Tuesday, September 29, 2009

NFS Rollout News for the 179th Semiannual General Conference

Visiting the Salt Lake Family History Library during a General Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is probably a unique experience. Between 20 and 30 thousand people will converge on Temple Square for the Conference. If you’re coming from out of town for Conference, I’d recommend arranging some time at the Library. On the other hand, as a local I’ve always avoided the library during Conference—my gift to you out-of-towners.

But Conference weekend will be an excellent time to visit New FamilySearch (NFS), particularly if your stake has recently received access. A new map, below, shows that the Provo Temple has gone green.

The big surprise is that a second temple, Mt. Timpanogos, in American Fork, Utah is going yellow!

New FamilySearch Rollout Map for 28 Sep 2009

The Monday morning announcement of next week’s 40 stakes unexpectedly (as far as I was concerned) split the number between Ogden, already in progress, and Timpanogos. In Ogden, 28 more stakes will go live next week. In the Timpanogos district, 15 stakes will break into the NFS club after Conference.

For months we have been told that stakes that were prepared would get NFS first. And for months we’ve seen no evidence that that was the case.

Now I can only assume that the policy is finally finding a footing. If I lived in the Ogden Temple district and my stake was passed over in favor of a stake in the Timpanogos district, I know what I would do!

If I were a family history consultant or priesthood leader, I would

  • Go to the Leader/Consultant Registration web site.
  • Register (if I hadn’t yet) on the left hand side of the page.
  • On the right hand side of the page, proceed to the Utah and Idaho Release web site.
  • Click the Prepare tab and follow the instructions for preparing for NFS.
  • Click the Report tab and follow the instructions by reporting my readiness to my high priests group leader.

If I were a high priest group leader, I would

  • Proactively contact all the consultants in my ward to get a report of their readiness.
  • Pass that report on to the high councilor assigned to family history.
  • If at least one consultant from the ward was ready, I would ask the high councilor if he knew how to report the stake’s readiness. If he didn’t, I would make an appointment to show him the Utah/Idaho Release web site and the portion assigned to him on the Report tab.
  • I would repeat the preceding steps until at least one consultant was ready and the high councilor had reported the ward’s readiness to the Area Family History Advisers.

If I were a high councilor assigned to family history, I would

  • Proactively contact each high priest group leader in my stake to get a report of each ward’s readiness.
  • Pass that report on to the Area Family History Advisers assigned to my stake. (See this page of the Utah/Idaho Release web site.)
  • I would repeat the preceding steps until at least one consultant was ready in each ward.

If I wasn’t a consultant or priesthood leader, I would probably get in trouble. That’s because each time I saw one of them I would

  • Ask each consultant (in the entire stake!) if they had finished the preparedness steps and reported their readiness to their high priest group leader.
  • Ask each high priest group leader if their ward was ready and if they had reported their readiness.
  • Ask the high councilor over family history if he had reported the stake’s readiness.
  • By this time, I would be in trouble and I would probably be called as a family history consultant. And that would get me access to New FamilySearch without waiting!

Hey! You don’t have to be in the Ogden or Timpanogos temple districts to get ready. Why wait? Besides, who knows if FamilySearch will restrict rollouts to two temples at a time. Maybe they’ll look strictly at preparedness. We’ll know more when we see what stakes they announce after Conference. Stay tuned…

When your stake gets a go live date, let me know at AncestryInsider@gmail.com . And stay tuned to the Ancestry Insider at “Temple Districts Using New FamilySearch” for the latest news!

Monday, September 28, 2009

Finding Sources For IGI Records

An individual record from FamilySearch's International Genealogical Index
It can be tricky to find the source of
records in the International Genealogical Index

Finding the sources of records in the International Genealogy Index (IGI), product of FamilySearch, can be tricky. So I was heartened to notice that the publicly available Product Support help center contains articles about finding sources for IGI entries. Most of the following articles have recent publication dates. Most pertain to records submitted by members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. For extracted records, skip down to the list of FamilySearch Wiki articles.

Help Center Articles

Resource Guide: Finding an IGI Source (108178)
What is an IGI Source? How the Source can help you. Finding the Source Call Number. Find the Source. IGI Batch Number. Resource Guide: Finding an IGI Source. [Note from the Insider: This is a rather old Resource Guide, written in the days when the IGI and the FHLC were on fiche or CD-ROM. Yet it still contains some helpful information. –The Insider]
Published 9/21/09

Who submitted a name to the International Genealogical Index? (1425p_en)
...submission was made to the IGI prior to May 1991, a batch number and source number will appear in the Source area. These numbers refer to microfilm copies of the original documents, which may contain the submitter...
Published 9/21/09

Finding the source of a batch number in IGI when no film number is shown (105141)
...source of a batch number in the International Genealogical Index (IGI) does not show a film number. How can I find the film number? [The big take away: Contact support. If they don’t know what you’re talking about, give them the article number, 105141. Or follow the suggestion of Janell Vasquez. –The Insider]
Published 7/27/09

Finding the source of a batch number from the International Genealogical Index for temple work performed after 1990 (391)

...source for batch numbers for temple work performed after 1990 is a diskette prepared using the TempleReady program and submitted by a family member or descendant. The film cited in the Index gives no more information...
Published 6/11/08

The following articles have been updated with information beyond what the old Research Guide contains. Click on a link to see the help center article for a batch number that begins with:

  • "0" (article 394) - a Temple Service Center entry, usually in the native language...
  • "5" (400) - a Family Group Record submitted by a family member or descendant...
  • 694-- (401) – most are an early membership record of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints created by a branch clerk during the member's lifetime...
  • between 6940405 and 6940426 (402) - a membership record of the Church that was indexed as part of the Minnie Margett’s File...
  • 69409- (408) - a Family Group Record submitted by a family member or descendant...
  • 696-- (409) - a source from "Special Services."
  • 745-- or 754-- (412) - a Vermont, Connecticut, or New Hampshire civil birth record extracted (indexed) by a volunteer...
  • 8-4-- (413) - a Polynesian Family Group Record form submitted by a family member or descendant...
  • 8-8-- or 8-9-- (417) - a Family Group Record submitted by a family member or descendant. The form has very few birth dates or places...
  • "T96--" (383) - a supplemental entry added to the IGI to clarify another entry. In other words, this batch points to a second entry form that is the original source...
  • T9990-- (386) - an entry form for people who previously had some but not all LDS ordinances completed, or they were entered on the same entry form as such people...
  • "T9991-" (387) - a source from "Special Services."
  • all digit batch numbers (388) - an Individual Entry or Marriage Entry form submitted by a family member or descendant...

FamilySearch Wiki Articles

For other batch numbers, check these articles in the FamilySearch Wiki:

By the way, you should know that there is a bug in the FamilySearch Wiki. It will not display footnotes/endnotes unless you sign in. This bug is fixed in later versions of MediaWiki. Hopefully the FamilySearch Wiki team will update FamilySearch Wiki some day to get this and other bug fixes.

For now, to see the footnotes, sign in. Someday a single account will work across all FamilySearch websites. But for now, you must have a separate FamilySearch Wiki account. Accounts are free. To sign in, click the Sign In link at the top-right of the page. If you don’t have a Wiki account, towards the bottom-left of the sign in page click on the link, “Create an account now.”

Friday, September 25, 2009

My Video Interview with Lisa Louise Cooke

At the recent Salt Lake Family History Expo I had the pleasure of sitting down with Lisa Louise Cook, producer and host of Genealogy Gems podcasts. Little did I realize that not only does Lisa do audio podcasts, she does video podcasts!

Oops! Yes, she caught me on tape!

I guess there’s nothing to be done but own up to my appearance. Click on the video window below to see the five minute interview.

If you don’t see a video window above, view the interview by clicking this link:
Genealogy Gems News: My Video Interview with the Ancestry Insider

The Socks to AmericaTo see more interviews from Family History Expos, go to:
www.youtube.com/user/FamilyHistoryExpos

To see more Genealogy Gems videos, go to:
www.youtube.com/user/GenealogyGems

And if you’ve never seen Cook’s famous documentary of the Sock family’s immigration to America, do yourself a favor and watch “The Socks to America: A Genealogy Gems Sockumentary.”

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Scouting Out New FamilySearch

This article will be of interest primarily to members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. (Given the time, I try to broaden the appeal of my articles. Sorry; I won’t have time with this one.)

This evening I braved a trip to the local family history center with a 12-member troop of Boy Scouts. Yes, I am crazy. Here’s what I did and what I learned.

I contacted the ward clerk beforehand and prepared a slip of paper for each boy with the information necessary for a consultant to sign in to help each boy on New FamilySearch (NFS):

  • Full Name
  • Birth Date
  • Last five digits of the Record Number (which is their helper number)

I was glad I didn’t try to register each boy. It would have taken too much time. Managers at FamilySearch get nervous when they see lots of people register for FamilySearch but never come back to use it. And there was another teeny, tiny little problem: OUR STAKE DOESN’T HAVE NFS YET!

I prepared a handout beforehand with the Duty to God Certificate Requirements for Deacons that pertain to family history:

Family Activities

4. Keep a written record of your family history. Ask a parent or the ward family history consultant to help you prepare a 4-generation pedigree chart.

Spiritual Development

6. Read an account of one of your ancestors, or learn about an ancestor from one of your relatives. Report what you learned in family home evening or in a quorum meeting.

7. Complete additional family history work, such as a family group record showing your parents as children with the other members of their families. Share this information with a parent or a priesthood leader.

Educational, Personal, and Career Development

11. Learn computer and keyboarding skills. Demonstrate these skills by typing family history information in Personal Ancestral File or another similar program.

On the handout, I also listed the steps each boy would perform while at the family history center:

  1. Have a consultant or leader log into New FamilySearch and set it up to help you. Tonight you will sign in using your full name, birth date, and helper number. (You will be able to get your own account later if you wish.)
  2. Have a consultant or leader show you how to print a family group record showing one of your parents as a child. Print the family group record. Take it home and add your living uncles, aunts, and grandparents information. Use this for requirement 7 of Spiritual Development.
  3. Run Personal Ancestral File. Enter yourself, your parents, your grandparents, and your great-grandparents. Use New FamilySearch to get the names and information. (This step is timed. We’ll tell you when to stop.) This fulfills requirement 11.
  4. Print a pedigree chart with the information you entered. Use this for requirement 4 of Family Activities.
  5. If you finish early, for requirement 6 of Spiritual Development you can try to find information about a pioneer ancestor. Go to www.lds.org/churchhistory . Click on Mormon Pioneer Overland Travel and search for names of pioneer ancestors. If necessary, ask a consultant to help you use New FamilySearch to find an ancestor that was born in the east or abroad but died in the west.

Include information on the handout about the family history center (FHC): address, phone number, hours. Remember that adult leaders may have never been to the FHC before; make certain they know how to get there.

Print enough copies of the handout for each boy and each adult.

Contact the FHC well ahead of the scheduled day. Make reservations as required by your center. Verify the number of consultants that will be present. Allow for no more than an hour at the center. When it comes to 12-year old boys, it’s better to be rushed than bored.

Keep in mind that if Mutual starts at 7:00pm, it will take some time for opening exercises and travel to the FHC. Our scouts arrived about 7:15 and left about 8:10 so that they could be home no later than 8:30pm.

Make certain each boy will have a computer. If necessary, schedule patrols on different nights.

We had eight boys, two scout leaders, and three consultants. The consultants were kept hopping and had to delegate whenever possible to the scout leaders. We really could have used another consultant, as one boy’s family was converts and one consultant was pretty much tied up helping him.

Another consultant would have also expedited getting everyone signed in through helper mode.

I shouted out generalized instructions, stepping through the steps on the handout, then assisted the other adults in seeing that all the boys were keeping up. I let other adults handle the stragglers, keeping most of the group together.

For step 3, we had each boy position their parents in the focus position of the NFS “Family Pedigree with Details” view. They could then click on the name of each person on the pedigree to display the information to retype into PAF.

Once the boys had entered themselves and their parents into PAF, they really took off through their four generations. Don’t worry about information that they don’t know and that isn’t available in New FamilySearch. Tell them to ask their parents when they get home. The goal at the moment is to

  • get them a printed family group sheet and a printed pedigree that they can take home with them,
  • give them a little experience entering genealogy information,
  • give them a little experience using New FamilySearch,
  • give them a success experience with several Duty to God requirements,
  • and give them a pleasant memory of using a family history center.

Start warning the boys when there is about 15 minutes of time left over, or when the first set of boys is nearing completion.

About this time one of the Scout leaders started exclaiming amazement at how easy genealogy was and how much the boys were accomplishing. Re-enforce the sentiment with comments about New FamilySearch.

When the first boy is ready to print his pedigree, I shouted out the instructions for everyone else to hear, and to set the expectation that the end was near.

The boys that finish ahead of the bell curve can work on step 5 with minimal assistance. However, we had lots of adults available at that time because the rest of the boys were in the highly repetition portion of transferring their pedigree.

Once you hit the majority of the bell curve, don’t actively push them on to step 5. Tell those on the late end of the bell curve to stop where they are and print their pedigree chart as is.

Have anyone that’s found an ancestor in step 5 print out a page about their ancestor to share in home evening or in quorum meeting.

Get them out on time before the energy level of the activity has a chance to drop.

I’m out of time. Think about the follow-up opportunities with parents, leaders, bishopric, and the boys! Think about what changes you’d make in this formula for non-pioneer descendents where a boy might end up with an FOR for a baptism for the dead. That gives follow-up opportunities with quorum leaders, adult leaders, home teachers, and other family members.

Guess I don’t have time to comment on the problems present in New FamilySearch that are made apparent by this activity.

I used to dread having youth groups come to the FHC because it was impossible to get them to bring the name of a departed ancestor and it was a negative experience for them because they weren’t prepared. I think I’m going to love youth groups now that we have New FamilySearch.

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

NFS Rollout News for the Autumn Equinox

Once again we have reached that time of year when people put their lives in danger trying to cross the east-west streets of Salt Lake City. Like a municipal Stonehenge, the sun, the pedestrian’s skull, the car’s bumper, and the driver’s eyes form a perfect line.

And once again its time for a New FamilySearch (NFS) update, with a new map, showing the deployment of NFS to members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

New FamilySearch Rollout Map for 21 Sep 2009

Since the last map update, the Idaho Falls rollout completed. This finishes the entire state of Idaho, leaving just Utah and the non-Roman language temples in China (Taiwan and Hong Kong), Japan, and Korea.

The big news of the day is that Ogden is next. Next Monday Provo will finish and Ogden will start. I don’t know if it is intentional, but I see a pattern emerging:

  • Boise (temple furthest away towards the north)
  • St. George (temple furthest away to the south)
  • Idaho Falls (north)
  • Provo (south)
  • Ogden (north)

So! Who do you think will be next? Might it go…

  • Mt. Timpanogos?,
  • Bountiful?,
  • Draper?,
  • Salt Lake?,
  • Oquirrh?, and
  • Jordan River?

The number of stakes going live since the August release of NFS has been:

  • 31 Aug 2009: 29
  • 7 Sep 2009: 30
  • 14 Sep 2009: 40
  • 21 Sep 2009: 39
  • 28 Sep 2009: 41

If the number of stakes going live continues to be 40 per week, then going forward, the schedule might be:

  Ogden ? 5 Oct 2009 (40) ?
12 Oct 2009 (19) ?
  Mt. Timpanogos ? 12 Oct 2009 (21) ?
19 Oct 2009 (40) ?
  Bountiful ? 26 Oct 2009 (32) ?
  Draper ? 26 Oct 2009 (8) ?
2 Nov 2009 (17) ?
  Salt Lake ? 2 Nov 2009 (23) ?
9 Nov 2009 (40) ?
16 Nov 2009 (8) ?
  Oquirrh ? 16 Nov 2009 (26) ?
  Jordan River ? 16 Nov 2009 (6) ?
23 Nov 2009 (40) ?
30 Nov 2009 (40) ?
7 Dec 2009 (25) ?

 

I DON’T KNOW IF THIS IS CORRECT!!! If I knew anything about the plans, I wouldn’t be able to share it with you. Fortunately, I don’t know so I’m free to speculate, just as any of you. The actual order may be different. Or the number of stakes going live per week could go up or down. Or the number of temples involved per week might be capped at 2, so my example schedule for 16 Nov 2009 might not be possible. Or a glitch could put the rollout on hold. Or the November 2009 release of NFS could speed up the rollout.

I just don’t know.

But unless the rollout is put on hold, we should all be live by the first Monday in December!!!

When your stake gets a go live date, let me know at AncestryInsider@gmail.com . And stay tuned to “Temple Districts Using New FamilySearch” for the latest news!

Monday, September 21, 2009

Drouin Collection Returns and Respect the Fonz

The Fonz 
Arthur “The Fonz” Fonzarelli
Credit: D.J. Concert Productions

Ancestry.com and the Drouin Genealogical Institute have reached an agreement that returns availability of the Drouin Collection to Ancestry.com today, according to Dick Eastman. Eastman credits reader Marc Paquet for posting a comment with the news. My thanks to all of you that share comments with the general community. Your collective knowledge exceeds any single one of us. Hat’s off to you.

Ancestry.com may or may not fix the collection page (www.ancestry.com/drouin ) until their regular weekly “roll day.” If not, maybe the links below will start working first thing Monday morning:

The announcement is given in French at http://institutdrouin.com . The Google translation is:

News Release

Ancestry.com and Jean-Pierre Pepin (Drouin Genealogical Institute) announced to their customers and the wider community of genealogists that they have made in resolving their dispute.

In doing so, the parties took into account the concerns of genealogists outlined in recent weeks.

Thus, Ancestry.com will provide online digital Drouin Fund on its website from Monday, September 21, 2009.

The parties wish to thank the community of genealogists and wish them well for future research.

Ancestry.com
Drouin Genealogical Institute

Montreal September 17, 2009

The French word for collection is fonds, for which Google gives the more common English translation, fund. Thus, the Google translation of the page reads “Drouin Fund” when the correct translation is “Drouin Collection.”


Collection Integrity

Changing the subject, it turns out that the word, fonds, is of extreme importance to genealogists. The basis for modern archival practice is expressed in the rule:

Respect des fonds

Literally, “respect the collection,” the principle means to respect and preserve the integrity of an assembled set of historical records and artifacts to preserve their evidentiary value. Genealogists derive pleasure and meaning from seeking and understanding our forbearers. To do so, we need evidence that we can trust.

I call upon genealogy record providers (Ancestry.com, FamilySearch, Footnote.com, WorldVitalRecords.com, etc.) to learn and comply with sound, archival practice.

Respect des fonds.

Friday, September 18, 2009

Future of Family History Centers

Russell Webster
Family History Centers — An Important Resource for Family History Help”
Sat., 29 August 2009, 4:00PM.
Salt Lake Family History Expo

Russell Webster How do you spell ai-yai-yai? I presented last session and my feet are killing me!
Getting settled for the last session.
It is Russell Webster, “Family History Centers (FHCs)-An Important Resource for Family History Help.”
This is part of the free track for family history consultants.
[If you are not a family history consultant for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, this presentation will probably not interest you.]
The concept alone of FHCs is still changing as needs change. My slides are still in the revision process. It’s been a while since I revised it. I may skip through some slides.
Most of the audience are consultants, by show of hands.

FHC background
-4600+ centers worldwide.
Have you heard it said, “There will be no new FHCs”? That is not true, although it is true for some areas.
Utah and Idaho are oversaturated with FHCs.
North America requests will be carefully scrutinized.
Funds are going to developing countries.
Types of family history centers:
- stake,
- multi-stake,
- large multi-stake (that’s the official term for what some call regional FHCs).

Meetinghouse FHCs are no longer.
Administration of FHCs is at stake level.

FHC stats
- 4 million visitors annually
- 70% are non-members
- 700 thousand rolls of film in distribution
- 20 thousand computers
- 6 million annual staffing hours
- many FHCs have limited hours and limited staff
Q. Will FHCs go away when film goes away?
A. No. We don't foresee a time when they won't be necessary.
Why were FHCs created?
- For film circulation.
- Later added TempleReady.

Change in Focus away from FHC as main focus to FHC as a tool…
with family history consultants as the main focus.
Long-range Direction: Assistance.
Family History research assistance
- capable ward consultants help members directly

Transition activities:
- Strengthen ward Family History consultants:
- - Online training
- - Strong support network
- - Improved local priesthood direction
- Consultants staff FHCs

"There may be films that are never digitized"

Long-range Direction: Record Access 
- moving to online access
Long-range Direction: Temple Names
- Before: Submit only from FHC
- Soon submit names via the Internet
- All temples now use Ordinance Recording System (ORS), can print cards from Family Ordinance Request (FOR).
(  Q. Why can’t temples accept TempleReady and FORs during transition?
A. A lot of the temples received new computers powerful enough to run the new ORS and the new computers may have been without floppy drives, so they can't handle TempleReady floppies.
Comment from audience: Jordan River stopped July 1.
Q. Is there a way to turn a TempleReady floppy back into a GEDCOM?
A. (from the audience) Change the .sub file extension to .ged   )
- Provide simple submission via Internet
- Track Internet availability to members in homes, meetinghouses, or public locations
- Reduce duplication
Q. What does rollout mean?
A. Implement a new system
Types of Centers
- Computer only
- Small 15 hr week
- Medium open 20-40 week
- Multi-stake
- Large Multi-stake
What Lies Ahead
- Increased participation, particularly from members of the Church
Statistics showed about 2-3% were doing family history before,
now up to about 12-3% where NFS is in place.
(I wish he would put off questions.)
Q. We're discouraged with priesthood support
A. Hard to address. We take a step back and see family history isn't biggest focus for leaders, but we see what's on their plates and we understand why.
...Rather than telling them what they should be doing, our suggestion to you is that you invite the priesthood leader over for…
brownies and ice cream. Tell him, “What I need from you is a couple of names of ancestors.” Then you do what you need to do to get a card in…
their hands for one of their own ancestors. When they have that experience in the temple it changes them. Family history work also helps the other…
missions of the Church. You are not going to change their hearts, but there is someone who can.
What Lies Ahead
- Reduced % visits to FHC
- More difficult research questions
Why go to FHC
- Access to technology
- Access to restricted content
- Access to help
- Collaboration and relationships
- Access to facilitated training
FHC of the future
- 1 film reader
- more PCs
- very limited book collection
- well equipped training centers
- well trained staff
How to Prepare
- register FHC staff as consultants
- Use new training.

Training lessons for new center directors are available
- Find ways to leverage content from other sources
- - FHL
- - FamilySearch (the web site?)
We're trying to push more of the resources of the FHL out to FHCs

LANDesk
- FHCs need LANDesk installed on all computers that are connected to the Internet. Its a program downloaded from SLC so SLC can
- Troubleshoot & fix PCs remotely, with your permission 
- Gather info about hardware. There's too many old systems out there.
- Automatic updates to programs such as anti-virus.
- Don't install LANDesk on private computers.
- Installs licenses for premium websites
- Verifies firewall is working

It's been a great conference, everyone. I'm headed out. If I win something at the prize drawing, tough luck. Re-draw & give away
#FHX09-SLC, Bye, bye!

This article is the last in a series of session reports from the recent 2009 Salt Lake City Family History Expo taken from my live tweets of the event. Please see my Tweeting Presentations Policy for further information, including the formatting guidelines I attempt to follow and instructions for correcting errors. Additions are NOT in italics this time; they were too confusing.

Thursday, September 17, 2009

New Sunday School Family History Course Materials

Anne Roach
“New Resources for Teaching Family History Classes”
Sat., 29 August 2009, 1:00PM.
Salt Lake Family History Expo

Anne Roach This is the 1st free Family History Consultant Training session of the conference. [If you are not a family history consultant for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, this presentation will probably not interest you.]

Nearly every chair is full. We're in the big hall, so there's probably 800 chairs.

In this session we will look at the new family history course for members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The Church is in 160 countries, more than half outside the US, 52% non-English.
In Peru, only 100 out of 1000 have personal computers, so FamilySearch must support those without computers.
The new manuals must address needs across the Church.
President Boyd K. Packer Teach True Doctrine:

"True doctrine, understood, changes attitudes and behavior. The study of the doctrines of the gospel will improve behavior quicker than a study of behavior will improve behavior."

Boyd K. Packer
Elder Richard G. Scott Focus on the Spirit:

“This is a spiritual work, a monumental effort of cooperation on both sides of the veil where help is given in both directions.”

Richard G. Scott
What do we teach?
- doctrine,
- basic approach to gathering and recording family information,
- how to provide temple ordinances.
Not in-depth.

Variety of teaching/learning approaches
- self study.
Gordon PAF-is-not-dead Clarke tried teaching from the new manuals. He found self-study is important.
- One-on-one coaching.
- Hands on computer classes (optional).
- Weekly assignments.
- Clarke came up with supplemental handouts.
- Get online with those students without Internet.
- Suggested having ward family history night.
- Can use lessons in other settings: FHE, youth.
Officially, this is a 7-week course. Clarke found 12 were needed for the group he taught.
Instructor's Guide (35804 000) Q. Where are the manuals?
A. Instructors manual sent to wards, available for online order, not yet in all distribution stores. An attendee reported that Ft. Union had some that morning.

[Joseph Smith Building had some last Monday morning so I bought one! ($5.25 I think.) At the Utah Valley PAF User Group Meeting last Saturday someone reported that the Orem Distribution Center receives new shipments Wednesday—was it evening?—so Thursday morning was a good time to check.]
Member's Guide (36795 000) The student manual is the Members Guide.
7 chapters.
Highly visual, like Teach My Gospel.
Appendix has forms.
One was also sent to wards.
Not available yet for order.

Download is available.

[This one is also sporadically available in distribution centers. I got one at the Joseph Smith Building distribution center last week. Last Monday they were out. This is a no-charge item.]
Instructors guide has 3 optional computer workshops.
When teaching, have students read from Members guide
Anne now showing from DVD, clip on incorrect interviewing techniques.
[Who is that actress? Don't I know her?]
Now discussing the clip.
[Hey, there's a guy here shooting some video of us. And a guy with a camera. I know him. He ran the
...video camera for my interview with Lisa Louisa Cooke. He works for The Family History Expos.] Now watching clip of the right…
way to do oral interviews.
The DVD comes with the instructors manual.

 

It was some of the Q and A exchange that followed that prompted me to add a list of FamilySearch links to my web site. The last part of Anne’s handout is titled “Supplemental Lessons” and has a list of the seven lessons released last November. (See Renee Zamora, “Family History Lesson Series,” Renee’s Genealogy Blog.) Anne’s handout states the “supplemental lessons are available on www.familysearch.org,” but does not explain how to get to the lessons. Someone in the audience asked where the lessons were. This was followed by…

But why tell you about it when you can read my real-time account?

Q. Where are the supplemental lessons?
A. There is also additional supplemental materials that Brent
Summerhays says is available on the Utah/Idaho rollout site.
[True, but not the location of the supplemental lessons.]
Q. Will we have access to clerk's WiFi for teaching this class?
A. Depends on your stake president.
Q. How do you get to the Utah/Idaho rollout site?
A.
http://consultant.familysearch.org register as a Family History Consultant.
[True, that is the web site you go through to get to the Utah/Idaho rollout site, and you can register as a consultant there. But you don’t have to register to get to the Utah/Idaho rollout site and that is not the location of the supplemental lessons.]

Optional PC courses: [I assume this refers to the “New FamilySearch Rollout Exercises.” To get to these exercises,
- login to New FamilySearch
- click on Help Center
- click on Training & Resources (which is only available to consultants)
- notice the second box is labeled “Resources for Consultants and Leaders”
- within this box, click on “New FamilySearch Rollout Exercises”
A new window will open with links to the rollout practice exercises (which are also not the supplemental lessons):]
1. learn how to register on NFS,
2. learn how to get help,
3. learn how to use NFS to search for ancestors,
4. learn how to submit information stored in a program like PAF,
5. learn the icons used in NFS,
6. learn how to delete and correct information,
7. learn how NFS organizes information by individual,
8. learn
how to submit temple ordinances on NFS,
9. learn other temples features in NFS,
10. learn how to work with other contributors, and
11. learn how to help someone else use NFS.

Comment from audience:
35804 is number for Instructors Guide.
Merissa Palmer came out of audience to direct people to NFS help center for training. Click on Training and Resources tab. [But, also not the location of the supplemental lessons.]

The new Sunday School lessons use NFS.
There are 13 video segments on the DVD that comes with the Instructors Guide.

Comment from audience: Additional resources are available on FamilySearch.org. [This is where the supplemental lessons are, but the audience member didn’t mention how to get to them. To get to the supplemental lessons, look under “What’s New.” Click on “Family History Lesson Series provides useful guides.” Or come to my web site and use the list of links I’ve added.]

Best practices:
- Keep class size to 6-8 students,
- prepare audiovisual equipment before hand,
- use TV instead of laptop because of audio and chances for fumbling,
- make class as hands-on as possible,
- provide 1 on 1 help with assignments,
- allow class-time for follow-up,
- share spiritual experiences,
- teach the new direction of NFS in Family History.
Anne gave an example of Christ-like approach to collaboration.

Time is up. She's going to start another clip for those that aren't leaving to another class.

The next Family History Consultant class is “FamilySearch Support: How Can We Help You?” by Russell Webster.
I'm teaching, so I won’t be here to report it.
TTFN

This article is one in a series of session reports from the recent 2009 Salt Lake City Family History Expo taken from my live tweets of the event. Please see my Tweeting Presentations Policy for further information, including the formatting guidelines I attempt to follow and instructions for correcting errors. Additions are in italics.

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Jay Burrup: the Church History Library

Jay Burrup
“A Brief Introduction to the Church History Library”
Fri., 28 August 2009, 4:30PM.
Salt Lake Family History Expo

Jay Burrup “A Brief Introduction to the Church History Library” [not to be confused with the Family History Library.]

New Church History Library (CHL) opened 22 June 2009.
Showing picture of special collections reading room.

Q. Are digital cameras allowed.
A. Not presently, but are reconsidering that policy.
CHLInnerReadingRoom_640_432Special Collections Reading Room
(Architectural Rendering)

Rules of use for special collections (same as other archives):
- Leave stuff in lockers.
- No food, drink, pens.
- Laptops OK.

- Handle items with care.
Usually you'll view microfilm or digital images.

Major collection types:
- Published,
- Unpublished,
- Online.
Unfortunately, the catalog is not on the Internet.
[Although since inside the Church firewall you can see it, you can probably see it at the FHL.]

Published sources:
- 1830 edition Book of Mormon.
- Book of Commandments, personal copy from Wilford Woodruff.
- All Church periodicals (Some gaps in foreign. If you have old copies of Church Periodicals from outside the U.S. that you are willing to donate, please contact the Church History Archives.).
- Curriculum.

Online sources:
- Mormon Pioneer Overland Travel, 1847-1868 Database 
   http://www.mormontrail.lds.org
   Has names of 42,000 of 60,000 pioneers 1847-68.
   We’re missing 18,000 names of these pioneers. We figure some of you have information on some of these. You’re invited to submit that information at the web site so we can review and incorporate it.
   Has list of sources, many transcribed, giving accounts of crossing the plains.
   Has list of emigrant companies.
- LDS Church Periodical Index
   http://chperiodicals.lds.org covers Church and related publications from 1976 to present.
- Mormons and Their Neighbors
   http://w3.lib.byu.edu/Ancestry/ indexes 100,000 life sketches relating to Utah and surrounding area.

Unpublished Sources:
- Church records
- Local unit records (for wards, stakes, branches, districts, and missions)
- Manuscripts
- Oral histories
- Audio-visual.
- Journal History of the Church
   Day-by-day scrapbook of Church news, 1830-now.
   Card index on microfilm for 1830-1973, available on FHL microfilm.
   Electronic index 1990-present (available at CHL)
   1830-1973 available at FHL on microfilm
- Church census records, 1914-1962.
   1914 first Church census,
   1920 to 1960 every 5 years save 1945
   Also available at FHL (1914-1960, index, 1930-1935).
- Deceased member records 1941-July 1988.
   Also available at FHL on microfilm.
   [Kip Sperry recommends Patricia N. (Howard) Hardesty’s Index to Deceased Members’ Batch Numbers for locating women by maiden name.1]

- Manuscript histories (Series 2 and 3)
   For ca. 1890 forward.
   (For wards, stakes, branches, districts, and missions)
- Record of Members.
   Have more than what is microfilmed.
   [FHL has most]
- Annual “Form E” (ward) reports.
   [FHL has 1907-ca. 1948]
- Officers and Historical and Statistical Reports.
- Minutes of meetings.
   Sacrament Meeting to 1977.
   Auxiliaries to 1973.
- Patriarchal Blessings.
   Available for direct ancestors, call 801-240-3581, or e-mail patriarchalblessing@ldschurch.org
   [Provide the following information with each request:
   - Requester’s name and contact information
   - Requester’s relation to recipient
   - Full name of recipient at time of blessing
   - Recipient’s birth date
   - Indicate whether recipient is living or dead
   - Approximate year of blessing
   - Patriarch’s name and stake
   - Volume and page, if you’ve checked the index ]

   No fee, but limit of 4 per request
   [Index available at FHL (1833-ca. 1934, 1833-1963, 1833-1993) ]
- Priesthood Line of Authority.
   801-240-3500 or lineofauthority@ldschurch.org . Email is very quick.
- Brigham Young office files, 1832-1877.
   Has name index.
   About 15,000 letters.
- Missionary recommendations and calls, 1877-1918.
   Letters and index at CHL.
- Photographs, 1840s-present.
   About 1 million.
   And drawings.
Daguerreotype of the Nauvoo Temple Burrup recounted the story of when he and an associate found the daguerreotype (say, “duh-gary-oh-type”) photograph of the Nauvoo temple. The two were visiting the Daughters of Utah Pioneers Museum in Cedar City, Utah [in 1998]. One of them was examining a small item labeled, “Pioneer Mirror.” It did look like a small mirror, only a little bigger than 2 by 3 inches. Daguerreotypes do look like mirrors. He turned to the other and said, “I think I see something in here.” As you move your viewing angle, the image switches negative or positive. Carefully moving back and forth, they could see the image change.

Highly faded, they obtained permission to take the daguerreotype back to the Church History Library and Archive to see if they could restore the image. They were delighted to find the most detailed photograph ever discovered of the Nauvoo Temple. The daguerreotype was one that was even known to have been taken, but knowledge of its location had been lost. What a miracle it was to re-discover it, unrecognized but preserved, in a small museum in a small town in Southern Utah. The timing was perfect for the project to rebuild the Nauvoo Temple.
JohnHenrySmith Showing some interesting Church History photographs.

[While not one of the photographs Burrup showed, the photograph to the right is illustrative of some he showed. This detail from a photograph of newlyweds Sarah Farr Smith and future apostle John Henry Smith in 1866 comes from p. 165 of Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Brigham Young.]

Subjects of photographs are not usually identified unless they played a prominent role in the history of the Church. 
That was fun! We went a little over. See you tomorrow! I present, so I won't tweet much.

 

Here’s a little information about the new Church History Library:

This article is one in a series of session reports from the recent 2009 Salt Lake City Family History Expo taken from my live tweets of the event. Please see my Tweeting Presentations Policy for further information, including the formatting guidelines I attempt to follow and instructions for correcting errors. Additions are in italics.


     1.  Kip Sperry, A Guide to Mormon Family History Sources (Provo, Utah: Ancestry Publishing, 2007), 49.

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Marilyn Markham’s New England, part 2

Marilyn Markham
“New England: Probate, Land, and Tax Records”
Fri., 28 August 2009, 3:00
PM.
Salt Lake Family History Expo

Marilyn MarkhamProbate Records:

Giving background on probate records.
testate=there is a will
intestate=there is no will

Covering what wills contain. [I think my energy level is dropping fast!]

Son-in-law used to mean “son insofar as the law is concerned” which includes step-sons.
The New A to Zax - good for old word meanings
Blacks Law Dictionary - good for interpreting probate.
Children often owed money to their parents, so pay attention to who owed money to the deceased.
Dower rights - by law, widow got 1/3 of deceased' estate. That's why previous to death you often see wife's permission on deeds when land is sold.
In inventory, “To” was abbreviation for item.

Settlements and Distributions
- list all those receiving property.
- Tells the locations of the people receiving property.
- Tells married names.
Dower rights are literal: 1/3 of house, barn, etc.
Guardianships are part of probates. May not be surviving parent if large amount of property; guardian may be relative or really good friend.
Probate records at:
Town
- Rhode Island
District
- Connecticut
- Vermont
County
- Maine
- Massachusetts
- New Hampshire
See The Genealogists Handbook for New England Research.
(BTW, I see that Digest of the Early Connecticut Probate Records is online: Vol. 1, Vol. 2 and Vol. 3 are on Google Books.)

Land records:
Majority of males can be found in them.
Exist from beginning of settlement.
Contain clues of where births were.
In early Rhode Island, land records were called Land evidences.

Tax records:
Poll=person free to vote and over age 21.
Seeing who paid taxes on a plot can indicate when husband died
... or a widow remarried.
Finding places: http://geonames.usgs.gov/domestic/index.html - gives log/lat for modern places, objects.
Giving places to check county boundary changes.

Map Guide to the U.S. Federal Censuses, 1790-1920 [Thorndale and Dollarhide]
Animap - software program
[Many Animap maps have been posted on FamilyHistory101.com. In the left column, click on County Formation Maps.
There is also the Newberry Library’s collection of maps of historic county boundaries.]

Done with 3:00 session.

This article is one in a series of session reports from the recent 2009 Salt Lake City Family History Expo taken from my live tweets of the event. Please see my Tweeting Presentations Policy for further information, including the formatting guidelines I attempt to follow and instructions for correcting errors. Additions are in italics.

Monday, September 14, 2009

Marilyn Markham’s New England, part 1

Marilyn Markham
“New England: Overview of Research”
Fri., 28 August 2009, 1:30
PM.
Salt Lake Family History Expo

Marilyn MarkhamCovering early New England history.
[She went through each NE state and gave some early history. I wasn’t able to capture very much of it.]

New Hampshire:
- 1623 settled by Mass. dissenters
- 1641-79 part of Mass.
- 1679 became its own royal province

- 1788 statehood
Rhode Island:
- 1636 religious dissenters from Mass went to Providence.

Roger Williams…
…statehood
[I'm not keeping up.]

Vermont:
- 1724 1st English settlement at Ft. Dummer.
- “Vermont” is from French for Green Mountain.
became an independent republic…
…statehood

Towns are different out West versus New England. Out West towns are settlements and townships are legal land descriptions.
In New England, towns are large areas in size somewhat like Western townships. [I think of them like tiny counties.]
Settlements were called villages.
In New England when you identify where you're from, you give your town.
“Town center” is populated place with same name as the town.
Modern road maps don't show towns, but populated places. Legal documents show town names. Cities may not be part of any town.
Almost all records were kept by the town.
Vital records kept by town.
Land kept by town (CT, RI, VT) or County (other states).
Probate records were kept by the District (CT, VT) the Town: (?) or the County (?). [Sorry; didn't get it all.]

  Vitals Land Probate
Connecticut Town Town District
Maine Town County County
Massachusetts Town County County
New Hampshire Town County County
Rhode Island Town Town Town
Vermont Town Town District

Vitals:
Connecticut vitals:
1638-1850 - Barbour Collection.
          Barbour is available on Ancestry.com.
1897-present - www.ct.gov/dph/site
Maine vitals:
[Marilyn didn't give the FamilySearch Wiki URLs, I'm doing that because she
...goes too fast for me!]
http://www.maine.gov/sos/arc  - Maine state archives, 1892-1996 marriage index.
Massachusetts vitals:
Early-1850 - http://www.newenglandancestors.org fee web site, free at FHL
New Hampshire vitals:
Indexes to 1900 indexed by 1st and 3rd letter.
Rhode Island vitals:
Arnold and Calef books for pre 1850.
RI has website for recent vitals.
Vermont vitals:
pre 1908 have statewide index. Records under name of town in FHLC. ... [Yikes! I can't tweet all this!]

Town Records:
Town records record a wide variety of event types.
When vitals recorded for an entire family, find land record for their arrival
...to determine who was born locally. Might ID where they came from.
Town records id officers: selectmen, constable, etc.
May contain religious tax exemptions.
Warnings Out identified poor that the town would not support, asked to leave.
It was not until the 1850s that towns stopped supporting their own citizens.

Church records:
Congregational Church was the main church.
Baptists early in NH, RI, VT.
Quakers …
Catholic …
Episcopal …
Admissions and dismissals indicated move-ins and move-outs.

Census:
Federal 1790-1930, available in all the usual places.
State censuses available for... (available in the syllabus)
Record Search pilot: http://pilot.familysearch.org 
...has some state censuses.

New England Ports:
Boston (1820-1943) available on Ancestry.com.
In 1820 US government started requiring passenger lists.
Passenger and Immigration Lists Index (PILI) is the best source for pre-1820 immigration. Available on Ancestry.com or in books.
Canadian Border Crossings, 1895-1924.
Minor Ports: See FHL 973 W33u

New England Naturalizations:
- 1791-1906 Index to Naturalizations across multiple states.
Post 1906 go to NCIS website.

To find all these records:
* Family History Library Catalog:
Go to FHLC and search under place, using jurisdictions we've identified. 
* Record Search
* Ancestry.com fee, or free at FHL
* wiki http://wiki.familysearch.org
Showing the wiki organization.
* vitalrec.com
http://www.vitalrec.com - gives addresses
* newenglandancestors.org
http://www.newenglandancestors.org - some free, some fee, free at FHL
* Societies, Archives, and Libraries:
Societies: NEHGS
Archives: NARA, state, Church.
Libraries: Public, town or county http://www.publiclibraries.com
Historians: town or county
And we're done with the 1:30 session.

Several times during her presentation, Marilyn recommended the book, The Genealogists Handbook for New England Research. I didn’t realize there have been multiple books with this title. Checking the syllabus, I see it was Marcia D. Melnyk’s.

This article is one in a series of session reports from the recent 2009 Salt Lake City Family History Expo taken from my live tweets of the event. Please see my Tweeting Presentations Policy for further information, including the formatting guidelines I attempt to follow and instructions for correcting errors. Additions are in italics.