Mark Your Calendars - UVPAFUG Meeting!

UTAH VALLEY PAF USERS GROUP MEETING AND NEW LOCATION

The next regular, second-Saturday-of-the-month meeting of the Utah Valley PAF (Personal Ancestral File) Users Group will be on Saturday, 14 Feb 2009 (Valentine's Day!), from 9 am until noon IN THE EDGEWOOD/RIVERSIDE LDS CHAPEL, 3511 North 180 East, Provo, Utah. Note the Group has moved from their old location to this new LDS chapel which is behind the Jamestown shopping plaza on the east side of University Avenue in the Provo "River Bottoms". You get to it by going on 3700 North east from University Avenue and then south on 180 East. There is a map showing the new and old locations on our website given below.

The main presentation, AVOIDING PITFALLS IN YOUR FAMILY HISTORY RESEARCH, will be given by Jake Gehring of the LDS Church's Family History Department. Every genealogical researcher must take care not to fall victim to some classic poor behaviors in the field. These include not performing a thorough survey of available research, lack of research documentation, and failing to take advantage of educational opportunities to further their own skills. This presentation will help you learn practical and sensible ways to approach these problems to improve your research and make genealogy more rewarding.

Jake Gehring is former editor of Genealogical Computing and lecturer and author of several dozen articles in genealogical journals on topics ranging from GIS to lineage-linked databases to query management. He has been heavily involved in genealogical publishing and digital publishing technologies for over ten years. His career highlights to date include work as product manager for search features and functionality at Ancestry.com, the largest genealogical web site on the Internet; director for RootsWeb.com, the largest free community of genealogists on the web; and publisher for HeritageQuest, a division of ProQuest Information and Learning, the largest and most successful provider of genealogical data to public and academic libraries in the United States. Jake is currently employed with the LDS Church as manager of its Data Operations Group. He is responsible for key processes that publish genealogical records on the Internet. Jake is active in the professional genealogical community and currently serves as President of the Association of Professional Genealogists. Jake graduated from Brigham Young University with a degree in Genealogy/Family History and lives in Woods Cross, Utah with his wife and family.

Following the main presentation there will be several classes taught concerning technology and family history. As usual, there will be something for everyone at all levels of expertise. The classes currently scheduled for this meeting are the following:

1. FAP 2 PAF, by Ralph Hansen (Only Ralph knows what that title means.)
2. Documenting Sources in PAF5 and new FamilySearch, by Duane Dudley
3. Q&A: Avoiding Pitfalls in Your Research, by Jake Gehring
4. Video of last month's main presentation: FamilySearch Wiki: Now and in the Future, by Michael Ritchey
5. Legacy 7, by Joel Graham
6. RootsMagic 3/4, by Bruce Buzbee
7. Ancestral Quest 12.1, by Gaylon Findlay.

All meetings of the Users Group are open to the public whether members of the Group or not. The Users Group has the goal of helping individuals use technology to further their family history and there are usually 100-125 attending the monthly meetings on the second Saturdays. Several of the officers, including Gerhard Ruf, President; Brian Cooper, 2nd VP; Beth Ann Wiseman, PAFology Editor; Kay Baker and Gerry Eliason working with finances and membership; and Bruce Merrill, Lynne Shumway, and Marie Andersen, working with the DVD & Video Library, will all be there. They will help with membership, answer questions, distribute the current issue of the monthly newsletter PAFology, and check out DVD's and videos of past presentations and classes to members of the group. Information about the Users Group, main presentations, classes, and class notes are available on the Group's website http://uvpafug.org and the press releases are at http://blog.uvpafug.org/. For further information contact President Gerhard Ruf at pres@uvpafug.org801-225-6106, VP1 Don Snow at snowd@math.byu.edu, or VP2 Brian Cooper at vp2@uvpafug.org.

Clydesdale Generations

I didn't watch the Super Bowl, nor do I drink beer. Having said that, I do love Super Bowl commercials and the Budweiser - Clydesdale Generations was the best. It shows a modern day Clydesdale reflecting on his ancestry.

1875 Norway Census Transcription Initiative Is Underway

02 February 2009

Volunteers Rally to Bring Last National Census Online

1875 Norway Census Transcription Initiative Is Underway

SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH—FamilySearch International, the University of Tromsø, and DIS-Norge announced today a joint initiative to transcribe the 1875 Norway Census for free online access. It is the only Norway census that has not been indexed and the first to be tackled as a global, Internet-based effort. Volunteers who can read Norwegian are being sought to complete the project at www.familysearch.org. (Go to FamilySearch.org, then click Index Records, and then click Volunteer.)

The 1875 Norway Census is valuable to researchers because it was the last national census taken just before the great Norwegian immigration period that started in 1878. Researchers will not have to wait much longer for convenient, online access to the historic census. FamilySearch digitized the census images and is using its Web-based transcription tool and volunteers to create the automated index. The University of Tromsø and DIS-Norge are sponsoring the project, but many more online volunteers are needed to transcribe the 1.6 million individuals found in the tens of thousands of census sheets.

Although FamilySearch has done other major international indexing projects, this is the first one for Norway. “The biggest challenge is the Norwegian handwriting and names,” said Jeff Svare, collection management specialist. “Most of FamilySearch’s current volunteers are not skilled at reading Norwegian names or handwriting. Native Norwegian volunteers would be much more effective and efficient at transcribing the required information from the census sheets,” concluded Svare.

Volunteering is simple. Volunteers with Internet access register online at FamilySearchIndexing.org. Once they have downloaded the transcription software, there is an optional, but very helpful, tutorial. They then select the Norway 1875 Census project, and a digital image of a census page will appear. The volunteers then enter the highlighted information they see on their computer screen. That information is saved and compiled online in an index that will be made freely available to the public. Each batch should take about 30 minutes.

Indexers do not need to worry about their skill level at reading censuses. Each census page is transcribed by two different indexers. Any discrepancies between the two entries will be arbitrated by a third indexer. The result is a highly accurate, free index of tremendous value to family history enthusiasts. The more online volunteers that help, the quicker the free census index will be available online for all to enjoy and benefit from.

There are other hidden benefits to volunteering. Volunteers become familiar with historical documents, the valuable stories they can conceal, and their usefulness and application to genealogical research.

The FamilySearch Records Access program has already generated over 500 million names and images through its volunteer initiatives. The collections can be searched for free at FamilySearch.org. (Go to FamilySearch.org, then click Search Records, and then click Record Search pilot.)

Gunnar Thorvaldson, professor of history and manager of research for the Norwegian Historical Data Centre at the University of Tromsø, said, “The University welcomes the cooperation with the FamilySearch Center to extend our sample of computerized entries from the 1875 census for Norway. This will significantly increase the potential use of the first high quality Norwegian census both in statistical and ancestry-related research."

“We are happy to be able to assist FamilySearch in indexing the 1875 Norway Census,” said Torill Johnsen, president of DIS-Norge. “Lots of important genealogical information has limited access because it is still only available on paper in archives and libraries. Online access to those reliable sources makes it available for genealogists from their own computer when they want it. Active involvement from volunteers will hasten the completion of the 1875 Norway Census and increase the number of digitally accessible sources,” added Johnsen.

FamilySearch manages the largest collection of genealogical records worldwide. In 2007 it announced plans to begin digitizing and indexing its collection for broader, more economic online access—starting with popular collections like the U.S., Canada, and U.K. censuses. FamilySearch has created free online indexes to date for the 1850, 1860, 1870, 1880, and 1900 U.S. Censuses. FamilySearch is working with The Generations Network to provide enhanced, free indexes for the remaining U.S. censuses.

Surname maps for 1.7 million US surnames

The following is from dynastree

Where do Obama’s relatives live? dynastree has the answer

New York, Febuary 2, 2009 – To find out more about the new President of the United States just got easier: the new surname map feature on dynastree (www.dynastree.com) shows the distribution of surnames in the USA, including “Obama”, of course.

The new feature that shows the geographical distribution of more than 1.7 million surnames in the United States can be found under http://www.dynastree.com/maps-usa. Where does the president’s name appear most frequently, is Bush really from Texas or where are the name Hanks’ roots? The new dynastree Surname Map feature gives the answers.

dynastree’s core feature is an easy-to-use interface to build a family tree. Other relatives can be invited to add their knowledge to the tree and help to extend its reach. Together, family members can enter information on other relatives and ancestors. Based on the family tree, the personal network grows virally and the communication with relatives and friends can be established and carried on even if the connection had been lost or if they live far away.

About dynastree
Apart from the English site, the services are available in Germany (www.verwandt.de), in Poland (www.moikrewni.pl), Spain and South America (www.miparentela.com), Portugal (www.meusparentes.com.pt), Brazil (www.meusparentes.com.br), the Netherlands (www.verwant.nl), Italy (www.parentistretti.it) and France (www.familleunie.fr). The platform will continue expanding to other European countries as well as worldwide. dynastree is supported by leading Business Angels, Hasso Plattner Ventures and Neuhaus Partners, a well-known venture capitalist.