Family History Library Internet Favorites by G. David Dilts

10 Nov 2007

Introduction of Speaker by Gerhard Ruf
Main Presentation: G. David Dilts – Family History Library Internet Favorites
Brother Dilts is an accredited genealogist who has worked and taught at Family History Libraries since 1975. He is currently a senior reference consultant in the US East and Canada Reference Unit. He is a past Commissioner of ICAPGen and past Vice-President of the Utah Genealogical Association. His recent presentations include conferences at ICAPGen, the Computerized Genealogy Conference at BYU, UGA, Grand Juntion and for the Silicon Valley Computerized Genealogy Group. He is accredited in LDS Research and German Research. He has articles on the FamilySearch Wiki include a brief abstract of this presentation. Which include the selected browsers and bookmark links which are available and being developed by the Family History Library and is updated periodically. This is going to be like getting the best of the best from Cyndi’s List, the sites that will help you the most in your genealogical endeavors. He will describe how you can get those for your own computers. You can have those links as your own bookmarks or favorites in your browser. How to install that and how they are structured.

G. David Dilts – Family History Library Internet Favorites

The internet is one of the best tools for finding your family history. Problem: Finding the right Internet site is often difficult and time consuming. Solution: FHL Internet Favorites!

Class objectives
At the end of class each student will be able to:
-Explain what FHL Internet Favorites are.
-Copy FHL Internet Favorites to a disk and load them onto a home computer.
-Describe how they are organized.
-Use Favorites to answer a variety of genealogical questions
-Explain 3 strategies for using the Internet to find information about ancestors.

I. Explain what FHL Internet Favorites are. FHL Internet Favorites are bookmarks (links) to the most useful sites on the Internet for family history researchers.
-thousands of links (bookmarks)
-selected by FH Library staff
-on each public computer at the FHL and some FHCs. They are available at the Red Chapel.
-organized somewhat like the FHL Catalog
-updated every few months

Why would you use them?
-They show the best of Internet genealogy
-They are convenient
-They save time
-Use them to discover useful new Internet sites

3 Ways to Access Favorites at FHL:
1. From the Patron Desktop menu (Find Ancestors / blue ribbon Favorite Sites)
2. From the Menu Bar (Favorites [sometimes under Links, sometimes not])
3. From the Toolbelt (Links folders) on the browser

II. Be able to copy Favorites to a disk and load them onto a home computer.
Step 1. On the FHL Desktop, click here for instructions about copying Favorites. Print them.
Step 2. Follow the instructions to copy FHL Favorites.exe from the D: drive to the A: drive.
Step 3. On your home computer unzip it by double clicking the a: FHL Favorites file. Be sure the “Unzip to folder” field says C:
Step 4. Follow your printed instructions to use your Internet Browser Import Export Wizard.

III. Describe how FHL Internet Favorites are organized.
A. Somewhat like the subject headings on the FHL Catalog: Place is important and/or Topics
B. Major divisions:
Places:
1. World sites covering topics significant to more than one nation
2. British Great Britian & Commonwealth nations Ire. Scot. Wales, Australia, NZ, India (sometimes down to parish level)
3. Canada & USA North American topics (usually not smaller than state level)
4. International Europe, Latin America & Caribbean, Africa, Asia, and Pacific Islands
and/or Topics:
5. News of interest to genealogist
6. Search Engines tools for finding web sites using a key phrase of your own choosing (especially good for finding county and town sites not usually in Canada & USA file)

C. Most topic folders match FHL Research Outlines, or the FHL Catalog. Each such topic is defined in national research outlines.
D. The Major Subdivision sheet shows more examples of Internet Favorites organization
1. Bullet topics on the sheet are not normally in the FHL Catalog
2. Boxed topics on the sheet are examples of links that actually open Internet sites
E. General folders concern topics significant to more than one county, province, or state.
F. Some World and General files have three main subdivision:
1. Background Information = non-genealogy data about an ancestor’s culture, or instruction telling how to find him
2. Finding Aids = reference tools that help identify or locate genealogy sources
3. Record Types = sources that usually show genealogy data
G. Tools & Helps (part of World / Background Information) includes many useful sites. Such as:
Inflation Calendar, Birth Date Calculator, Calendar history, Currency converter, Genealogy Electronic Citation Guide, Kinship Charts, Roman Numeral and Date Conversion, Soundex Converter, etc.

IV. Be able to use Favorites to answer a variety of genealogical questions.
We located the answer to the following question and several others.
1. What does the name “Michael: mean? Looked: World>Background Information>Names Personal>Etymology>Behind the Name. Answer: Hebrew “who is like God?”

V. Explain 3 strategies for using the Internet to find information about ancestors.
A. Start looking for a family using broad worldwide Favorites searches. Then work down to national Favorites, and then to state or provinces.
B. On the first search enter relatively little search information, e.g. just a surname. Piece-by-piece slowly add data to new searches until you have a reasonable list of hits.
C. Use search engines to hunt for county or parish level genealogical sources.

Question and Answers:
1. The FHL Internet Favorites works just fine with Mozilla. You will not over write the links you already saved in your Favorites. It will create a new folder with the links.
2. If you want to update the FHL Favorites it is best to delete the old folder and then reinstall the new version of favorite links.
3. Why use favorites when you can use a search engine? Favorites are the best stuff and you do not have to search through all the search engine results to find the most helpful sites.
4. BYU has the FHL Internet Favorites loaded on their computers. They also have their own site with a list of favorites, which are different.

This presentation is available on DVDs #129 for UVPAFUG members to borrow or purchase.