Rootstech 2017 is almost here.
Time to register if you plan to go!
Tuesday, October 4, 2016
My Heritage Mapping App
A few weeks ago My Heritage launched an app that allows you to take your people on the tree and it places geographic locations on a world map. Go to myheritage.com and then the the Apps on the tool bar near the top of the home page. Click on the App and you will see it in the dropdown menu. It is called the Pedigree Map.
It is quite cool and it let me see which of my deceased relatives from other countries actually came to America where they died. Check it out. Also remember that searching on My Heritage is free and you can capture any documents you find via Tree Connect to Family Search.
Like everything else, My Heritage is a great tool and as you learn more about it you will begin to want to use it more.
Monday, October 3, 2016
Taking Stock of How We Research
For those of us that do a lot of Genealogy and Family History work it is importnat to have a plan. All too often we just start looking for a person without a real direction in mind. There is not one plan that fits all of us but think about how you research.
1. What I like to do is start with the information I have in Family Search on Family Tree and check out what's there. Is it correct, is it sound and does it make sense? By checking the record hints on the Person Details Page if there are problems with something you will see a red Exclamation Point alerting you to maybe this isn't right or doesn't make much sense. Correcting that is important. So figure it out and make the needed correction.
2. Then I look for records on Family Search. Although Family Search defaults to the Records page which often gives you lots of random possibilities I find that the Collections tab right next to the Records Tab can be more helpful.
3. Then I proceed through the other three partners to see what they have on my person. Anything that pertains and is not a duplicate record I attach to my person with the FS/RT source linker right in the program.
4. The next step is analyze the records you have found. (This seems intuitive but it is not always what people do. They attach the source and go on to something else.)
5. Once you have analyzed the records and compiled your information you are ready for the next step. Ask yourself a few questions? What am I looking for? What do I still need? Be specific. What kind of record might give me that information?
6. If I cannot find that type of record online...then what next? Go to the FS Research Wiki put in the locality and find out what records are available for that locality and where you will find them. As an example, if you are searching for a divorce record in CA you will learn that you will not find it online from the Wiki. You may have to go to Sacramento for the State Archives or contact the County to help you locate the record for a fee. The importance of the Research Wiki, as well as, reading the description of any record collection before you start ploughing through it will save a lot of time searching in the wrong places. One thing I am learning is never discount the value of Historical Societies. I called Macon County Missouri HS and got a whole lot more than I dreamed possible just last week.
7. I like to double check everything once I am done inputing the information into The Tree. I know this is a good idea for me after all the transposed numbers and typos I can find.
These are just some of the things wanted to share after reading Amy Johnson Crow's blog post about researching for a specific answer. You can find her here.
http://www.amyjohnsoncrow.com/2016/09/23/31-days-better-genealogy-version-2-0/
Amy is running a 31 days of email ideas for letter genealogy right now that is simple and informative.
http://www.amyjohnsoncrow.com/2016/09/23/31-days-better-genealogy-version-2-0/
Amy is running a 31 days of email ideas for letter genealogy right now that is simple and informative.
Remember to Ask yourself a QUESTION to get to the heart of what you need.
Tuesday, September 27, 2016
Ten Things That We All Need to Know About Family Search/Family Tree
Knowing the things that make Family Search/Family Tree unique as Family Trees go is extremely important to know and share with patrons that do not have a tree on the FS website. There are major advantages to suggesting that people start using the Worldwide Family Tree. One of the main ones is that it is very likely they will find some family members on it within the first few generations. They may not want to sign up because they have heard about some of the issues they do not understand about this Wiki based way of recording and working with others to create the best tree. James Tanner has written this article that I think everyone should know about from the onset of jumping onto the FS/FT.
Although James Tanner's observations are surely subjective, they are well grounded in facts and his vast experiences with many many newcomers to FS/FT. Coupling that with his extensive experience and knowledge about genealogy this article is a keeper. I have added it to my Source Box links for ready reference.
This past Thursday I had an experience that fortified this for me. A patron asked me why he should considered moving his genealogy to FS/FT. He presented a very good reason for why he thought he should but had some misgivings about it. This article will be the basis of what I am formulating to send him this week after I complete my research for him regarding moving images between various websites.
I am adding this entire post here giving full attribution to James Tanner for it. He writes:
" Beyond basic computer skills and some knowledge about how to enter and update entries, there are many important things that you need to know and understand about the FamilySearch.org Family Tree program. In this post, I have selected ten things that I think everyone should know. Here they are:
Number One:
The FamilySearch Family Tree is a Wiki
I have written about this point several times in the past, but it is really the key to understanding how and why the Family Tree works. It is also the reason why many people are initially frustrated with the supposed "changes" to the data in the Family Tree that seems to be going on all the time. A "wiki" is defined as a website that allows collaborative editing of its contents and structure by its users. See Wikipedia: Wiki. Since every registered user of the program has access to all of the entries in the Family Tree, except for those references to living people, all of these users can add, delete, change, modify, edit and merge all of the entries in the program. Change is the result of using a wiki format to store data.
Genealogists are not used to the idea of sharing and collaborating their data. There is a pervasive attitude among researchers that what they find and enter into family records is "their" genealogy. This attitude has been engendered by the fact that historically, genealogists worked alone and were not forced to share their data with anyone else unless they consciously chose to do so. So working with a wiki like the Family Tree is not just a new experience, it is completely new experience.
The Family Tree is not a completely accessible wiki program. The administrators of the Family Tree (FamilySearch employees and indirectly The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) have control over what is and what is not ultimately added as content. But the administrators are not concerned with either the accuracy of the entries or their consistency. If I enter a date incorrectly, there are automatic functions of the program that will assess that date's reasonableness in certain ways, but beyond those quasi-editorial notices, such as the warning icons, there is no one except other users, interested in your particular entries.
You do not own the information you add to the Family Tree. When you enter any information into the Family Tree, that information immediately becomes the common property of all of the users of the program. No one has to ask permission to make any changes etc. to the data in the Family Tree. They might want to ask questions, but the format of the program does not require you or anyone else to do so.
Number Two:
Because the FamilySearch Family Tree is a wiki, you are responsible to maintain the integrity of your own data.
Despite user impressions to the contrary, the information added to the Family Tree is not usually arbitrary or capricious. The concept that "wrong" information is being added to the Family Tree is based on the user's impression as to the "correctness" of the entries. If I think my ancestor was born on a certain day, then anyone changing that entry entry is automatically characterized as wrong.
So what happens if you see such a change? You and the other person entering information are both responsible to see that the information added is correct. You do this by substantiating any changes made with reference to an historical source where the data is found.
Number Three:
There are a number of simple practices that help maintain the integrity of the Family Tree.
The first and most important practice to maintain the integrity of the Family Tree is to "watch" all of those individuals that are of concern to you. The link to watch each individual is found on the individual detail pages for each individual and on the information cards that come up anytime you click on an individual. If you watch someone in the FamilyTree, FamilySearch will send you a list of any changes made to your watched individuals each week. You can review the list and take action to verify any changes.
Your perception that the entries are always changing is not accurate. Overall, there are usually very few changes made to older entries. The key here is adding in sources and making any proper corrections quickly. If you tend to look at the Family Tree every month or so, the number of changes will seem larger than they really are. If you watch your entries and review the weekly list and immediately make any needed corrections, then the cumulative effect of this action will be to decrease the number of changes assuming your own changes and additions are substantially supported by credible sources.
Number Four:
All entries in the Family Tree are tentative.
It is the nature of historical research that all conclusions made are subject to the discovery of more definite and reliable information. In the course of working with the Family Tree, many people report substantial revisions to their traditional perception of their family history. This is caused by finding out that they were adopted, that their parents never married, that some female ancestors had children out of wedlock and so forth. Newly discovered information may revise any of the entries.
Number Five:
The original data that went into the Family Tree was not reliable.
The Family Tree consists of user contributed information gathered by FamilySearch and its predecessor organizations over more than 100 years. The Family Tree is the first time all of this information could be integrated and edited. No one was previously responsible for the accuracy of all of the data. No one at Family Search or before has checked any of the information in the Family Tree for accuracy. You are now responsible for that portion of the data in the Family Tree about you and your family.
Number Six:
Anyone can see any data entered about dead people in the Family Tree
There nothing private or proprietary about the Family Tree except for living people (see below). All entries concerning dead people are visible and entirely accessible to all registered users. If I wanted to, I could start editing entries in "your" portion of the Family Tree. But there is a practical limit on these entries. Why would I want to spend my time on a portion of the Family Tree with people I am not related to? The one exception is famous people who attract attention from those who are unrelated or only wish they were. In some cases the Family Tree is now rendered "Read Only" for some of these individuals.
Number Seven:
All data about living people is in a "Private Space" that cannot be seen by others.
Because data about living people is only viewable by the person entering such data there are some interesting consequences. FamilySearch creates a unique entry for each "living" person and that includes people who are actually dead but have no death information, i.e. are marked living. If that person was or is a member of the Church, likely the information is already in the Family Tree. So if you add in members of your immediate family, i.e. children, parents, siblings etc. who are alive, the entries are almost certain to be duplicates of their own personal entries. See the FamilySearch.org Help Center article entitled, "Understanding Private Spaces."
Number Eight:
The Family Tree is always and will always be a work in progress.
Computers and programs change with the changes in technology. The technology that enables us to have a program such as the Family Tree will continue to evolve in the future and so change is inevitable. There are still a huge number of "enhancements" that could be added to the Family Tree and some of those will undoubtedly surface as time passes.
Number Nine:
The Family Tree is the solution not the problem.
Nearly all the major issues with the operation of the Family Tree were resolved with the upgrade on June 27th, 2016 which should be known as Family Tree Independence Day. The major issues and residual complaints about the program are now entirely focused on the users and the residual uncorrected data. It is time to get busy and clean up your section of the Family Tree and add in every possible source you have or can find.
Number Ten:
The work on the Family Tree will likely never be finished in your lifetime.
There may actually be a relationship between the Family Tree and the end of the world and I do not say this lightly. We are involved in creating a unified, family tree of the entire human race and that work will take a while to complete. I suggest you get busy on your part of the Family Tree and don't expect that your portion of the work will be done by someone else in the Millennium.
You might think of some more important things and so might I."
Beyond basic computer skills and some knowledge about how to enter and update entries, there are many important things that you need to know and understand about the FamilySearch.org Family Tree program. In this post, I have selected ten things that I think everyone should know. Here they are:
Number One:
The FamilySearch Family Tree is a Wiki
I have written about this point several times in the past, but it is really the key to understanding how and why the Family Tree works. It is also the reason why many people are initially frustrated with the supposed "changes" to the data in the Family Tree that seems to be going on all the time. A "wiki" is defined as a website that allows collaborative editing of its contents and structure by its users. See Wikipedia: Wiki. Since every registered user of the program has access to all of the entries in the Family Tree, except for those references to living people, all of these users can add, delete, change, modify, edit and merge all of the entries in the program. Change is the result of using a wiki format to store data.
Genealogists are not used to the idea of sharing and collaborating their data. There is a pervasive attitude among researchers that what they find and enter into family records is "their" genealogy. This attitude has been engendered by the fact that historically, genealogists worked alone and were not forced to share their data with anyone else unless they consciously chose to do so. So working with a wiki like the Family Tree is not just a new experience, it is completely new experience.
The Family Tree is not a completely accessible wiki program. The administrators of the Family Tree (FamilySearch employees and indirectly The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) have control over what is and what is not ultimately added as content. But the administrators are not concerned with either the accuracy of the entries or their consistency. If I enter a date incorrectly, there are automatic functions of the program that will assess that date's reasonableness in certain ways, but beyond those quasi-editorial notices, such as the warning icons, there is no one except other users, interested in your particular entries.
You do not own the information you add to the Family Tree. When you enter any information into the Family Tree, that information immediately becomes the common property of all of the users of the program. No one has to ask permission to make any changes etc. to the data in the Family Tree. They might want to ask questions, but the format of the program does not require you or anyone else to do so.
Number Two:
Because the FamilySearch Family Tree is a wiki, you are responsible to maintain the integrity of your own data.
Despite user impressions to the contrary, the information added to the Family Tree is not usually arbitrary or capricious. The concept that "wrong" information is being added to the Family Tree is based on the user's impression as to the "correctness" of the entries. If I think my ancestor was born on a certain day, then anyone changing that entry entry is automatically characterized as wrong.
So what happens if you see such a change? You and the other person entering information are both responsible to see that the information added is correct. You do this by substantiating any changes made with reference to an historical source where the data is found.
Number Three:
There are a number of simple practices that help maintain the integrity of the Family Tree.
The first and most important practice to maintain the integrity of the Family Tree is to "watch" all of those individuals that are of concern to you. The link to watch each individual is found on the individual detail pages for each individual and on the information cards that come up anytime you click on an individual. If you watch someone in the FamilyTree, FamilySearch will send you a list of any changes made to your watched individuals each week. You can review the list and take action to verify any changes.
Your perception that the entries are always changing is not accurate. Overall, there are usually very few changes made to older entries. The key here is adding in sources and making any proper corrections quickly. If you tend to look at the Family Tree every month or so, the number of changes will seem larger than they really are. If you watch your entries and review the weekly list and immediately make any needed corrections, then the cumulative effect of this action will be to decrease the number of changes assuming your own changes and additions are substantially supported by credible sources.
Number Four:
All entries in the Family Tree are tentative.
It is the nature of historical research that all conclusions made are subject to the discovery of more definite and reliable information. In the course of working with the Family Tree, many people report substantial revisions to their traditional perception of their family history. This is caused by finding out that they were adopted, that their parents never married, that some female ancestors had children out of wedlock and so forth. Newly discovered information may revise any of the entries.
Number Five:
The original data that went into the Family Tree was not reliable.
The Family Tree consists of user contributed information gathered by FamilySearch and its predecessor organizations over more than 100 years. The Family Tree is the first time all of this information could be integrated and edited. No one was previously responsible for the accuracy of all of the data. No one at Family Search or before has checked any of the information in the Family Tree for accuracy. You are now responsible for that portion of the data in the Family Tree about you and your family.
Number Six:
Anyone can see any data entered about dead people in the Family Tree
There nothing private or proprietary about the Family Tree except for living people (see below). All entries concerning dead people are visible and entirely accessible to all registered users. If I wanted to, I could start editing entries in "your" portion of the Family Tree. But there is a practical limit on these entries. Why would I want to spend my time on a portion of the Family Tree with people I am not related to? The one exception is famous people who attract attention from those who are unrelated or only wish they were. In some cases the Family Tree is now rendered "Read Only" for some of these individuals.
Number Seven:
All data about living people is in a "Private Space" that cannot be seen by others.
Because data about living people is only viewable by the person entering such data there are some interesting consequences. FamilySearch creates a unique entry for each "living" person and that includes people who are actually dead but have no death information, i.e. are marked living. If that person was or is a member of the Church, likely the information is already in the Family Tree. So if you add in members of your immediate family, i.e. children, parents, siblings etc. who are alive, the entries are almost certain to be duplicates of their own personal entries. See the FamilySearch.org Help Center article entitled, "Understanding Private Spaces."
Number Eight:
The Family Tree is always and will always be a work in progress.
Computers and programs change with the changes in technology. The technology that enables us to have a program such as the Family Tree will continue to evolve in the future and so change is inevitable. There are still a huge number of "enhancements" that could be added to the Family Tree and some of those will undoubtedly surface as time passes.
Number Nine:
The Family Tree is the solution not the problem.
Nearly all the major issues with the operation of the Family Tree were resolved with the upgrade on June 27th, 2016 which should be known as Family Tree Independence Day. The major issues and residual complaints about the program are now entirely focused on the users and the residual uncorrected data. It is time to get busy and clean up your section of the Family Tree and add in every possible source you have or can find.
Number Ten:
The work on the Family Tree will likely never be finished in your lifetime.
There may actually be a relationship between the Family Tree and the end of the world and I do not say this lightly. We are involved in creating a unified, family tree of the entire human race and that work will take a while to complete. I suggest you get busy on your part of the Family Tree and don't expect that your portion of the work will be done by someone else in the Millennium.
You might think of some more important things and so might I.
Number One:
The FamilySearch Family Tree is a Wiki
I have written about this point several times in the past, but it is really the key to understanding how and why the Family Tree works. It is also the reason why many people are initially frustrated with the supposed "changes" to the data in the Family Tree that seems to be going on all the time. A "wiki" is defined as a website that allows collaborative editing of its contents and structure by its users. See Wikipedia: Wiki. Since every registered user of the program has access to all of the entries in the Family Tree, except for those references to living people, all of these users can add, delete, change, modify, edit and merge all of the entries in the program. Change is the result of using a wiki format to store data.
Genealogists are not used to the idea of sharing and collaborating their data. There is a pervasive attitude among researchers that what they find and enter into family records is "their" genealogy. This attitude has been engendered by the fact that historically, genealogists worked alone and were not forced to share their data with anyone else unless they consciously chose to do so. So working with a wiki like the Family Tree is not just a new experience, it is completely new experience.
The Family Tree is not a completely accessible wiki program. The administrators of the Family Tree (FamilySearch employees and indirectly The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) have control over what is and what is not ultimately added as content. But the administrators are not concerned with either the accuracy of the entries or their consistency. If I enter a date incorrectly, there are automatic functions of the program that will assess that date's reasonableness in certain ways, but beyond those quasi-editorial notices, such as the warning icons, there is no one except other users, interested in your particular entries.
You do not own the information you add to the Family Tree. When you enter any information into the Family Tree, that information immediately becomes the common property of all of the users of the program. No one has to ask permission to make any changes etc. to the data in the Family Tree. They might want to ask questions, but the format of the program does not require you or anyone else to do so.
Number Two:
Because the FamilySearch Family Tree is a wiki, you are responsible to maintain the integrity of your own data.
Despite user impressions to the contrary, the information added to the Family Tree is not usually arbitrary or capricious. The concept that "wrong" information is being added to the Family Tree is based on the user's impression as to the "correctness" of the entries. If I think my ancestor was born on a certain day, then anyone changing that entry entry is automatically characterized as wrong.
So what happens if you see such a change? You and the other person entering information are both responsible to see that the information added is correct. You do this by substantiating any changes made with reference to an historical source where the data is found.
Number Three:
There are a number of simple practices that help maintain the integrity of the Family Tree.
The first and most important practice to maintain the integrity of the Family Tree is to "watch" all of those individuals that are of concern to you. The link to watch each individual is found on the individual detail pages for each individual and on the information cards that come up anytime you click on an individual. If you watch someone in the FamilyTree, FamilySearch will send you a list of any changes made to your watched individuals each week. You can review the list and take action to verify any changes.
Your perception that the entries are always changing is not accurate. Overall, there are usually very few changes made to older entries. The key here is adding in sources and making any proper corrections quickly. If you tend to look at the Family Tree every month or so, the number of changes will seem larger than they really are. If you watch your entries and review the weekly list and immediately make any needed corrections, then the cumulative effect of this action will be to decrease the number of changes assuming your own changes and additions are substantially supported by credible sources.
Number Four:
All entries in the Family Tree are tentative.
It is the nature of historical research that all conclusions made are subject to the discovery of more definite and reliable information. In the course of working with the Family Tree, many people report substantial revisions to their traditional perception of their family history. This is caused by finding out that they were adopted, that their parents never married, that some female ancestors had children out of wedlock and so forth. Newly discovered information may revise any of the entries.
Number Five:
The original data that went into the Family Tree was not reliable.
The Family Tree consists of user contributed information gathered by FamilySearch and its predecessor organizations over more than 100 years. The Family Tree is the first time all of this information could be integrated and edited. No one was previously responsible for the accuracy of all of the data. No one at Family Search or before has checked any of the information in the Family Tree for accuracy. You are now responsible for that portion of the data in the Family Tree about you and your family.
Number Six:
Anyone can see any data entered about dead people in the Family Tree
There nothing private or proprietary about the Family Tree except for living people (see below). All entries concerning dead people are visible and entirely accessible to all registered users. If I wanted to, I could start editing entries in "your" portion of the Family Tree. But there is a practical limit on these entries. Why would I want to spend my time on a portion of the Family Tree with people I am not related to? The one exception is famous people who attract attention from those who are unrelated or only wish they were. In some cases the Family Tree is now rendered "Read Only" for some of these individuals.
Number Seven:
All data about living people is in a "Private Space" that cannot be seen by others.
Because data about living people is only viewable by the person entering such data there are some interesting consequences. FamilySearch creates a unique entry for each "living" person and that includes people who are actually dead but have no death information, i.e. are marked living. If that person was or is a member of the Church, likely the information is already in the Family Tree. So if you add in members of your immediate family, i.e. children, parents, siblings etc. who are alive, the entries are almost certain to be duplicates of their own personal entries. See the FamilySearch.org Help Center article entitled, "Understanding Private Spaces."
Number Eight:
The Family Tree is always and will always be a work in progress.
Computers and programs change with the changes in technology. The technology that enables us to have a program such as the Family Tree will continue to evolve in the future and so change is inevitable. There are still a huge number of "enhancements" that could be added to the Family Tree and some of those will undoubtedly surface as time passes.
Number Nine:
The Family Tree is the solution not the problem.
Nearly all the major issues with the operation of the Family Tree were resolved with the upgrade on June 27th, 2016 which should be known as Family Tree Independence Day. The major issues and residual complaints about the program are now entirely focused on the users and the residual uncorrected data. It is time to get busy and clean up your section of the Family Tree and add in every possible source you have or can find.
Number Ten:
The work on the Family Tree will likely never be finished in your lifetime.
There may actually be a relationship between the Family Tree and the end of the world and I do not say this lightly. We are involved in creating a unified, family tree of the entire human race and that work will take a while to complete. I suggest you get busy on your part of the Family Tree and don't expect that your portion of the work will be done by someone else in the Millennium.
You might think of some more important things and so might I.
I cannot tell you how much I appreciate this man for his constant contributions to help us understand and find our way in our endeavors to assist others while continually learning ourselves.
Tuesday, September 20, 2016
FamilySearch Apps Gallery
Along the stony path to finding our family there are some very lovely things along the way. One of those things is the Apps Gallery on FS. Last week we were all enlightened by Linda's lesson on the Apps gallery and the fact that there are so many Apps very innovative software engineers who have given us some fun ways to enhance our family history experiences. Some are so much fun they are almost like grown-up video games.
We learned about three of the more than 130 Apps that are compatible with our Family Tree on FamilySearch.
There is All the Stories where the App will find any story that has been submitted on one of your deceased relatives. For some people this is an amazing treasure trove of information they have never seen before. For others the excitement may be short-lived when they realize that the only stories it finds are the ones you have entered. In my case the latter was true when I investigated this app. The one redeeming thing about seeing my stories was that there were far fewer than there could be and so I am motivated to get going on adding more and more stories. My goal is to write something about each person in my family that is now deceased that I actually knew in morality. That will leave quite a few stores for others in the future generations. They will not all be long stories but they will be informative stories.
The Mobile Apps: I have used The FS Family Tree App and the FS Memories App from the beginning and like them a lot. It is amazing how you can pass the time waiting various places if you have these apps downloaded to your mobile devices. I have only one difficulty with them. Sometimes it is OK to just rest and relax and wait someplace. We do not have to be working and productive every minute of our lives, contrary to our society's conviction that we should be. But when we choose to do so, these Apps are great and they are free as well.
Find A Record: This App is amazing and should maybe be called Find a Record and Find Your Errors! It helps you find records and clean up your database at the same time. If you've made a mistake in your dates or anything else it will glare at you from this App and it offers a quick and efficient view so you can correct it.
One app that I use all the time and really like is History Lines. This App gives you a time line for the historical events that happened through out your ancestor's life and affected them. Once it has put in the brief information from the person's page, ie., name, date of birth, place of birth, etc., it places all of that in the historical context of the time and place. If you have an immigrant ancestors you enter in the date and place they emigrated from their homeland and the program instantly switches over to the new locality in the immigrants new country.
The best part is you can then add in customized things about them and your own photos. Then you can copy and paste their story right into the Stories in the Memories Gallery on FamilySearch.
If you are not into narrative story writing this App is for you. It is a fee based App, so not free, but.... priceless.
Live Big...enjoy these Apps and put them to work for you.
We learned about three of the more than 130 Apps that are compatible with our Family Tree on FamilySearch.
There is All the Stories where the App will find any story that has been submitted on one of your deceased relatives. For some people this is an amazing treasure trove of information they have never seen before. For others the excitement may be short-lived when they realize that the only stories it finds are the ones you have entered. In my case the latter was true when I investigated this app. The one redeeming thing about seeing my stories was that there were far fewer than there could be and so I am motivated to get going on adding more and more stories. My goal is to write something about each person in my family that is now deceased that I actually knew in morality. That will leave quite a few stores for others in the future generations. They will not all be long stories but they will be informative stories.
The Mobile Apps: I have used The FS Family Tree App and the FS Memories App from the beginning and like them a lot. It is amazing how you can pass the time waiting various places if you have these apps downloaded to your mobile devices. I have only one difficulty with them. Sometimes it is OK to just rest and relax and wait someplace. We do not have to be working and productive every minute of our lives, contrary to our society's conviction that we should be. But when we choose to do so, these Apps are great and they are free as well.
Find A Record: This App is amazing and should maybe be called Find a Record and Find Your Errors! It helps you find records and clean up your database at the same time. If you've made a mistake in your dates or anything else it will glare at you from this App and it offers a quick and efficient view so you can correct it.
One app that I use all the time and really like is History Lines. This App gives you a time line for the historical events that happened through out your ancestor's life and affected them. Once it has put in the brief information from the person's page, ie., name, date of birth, place of birth, etc., it places all of that in the historical context of the time and place. If you have an immigrant ancestors you enter in the date and place they emigrated from their homeland and the program instantly switches over to the new locality in the immigrants new country.
The best part is you can then add in customized things about them and your own photos. Then you can copy and paste their story right into the Stories in the Memories Gallery on FamilySearch.
If you are not into narrative story writing this App is for you. It is a fee based App, so not free, but.... priceless.
Live Big...enjoy these Apps and put them to work for you.
Monday, September 19, 2016
James Tanner's Five Tips on FS/Family Tree
James Tanner has taken some statements in the Family Search Help Section and elaborated
upon them. These are things that every Family Tree user should be aware of to better assist our patrons in getting the overall picture of the aim and purpose of FS/FT.
"Tip No. 1
There is no guarantee that the information in Family Tree is accurate. Data comes from many sources, and anyone can edit the information in Family Tree. It is your responsibility to verify names, dates, places, and family relationships, and to provide sources when available.
This is a very frank admission of the status of the content of FamilySearch.org's Family Tree. In fact, it applies to any user submitted family tree on any online program. The key here is the last comment, "provide sources when available." Despite a huge influx of the source citations to Family Tree entries
over the past, almost three years, there are still many entries with no supporting sources. But what is
more serious, is that users of the Family Tree make changes to existing records without sources and
even more seriously, without consulting the sources that have already been supplied.
over the past, almost three years, there are still many entries with no supporting sources. But what is
more serious, is that users of the Family Tree make changes to existing records without sources and
even more seriously, without consulting the sources that have already been supplied.
There is an even more serious question, can we add names to the program without providing sources? The recent addition of source hints to Family Tree illustrates that the times when sources are not
available are really quite limited. In almost all cases, going back about 200 years, there are many more sources than are usually assumed. For example, adding an entire family to the Family Tree and citing
a marriage record is not adding a source when available. The marriage record is not a source for the
births of the children.
available are really quite limited. In almost all cases, going back about 200 years, there are many more sources than are usually assumed. For example, adding an entire family to the Family Tree and citing
a marriage record is not adding a source when available. The marriage record is not a source for the
births of the children.
This Tip should also be kept firmly in mind when people go fishing for names to take to the Temples.
There is no guarantee that a name without a source in Family Tree is not a duplicate and further that
the name is actually an ancestor of the user.
There is no guarantee that a name without a source in Family Tree is not a duplicate and further that
the name is actually an ancestor of the user.
Tip No. 2
To find an individual in Family Tree, click Find in the top menu. To find a Historical Record, click Search in the top menu or click Search Records on an individual’s person page.
This Tip is really about using the program as it was designed to be used. In other words, part of the function of working with Family Tree is to use the Find menu option to determine if there are multiple copies of an individual in the Family Tree. It is not enough to rely on Find Duplicates function alone to determine if duplicates exist. Likewise, the links to Historical Records are also there for a purpose; to
be used. It is time to get away from mining the Family Tree for names to take to the Temple and begin adding names from verified historical records.
Tip No. 3 view it here:" http://rejoiceandbeexceedingglad.blogspot.com/2014/12/the-top-five-tips-for-familysearch.html
I encourage you to read this from James' blog! Enjoy!
James enjoys giving tips. This first one is more for basic use of Family Search. This next one is
really essential to understanding the basic premise of Family Tree and explaining it to others. This one I have saved in my Source Box for future reference while helping patrons.
http://rejoiceandbeexceedingglad.blogspot.com/2016/09/10-important-things-to-know-about.html
I encourage you to read this from James' blog! Enjoy!
James enjoys giving tips. This first one is more for basic use of Family Search. This next one is
really essential to understanding the basic premise of Family Tree and explaining it to others. This one I have saved in my Source Box for future reference while helping patrons.
http://rejoiceandbeexceedingglad.blogspot.com/2016/09/10-important-things-to-know-about.html
My Heritage's New Button For Attaching Sources to FS Family Tree!
Last Days of Summer!
This week there is a lot of buzz about My Heritage and the new Easy Button. Below you'll find the FS blog post about it. This seems to be the way of the future with the partner sites and it is fantastic. It helps so much to be able to move a source from one site to another.
This button will eliminate a lot of copying and pasting to grab record sources from MH and put them on Family Tree. However, I think we will still need and use Tree Connect for any URL source we want to add to the Family Tree. Tree Connect is really great between Ancestry and FS and even asked you which company you want to create a source for at this point.
If you are not familiar with Tree Connect look on the side bar on the right hand side of this blog in Labels for Tree Connect and you will see how to install the bookmarklet and use it on your home computer. There are two post about it.
It is already installed here in the library on the toolbar. It was missing last week after the update to to a new server, but I am sure Bill S. will be putting it back on all the computers in the library when he returns from his vacation.
I noticed that for some time now the FS Blog has been allowing you to post their blog posts to social media. What I will do now is post it to my Pinterest Board for Family History and Genealogy as well as here.
https://www.pinterest.com/onedesigner/family-history-and-genealogy/
So here is the post below from FS.
***If you haven't watched the Video in the post below about My Heritage you might want to find an hour for it. Especially now with this new feature.
*******************************************
Family History Easy Button: Create New Sources in Family Tree from MyHeritage
September 14, 2016 By
Every FamilySearch user has been there: you’re on a partner site and have found a new source of information about an ancestor. You want to copy that source over to Family Tree in FamilySearch—and thus begins the copy and paste dance between programs to make sure you capture all that essential information.
Now, imagine being on that partner site and seeing a magic button that will take the information from the record and create a source in FamilySearch Family Tree. Say, a button that looks like this:
Meet the new Attach source to FamilySearch link on MyHeritage.com. With one click, you’ve stored a new source found on MyHeritage to an ancestor in FamilySearch.
This feature is available now and will save you time as you expand your family tree using the great features of MyHeritage.com.
Here’s a simple way to give this new feature a try:
- Sign in to FamilySearch.org.
- Go to the Person page of an ancestor.
- In the Search Records box on the right, click MyHeritage.
- Click the name in the MyHeritage search results to see record details.
- Review the information and find a record of interest.
- Scroll to the bottom of the record page and click Attach source to FamilySearch in the lower left.
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