BYU Family History Technology Workshop report

Ancestry Insider covers conference live

On Thursday I tried a grand experiment: live coverage of the BYU Family History Technology Workshop using Twitter. If I can figure out an easy way to do it, I may re-post the coverage here on my blog. But I may not, so if you're interested in hearing what transpired at the BYU Family History Technology Workshop yesterday (Thursday, 12 March 2009), visit my Twitter site, http://twitter.com/ancestryinsider . I've got the most comprehensive coverage of this event that you can find anywhere. Period.

But be warned: the posts are in reverse chronological order! That means you need to start at the bottom of the page and work your way to the top. How confusing! Once you finish a page, click the "Newer" link at the bottom of the page to move to the next page in order.

Here are some starting points from which to work backwards. Click on the link and scan through the tweets until you find the one shown in the list below. Then work your way towards the top of the page and click Newer. On each newer page, start reading at the bottom.

• BYU Family History Technology Workshop 2009 is underway
• Session one is "Handwritten Records: Reading & Recognition." I also look forward with great hope to this session each year.
• John Finlay, Neumont University is the Demonstration Chair. In the next 15 minutes, 15 people will give 2 minutes to introduce their demo
• Session 2 is titled "Data Extraction & Organization." The session chair is Anne Roach, FamilySearch. All presenters are students
• I'm off to lunch now. I won't be taking my computer, so you're not going to get a report of the lunch speaker.
• Session 3. "Record Digitization & Application Interfaces". Session Chair: Bob Leaman, ASU.
• Back from break. Panel Discussion session, "Conversion and Publication of Genealogical Content: Best Practices, Challenges and Unmet Needs"

To see if I'm covering live the Friday-Saturday BYU Conference on Computerized Family History and Genealogy, check http://twitter.com/ancestryinsider . No promises.

Why Mormons Build Temples

At the FamilySearch developers conference on Wednesday, Gordon Clarke mentioned the July 2008 milestone when the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints endorsed mainstream use of the Internet. (See "Blogging at FamilySearch.") Even as Clarke spoke, the Church posted a new video on YouTube that might be of interest to those curious about the Church's intense interest in genealogy.

Given recent public interest in the Church's temples, "Why Mormons Build Temples" gives 3 minutes of information from the Church's point of view. If media coverage has made you curious, I recommend watching the video not so much for the information as for the mood, images and music because these reflect the deep feelings of reverence Church members feel towards temples, which is something you won't get from outside media coverage.