Journalists, please run this as a news item and/or in your calendar of events. Ward newsletter editors, please include in your newsletters parts of the first paragraph and mention that there are classes for everyone.
Email me, if you need further information. Thanks.
Don Snow
UTAH VALLEY PAF USERS GROUP MEETING AND NEW LOCATION
The next regular, second-Saturday-of-the-month meeting of the Utah Valley PAF (Personal Ancestral File) Users Group will be on Saturday, 10 Jan 2009, from 9 am until noon IN THE EDGEWOOD/RIVERSIDE LDS CHAPEL, 3511 North 180 East, Provo, Utah. NOTE THE CHANGE IN LOCATION. This LDS chapel is within one mile of the old location and is behind the Jamestown shopping plaza on the east side of University Avenue in the "River Bottoms" part of Provo. You get to it by going on 3700 North east from University Avenue and then south on 180 East. See the map showing the new and old locations on our website given below. The main presentation will be by Michael Ritchey on THE FAMILYSEARCH WIKI: HOW IT CAN HELP NOW AND HOW IT WILL GROW THIS YEAR. The FamilySearch wiki at https://wiki.familysearch.org is a free website designed to allow the genealogical community to provide advice on the best strategies and records to use in finding ancestors. The site is free to everyone, but you must register to add or edit information. This community authoring approach enables the creation of objective advice, rapid revision and translation, and coverage of more places worldwide. In 2009 contributors will be working together on a series of "barn raisings" -- short, intensive community efforts to provide information regarding the best sources, methodologies, and strategies for doing genealogical research in a specific location such as a state in the U.S. or a county in England. This talk will preview what the barn raisings are and show some quick and easy ways you can contribute to this great worldwide project. Everyone is invited to log onto the Wiki and sample the types of information you can find there. Michael Ritchey is a former Family History Center Director in Provo, Ward Family History Consultant, and professional genealogist. He has worked for the Family History Department of the LDS Church since 2000 as a U.S. Reference Consultant at the Family History Library, as manager of the Research Support team, and most recently, as community and content coordinator of FamilySearch wiki on the Community Services team.
Following the main presentation there will be several classes taught concerning technology and family history. As usual, there will be something for everyone at all levels of expertise. The classes currently scheduled for this meeting are: (1) Clearing Names for the Temple in 2009, by Duane Dudley; (2) Keeping Your PC Healthy, by Jerry Castillo; (3) Q&A on the Family Search Wiki, by Michael Ritchey; (4) Video of November's Main Presentation on WorldConnect at RootsWeb, by Gerhard Ruf; (5) Ancestral Quest 12.1, by Paul Johnson; (6) RootsMagic 3, by Bruce Buzbee; and (7) Legacy 7, by Dean Bennett.
All meetings of the Users Group are open to the public whether members of the Group or not. The Users Group has the goal of helping individuals use technology to further their family history and there are usually 100-125 attending the monthly meetings on the second Saturdays. Several of the officers, including Gerhard Ruf, President; Don Snow, 1st VP; Brian Cooper, 2nd VP; Beth Ann Wiseman, PAFology Editor; Kay Baker and Gerry Eliason working with finances and membership; and Bruce Merrill, Lynne Shumway, and Marie Andersen, working with the DVD and Video Library, will all be there. They will help with membership, answer questions, distribute the current issue of the monthly newsletter PAFology, and check out DVD's and videos of past presentations and classes to members of the group. Information about the Users Group, main presentations, classes, and class notes are available on the Group's website http://uvpafug.org and the press releases are at http://blog.uvpafug.org/. For further information contact President Gerhard Ruf at pres@uvpafug.org (801-225-6106), VP1 Don Snow at snowd@math.byu.edu, or VP2 Brian Cooper at vp2@uvpafug.org.
Don Snow, 1st Vice President of Utah Valley PAF Users Group
Donald R. Snow, recently returned from the England London Mission, London Family History Centre
Retired Professor of Mathematics, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah
snowd@math.byu.edu
