Family Search And How It Really Works

One thing I have learned over the past several months as I was preparing to give a class on Better Research Results is this:  Every website and every data base and every search engine has their own unique way of operating.  All of us have a tendency to think we will just know what to do and think we can just skip over the directions.  Nothing could be further from the truth if you are looking for speed, efficiency and better research results.

We have to move past this notion to get past being a beginner.  Do yourself a favor and learn the programs.  It takes a lot of time but it saves even more time.

The following is a training video by James Tanner on the overall picture of how Family Search works.  Primarily he discusses the record collections and how to get the most from them.  The Wiki and the FS Catalog are discussed in very informative and important ways.  Definitely a "go to" for help in this area.  This is not about Family Tree that is on a different video..in fact several of them! These videos are produced (Low Budget) at the BYU Family Search Library.

http://youtu.be/Gny6fGstUyU?list=UU7hqNOQt-2AfeVEpDuc7sCA

A Hero

The more I delve into our family history the more heroes I know in my life.  I have a nice list of my heroes that are alive and kicking today and I am acquiring many more that are not.   

Those that have gone before us have made huge sacrifices under very difficult and trying circumstances and did endure with success and dignity until the end of their lives.  They forged the way for us, literally to have the comforts and good lives that we enjoy today. 

When you get beyond the names and scrutinize the documents you begin to see the 3 dimensional qualities of their lives.  Black and white transforms into brilliant color. And you cannot help but love them, respect them and want to be more like them.  They are teaching us from their graves the things we long to know.  The thing that we need to know.  Just in our families we have so many heroes.  You have them in yours as well.

In my husband's family there were some very brave and courageous people whose choices affected all of us.  Alma Josefina Nilsdotter for one.  She left her home in Sweden and emigrated to the United States at age 25.  She stepped onto that ship and came alone.  She left her mother, her brother and several little sisters behind.  The last two twins, only three years old.  Can you imagine what that would have taken knowing you might never be back?  The reason for her departure, one less mouth for her mother to feed.  Food was an issue in Sweden, or I should say the lack of it.  When one reached a certain age they left to make their own way.  Many came here. Without their courageous footstep onto the ship...we would not be here today.  That is a profound thought isn't it?  

I think I should make this title into a series.  There are that many that have made the right choices and a lot of time in deference to what would have been much more comfortable and easy for them.

Their fortitude and courage helps me push forward in my own life when things seem  beyond my reach.  We should hold these ancestors in reverence for all they have done for us.

Alma, I like your fanciness!

What's New In Family Search?

I am so grateful for the amazing team of bloggers we have on familysearch.org.  They help us keep up and understand the new changes to the site so beautifully.  And they allow us to share it for the benefit of all.  Taking time and energy to learn the intricacies of the program makes us so much more efficient in not only doing our own family history but in helping others do the same.

October 22, 2014 By Steve Anderson

Each month, FamilySearch will publish a collective list of new changes and updates to the FamilySearch website. This list includes changes to Family Tree as well as all other part of FamilySearch. In some cases, these changes will also be published as individual articles where the needs to do so exists.

Changes to Memories Are Included in the List of Latest Changes

When you attach, detach, and modify memories (photos, stories, documents, and so on), those actions are now tracked in Latest Changes.

You Can Filter Names in the History List

The history list displays the names of the last 50 people you looked at in Family Tree or on a person’s Details page. You can now filter the history list to find a person more quickly. Type names, dates, or personal identification numbers (PIDs), and when you press Enter, you see the people who match the information. If you enter information for one specific person, when you press Enter, the system goes to that person.

Learning Center Pages

New help pages for FamilySearch mobile Apps and for learning about FamilySearch partners have been added to the Help Center. To get to the help pages, click Get Help in the upper right corner, then click Help Center, and click Partners orMobile. At this time, the Partners option is available only for those who sign in with an LDS Account.

When more help content is added about these features, it will be available on the help pages.

Improvements to Source Linker

Source Linker is the name of the new tool that helps you add sources to Family Tree. Testing of Source Linker has identified some changes that will increase user understanding and efficiency.

Add a Person: Improved Wording for a Found Match

When a record has a person that Source Linker doesn’t find in Family Tree, you can add the person to Family Tree. When you click the Add link, you can add information you know about the person. The system again looks for the person in Family Tree. If the system finds a possible match, the wording for the message will make it clearer that there may already be a person in Family Tree that matches the person you are trying to add. It tells you to review the possible match, and it explains what you need to do.

View Image From the Record Details Popup

Users who view the indexed information from a record (record details) often want to see an image of the original record. A link has been added to the pop-up that lets you switch easily between the record details and the image.

Drag and Drop Tool Tip

On the screen, Source Linker displays the people from a record on the left side and the family from Family Tree on the right side. Sometimes you need to move a person on the left side to align with the correct person in Family Tree. When you hover on the drag arrows, you now see a pop-up message that tells you that you can click and drag the person to the place you need.

Location Information in Search Map

The record information on the search map has been improved. When you click Search and then click a region on the map, you are asked to choose a location. Click the location (country, state, province, and so on), and you see the number of collections for the location, the years covered by those collections, the number of indexed records, and the number of unindexed images.

You can use the information to see how much information FamilySearch.org has for the place, to see whether the records include the years your ancestor lived there, and to decide to search the indexed records or to browse the unindexed images.

Click the Start researching link to go to the records.

Arizona's Loss is Utah's Gain

A few months ago, James Tanner, moved from Arizona to Utah.   He was definitely one of the driving forces behind making the Mesa Arizona Family Search Library one of the best.  He taught so many classes in that Library and around the country.

This week I ran into his YouTube videos that are being produced by the BYU Family History Library.  He is teaching 12-15 classes per week on all kinds of things.  The most recently he has done some classes on Ancestry and My Heritage and is now doing Family Search Family Tree.  If you want to hear someone explain every aspect of what is happening in Genealogy today...up to the minute...he's your man.

You can subscribe to the BYU Family History Library channel.  Just go to Youtube and open the videos.  You can subscribe to the channel there.. You'll find a place to do it right under the video title on any video.  Then you'll be notified when new videos from the Library are added in the future.  You can see all the archived one too.

He has two blogs:  http://geneaologysstar.blogspot.com  More General Genealogy 

http://rejoiceandbeexceedingglad.blogspot.com/   Church Related and often coincides with his classes at BYU.

Digging For Your Roots Conference

20 Question Your Grandchildren Might Like To Ask You?

In the spirit of being a person who at age 7 completed my own baby book to help my mom, how about we take these 20 questions posed by the Family Search blog and answer them for our grandchildren?  Someday they may wonder about these very things when it is too late to ask.  This is just a thought of something we could leave behind for them to bless their lives.  How much would we give for something like this from our ancestors?

20 Questions to Ask Your Grandmother (or Grandfather)

Think of things you would like to know. Would you like to know what clothes they wore and what music they listened to? Would you like to know what problems they had? As you think about what you would like to know about each grandmother, ideas will come.

Here are some questions you could use. Skip or modify the questions to make them appropriate for your grandmothers (or grandfathers and their lives.

1. What is your name and what are the names of your parents and brothers and sisters? How did your parents choose your name? Does it have a special meaning? Did you have any nicknames?
2. When and where were you born? When and where were your parents and brothers and sisters born?
3. What kinds of things did your family do together when you were young?
4. Who were some of your friends? What did you do with your friends?
5. What schools did you attend? What were your favorite subjects? Who were your favorite teachers?
6. How did you meet Grandfather? How did he propose?
7. When and where were you married?
8. What are your children’s names and when and where were they born?
9. What are some special memories you have about your children?
10. Where have you lived?
11. Have you had jobs? Who did you work for and what did you do?
12. Do you belong to a church or a religion? How has it affected your life?
13. In your religion, what callings or positions have you served in?
14. What did you do to get through the difficult times in your life?
15. Do you have holiday traditions? What do you do for the holidays
16. What are some of your favorite things? Favorite colors? Favorite flowers? Favorite books? Favorite songs? Favorite foods? Favorite pets?
17. What trips or vacations do you remember? Which one was your favorite?
18. What are some personal experiences that have especially touched your heart?
19. What are your favorite things to do now?
20. What do you hope for your children and grandchildren?

Preserve Your Grandparents’ Stories

Now that you’ve recorded the stories, why not share them and preserve them for the future generations of your family? Adding the stories to Family Tree will protect them from natural disasters and changes in technology and from being accidentally deleted or thrown away.

Add the Stories to Family Tree

Add stories to one grandmother at a time.

1. Go to FamilySearch.org and sign in. (You can get a free FamilySearch account if you don’t already have one.)
2. Click Tree, and click your grandmother’s name.
3. On the summary card, click Memories.
4. Add the stories.
   • If you wrote the stories down, click Stories, and add the story.
   • If you recorded the stories on a smart phone, use the smart phone to upload the audio files. (You can include up to 15 minutes in an audio file. Add as many files as you need.)

Add a Grandmother to Family Tree

When you sign in, if you don’t see a grandmother on Family Tree, you can add her. Click the Add Wife link where her name should be listed. If your grandmother is living, click Add Person. If your grandmother has passed away, add the information to Find Person and look for her in Family Tree.

For more information about adding your stories about your grandma to FamilySearch.org, visitFamilySearch.org/meetmygrandma.

US MIlitary Records Webinar~October 11th

Autumn Equinox Link

Have I told you lately how much I love FamilySearch bloggers?  These people are like our private tutors on how to use Family Search and a constant reminder of the countless resources the church offers us in this family history endeavor.  Seriously who could ask for anything more?  It makes our job so much easier if we use it.

The Family Search Library in Salt Lake has the best classes available.  Seems like most days they have something pretty spectacular going on.  I did that almost exclusively when I was at the library for a day this summer.  It was impressive.  If we lived in SLC I think I'd be there a good part of the week.  Below is the post on the Military Records.  Perfect timing for Bob Trapp who is presenting at the Digging For Your Roots Conference on this very topic in Concord on October 18th. They have also had a lot on Researching which is one of my topics as well.  Love that last minute, latest updated information coming at the time we need it.  Serendipity!

Anyone thinking of going to the one day conference in Menlo Park with Judy Russell?

How about Rootstech?  You can get a discount of $40.00 if you work in the library.  Best $99.00 value of the year.

"Free Webinar US Research Series: United States Military Records—October 11, 2014

September 29, 2014 By Yvonne Sorenson

The Family History Library will present a free webinar for all who are interested in learning how to use United States Military Records to help them expand their family history research efforts. This webinar is part of a series of webinars that will be made available on a monthly basis through the coming year. We will announce future webinars on the FamilySearch blog, so keep your eyes open for future announcements.

Using U.S. Military Records will be presented by David Dilts, AG. Learn how to use U.S. Military Records to document the lives of your ancestors. Learn where to find military records, how to use them and what information can be found in these valuable historical records.

Please join David Dilts in an Adobe Connect Meeting on Thursday, October 11, 2014, 6:00 pm to 7:00 pm Mountain Standard Time. For those who wish to attend in person, this class will be taught at 6:00 pm on the Main Floor Classroom of the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Meeting Name:  David Dilts

Summary: Using United States Probate Records

Invited By: David Dilts

When:  October 11, 2014 from 6:00 pm to 7:00 pm

Time Zone:  (GMT-06:00) Mountain Time (US and Canada) (5:00 pm to 6:00 Pacific Time)

To join the meeting, visit: http://ldschurch1.adobeconnect.com/fhluscanada/

—————

If you have never attended an Adobe Connect meeting before:

Test your connection: http://ldschurch1.adobeconnect.com/common/help/en/support/meeting_test.htm

Get a quick overview: http://www.adobe.com/products/adobeconnect.html

David Dilts, AG® is a Senior Research Specialist in U.S. and Canada Reference at the Family History Library. He has served in ICAPGen and the Utah Genealogical Association. Recent presentations include: National Genealogical Society, Federation of Genealogical Societies, Boston MA, BYU Computerized Genealogy, UGA, Fresno CA, San Jose CA, Mesa AZ, Grand Junction CO. Accredited in: LDS Records and German research."