Tuesday, August 12, 2014

Diane Afoumado, Chief of International Tracing Service (ITS), in Salt Lake City

The following is from the Utah Genealogical Association.

An opportunity to hear
Diane Afoumado, Chief of International Tracing Service (ITS), in Salt Lake City
TOMORROW (Wednesday, August 13, 2014)

FREE, open to the public

Diane Afoumado, PhD., Chief, International Tracing Service (ITS) Research Branch, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum will be speaking on the records and the services offered by the ITS onWednesday, August 13, 2014 at 7:00 pm at the Plaza Hotel in downtown Salt Lake City.  Held in conjunction with the Eastern European Family History Conference sponsored by the Foundation for East European Family History Studies (FEEFHS), the presentation is open to the public and free to attend.

While the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM) in Washington, DC, is the United States’ repository for the International Tracing Service (ITS) collection, the records will be of interest to anyone with ancestors who may have been persecuted or displaced during WWII.  Afoumado reports that the ITS collection “contains diverse information about the persecution and murder of (both) Jews and non-Jews—Poles, Ukrainians, Lithuanians, Latvians, Estonians, Soviet prisoners of war, Roma and Sinti, homosexuals, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and persons with disabilities—under Nazi rule.”

Documents such as camp arrival lists, grave locations, transport lists, prisoner cards, forced labor lists, death lists, displaced person applications for assistance, deportation lists, emigration applications or questionnaires, registration and work cards, sometimes with photographs, are contained in the collection.  Research services to access those records are provided by ITS to the public at no charge.  Afoumado says the collection contains “several millions of documents,” saved by the Holocaust Survivors and Victims’ Resource Center to ensure “that the individual experiences of survivors and victims of the Holocaust and Nazi-era persecution are collected, preserved and disseminated for future generations.

Ms. Afoumado will be available on Thursdayfollowing the presentation to begin the research process with those interested, according to Peg Ivanyo, FEEFHS conference chair.  “The ITS Research Branch has dedicated both funding and personnel to bring this wonderful service to our conference, and we wish to share it broadly with the community to the extent possible,” Ivanyo says.  Anyone may attend the Wednesday evening presentation and subsequently set up an appointment to meet with Ms. Afoumado or complete the paperwork for her to begin the process of searching the records database at a later time.

Additional information about the FEEFHS conference and other services is available at feefhs.org.

Friday, August 08, 2014

International Tracing Service Chief to Speak in SLC on Wednesday free, open to the public

International Tracing Service Chief to Speak in SLC on Wednesday
free, open to the public

Diane Afoumado, PhD., Chief, International Tracing Service (ITS) Research Branch, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum will be speaking on the records and the services offered by the ITS on Wednesday, August 13, 2014 at 7:00 pm at the Plaza Hotel in downtown Salt Lake City. Held in conjunction with the Eastern European Family History Conference sponsored by the Foundation for East European Family History Studies (FEEFHS), the presentation is open to the public and free to attend.



While the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM) in Washington, DC, is the United States’ repository for the International Tracing Service (ITS) collection, the records will be of interest to anyone with ancestors who may have been persecuted or displaced during WWII. Afoumado reports that the ITS collection “contains diverse information about the persecution and murder of (both) Jews and non-Jews—Poles, Ukrainians, Lithuanians, Latvians, Estonians, Soviet prisoners of war, Roma and Sinti, homosexuals, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and persons with disabilities—under Nazi rule.”

Documents such as camp arrival lists, grave locations, transport lists, prisoner cards, forced labor lists, death lists, displaced person applications for assistance, deportation lists, emigration applications or questionnaires, registration and work cards, sometimes with photographs, are contained in the collection. Research services to access those records are provided by ITS to the public at no charge. Afoumado says the collection contains “several millions of documents,” saved by the Holocaust Survivors and Victims’ Resource Center to ensure “that the individual experiences of survivors and victims of the Holocaust and Nazi-era persecution are collected, preserved and disseminated for future generations.

Ms. Afoumado will be available on Thursday following the presentation to begin the research process with those interested, according to Peg Ivanyo, FEEFHS conference chair. “The ITS Research Branch has dedicated both funding and personnel to bring this wonderful service to our conference, and we wish to share it broadly with the community to the extent possible,” Ivanyo says. Anyone may attend the Wednesday evening presentation and subsequently set up an appointment to meet with Ms. Afoumado or complete the paperwork for her to begin the process of searching the records database at a later time.

Additional information about the FEEFHS conference and other services is available at feefhs.org.

Mark Your Calendars - UVTAGG Meeting!

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, 09 Aug 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 Jimmy Zimmerman of FamilySearch on DISCOVERING STORIES ON GOOGLE BOOKS.  Google has scanned millions of books and made them searchable online through Google Books.  Jimmy will discuss tips for performing effective searches, obtaining transcriptions, clipping pages, finding books when the full version isn’t available, and sharing discovered stories and photos on FamilySearch.org.  He describes himself as an Apple fanatic who loves discovering stories about his ancestors.  At FamilySearch he works with partnering organizations to help people discover, record, and share their family history.  He is a web developer and project manager and has a Master's Degree in Information Systems Management from BYU.  You can learn more about him at his blog  http://jimmyzimmerman.com/ which he has been writing since about 2005.  Among other things that you can learn there is the fact that his NoteFuser program won the Grand Prize in the 2012 RootsTech Developer Challenge.


After the main presentation the following classes are scheduled; check the meetings page at  http://uvtagg.org/  for last minute changes or additions.   
  1. Q&A: Discovering Stories on Google Books, by Jimmy Zimmerman
  2. Using LDS Partner Web Sites:  My Heritage, by Sue Maxwell
  3. Online Cemetery Sites - More Than Just Tombstones, by Sharon Monson
  4. Online Newspapers: Tips and Comparisons of the 6 Largest Databases, by Marilyn Thomsen
  5. Ask An Expert (Personal Help), by Don Engstrom & Finn Hansen
  6. Video of last month's main presentation Common Surnames - Finding Your Smith, by Juliana Szucs Smith
  7. Ancestral Quest, by Claire Brisson-Banks
  8. Getting Started with Legacy 8, by Brad Monson
  9. 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, 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, Membership and Finances; Bruce Merrill and Marie Andersen, DVD Library; and Chris Stevenson, 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 to members of the Group DVDs of past presentations and classes.  Many members don't live close enough to participate in the monthly meetings, but pay the $10 per year dues to belong so they can receive the monthly newsletter via email and purchase DVDs of the presentations and classes.  Gift memberships make great presents for family history-minded relatives, friends, and Family History Consultants.  See more information about the presentations, classes, class notes, and 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 .


FamilySearch New Collections Update 8 August 2014

The following is from FamilySearch.

 
FamilySearch Collections UpdateAugust 8, 2014
 
FamilySearch Adds More Than 10 Million Indexed Records and Images to Canada, Czech Republic, Ukraine, and the United States
FamilySearch has added more than 10 million indexed records and images to collections from Canada, Czech Republic, Dominican Republic, New Zealand, South Korea, Ukraine, and the United States. Notable collection updates include the 3,427,354 indexed records from the Canada Census, 1911, collection; the 1,334,575 image records from the Czech Republic, Censuses, 1800–1945, collection; and the 2,545,965 indexed records from U.S., Idaho, SoutheastCounties Obituaries, 1864–2007 , 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 at FamilySearch.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
3,427,354
Added indexed records to an existing collection.
0
1,334,575
Added images to an existing collection.
0
199,481
Added images to an existing collection.
145,146
145,146
Added indexed records and images to an existing collection.
0
143,281
Added images to an existing collection.
386,265
0
Added indexed records to an existing collection.
2,545,965
0
Added indexed records to an existing collection.
585,880
52,677
New indexed records and images collection.
0
83,424
Added images to an existing collection.
0
70,174
Added images to an existing collection.
143,658
0
New indexed record collection.
0
241,319
Added images to an existing collection.
372,279
0
New indexed record collection.
0
221,657
Added images to an existing collection.
511,361
0
New indexed record collection.
0
22,727
New browsable image collection.

ISGS Webinar

The following is from the Illinois State Genealogical Society.

August 2014 Webinar – Land Records in Illinois







Join us on August 12, for Land Records in Illinois, presented by Michael John Neill.  While the focus is on Illinois, much of the information and many of the techniques apply to other states as well.

DateTuesday, August 12, 2014, 8:00 pm Central

Description: This presentation will discuss searching and using local land records in the state of Illinois. Typical methods of organization and recording will be covered along with search methods, problem-solving, and records analysis. This presentation will not discuss federal land records and attendees should have a basic knowledge of the township and range system of property surveying within the state.

Presenter: Michael John Neill
 
Michael John Neill has been actively involved in genealogical research for over thirty years. An experienced courthouse, archives, and library researcher, he as extensively researched numerous families in the Midwestern and Southern areas of the United States. Michael writes the popular "Genealogy Tip of the Day" and the how-to newsletter "Casefile Clues." He lectures on a wide variety of genealogy topics, has lectured at Samford's Institute for Genealogical and Historical Research and has led week-long research trips to the Family History Library in Salt Lake.

Registerhttps://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/7772534911757198337

Recording and Handout Available to ISGS Members:  For ISGS members who cannot attend the live webinar, a recording of the webinar, along with the handout, will be made available in the Members Section of the ISGS website at http://ilgensoc.org/members.php.  If you're not already a member of ISGS, visit Join ISGS! at http://ilgensoc.org/cpage.php?pt=8 for more information.

Make a Contribution:  Support the ISGS Webinar program by making a financial contribution, which will help ISGS expand its educational offerings in a virtual manner.  To learn why we need your help, or to make a contribution, please visit http://ilgensoc.org/cpage.php?pt=345.

Please direct any questions to the ISGS Education Committee at isgseducation@ilgensoc.org.




 The 2014 ISGS Webinar Series is Sponsored by FamilySearch (http://familysearch.org).


LDSTech Newsletter, August 2014

The following is from the LDSTech Newsletter. There are several genealogy specific items.

LDSTech Newsletter


Conference Registration Now Open!

Written by G.C. Duerden
The LDSTech Conference registration site is now open for the conference this October 16-17. If you will be joining us in person, you are invited to sign up at tech.lds.org/conf. If you are unable to attend, you can watch streaming videos of many sessions online during or after the event.
To register:

Read more>>

FamilySearch Announces Partnership

Written by G.C. Duerden
Wednesday, July 30, 2014
At the end of April 2014, FamilySearch.org announced a unique partnership with three genealogical database companies:Ancestry.comfindmypast and MyHeritage.

As a result of a year’s worth of cooperation and negotiations with these new partner organizations, it was announced that members of the Church with an LDS.org account will receive access to these family history websites at no cost by the end of 2014.
.
Read more>>.

LDSTech Partners with BYU IT Students

Written by Elder G C Duerden
Wednesday, 16 July 2014
Several BYU Information Technology students, under the direction of Associate Professor Derek Hansen, recently wrote test scripts for software used for mission finances and administration.
“They roll out a new version of the software regularly,” Hansen explained. “Each new version needs to be checked for code-breaks. Students helped by writing test scripts to simulate using the software to make sure everything works properly.”
 Read more>>
 

Church Expands Use of Digital Devices for Missionary Work

Written by G.C. Duerden
Friday, 11 June 2014
An article in the Mormon Newsroom recently noted changes in missionary work as digital media becomes more common throughout the world.
After going through a pilot program of 30 missions and 6500 missionaries – primarily in the US and Japan – the mobile device program will be expanded to 162 missions (and 35,000 missionaries by the end of 2015) all using iPad minis, cell phones, and online chat in their work.
Read more >>


Spanish Full-time Senior Technology Missionaries Needed

Written by G.C. Duerden
Monday, 07 July 2014
Many members dream of someday serving a full-time mission after they retire.  Many members don't know, however, that there is a new opportunity to serve as full-time technology missionaries.  We currently have these opportunities for Spanish-speakers.
Area technology specialists (ATS) are needed in various locations around the world, but especially in the Dominican Republic and Guatemala.  These Spanish-speakingATS missionaries will be providing training and technical support to stake technology specialists (STS) in the areas. Applicants need to be fluent in both Spanish and English.

Read more >>

July Broadcast - FamilySearch Mobile Apps
Written by Elder G C Duerden
Friday, 20 June 2014
The topic for the July broadcast was the two new FamilySearch mobile apps for phones and tablets: Family Tree Viewer (in both iOS and Android), and Memories (iOS only for the first release). Jesh Barlow, a UX Designer in Family History, demonstrated the new FamilySearch.org companion mobile apps (currently in beta), explaining target audiences, best-case user intents, and how each app serves to compliment the work that can be done on FamilySearch.org. Both apps are free. They will sync with FamilySearch.org, so information can be accessible from any device.

Read more>>.
 

Watch Previous 2014 LDSTech Broadcasts 

DateStreamPresenter & Topic
2014—JUL –11
2014 – JUN – 06
       
Jesh Barlow – FamilySearch Mobile Apps
Mike Madsen – Youth Activity Pages on LDS.org
2014 – MAY – 02Michael Colemere – Four Elements of Successful Communication Strategies
2014 – MAR – 14Mel Broberg – Church Directory of Organizations and Leaders (CDOL)
2014 – FEB – 07Jim Byer – Windows 8 Gospel Library
2014 – JAN – 10Hal Rushton – Gospel Content on the Feature Phone
 

If you have any questions about projects, service opportunities, or other topics around LDSTech, please send them to tech@ldschurch.org.

AncestryDNA Matching Update Impacts Jewish Ancestry

The following is from Ancestry.com.

AncestryDNA Matching Update Impacts Jewish Ancestry
Ken Chahine, Ph.D., J.D.

AncestryDNA customers with significant Jewish ancestry have witnessed the challenges that we and other genetic genealogy testing companies have faced when predicting genetic relatives.  Most Jewish customers find that we predict them to be related to nearly every other Jewish customer in the database! So while we all know that the cousin matches for Jewish and some Hispanic customers were over-estimates, detecting which cousin matches were real and which ones were bogus has always been a challenge for these populations. 

The AncestryDNA science team has been unsatisfied with the cousin matches we have delivered to many of our customers and as part of our continued commitment to bring innovative genomics to you, we are pleased and proud to tell you that we have found the first solution to the “overmatching” experienced by Jewish, Hispanic and other customers.

When you take a step back, matching isn’t as simple as it might first appear.  After all, we are all 99% identical. In other words, determining which parts of our genome make us “human” and which make us “recent cousins” is tricky and at the heart of the cousin matching issues for customers of Jewish and Hispanic ancestry.

In DNA matching, we are looking for pieces of DNA that appear identical between individuals. But there are a couple of reasons why it could be identical. For genealogy research we’re interested in DNA that’s identical because we’re both descended from a recent common ancestor. We call this identical by descent (IBD).  This is what helps us to make new discoveries in finding new relatives, new ancestors, and collaborating on our research. However, we also find pieces of DNA that are identical for another reason.  At one extreme we find pieces of DNA that are identical because it is essential for human survival.  At the other, we find pieces of DNA that are identical because two people are of the same ethnicity. We call these segments identical by state (IBS) because the piece of DNA is identical for a reason other than a recent common ancestor. This, we have found, often happens in individuals of Jewish descent. Given the historically small population size of the Jewish community, two Jewish individuals might have a lot of DNA that looks to be identical.  But that identical DNA might only be because of their shared ethnic history – in other words, identical by state, not identical by descent. 

The challenge in DNA matching is to tease apart which segments are IBD, and which ones are IBS.  How did we do it?  By studying patterns of matches across our more than half a million AncestryDNA customers, we found that in certain places of the genome, thousands of people were being estimated to share DNA with one another.  This isn’t a hallmark of thousands of people actually being closely related to one another.  Instead, it’s likely a hallmark of a common ethnicity.  Our scientific advancements using such insights from more than half a million people have allowed us to effectively “pan for gold” in our matches – by throwing out matches that appear to only be IBS, and keeping those that are IBD.

What does this mean for you? 

While the problem was more pronounced in customers of Jewish and some Hispanic descents, we observed this problem across all ethnic groups.  So, all customers will see increased accuracy of their DNA matches, and significantly fewer “false” matches.

Eager to see your new set of DNA matches?  It will be available in the coming months, and we’re planning to email our existing AncestryDNA customers when the new matching results are ready with more information about what to expect and what it means for your research. So when the time comes, we’re excited to hear about the new family history discoveries you’ve made or distant cousins you connected with through the advancements of our updated matching service. I’m expecting a lot of great stories will surface, and we can’t wait to hear yours.

WWI 100th Anniversary

The following is from Fold3.



Always Remember and Never Forget

From the vantage point of history, there is consensus: the Great War changed everything. World War I resulted in more than 37 million casualties. Empires were lost. An era of new roles for women and civic rights swept the globe. National boundaries were reshaped. Economies were devastated. The world was never the same.
And now, we commemorate 100 years since the Great War started. None of us are untouched by the changes that touch everyone.
The United States entered World War I in April of 1917 and more than 4 million Americans served their country around the world. Their courage, honor, sacrifice and valiant efforts led to the end of the world’s first global conflict just 20 months later on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month (Nov. 11, 1918).
Yet, their bravery remains largely unrecognized.
We are pleased today to announce a new partnership with the National World War I Museum. This new partnership will help the nation always remember and never forget.
We’re calling on you to help us.
  • The National World War I Museum is making a historical collection of unique and identified images available on Fold3. View this unique collection here.
  • Discover where your family fits in this story and share your ancestor's memories, photos, and stories to help us remember and honor those who fought for America. Click here to get started.
  • Help others discover the story. Over the next four years, the National World War I Museum will educate 1,000,000 students about the Great War and its enduring impact during the Centennial. Remembrance begins with discovering. You can help the Museum reach students across the country. Your charitable gift ensures that children will never forget the heroic Americans who brought an end to World War I. We invite you to join with us and the National World War I Museum in reaching 1,000,000 students across the country. Start by clicking here.
Family stories eventually become our nation's stories. Through this project, we can remember the forgotten stories, which show us how we became who we are today. Be a part of honoring those who served in the war that forever changed the world. Help create remembrance you'll never forget.

Thursday, August 07, 2014

BYU Fmaily History and Genealogy Conference - Day 4

Friday, 1 August 2014 was the fourth and final day of the BYU Family History & Genealogy Conference. I didn't take as many pictures today, but I did get a chance to capture all the presenter's pictures from the classes I attended.



There was such a wonderful variety of classes to attend at this conference that it's really hard to recap them all. What I want to leave with you are my personal thoughts.

Elder Paul F. Koelliker in his keynote planted a question that ran through my head all during the conference and afterwards. "What is it going to take to move the body of the saints? What will it take to move the majority of the members of the church from going to the temple to do ordinance work for names at the temple, to them bringing the names to the temple?"

He said "At the heart of change is our love for our family and the desire to do the father's will. It is on our shoulders to do this work. To teach others. We must obtain personal knowledge and share our knowledge with others."

While I attended the conference I saw terrible things happening around the world. Surely we live in trying times. Yet in my safe little corner, trying to learn and do the father's will of redeeming my kindred dead, I found peace. I saw that the Lord is in control. He is hastening his work and providing inspiration. Amazing technological advancements have happened during my life time, and there is so much more to come. As the pace is quickening around the world in the final scenes of our existence, there is an amazing race to gather the records of humankind.  It doesn't matter who is providing the records or where we are putting them, what matters is we are doing it.

David Rencher gave an over-view of the role The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has played in family history work. I stand in awe how FamilySearch through its partnerships has quickened the pace of preserving records around the world and making them available to us. FamilySearch understands we don't care where the records are, just that we want access to them.

David Rencher's in his keynote address related how he took a VIP group through the Ogden Temple Open House. It is a beautiful edifice, the craftsmanship is the best that humans can do. He knew there was an unseen element of scrap left over in its construction, but all he saw was a beautiful building. He reminded us that the duplication of ordinances (our scrap) is the price we are paying to produce the beautiful family history of humankind and to see that the work is done.

Using that example he said we need to let beginners get involved. We need to help teach them, but let them learn through trial and error. They will get things wrong, but they will grow and learn to do things right. We need to not worry about the mistakes and duplication that happens. The important thing to remember that even though the goal is to have the most accurate lineage link data of humankind on the planet, time in the temple is never wasted. Rencher said he watched individuals not of our faith during the temple tour sit in the celestial room and openly weep. That just touched my heart.

He said, the brethren are clear on this point, even though we may by accident be performing ordinances for someone that has already had their work done, that time in the temple is not wasted. President Thomas S. Monson's message of Hastening the Work in the June 2014 Ensign said: "We are going to make mistakes, but none of us can become an expert in family history work without first being a novice. Therefore, we must plunge into this work, and we must prepare for some uphill climbing."

Rencher said, "We are here at the conference to continue to climb that upward hill. We come to learn, or see if there is something better, or a better place to climb to find information we so intently desire. We learn the ways to advance this work."

I testify that I did learn ways to advance this work while attending the BYU Family History & Genealogy Conference. The most important thing I came home with was the understanding that its OK if beginners make mistakes. My fear of making sure people "got how to do genealogy right" made me paralyzed in trying to explain what I knew from a lifetime of doing it. It is so hard for me to explain how my heart has turned in this matter. We need to teach to their hearts and then the learning will come through their desire to do it better. The element of scrap while constructing the Family Tree will one day be swept clean. Trust in the Lord he knows what he is doing.


See ya tomorrow, for tomorrow is always another genealogy day!