Rootstech Keynote Speaker 2017-Levar Burton

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Finally after nearly a year the most amazing keynote speech most of the attendees have ever heard was released to the public.  This one is will amaze you, touch your heart and probably make you tear up. Don't miss it.

Le Var Burton, was the young man who played Kunte Kinte in the adaptation Alex Haley's book, "Roots" published in 1976. The grass did not grow under the feet of  television producers as the mini-series was released in 1977. The book and then the series have been credited by some to have been the catalysts that awaken the desire in many people to pursue their own roots. 

During Rootstech last year this talk was put up on youtube immediately but removed within hours.  It must have had something to do with limitations due to his contractural agreements with current or former employers.  People have wanted to see it again and share it but were unable to until now.

I hope you enjoy it!  It is a 24 minute experience you will remember!  Rootstech is known for their outstanding keynote speakers from all walks of life, but this one was the best ever!

https://www.rootstech.org/video/levar-burton

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Amy Johnson Crow Has A Great New Idea About Researching Our Ancestors

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I had the chance to check out a few bloggers this week.  I really like Amy Johnson Crow as I mentioned last week.  She is a very practical teacher and a good writer.

' A Surprising Skill for Genealogy "If we had to list the skills or traits necessary to be a good genealogist (defining "good" however you want), we would probably include things like attention to detail, curiosity, and persistence. There is one I would like to add: The willingness to be surprised. I don't mean that just in the sense of DNA, though it is certainly true. If you're not willing to be surprised with what you find, don't take a DNA test. We need to be willing to be surprised in the records we find and what we discover in them. We need to be willing to be surprised that our preconceived notions of "what life was like back then" might not match the reality. We need to be open to the possibility that a couple's first child might have been, shall we say, "premature." We need to be willing to be surprised when it turns out that great-great-grandpa's second wife was the "boarder" who lived with them before the first wife's death. We need to be willing to be surprised when we've built a narrative in our minds that our ancestors were poor, illiterate farmers... and then discover a will that specifies that the daughters be taught to read and write. We need to be willing to be surprised when we read a Civil War pension file that says, "The soldier was married 7 times up to this point, as far as known." (Yes, that's been a fun file to work through!) When we are surprised, we must then be willing to investigate further and not just discount what we have found. We need to be open to the reality that our ancestors were real people who did real things, some of which are going to surprise us.  What surprising things have you found?" ***************************************************************** If you have found this to be a fun and interesting post you may wish to follow Amy Johnson Crow and sign up for her newsletter.  She'll be teaching at Rootstech as well.

Introducing My New Blog-Using The Family History Guide

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This is not the corporate blog for The Family History Guide. That one is being developed right now and can be found on the website http://www.thefhguide.com under the More link on the Home page. The Family Has Guide's official blog was launched yesterday and has only a few posts at this time. 

This new blog I have created is for training purposes and contains all the Facebook posts I have done since July on various aspects of the FHG along the way.  At some point you may want to just switch over to the official one, but for now I hope you enjoy this one.  I'll probably continue on posting in both places as time goes on.  

https://usingthefamilyhistoryguide.blogspot.com/

Choosing Family Search Family Tree by James Tanner

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James Tanner has written a fantastic blog post today.  Check it out right here:

http://tinyurl.com/ybzw8nvk

'There is only one major objection to using the FamilySearch.org Family Tree: the ability of people to change the information. All of my writing and talking about the subject does not seem to make the slightest dent in the accumulated ire generated by having "your" information changed by someone who had no idea what they were doing, did not provide a source or violated one of your cherished traditional stories. I recently spent about an hour explaining my position on this issue in a video on the BYU Family History Library YouTube Channel. 

Handling the changes made to the FamilySearch Family Tree? - James Tanner

I have recently received several comments from people who state that they will not use the Family Tree because of the "changes." In an attempt to provide yet another answer to these complaints, I have been thinking about the core reasons why the Family Tree exists and should be a choice for storing all of your genealogical data. I believe the most important of the reasons I came up with is the need to avoid duplication of effort. 

If you were to spend hours, days, weeks, months and even years doing research about your ancestors, how would you like to find out that someone had already done all that same research that included a source citation for every single person, event, and place recorded? That is not a hypothetical situation. It has been the reality for genealogical research for more than a hundred years. By refusing to use the Family Tree, you are, in effect, putting your research in danger of being nothing more than a duplication of work that may have been done previously. Changes to your data on the Family Tree is a really small price to pay for avoiding duplication of effort."

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Although there is of course always a choice to be made and pros and cons either way, but i think James makes a compelling case for why one might want to consider FS/FT. 

The Family History Guide Adds Exciting New Content

Here is a letter to all from Bob Taylor. thefhguide.com

The Family History Guide Association is pleased to announce a new series of Partner pages, in Beta stage, focusing on Projects, Goals, and Choices for Ancestry, MyHeritage, and Findmypast.

These new Learning Paths will complement the existing Project pages for FamilySearch, which have helped many people around the world accelerate their family history learning.

With the addition of the new Partner pages, The Family
History Guide takes a huge step forward in providing top-quality, free training for some of the world's foremost genealogy platforms. You can find initial Project pages here:

* Ancestry - http://www.thefhguide.com/project-1-welcome-an.html
* MyHeritage - http://www.thefhguide.com/project-1-welcome-mh.html
* Findmypast - http://www.thefhguide.com/project-1-welcome-fmp.html

The Beta period for the Partner pages started on August 11 and will continue through Nov. 15. Feedback is welcome as we continue to enhance the content.

Sincerely,

Bob Taylor
CEO, The Family History Guide Association

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It is important to recognize that this website and the Family History Guide Associate is a non-profit organization.  Everyone that works on this project is a volunteer.   This is  a genealogical kindness being paid forward by people who mission state is this:

Mission Statement: "Our mission is to greatly increase the number of people actively involved in family history worldwide, and to make everyone's family history journey easier, more efficient, and more enjoyable."

Bob Taylor, CEO & his wife Susie

Bob Ives, COO and his wife Dawn

Saving Memories on Family Search

Ross W. Colberg & Josephine Roberta Reese

28 September 1941 St. Paul, Minnesota

Are you using and teaching about the Memories Section of Family Search? Today I am sharing my parents' wedding photo from my family history. If my father, Ross W. Colberg, was alive today he would be 100 years old.

A few weeks ago my siblings and cousins came to our home and we celebrated Dad's birthday with a mini reunion and even a birthday cake. It felt like such a fitting tribute to him and brought all the living closer as we shared stories and memories of him.

Remembering our ancestors' contributions to our lives is such an important part of what we do. It is often the gateway for members of the Church to get involved in Family History. And The Family History Guide shows us exactly how to preserve stories and photos and stories for all people to enjoy for generations to come.

It is fun and easy to learn. Go to The Family History Guide home page and Choose Memories. Goal #4: Browse FS Memories To See Photos And Documents Of Your ancestors. Choice A: Step:2 FS Quick Start For Memories is great. A very comprehensive document containing all you need to know to start saving these memories now.

This a wonderful way to honor our ancestor and please our descendants.  Click here:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=reZ5nNhztYI

Here is a link to the Quick Start For Memories:

http://tinyurl.com/lwdv2pu

Streaming Webinars

A Webinar is simply a seminar on the Web.  The nice things about a Webinar is that you can stream it live.  It is all about breaking news these days.  They usually provide a window on the sidebar of the webinar page for comments in the moment.  So you can ask questions and the presenter will usually respond during the presentation.  The Webinars are recorded and usually archived on the site.

The Family History Guide is giving one by the CEO, Bob Taylor on August 10 at 6:00 PM MDT.  So of course, 5:00 for us on the west coast.

Here is the blurb I put on Facebook last week for all the Directors, Trainers and Consultants of The Family History Guide.

"Bob Taylor, CEO of the Family History Guide announced yesterday that he is sharing some very exciting news with the world on August 10, 2017 at 6:00 PM MDT. This will be happening on YouTube from the BYU Family History Library channel.  I want to watch this live so I am going to get prepared now for this upcoming event.

 If you have never streamed a webinar live, go to The Family History Guide at <www.thefhguide.com> and select Projects: Technology: Goal: A - Choice 3 - BYU Family HistoryWebinars. 

Then also go to Goal  B, on the same page. Participating and Streaming Events: Then select Choice 1. 

This will get you all set in plenty of time to enjoy this event live. If you miss it live you can also see it in the archives at a later date but I read it can take up to several weeks to get it reviewed and posted."

I have followed the instructions on Choice B: Step 1 and gotten all my computer things updated for a great event on the 10th.  I had to update my IOS and my Flash Player so I am very glad I followed the Family History Guide advice to the letter. ;->.

Before the day arrives (August 10th) for the seminar  go to this link:

https://sites.lib.byu.edu/familyhistory/wp-content/uploads/sites/31/2016/02/Webinar-Guest-Login-Information-1.pdf

This page will take you to the schedule page for the upcoming Webinars.  If you want to receive this schedule all the time sign up to subscribe.  Then just follow the steps below to see how you will get on the streaming for the Webinar.  You should go early to the BYU Family History YouTube channel one the day of the Webinar to make sure it all works for you.  If you have problems they will take your questions to get you set up at that time.   If you have any of your own questions you can call the Library front desk and ask them.  

801-422-6200.