Indexing Training at Riverton FamilySearch Library

Yesterday a group of thirteen people from my ward attended FamilySearch indexing training at Riverton FamilySearch Library. We viewed a powerpoint presentation which explained the indexing program and then we each logged into a computer with our LDS Account usernames and passwords and did some indexing. Thank you to the staff of the Riverton Library for their help and assistance to get many of us started doing this important and interesting service.

Utah Genealogy Association Virtual Chapter Meeting

Last night I watched a virtual chapter meeting of UGA (Utah Genealogy Association). The speaker was Don Anderson, senior vice president of FamilySearch. He spoke about the Family Tree function of FamilySearch. It will be a marvelous program. I will gladly make the switch from new.familysearch.org. He predicted that it will be fully operational and accessible to the general public (not just members of the LDS church) by the middle of February at the earliest and April 2013 at the latest. This will be a great tool for family history research. I am excited about the possibility to share photos and stories using Family Tree.

Family Tree at FamilySearch

I am excited about the changes and improvements that are being made to Family Tree. It is part of FamilySearch.org and it will eventually replace New.FamilySearch.org. It will be available for members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and also for nonmembers. Members should sign in with their LDS account and then they will have access to LDS Temple information.

Watch this short Introduction to FamilySearch Family Tree video to learn more.

Go to Family Tree Training to learn how to start using the program. The training resources are very comprehensive.

I would advise users of New.FamilySearch.org to make the switch now. Stop using New Family Search. Starting watching the tutorials for Family Tree. And start updating and sourcing the information on your family in Family Tree.

Christmas and Family History Ideas

This morning I watched a webinar from Life Story Productions

It was presented by Marlo Schuldt and Kathleen Bitter and featured Quick Pages that are now available for making an Heirloom Cookbook and 2012 Calendars. I learned more about the options in Heritage Collector Suite. A new feature in the latest 7.3 version is the capablility to tag your photos with GPS co-ordinates using Google Earth and addresses or place names or the Google Earth Map.

I am interested in following Kathleen's Storybook Blog. There are some great ideas for projects and free downloads for calendars.

And I know I need to take the time to watch the Heritage Collector Tutorials

African American Research at Family History Center in Kensington, Maryland

I love this video. I like the enthusiasm and the joy of the women who are finding information about their families. I especially like the way they LAUGHED about the "colored section" of the records.

Joining together to uncover history

The Genealogy of LDS Temple Record Keeping

The Saturday Seminars at the Riverton FamilySearch Library are always interesting and informative. On November 17, 2012 I attended the keynote speech by Ruth Maness, AG. She has worked for the Family History Libarary for many years and is a specialist in Scandinavian research. Her topic was The Genealogy of LDS Temple Record Keeping. She outlined the history of LDS temple work for the dead starting with work done at Nauvoo in the Mississippi River and in the Nauvoo Temple and going until the present time. Her presentation answered several questions for me. I know I will be checking a lot of temple work that has been done for my ancestors and their families. So the information that she shared will be very helpful. While I was at the Library I printed cards for temple work and I am giving them to grandchildren to get started performing the baptisms for the dead.

KSL Story about Family Search and German Records

Here is a great TV news story about FamilySearch and how records are made available online for free.

KSL News Story

Unfortunately they misspelled "Genealogy."