Mocavo Announces Genealogy Karma

The following is from Mocavo.

Mocavo Announces Genealogy Karma

Back in 1999, a fantastic resource was established to bring together members of the genealogy community all around the world. The brainchild of Bridgett and Doc Schneider, Random Acts of Genealogical Kindness (RAOGK) was created to help genealogists collaborate with the genealogy community to document their research, while also offering genealogists a way to give back to a community that had helped them in the past. RAOGK quickly turned into a global organization. The group’s volunteers were able to help thousands of genealogists make progress in their family history research.

Bridgett Schneider courtesy of RAOGK Wiki

The ROAGK website went offline in 2011 because of a computer disaster. Sadly, Bridgett Schneider passed away later that year, and the website was never able to come back online. In tribute to Bridgett and Doc Schneider and all of the participants in RAOGK, many volunteers have created programs similar to ROAGK to help bring together the expertise of the genealogy community. Doc and Bridgett’s legacy and the efforts of thousands of volunteers inspired us to create a place for researchers to come together and collaborate to help other members of the genealogical community.   

Today, at Mocavo, we are excited to announce the launch of Genealogy Karma. Modeled after Random Acts of Genealogical Kindness, we hope to empower the Mocavo community and connect researchers all around the country. If you’re looking for documents, records, or photos from an ancestor who lived far away, we will connect you with family history volunteers who can do this research for you in other cities. Likewise, if you’d like to give back to the Mocavo community and have a little time to donate, you can sign up as a volunteer.

To begin visit www.mocavo.com/karma

To request help:

1. Simply click on “I need to request help.”

2. Select the county for your request.

3. Create a short title and add a detailed explanation of your request so that others can help find what you’re looking for.

4. Tag your request to help others discover it. For example, you can tag your request as “photo”, “birth record”, or “tombstone”.

5. You can also select to be notified if someone replies to your request.

6. Post your query.

To Volunteer:

1. Simply click on “I want to be a volunteer.”

2. Select the counties that you can help with.

3. Submit your information.

4. We will then let you know when there are opportunities to help other genealogists in your area.

Similar to surname groups, genealogy karma has a new twist that allows the most valuable content to float to the top of the page.

You can vote positively or negatively on each question and answer.  As a result, the most popular questions and most relevant answers rise to the top so that you don’t have to dig through heaps of information to find the good stuff. Next to each question or answer within a Surname Group, you will see arrows.  If you find a request you are interested in or response that is particularly helpful, you can “vote it up” so that more people will see it. If you find a request to be wildly off topic or unhelpful or if you think an answer is inaccurate, you can “vote it down” so that it will migrate to the bottom of the page. The topics at the top of the page will be the ones with the highest number of “up” votes so that you can quickly see the most valuable questions and answers.

Check out Genealogy Karma and take advantage of the vast network of Mocavo community members spread far and wide. Let us know what you think by emailing us at support@mocavo.com.

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, 11 May 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 Don E. Norton on WRITING YOUR PERSONAL AND FAMILY HISTORY. This presentation will help all of us write and preserve our own and our ancestors' life stories. Don Norton is a retired professor of BYU's Department of Linguistics and English Language. For thirty years he taught the Personal History class at BYU, as well as senior seminars in oral history. A special interest is oral histories of military veterans, notably veterans of WW II, but of other "wars" as well. He has interviewed literally hundreds of military veterans and compiled their stories. He has written books and articles and headed the Faculty Editing Service at BYU for more than 20 years. As a professional editor for 45 years, he edited several volumes in the Collected Works of Hugh Nibley series at BYU. More information about him is online at http://iris.library.uiuc.edu/~iris/expertise/expertise.htm?id=6716 .

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. Effective Use of Websites and Their Search Engines or Why Didn't I Find Them the First Time?, by Laurie Castillo
2. Organizing Your Computer Files, by Robert Lasson
3. Using Dropbox, Keynote, and Skype for Genealogy, by Ron Snowden
4. Q&A: Writing A Personal or Family History, by Don Norton
5. Ask An Expert (Personal Help), by Don Engstrom, Bud Wood, and Jim Kendall
6. Video of last month's main presentation: Are Your Ready Now That FamilySearch Family Tree is Live?, by James L. Tanner
7. Ancestral Quest, by Merlin Kitchen
8. Legacy, by Dean Bennett.
9. RootsMagic, by Sue Maxwell

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, Bruce Merrill and Marie Andersen working with the DVD Library, and Chris Stevenson as the Webmaster. 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 by paying $10 per year 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.

Ancestry Day – Las Vegas, NV

The following is from Ancestry.com.

Ancestry Day – Las Vegas, NV

 Saturday, May 11, 2013 – 9:00 a.m. to 4:45 p.m.

 LVH Convention Center: Ballroom A

Join Ancestry.com’s Barefoot Genealogist, Crista Cowan, for Ancestry Day Las Vegas on Saturday, May 11^th at the LVH Convention Center. Come for a full-day of education and a chance to win fantastic door prizes throughout the day. The grand prize is a World Deluxe Membership and an AncestryDNA kit. 

Whether you are new to Ancestry.com or a long time user, Ancestry Day will help take your research to the next level. The day’s classes include:

8:00-8:45 am	Registration
8:45-9:00 am	Welcome and 1st prize drawing
9:00-10:15 am	Ancestry 101: New & Review
10:15-10:30 am	Break and 2nd prize drawing
10:30-11:30 am	Smarter Tips & Tricks for finding your Ancestors
11:30-1:00pm	Lunch on your own & free access to the NGS exhibit hall
1:00-1:15 pm	3rd Prize drawing
1:15-2:00 pm	Live Q&A Panel of Ancestry.com experts
2:00-3:00 pm	Getting the Most from Ancestry.com: Part I
3:00 – 3:10	Break and 4th Prize drawing
3:10-4:00 pm	Getting the Most from Ancestry.com: Part II
4:00-4:15 pm	Grand Prize drawings and closing remarks
4:15-4:45 pm	Small group meetings with the experts *We will have several Ancestry experts available to answer questions about AncestryDNA, Family Tree Maker, the Ancestry Mobile App, and family history in general.

Registration is only $25. Ancestry Day will be held in Ballroom A at the LVH Convention Center at 3000 Paradise Road, Las Vegas, NV 89109

The Marriott Springhill Suites Las Vegas Convention Center is offering Ancestry Day guests the following special rate:

King Suite $124 per nightBook King Suite at SpringHill Suites Las Vegas Convention Center for $124 per night

Queen/Queen Suite $124 per nightBook Queen/Queen Suite at SpringHill Suites Las Vegas Convention Center for $124 per night

**To submit a questions to the Live Q&A Panel, send an email no later than April 26^th, 2013 to conferences@ancestry.com. 

Riverton FamilySearch Library’s Saturday Seminar

The following is from FamilySearch.

The Riverton FamilySearch Library will host a free seminar on

May 18th from 9:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.,

which will offer help to genealogists of all skill levels.

Riverton, UtahAvoid Corrupting Your Family TreeJust as we often hear about technological data becoming corrupted, family trees can similarly become corrupted in many ways—as a result of outright deception on the part of the researcher to innocent mistakes made by beginners who ignorantly post false information. Once corruption is identified on a family branch, it is possible to use surrounding evidence to isolate the problem and to use available online tools to prevent the corruption from spreading. Once the corruption is understood and the proper evidence is applied, additional relationships can be established, to the great joy of those involved in this work.

Karen Clifford, AG, FUGA, has three genealogy credentials (in the Midwestern, Southern, and Mountain West regions), is president of Genealogy Research Associates, Inc., and is an instructor and curriculum developer in genealogy and technology courses at Monterey Peninsula College (in California) and Salt Lake Community College. She has authored several genealogy textbooks focusing on research methodology, including The Complete Beginner’s Guide to Genealogy, the Internet, and Your Genealogy Computer Program (Genealogical Publishing Company, 2011); Digging Deeper: Understanding Pre-1805 Genealogy Record Groups (graonline.com, 2012); and Becoming an Accredited Genealogist (Ancestry.com, 2002). Karen was a staff trainer and subsequent director of the Monterey California Family History Center for a total of 22 years before moving to Provo, Utah.

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

The classes available from 10:15 to 11:15 a.m. are:

• “Utah Ancestors? How Do I Find Them?”Ron Ray

• “Introduction to FamilySearch Community Trees”David Barss

• “Genealogy Gifts and Games”Kim Woodbury

• “Getting to Know Fold3”Gordon Atkinson

The classes available from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. are:

• “A Guide to Printing Your Family History”Carol Holland

• “Researching with FamilySearch Historical Records”Lynn Turner

• “Controlling Your Children from Beyond the Grave”Jeff Anderson

• “Saving Documents, Files, and Images Found on the Internet”Tom Stubben

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