone.com/update/
Customers who purchased Genealone Pro or Genealone Basic (Genealone is hosted on our own server) don't have to do anything. Their installations have been updated automatically.

Kind regards,
--
David Nebesky
Genealone
http://www.genealone.com

Friday, June 13, 2014

Mark Your Calendar - UVTAGG Meeting!

Please note that the Utah Valley Marathon will be running South on University Avenue on the morning of our meeting this Saturday, June 14th. The marathon runs through Provo Canyon to downtown Provo.  For those living West of University Avenue will find it very difficult to cross University to the Edgemont area where we meet. There will be a few spaces to allow cars to cross over University but you may have to wait a few minutes for them to come..  Please allow extra time to get to our meeting by 9:00 am. An alternative is to go up 9th East from 300 south in Provo.

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, 14 Jun 2014, from 9 am to noon in the LDS "Red Chapel", 4050 North Timpview Drive (650 East), Provo.  Information about the Group, meeting location,  main presentations, classes, and class notes are available on their website  http://uvtagg.org  and the press releases are at  http://blog.uvtagg.org .  On the blog you can subscribe to receive the press releases via email when they are posted a week before the meeting.

The main presentation this month at UVTAGG is by Beth Taylor on ARE YOU YOUR OWN BRICK WALL?  COMMON GENEALOGY MISTAKES AND HOW TO OVERCOME THEM.  Many genealogists get so focused on their own research line, their own family, or their own family traditions that they often ignore or sidestep essential research clues and resources that may help break down their brick walls.  This presentation will discuss common mistakes made by genealogists of all skill levels and ways to overcome them.  These have been collected by research consultants working for FamilySearch.  Beth Taylor, CG, works as a US/Canada research consultant for FamilySearch.  She is a Board-certified genealogist (CG), holds a BA of History from Brigham Young University (2005), and is currently pursuing an AG (Accredited Genealogist) in the Midwest from ICAPGen.  For more information see https://www.familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/User:TaylorBE.

The morning of 14 Jun 2014 is the marathon and other races down University Avenue in Provo, so allow more time to get across it, or else go down to 3rd South in Provo to get around.

After the main presentation the following classes are scheduled; check the meetings page at  http://uvtagg.org/  for last minute changes or additions.   
  1. The Tired, the Poor, and the Huddled Masses: US Immigration 1820-1954, by Beth Taylor
  2. German Research: Online Resources, by Laurie Castillo
  3. Online Helps for Family History and Consultants, by Don Snow and Linda Westover
  4. Ask An Expert (Personal Help), by Don Engstrom & Finn Hansen
  5. Video of last month's main presentation by Sue Maxwell, Ancestry.com: Ready, Set, Go - Here's What You Need To Know
  6. Ancestral Quest, by Gaylon Findlay
  7. Legacy, by Dean Bennett
  8. RootsMagic, by Bruce Buzbee  
There will be no Mac class this time, though several of the above classes are "Mac-compatible".

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, most of whom are Family History Consultants. The officers are Gerhard Ruf, President; Laurie Castillo, 1st VP; Don Snow, 2nd VP; Renee Zamora, Secretary; Liz Kennington, Newsletter Editor; Don Engstrom and Rayanne Melick working with membership and finances; Bruce Merrill and Marie Andersen working with the DVD Library; and Chris Stevenson as the Webmaster.  Several of these will be at the meeting 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 by paying the $10 per year dues to receive the monthly newsletter via email and purchase DVDs of the presentations and classes.  Gift memberships are wonderful presents for family history-minded relatives, friends, and Family History Consultants.  See more information about the presentations, classes, and class notes, or to join the Group, on the websites above.  You can also 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 .

Riverton Saturday Seminar

The following is from FamilySearch.

The Riverton FamilySearch Library will host a free seminar on
Saturday, June 21st, from 9:00 a.m. to 12:20 p.m.
that will offer help to genealogists of all skill levels.

Riverton, Utah- Puzzilla: My Work Is Done? Or, We’ve Only Just Begun!

If you were navigating in a deep forest, how helpful would it be to have a view from above? We
will introduce the Puzzilla.org descendants viewer, recognize patterns and methods for finding
work that remains to be done, and discuss basic concepts that new researchers need to understand
to find missing relatives.

Bill Harten founded UNIConnect in 1997 and is the creator of the UNIFlow process definition language, process tracking database, and UNIFlow quality compliance engine. He is known globally for being on a team that invented the GEDCOM format used to exchange computerized genealogical information and campaigning around the world for its establishment as a standard, resulting in its use in almost every genealogical database program developed since 1985, including many hundreds of independent software products worldwide. He has lectured widely, consulted, and taught advanced courses on LIMS, informatics, and genealogical computing around the world. He has consulted on informatics practices by invitation of the Russian State Historic Archive at their repository in St. Petersburg and published recommendations on informatics practices at the request of the US National Archives in Washington D.C.

He was on a team that invented the high-performance database technology used in the LDS Church’s huge FamilySearch genealogical database on CD and is recognized in the database community as a world expert on database architectures for extreme computing requirements. He has developed several high-performance engines for matching complex genetic profiles and genealogies. In an experimental system, his matching engine was able to search a simulated copy of the FBI’s national criminal DNA database of 50 million samples in 0.1 seconds.

He holds US patent 6904412 for an invention that uses artificial intelligence concepts to implement a comprehensive legal and regulatory compliance and workflow engine for the mortgage industry, enabling and documenting compliance with all federal requirements, plus the bewildering different requirements of all 50 US states. He is active in presenting and publishing papers in the laboratory and genealogical technology communities. He earned an MS degree in Computer Science and BS in Accounting from Brigham Young University in 1977, is a Sun-certified java developer, and has completed post-graduate work in artificial intelligence at the University of Utah.

Following the keynote presentation from 9:00 to 10:00 a.m., two blocks of four classes each are offered that cover topics of interest for beginning, intermediate, and advanced family history

10:10 a.m. Choose one of the following four classes:

  • “Internet Sources for Locating Your 19th Century German Ancestor" - Baerbel Johnson
  • “Legacy 8: An Update for the Future”––Carl Holland
  • “Googling for Grandpa”- Bret Peterson
  • “Fast and Accurate Online Searches”Van Celaya

11:20 a.m. Choose one of the following four classes:

  • “What’s New in German Research on the Internet” - Baerbel Johnson
  • “LDS Pioneer Research”––Steven Sorensen
  • “Make Family Memories: Tell Your Story Today”- Joan Gust
  • “My Tree Is Full; Now What?”––Carol Moss

Registration is not required for this free seminar. The Riverton FamilySearch Library is located in the LDS Riverton Office Building at 3740 West Market Center Drive. The facility is near the intersection of Bangerter Highway and 13400 South, just east of The Home Depot.


FamilySearch New Collections Update 13 June 2014

The following is from FamilySearch.


FamilySearch
FamilySearch Collections UpdateJune 13, 2014
FamilySearch Adds More Than 2.6 Million Indexed Records and Images to Brazil, Chile, England, Netherlands, Peru, Spain, United States, and Venezuela 


FamilySearch has added more than 2.6 million indexed records and images to collections from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, England, Guatemala, Italy, Netherlands, Peru, South Korea, Spain, United States, and Venezuela. Notable collection updates include the 317,554 indexed records from the Chile, Civil Registration, 1885–1903, collection; the 443,904 indexed records from the Spain, Province of Cádiz, Municipal Records, 1784–1956, collection; and the 172,261 indexed records from United States World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917–1918, collection. See the table below for the full list of updates. Search these diverse collections and more than 3.5 billion other records for free atFamilySearch.org.

Searchable historic records are made available on FamilySearch.org through the help of thousands of volunteers from around the world. These volunteers transcribe (index) information from digital copies of handwritten records to make them easily searchable online. More volunteers are needed (particularly those who can read foreign languages) to keep pace with the large number of digital images being published online at FamilySearch.org. Learn more about volunteering to help provide free access to the worldís historic genealogical records online at FamilySearch.org .

FamilySearch is the largest genealogy organization in the world. FamilySearch is a nonprofit, volunteer-driven organization sponsored by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Millions of people use FamilySearch records, resources, and services to learn more about their family history. To help in this great pursuit, FamilySearch and its predecessors have been actively gathering, preserving, and sharing genealogical records worldwide for over 100 years. Patrons may access FamilySearch services and resources for free at FamilySearch.org or through more than 4,600 family history centers in 132 countries, including the main Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Collection
Indexed Records
Digital Images
Comments
0
349
Added images to an existing collection.
0
105,929
Added images to an existing collection.
317,554
0
Added indexed records to an existing collection.
39,008
0
Added indexed records to an existing collection.
78,645
0
Added indexed records to an existing collection.
0
15,667
New browsable image collection.
4,809
0
Added indexed records to an existing collection.
139,093
0
Added indexed records to an existing collection.
0
122,246
Added images to an existing collection.
0
104,300
Added images to an existing collection.
56,165
0
Added indexed records to an existing collection.
0
31,859
Added images to an existing collection.
443,904
0
Added indexed records to an existing collection.
50,715
0
Added indexed records to an existing collection.
0
23,972
New browsable image collection.
140,843
0
Added indexed records to an existing collection.
84,738
0
Added indexed records to an existing collection.
0
11,522
Added indexed records to an existing collection.
160,650
0
Added indexed records to an existing collection.
18,497
0
Added indexed records to an existing collection.
204,794
0
Added indexed records to an existing collection.
0
6,378
Added indexed records to an existing collection.
172,261
0
Added indexed records to an existing collection.
0
297,560
Added images to an existing collection.