*Old - Utah Valley PAF Users Group - Press Releases

New UVTAGG Blog

2011-10-26T18:27:00.002-06:00

The Utah Valley Technology and Genealogy Group (UVTAGG) has moved to a new web address at:

http://blog.uvtagg.org

Please redirect your readers to this new location.

(UVTAGG formerly known as Utah Valley PAF User Group)

[UVTAGG] Press Release for meeting on Saturday 8 Oct 2011

2011-09-28T10:55:00.000-06:00

[UVTAGG] Press Release for meeting on Saturday 8 Oct 2011

28 Sep 2011
Journalists, please run this as a news item and/or in your calendar of events. Ward newsletter editors, please include parts of the first two paragraphs, and mention that there are classes for everyone. Email me, if you need further information. Thanks.
Don Snow

UTAH VALLEY TECHNOLOGY AND GENEALOGY GROUP MEETING (UVTAGG)
The next regular, second-Saturday-of-the-month meeting of the Utah Valley Technology and Genealogy Group - UVTAGG (Formerly the Utah Valley PAF Users Group - UVPAFUG) will be on Saturday, 8 Oct 2011, from 9 am to noon in the LDS "Red Chapel", 4050 North Timpview Drive (650 East), Provo. Information about the Group, main presentations, classes, and class notes are available on their website http://uvtagg.org and the press releases are at http://blog.uvpafug.org/ . With the organization's name change the latter URL will also be changed eventually.

The main presentation for this meeting will be by Loretta Evans on DEAD MEN DO TELL TALES. When someone dies, a number of records are created – obituaries, sexton records, death certificates, probates, funeral home documents, and even coroner’s reports. These can be invaluable for family historians. Many original documents are available online and this presentation will illustrate finding and using them. Loretta Evans, AG®, is a freelance writer and lecturer with over 35 years of genealogical experience. Accredited in Midwestern research, she specializes in 19th and 20th century United States genealogy. Loretta has lectured regularly at genealogical events, including the FGS Conference, BYU Computerized Genealogy Conference, and the BYU-Idaho Family History Conference. She is the author of six family histories and numerous magazine articles. She and her husband recently returned from serving as missionaries at the Family and Church History Mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Following the main presentation there will be several classes about family history and technology with something for everyone at any level of expertise. The teachers and classes presently scheduled for this meeting are as follows: (1) Mormon Data, including the Nauvoo Databank, Don Snow; (2) Tips and Tricks for Using Ancestry.com on MACs & PCs, Cathy Magleby; (3) Personalized Help, Don Engstrom & Finn Hansen; (4) llustrating Your Family History, Loretta Evans; (5) Video of last month's main presentation: The Power of DNA in Unlocking Family Relationships, Ugo A. Perego; (6) Ancestral Quest, Gaylon Findlay; (7) Legacy 7.5, Joel Graham; and (8) RootsMagic 4, Bruce Buzbee.

All meetings of the Group are open to the public whether members of the Group or not. The 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. The officers are Gerhard Ruf, President; Laurie Castillo, 1st VP; Don Snow, 2nd VP; Liz Kennington, Newsletter Editor; Renee Zamora, Secretary; Kay Baker, Gerry Eliason, and Don Engstrom working with finances and membership; and Bruce Merrill and Marie Andersen working with the DVD Library. Several of these will be there to answer questions, help with membership, distribute the current issue of the monthly newsletter TAGGology, and check out DVDs of past presentations and classes to members of the group. Information about the Group, presentations, classes, and class notes can be found at the websites mentioned above. For further information contact President Gerhard Ruf at pres@uvtagg.org (801-225-6106) or 1st VP Laurie Castillo at laurie@everythingisrelative.net, or 2nd VP Don Snow at snowd@math.byu.edu.

Don Snow, 2nd VP of Utah Valley Technology and Genealogy Group (UVTAGG)

Dr. Donald R. Snow, Retired Professor of Mathematics, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah - snowd@math.byu.edu

[UVTAGG] Press Release for meeting on Saturday 10 Sep 2011

2011-08-31T12:51:00.000-06:00

[UVTAGG] Press Release for meeting on Saturday 10 Sep 2011

31 Aug 2011
Journalists, please run this as a news item and/or in your calendar of events. Ward newsletter editors, please include parts of the first two paragraphs, and mention that there are classes for everyone. Email me, if you need further information. Thanks.
Don Snow

UTAH VALLEY TECHNOLOGY AND GENEALOGY GROUP MEETING (UVTAGG)
The next regular, second-Saturday-of-the-month meeting of the Utah Valley Technology and Genealogy Group - UVTAGG (Formerly the Utah Valley PAF Users Group - UVPAFUG) will be on Saturday, 10 Sep 2011, from 9 am to noon in the LDS "Red Chapel", 4050 North Timpview Drive (650 East), Provo. Information about the Group, main presentations, classes, and class notes are available on their website http://uvtagg.org and the press releases are at http://blog.uvpafug.org/ . With the organization's name change the latter URL will also be changed eventually.

The main presentation for this meeting will be by Dr. Ugo A. Perego on THE POWER OF DNA IN UNLOCKING FAMILY RELATIONSHIPS. This presentation will provide a general overview on how genetic testing can be of great assistance to family historians to trace, verify, expand, and link genealogical records and pedigrees. Particularly, we will cover the paternally-inherited Y chromosome and the maternally-inherited mitochondrial DNA with the purposes of showing how these two markers can play a powerful role in the search for our ancestors. Ugo A. Perego, PhD, is the Director of Operations and a Senior Researcher and Senior Genealogist at the non-profit Sorenson Molecular Genealogy Foundation ( http://www.smgf.org/ ) and a Scientific Consultant for GeneTree ( http://www.genetree.com/ ), both located in Salt Lake City, Utah. Ugo earned a BS and an MS in Health Sciences at Brigham Young University (Provo, Utah) and a PhD in Human Genetics at the University of Pavia, Italy. In his nearly eleven years with SMGF, Ugo has supervised the worldwide collection of more than 110,000 DNA samples and corresponding genealogical records and contributed numerous lectures and publications on DNA and its applications to population genetics, genealogy, and history. He came to the UVTAGG meeting (Then it was the UVPAFUG.) more than 10 years ago when the Sorenson Foundation collected DNA samples and pedigree charts from our members. Some of his recent publications include “The Book of Mormon and the Origin of Native Americans from a Maternally Inherited DNA Standpoint” (in No Weapon Shall Prosper, 2011); “Joseph Smith: The Question of Polygamous Offspring and DNA Analysis” (in The Persistence of Polygamy, 2010); “Expanding the Concept of Family History through DNA” (in Family Chronicle, 2010); “Mitochondrial DNA: A Female Perspective in Recent Human Origin and Evolution” (in Origins as a Paradigm in the Sciences and in the Humanities, 2010). He is married to the former Jenna McAllister and they are the parents of three boys and a girl.

Following the main presentation there will be several classes about family history and technology with something for everyone at any level of expertise. The teachers and classes presently scheduled for this meeting are as follows: (1) Three Wikis: FamilySearch, Ancestry.com and Wikipedia, by Marilyn Thomsen; (2) MAC: Q & A, by Ron Snowden; (3) More Best Practices - Surviving in the Trenches, by Laurie Castillo; (4) Personalized Help, including information for new Family History Consultants, by Don Engstrom and Finn Hansen; (5) Q&A: The Power of DNA in Unlocking Family Relationships, by Ugo A. Perego; (6) Video of last month's main presentation: New Family Search Best Practices, by Laurie Castillo; (7) RootsMagic 4, by Sue Maxwell; (8) Ancestral Quest, by Gaylon Findlay; (8) Legacy 7.5, by Dean Bennett; and (9) Family Insight, by Andrea Schnakenburg.

All meetings of the Group are open to the public whether members of the Group or not. The 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. The officers are Gerhard Ruf, President; Laurie Castillo, 1st VP; Don Snow, 2nd VP; Liz Kennington, Newsletter Editor; Kay Baker, Gerry Eliason, and Don Engstrom working with finances and membership; and Bruce Merrill and Marie Andersen, working with the DVD Library. Several of these will be there to answer questions, help with membership, distribute the current issue of the monthly newsletter TAGGology, and check out DVDs of past presentations and classes to members of the group. Information about the Group, presentations, classes, and class notes can be found at the websites mentioned above. For further information contact President Gerhard Ruf at pres@uvtagg.org (801-225-6106) or 1st VP Laurie Castillo at laurie@everythingisrelative.net, or 2nd VP Don Snow at snowd@math.byu.edu.

Don Snow, 2nd VP of Utah Valley Technology and Genealogy Group (UVTAGG)

Dr. Donald R. Snow, Retired Professor of Mathematics, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah - snowd@math.byu.edu

[UVTAGG] Press Release for meeting on Saturday 13 Aug 2011

2011-08-03T10:49:00.000-06:00

3 Aug 2011
Journalists, please run this as a news item and/or in your calendar of events. Ward newsletter editors, please include parts of the first two paragraphs, and mention that there are classes for everyone. Email me, if you need further information. Thanks.
Don Snow

UTAH VALLEY TECHNOLOGY AND GENEALOGY GROUP MEETING (UVTAGG)
The next regular, second-Saturday-of-the-month meeting of the Utah Valley Technology and Genealogy Group - UVTAGG (Formerly the Utah Valley PAF Users Group - UVPAFUG) will be on Saturday, 13 Aug 2011, from 9 am to noon in the LDS "Red Chapel", 4050 North Timpview Drive (650 East), Provo. Information about the Group, main presentations, classes, and class notes are available on their website http://uvtagg.org and the press releases are at http://blog.uvpafug.org/ . With the organization's name change the latter URL will also be changed eventually.

The main presentation for this meeting will be by Laurie Werner Castillo on NEW FAMILYSEARCH IN THE TRENCHES - BEST PRACTICES. There are many day-to-day issues facing genealogists today, including new FamilySearch. This presentation is designed to help with practical information that will clarify the best approach to dealing with things like: Do I need to keep a personal database? What contact information should I post? What do I need to know about Family Ordinance Requests (FORs) and Ordinance Cards? How can I correct information on an Ordinance Card? How can I get help with Temple Ordinances? Where can I get the latest information on how NFS works? Where can I find out about software that is compatible with NFS? A mother and grandmother first, Laurie works as a professional researcher, speaker and free-lance writer. Currently serving at the BYU Family History Center, she has been a consultant and teacher there for 20 years. She also served 8 years as a trainer of consultants at BYU and 7 years as an LDS Family History Missionary Trainer for those called to staff Family History Centers around the World. Other Family History service opportunities included three years as Stake Family Records Extraction Coordinator and 20 years as Ward Family History Consultant. She has spent 18+ years as a Family File volunteer, first at the Provo and then at the Mount Timpanogos Temples. Laurie is Past President of the Utah Valley Chapter of the Utah Genealogical Association and former vice-president and member of the Board of Directors of UGA. She currently serves with the Utah Valley Technology and Genealogy Group where she is First Vice President and teaches and writes about family history research on the Internet. Her research specialties include: German, Swedish, Dutch, early LDS, and the U.S. regions of New England, Mid-West and the Western Frontier. She loves to teach people how to maximize their research time and effort by using all the Internet has to offer.

Following the main presentation there will be several classes about family history and technology with something for everyone at any level of expertise. The teachers and classes presently scheduled for this meeting are as follows: (1) Getting the Most From Ancestry.com, by Lisa Arnold; (2) Where's Your GPS (Genealogy Proof Statement) - Navigating the Research Process, by Bret Petersen; (3) Personalized Help, by Don Engstrom & Finn Hansen; (4) Q&A on NFS Best Practices, by Laurie Castillo; (5) Video of last month's main presentation on FamilySearch Products and Features, by David E. Rencher; (6) Family Insight, by Andrea Schnakenburg; (7) Ancestral Quest, by Gaylon Findlay; (8) Legacy 7.5, by Dean Bennett; and (9) RootsMagic 4, by Bruce Buzbee.

All meetings of the 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. The officers are Gerhard Ruf, President; Laurie Castillo, 1st VP; Don Snow, 2nd VP; Liz Kennington, Newsletter Editor; Kay Baker, Gerry Eliason, and Don Engstrom working with finances and membership; and Bruce Merrill and Marie Andersen, working with the DVD Library. Several of these will be there to answer questions, help with membership, distribute the current issue of the monthly newsletter, and check out DVDs of past presentations and classes to members of the group. Information about the Group, presentations, classes, and class notes can be found at the websites mentioned above. For further information contact President Gerhard Ruf at pres@uvtagg.org (801-225-6106) or 1st VP Laurie Castillo at laurie@everythingisrelative.net, or 2nd VP Don Snow at snowd@math.byu.edu.

Don Snow, 2nd VP of Utah Valley Technology and Genealogy Group (UVTAGG)

Dr. Donald R. Snow, Retired Professor of Mathematics, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah - snowd@math.byu.edu

[UVTAGG] Press Release for meeting on Saturday 9 Jul 2011

2011-06-29T18:23:00.000-06:00

29 Jun 2011
Journalists, please run this as a news item and/or in your calendar of events. Ward newsletter editors, please include parts of the first two paragraphs, and mention that there are classes for everyone. Email me, if you need further information. Thanks.
Don Snow

UTAH VALLEY TECHNOLOGY AND GENEALOGY GROUP MEETING (UVTAGG)
The next regular, second-Saturday-of-the-month meeting of the Utah Valley Technology and Genealogy Group - UVTAGG (Formerly the Utah Valley PAF Users Group - UVPAFUG) will be on Saturday, 9 Jul 2011, from 9 am to noon in the LDS "Red Chapel", 4050 North Timpview Drive (650 East), Provo. Information about the Group, main presentations, classes, and class notes are available on their website http://uvtagg.org and the press releases are at http://blog.uvpafug.org/ . With the organization's name change, these URL's will also be changed eventually.

The main presentation for this meeting will be by David E. Rencher on FAMILYSEARCH PRODUCTS AND FEATURES. FamilySearch continues to make a wide variety of products and services available to genealogists throughout the world. This presentation highlights the many uses of these new products from the view of the Chief Genealogical Officer at FamilySearch. David E. Rencher, AG, CG, FIGRS, FUGA, is employed by the Family History Department in Salt Lake City as the Chief Genealogical Officer for FamilySearch. A professional genealogist since 1977, he is an Accredited GenealogistCM with ICAPGenSM in Ireland research and a Certified GenealogistSM with the Board for Certification of Genealogists®. He is the Irish course coordinator and instructor for the Samford University Institute of Genealogical and Historical Research (IGHR) in Birmingham, Alabama. He graduated from Brigham Young University in 1980 with a BA in Family and Local History. He is a past-president of the Federation of Genealogical Societies (FGS) 1997-2000, a national genealogical society umbrella organization, a past-president of the Utah Genealogical Association (UGA) 1993-1995 and a Fellow of that organization. He is a fellow of the Irish Genealogical Research Society, London and is a vice-president of the Genealogical Society of Utah (GSU). He is currently serving as the Chair of the joint Federation of Genealogical Societies and National Genealogical Society committee for Record Preservation and Access and serves as the Secretary for the Federation of Genealogical Societies, and as trustee for the Umpstead, Jr. and Elizabeth Jemima Philpott Rencher and the Winslow Farr, Sr. Family Organizations. There is further information about him online at http://www.apgen.org/directory/search_detail.html?mbr_id=176 .

Following the main presentation there will be several classes about family history and technology with something for everyone at any level of expertise. The teachers and classes presently scheduled for this meeting are as follows: (1) Research at BYU: the Other FHL - 5 Levels, 3 Wings, and Online Resources, by Laurie Castillo; (2) MAC: Cemeteries, OSX Tips, and Reunion Reports, by Ron Snowden; (3) Personalized Help, by Don Engstrom & Finn Hansen; (4) Q&A: FamilySearch Products and Features, by David E. Rencher; (5) Video of last month's main presentation: Finding and Analyzing Collections of Personal Letters - Erastus Snow, by Don and Diane Snow; (6) Ancestral Quest, by Gaylon Findlay; (7) Legacy 7.5, by Joel Graham; and (8) RootsMagic 4, by Bruce Buzbee.

All meetings of the 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. The officers are Gerhard Ruf, President; Laurie Castillo, 1st VP; Don Snow, 2nd VP; Liz Kennington, Newsletter Editor; Kay Baker, Gerry Eliason, and Don Engstrom working with finances and membership; and Bruce Merrill and Marie Andersen, working with the DVD Library. Several of these will be there to answer questions, help with membership, distribute the current issue of the monthly newsletter, and check out DVDs of past presentations and classes to members of the group. Information about the Group, presentations, classes, and class notes can be found at the websites mentioned above. For further information contact President Gerhard Ruf at pres@uvpafug.org (801-225-6106) or 1st VP Laurie Castillo at laurie@everythingisrelative.net, or 2nd VP Don Snow at snowd@math.byu.edu.

Don Snow, 2nd VP of Utah Valley Technology and Genealogy Group (UVTAGG)

--

Dr. Donald R. Snow, Retired Professor of Mathematics, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah - snowd@math.byu.edu

[UVTAGG] Press Release for meeting on Saturday 11 Jun 2011

2011-05-31T17:29:00.001-06:00

31 May 2011
Journalists, please run this as a news item and/or in your calendar of events. Ward newsletter editors, please include parts of the first two paragraphs, and mention that there are classes for everyone. Email me, if you need further information. Thanks.
Don Snow

UTAH VALLEY TECHNOLOGY AND GENEALOGY GROUP MEETING (UVTAGG)
The next regular, second-Saturday-of-the-month meeting of the Utah Valley Technology and Genealogy Group - UVTAGG (Formerly the Utah Valley PAF Users Group - UVPAFUG) will be on Saturday, 11 Jun 2011, from 9 am to noon in the LDS "Red Chapel", 4050 North Timpview Drive (650 East), Provo. 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/ . With the organization's name change these URL's will also be changed eventually.

The main presentation for this meeting will be by Donald R. and Diane M. Snow on FORMING AND ANALYZING A DATABASE OF LETTERS USING THE ERASTUS SNOW FAMILY TO ILLUSTRATE. The Snows will describe procedures and freeware programs they have used to transcribe and form a searchable database of the nearly 300 personal letters they have of the Erastus Snow family. The tools and ideas include help in transcribing the handwritten letters, ways to name the files for ease in searching and forming a spreadsheet to analyze and draw charts, ways to identify and edit the names and places, programs that can be used to search the entire collection for names, words, and phrases, and keeping track of interesting items in the letters. The Snows gave a presentation on their database at the Mormon History Association meeting in St. George two weeks ago where the emphasis was on the text of the letters themselves. Here the emphasis will be on the technical aspects of forming and analyzing the database, but they will illustrate with the text, as well. The Snows have been involved with family history for many years and both are retired faculty members from BYU where Don taught Mathematics and Diane taught Humanities. Don is a great grandson of Erastus Snow and they have been on four family history missions for the LDS Church, including being the Directors of the New York Family History Center in Manhattan, serving in Nauvoo, and serving at the London Family History Center in the Hyde Park Chapel in England. They have 6 children, 30 grandchildren, 4 great grand children, and now are "snowbirds" splitting their time between Provo and St. George. They are speakers at many family history venues.

Following the main presentation there will be several classes about family history and technology with something for everyone at any level of expertise. The teachers and classes presently scheduled for this meeting are as follows: (1) Getting the Most Out of Family Tree Maker (PC and MAC), by Duff Wilson; (2) Get Help From Strangers by Publishing on the Internet, by Merlin Kitchen; (3) Increasing Productivity on the new FamilySearch Website, by Andrea Schnakenburg; (4) Personalized Help, by Don Engstrom & Finn Hansen; (5) Q&A: Forming and Analyzing a Database of Letters Using the Erastus Snow Family To Illustrate, by Don & Diane Snow; (6) Video of last month's main presentation: Resources Available at the Riverton FamilySearch Library, by Suzanne Curley; (7) Ancestral Quest, by Gaylon Findlay; (8) Legacy 7.5, by Joel Graham; and (9) Roots Magic 4, by Sue Maxwell.

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. The officers are Gerhard Ruf, President; Laurie Castillo, 1st VP; Don Snow, 2nd VP; Liz Kennington, Newsletter Editor; Kay Baker, Gerry Eliason, and Don Engstrom working with finances and membership; and Bruce Merrill and Marie Andersen, working with the DVD Library. Several of these will be there to help with membership, answer questions, distribute the current issue of the monthly newsletter, and check out DVDs of past presentations and classes to members of the group. Information about the Users Group, presentations, classes, and class notes can be found at the websites mentioned above. For further information contact President Gerhard Ruf at pres@uvpafug.org (801-225-6106) or 1st VP Laurie Castillo at laurie@everythingisrelative.net or 2nd VP Don Snow at snowd@math.byu.edu.

Don Snow, 2nd VP of Utah Valley Technology and Genealogy Group (UVTAGG)

Dr. Donald R. Snow, Retired Professor of Mathematics, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah - snowd@math.byu.edu

[UVTAGG] Press Release for meeting on Saturday 14 May 2011

2011-05-05T15:08:00.000-06:00

5 May 2011
Journalists, please run this as a news item and/or in your calendar of events. Ward newsletter editors, please include parts of the first two paragraphs, and mention that there are classes for everyone. Email me, if you need further information. Thanks.
Don Snow

UTAH VALLEY TECHNOLOGY AND GENEALOGY GROUP (UVTAGG) MEETING
The next regular, second-Saturday-of-the-month meeting of the Utah Valley echnology and Genealogy Group (Formerly the Utah Valley PAF Users Group) will be on Saturday, 14 May 2011, from 9 am to noon in the LDS "Red Chapel", 4050 North Timpview Drive (650 East), Provo. Information about the Users Group, main presentations, classes, and class notes are available on the Group website http://uvpafug.org and the press releases are at http://blog.uvpafug.org/ . With the change in name of the organization these URL's will also be changed later.

The main presentation for this meeting will be by Suzanne H. Curley on RESOURCES AVAILABLE AT THE RIVERTON FAMILYSEARCH LIBRARY. Whether you are new to family history research or a seasoned genealogist, the new state-of-the-art Riverton FamilySearch Library near Bangerter Highway and 134th South, Riverton, Utah, offers you a wide range of genealogical tools. Their website is http://www.familysearch.org/fhc/riverton/ . This presentation will discuss their facilities, popular free monthly seminars, patron classes, access to subscription websites, help from expert research consultants, how to make group bookings, and more. Suzanne H. Curley is the Director of the Riverton FamilySearch Library and is a member of the Board of Directors of the Utah Genealogical Association. She is also a licensed attorney and member of the Utah State Bar. She received her B.A. in Communications from Rider University (in New Jersey) and her J.D. from Brigham Young University's J. Reuben Clark Law School. Prior to law school she worked for 10 years as a print journalist, professional writer, and manager of marketing communications for a national company. She has been involved in family history work for the past thirty years and is a frequent presenter on a wide range of family history topics.

Following the main presentation there will be several classes about family history and technology with something for everyone at any level of expertise. The teachers and classes presently scheduled for this meeting are as follows: (1) Tips to Avoid Barking Up the Wrong Family Tree, by Bret Petersen; (2) An Introduction to the US Census, by Jerry Castillo; (3) MAC: Using Keynote and Reunion Help Topics, by Ron Snowden; (4) Personalized Help, by Finn Hansen & Don Engstrom; (5) Q&A: The Riverton FamilySearch Library, by Suzanne Curley; (6) Video of last month's main presentation: Eating an Elephant One Bite at a Time, by Marilyn Thomsen; (7) Ancestral Quest, by Gaylon Findlay; (8) Legacy, by Dean Bennett; and (9) RootsMagic, by Sue Maxwell.

All meetings are open to the public whether members of the Group or not. The 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. The officers are Gerhard Ruf, President; Laurie Castillo, 1st VP; Don Snow, 2nd VP; Liz Kennington, Newsletter Editor; Kay Baker, Gerry Eliason, and Don Engstrom working with finances and membership; and Bruce Merrill and Marie Andersen, working with the DVD Library. Several of these will be there to help with membership, answer questions, distribute the current issue of the monthly newsletter, and check out DVDs of past presentations and classes to members of the group. Information about the Users Group, presentations, classes, and class notes can be found at the websites mentioned above. For further information contact President Gerhard Ruf at pres@uvpafug.org (801-225-6106) or 1st VP Laurie Castillo at laurie@everythingisrelative.net or 2nd VP Don Snow at snowd@math.byu.edu.

Don Snow, 2nd VP of Utah Valley Technology and Genealogy Group

Dr. Donald R. Snow, Retired Professor of Mathematics, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah - snowd@math.byu.edu

[UVPAFUG] Press release for meeting on Saturday 9 Apr 2011

2011-03-29T23:23:00.000-06:00

29 Mar 2011
Journalists, please run this as a news item and/or in your calendar of events. Ward newsletter editors, please include parts of the first two paragraphs, and mention that there are classes for everyone. Email me, if you need further information. Thanks.
Don Snow

UTAH VALLEY PAF USERS GROUP MEETING
The next regular, second-Saturday-of-the-month meeting of the Utah Valley PAF (Personal Ancestral File) Users Group will be on Saturday, 9 Apr 2011, from 9 am to noon in the LDS "Red Chapel", 4050 North Timpview Drive (650 East), Provo. Information about the Users Group, main presentations, classes, and class notes are available on the Group website http://uvpafug.org and the press releases are at http://blog.uvpafug.org/ .

The main presentation for this meeting will be by Marilyn Thomsen on EATING AN ELEPHANT ONE BITE AT A TIME: IDEAS TO ORGANIZE YOUR FAMILY HISTORY TIME. If you feel overwhelmed and don't know where to start on your family history, this presentation will help you set a goal, get organized, and show you how to use a personal coach to help you eat your genealogical elephant. Marilyn Thomsen graduated with a B.A. in family history from Brigham Young University. Her internship was at the National Archive Branch in Atlanta, Georgia. Twice she won BYU's award for her family histories. Recently she served as a US & Canada consultant at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City and is currently the Director of the Utah Orem Sunset Heights Tri-Stake Family History Center (located across from Krispy Kremes.) Her husband, Richard, shares a passion for digging up dead relatives and sharing it with living.

Following the main presentation there will be several classes about family history and technology with something for everyone at any level of expertise. The teachers and classes presently scheduled for this meeting are as follows: (1) Comparing Ancestral Quest, Legacy, and RootsMagic, by Debbie Gurtler; (2) MAC: Recent DNA experiences--and Reunion Q&A, by Ron Hatch; (3) Personalized Help, by Finn Hansen & Don Engstrom; (4) Getting Genealogy Clutter Under Control, by Marilyn Thomsen; (5) Video of last month's main presentation: Back-Door Research Breaks Through Brick Walls, by Stephen Ehat; (6) Family Insight, by Andrea Schnakenburg; (7) Ancestral Quest, by Gaylon Findlay; (8) Legacy, by Dean Bennett; and (9) RootsMagic, by Sue Maxwell.

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. The officers are Gerhard Ruf, President; Laurie Castillo, 1st VP; Don Snow, 2nd VP; Liz Kennington, PAFology Editor; Kay Baker, Gerry Eliason, and Don Engstrom working with finances and membership; and Bruce Merrill and Marie Andersen, working with the DVD Library. Several of these will be there to help with membership, answer questions, distribute the current issue of the monthly newsletter PAFology, and check out DVDs of past presentations and classes to members of the group. Information about the Users Group, presentations, classes, and class notes can be found at the websites mentioned above. For further information contact President Gerhard Ruf at pres@uvpafug.org (801-225-6106 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting 801-225-6106 end_of_the_skype_highlighting) or 1st VP Laurie Castillo at laurie@everythingisrelative.net or 2nd VP Don Snow at snowd@math.byu.edu.

Don Snow, 2nd VP of Utah Valley PAF Users Group--

Dr. Donald R. Snow, Retired Professor of Mathematics, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah - snowd@math.byu.edu

[UVPAFUG] Press release for meeting on Saturday 12 Mar 2011

2011-03-02T17:18:00.000-07:00

2 Mar 2011
Journalists, please run this as a news item and/or in your calendar of events. Ward newsletter editors, please include parts of the first two paragraphs, and mention that there are classes for everyone. Email me, if you need further information. Thanks.
Don Snow

UTAH VALLEY PAF USERS GROUP MEETING
The next regular, second-Saturday-of-the-month meeting of the Utah Valley PAF (Personal Ancestral File) Users Group will be on Saturday, 12 Mar 2011, from 9 am to noon in the LDS "Red Chapel", 4050 North Timpview Drive (650 East), Provo. 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/ .

The main presentation for this meeting will be by Stephen Kent Ehat on BACK-DOOR RESEARCH BREAKS THROUGH BRICK WALLS. Steve will be showing what to do when you hit a brick wall in your family history research. What do you do then? Perform research on others, such as neighbors and those named in records in reasonably close proximity to the names of your relatives. This type of research helps you break through brick walls. Learn how to do it and be amazed at the results. Stephen Ehat is member of the State Bar of California. He recently served as the Director of a six-stake Family History Center in Lindon, Utah where he lives. A convert to the LDS Church at age 10, he has been doing family history research since 1967. He and his wife, Jeanine, have five sons and eleven grandchildren (with two on the way, but who's counting?).

Following the main presentation there will be several classes about family history and technology with something for everyone at any level of expertise. The teachers and classes presently scheduled for this meeting are as follows: (1) MAC: Reunion Tips,Tricks, Q/A, and using Skype, by Ron Snowden; (2) Strategies for Searching Ancestry.com, by Sue Maxwell; (3) Personalized Help, by Finn Hansen & Rudy Johansen; (4) Q&A and Back-door Research Examples, by Stephen Ehat; (5) Video of last month's main presentation: The Future of New Family Seaerch, by Ron Tanner; (6) Family Insight, by Andrea Schnakenburg; (7) Ancestral Quest, (TBA); (8) Legacy, by Joel Graham; and (9) RootsMagic, by Diana Olsen.

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. The officers are Gerhard Ruf, President; Laurie Castillo, 1st VP; Don Snow, 2nd VP; Liz Kennington, PAFology Editor; Kay Baker, Gerry Eliason, and Don Engstrom working with finances and membership; and Bruce Merrill and Marie Andersen, working with the DVD Library. Several of these will be there to help with membership, answer questions, distribute the current issue of the monthly newsletter PAFology, and check out DVDs of past presentations and classes to members of the group. Information about the Users Group, presentations, classes, and class notes can be found at the websites mentioned above. For further information contact President Gerhard Ruf at pres@uvpafug.org (801-225-6106) or 1st VP Laurie Castillo at laurie@everythingisrelative.net or 2nd VP Don Snow at snowd@math.byu.edu.

Don Snow, 2nd VP of Utah Valley PAF Users Group

--
Dr. Donald R. Snow, Retired Professor of Mathematics, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah - snowd@math.byu.edu

[UVPAFUG] Press release about meeting on Saturday 12 Feb 2011

2011-02-02T11:35:00.000-07:00

2 Feb 2011
Journalists, please run this as a news item and/or in your calendar of events. Ward newsletter editors, please include parts of the first two paragraphs, and mention that there are classes for everyone. Email me, if you need further information. Thanks.

Don Snow

UTAH VALLEY PAF USERS GROUP MEETING
The next regular, second-Saturday-of-the-month meeting of the Utah Valley PAF (Personal Ancestral File) Users Group will be on Saturday, 12 Feb 2011, from 9 am to noon in the LDS "Red Chapel", 4050 North Timpview Drive (650 East), Provo. Information about the Users Group, main presentations, classes, and class notes are available on the Group website http://uvpafug.org and the press releases are at http://blog.uvpafug.org/ .

The main presentation for this meeting will be by Ron Tanner on THE FUTURE OF NEW FAMILYSEARCH. This will be a description of what is happening lately on the new.familysearch.org website and the planned integration of new.familysearch.org into www.familysearch.org. We will also discuss the vision of new.familysearch.org and how we are working to achieve this vision. The vision works to resolve some of the frustrations experienced by all users such as fixing or removing bad data, fixing relationships, sourcing, combining and separating, and recovering when someone messes up the data. Ron Tanner is a Product Manager for the Family History Department of the LDS Church and assists in the research and design of new FamilySearch and companion products. Currently Ron's assignments include overall product delivery for new.familysearch.org, the Asia rollout, and future product direction for FamilySearch. Ron has a Master's Degree in Computer Science from BYU and has previously worked as a product manager and engineer at Novell, Citrix, and Bell Laboratories. Ron and his wife CheRee live in Provo and have four children.

Following the main presentation there will be several classes about family history and technology with something for everyone at any level of expertise. The teachers and classes presently scheduled for this meeting are as follows: (1) Techniques & Tools for Streamlining Your Research, by Laurie Castillo; (2) MAC: Uploading to Ancestry and Creating a Web Site, by Ron Snowden; (3) Personalized Help, by Claudia Benson & Finn Hansen; (4) Q&A: The Future of New FamilySearch, by Ron Tanner; (5) Video of last month's main presentation: ePublishing, by Barbara Renick; (6) Ancestral Quest, by Merlin Kitchen; (7) Legacy, by Joel Graham; and (8) RootsMagic, by Diana Olsen.

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. The officers are Gerhard Ruf, President; Don Snow, 1st VP; Laurie Castillo, 2nd VP; Liz Kennington, PAFology Editor; Kay Baker, Gerry Eliason, and Don Engstrom working with finances and membership; and Bruce Merrill and Marie Andersen, working with the DVD Library. Several of these will be there to help with membership, answer questions, distribute the current issue of the monthly newsletter PAFology to the members, and check out DVDs of past presentations and classes to members of the group. Information about the Users Group, presentations, classes, and class notes can be found at the websites mentioned above. For further information contact President Gerhard Ruf at pres@uvpafug.org (801-225-6106) or 1st VP Don Snow at snowd@math.byu.edu or 2nd VP Laurie Castillo at laurie@everythingisrelative.net.

Don Snow, 1st VP of Utah Valley PAF Users Group
--
Dr. Donald R. Snow, Retired Professor of Mathematics, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah - snowd@math.byu.edu

[UVPAFUG] Press release of Utah Valley PAF Users Group for meeting on Saturday 8 Jan 2011

2010-12-29T16:52:00.000-07:00

29 Dec 2010
Journalists, please run this as a news item and/or in your calendar of events. Ward newsletter editors, please include parts of the first two paragraphs, and mention that there are classes for everyone. Email me, if you need further information. Thanks.
Don Snow

UTAH VALLEY PAF USERS GROUP MEETING
The next regular, second-Saturday-of-the-month meeting of the Utah Valley PAF (Personal Ancestral File) Users Group will be on Saturday, 8 Jan 2011, from 9 am to noon in the LDS "Red Chapel", 4050 North Timpview Drive (650 East), Provo. Information about the Users Group, main presentations, classes, and class notes are available on the Group website http://uvpafug.org and the press releases are at http://blog.uvpafug.org/ .

The main presentation for this meeting will be by Barbara Renick on EPUBLISHING. Genealogists are motivated to preserve and share what they have found and by publishing they open their work to peer review (critique) which often brings to light possible errors and additional resources. Today there are two approaches to publishing: low or no cost electronic publishing (for part or all of research summaries and family history books) and the use of the Internet to find and manage the best paper publishing options. This presentation will be an extensive discussion of electronic publishing media, including online library catalogs with Web 2.0 user-added-content, different types of Wikis and Web sites, blogs, digitized books online, plus publishing to CDs and DVDs. Barbara Renick is a nationally known genealogy lecturer who lectures frequently at national and local genealogy conferences. She currently serves on staff and teaches at the LDS Regional Family History Center in Orange, California. She writes for several genealogy publications and has written several genealogy books, her most recent one being Genealogy 101: How to Trace Your Family's History and Heritage. That book was sponsored by the National Genealogical Society for their 100th Anniversary. She is also well known for the 'Z' Links page at her website http://www.zroots.com/ which is a favorite tool for many people. Her maiden name was Zuknick and she was born in Maryland to a German immigrant father and and a Tennessee hillbilly mother. She had a four-year scholarship in electrical engineering with an eye toward designing computers, but ended up graduating from BYU in nursing in 1974. After purchasing her first computer in 1983 she was asked to train and supervise a crew of workers for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for data entry of the International Genealogical Index and the Ancestral File. She teaches many family history classes, writes many family history articles, and is a frequent alpha and beta tester for software programs and Internet sites.

Following the main presentation there will be several classes about family history and technology with something for everyone at any level of expertise. The teachers and classes presently scheduled for this meeting are as follows: (1) Scandinavian Research on the Internet, by Rick Mathews; (2) Fun Ideas for Family History Consultants, by Bret Petersen; (3) Personalized Family History Help, by Claudia Benson & Finn Hansen; (4) Making A List and Checking it Twice, by Barbara Renick; (5) Video of last month's main presentation: Introduction to Waypointing, by Travis Mecham; (6) MAC: Uploading to Ancestry and Creating a Web Site, by Ron Snowden; (7) Ancestral Quest, by Gaylon Findlay & Merlin Kitchen; (8) Family Insight, by Andrea Schnakenburg; (9) Legacy, by Joel Graham; and (10) RootsMagic, by Bruce Buzbee.

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. The officers are Gerhard Ruf, President; Don Snow, 1st VP; Laurie Castillo, 2nd VP; Liz Kennington, PAFology Editor; Kay Baker, Gerry Eliason, and Don Engstrom working with finances and membership; and Bruce Merrill and Marie Andersen, working with the DVD Library. Several of these will be there to help with membership, answer questions, distribute the current issue of the monthly newsletter PAFology, and check out DVDs of past
presentations and classes to members of the group. Information about the Users Group, presentations, classes, and class notes can be found at the websites mentioned above. For further information contact President Gerhard Ruf at pres@uvpafug.org (801-225-6106) or 1st VP Don Snow at snowd@math.byu.edu or 2nd VP Laurie Castillo at laurie@everythingisrelative.net.

Don Snow, 1st VP of Utah Valley PAF Users Group--

Dr. Donald R. Snow, Retired Professor of Mathematics, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah - snowd@math.byu.edu

[UVPAFUG] Press release for meeting on Saturday 13 Nov 2010

2010-11-03T12:30:00.000-06:00

3 Nov 2010

Journalists, please run this as a news item and/or in your calendar of events. Ward newsletter editors, please include parts of the first two paragraphs, and mention that there are classes for everyone. Email me, if you need further information. Thanks.
Don Snow

UTAH VALLEY PAF USERS GROUP MEETING

The next regular, second-Saturday-of-the-month meeting of the Utah Valley PAF (Personal Ancestral File) Users Group will be on Saturday, 13 Nov 2010, from 9 am to noon in the LDS "Red Chapel", 4050 North Timpview Drive (650 East), Provo. 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/ .

The main presentation for this meeting will be by Travis Mecham on INTRODUCTION TO WAYPOINTING. Waypointing is a process used to group document images together according to locality, record type, and year range in preparation for online publication. The Waypointing process creates a browse structure allowing users to focus their search on a single place and time. Waypointing is, in essence, a digital microfilm reader, allowing patrons of FamilySearch access to many images that they would otherwise have to access at a Family History Library on microfilm. This presentation will explain why this process was developed, as well as demonstrate how the Waypointing tool functions. Travis Mecham was born and raised in Cache Valley, Utah and graduated with a Bachelor's Degree in History from Utah State University in 2006. He received his Master's Degree in History in 2009, also from Utah State University. Currently an employee for FamilySearch in Salt Lake City, he now coordinates volunteer efforts for the Digital Browse Team, which oversees the use of the Waypointing tool.

Following the main presentation there will be several classes about family history and technology with something for everyone at any level of expertise. The teachers and classes presently scheduled for this meeting are as follows: (1) Using Google Effectively, by Sue Maxwell; (2) Publish Instead of GEDCOM, by Merlin Kitchen; (3) Q&A: Waypointing, by Travis Mecham; (4) Video of last month's main presentation Preserving Your Family History Records Digitally, by Gary Wright; (5) Personalized Help, by Finn Hansen & Claudia Benson; (6) Ancestral Quest, by Gaylon Findlay; (7) Legacy, by Dean Bennett; (8)
RootsMagic, by Diana Olsen & Renee Zamora.

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. The officers are Gerhard Ruf, President; Don Snow, 1st VP; Laurie Castillo, 2nd VP; Liz Kennington, PAFology Editor; Kay Baker, Gerry Eliason, and Don Engstrom working with finances and membership; and Bruce Merrill and Marie Andersen, working with the DVD Library. Several of these will be there to help with membership, answer questions, distribute the current issue of the monthly newsletter PAFology, and check out DVD's of past presentations and classes to members of the group. Information about the Users Group, presentations, classes, and class notes can be found at the websites mentioned above. For further information contact President Gerhard Ruf at pres@uvpafug.org (801-225-6106) or 1st VP Don Snow at snowd@math.byu.edu or 2nd VP Laurie Castillo at laurie@everythingisrelative.net.

As a reminder, the Utah Valley PAF Users Group does not meet during December since the LDS Chapel is needed for other meetings then.

Don Snow, 1st VP of Utah Valley PAF Users Group

--
Dr. Donald R. Snow, Retired Professor of Mathematics, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah -snowd@math.byu.edu

[UVPAFUG] Press release for meeting on Saturday 9 Oct 2010

2010-09-28T12:51:00.000-06:00

28 Sep 2010
Journalists, please run this as a news item and/or in your calendar of events. Ward newsletter editors and Ward and Stake Webmasters, this next weekend is General Conference, but if you are having any meetings or can include this on your websites, please include parts of the first two paragraphs, and mention that there are classes for everyone. Email me, if you need further information. Thanks.
Don Snow

UTAH VALLEY PAF USERS GROUP MEETING
The next regular, second-Saturday-of-the-month meeting of the Utah Valley PAF (Personal Ancestral File) Users Group will be on Saturday, 9 Oct 2010, from 9 am to noon in the LDS "Red Chapel", 4050 North Timpview Drive (650 East), Provo. 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/ .

The main presentation for this meeting will be by Gary T. Wright on PRESERVING YOUR FAMILY HISTORY RECORDS DIGITALLY. This presentation will discuss the challenges and benefits of digital preservation as a means to preserve personal family history materials. It will also explore potential solutions to the challenges, identify what types of family history materials are suitable for digital preservation, and summarize what is required to get started. Gary T. Wright is currently Senior Product Manager of Digital Preservation at FamilySearch. In this role, he is responsible for guiding FamilySearch to become a world leader in digital preservation. Gary earned a Masters Degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Colorado. Before joining FamilySearch, he directed enterprise storage marketing, services, and solution development for prominent storage technology companies such as IBM, HP, LSI, and StorageTek. Gary is also the author of the book The Light of Ancient America, an award winning composer, and a violinist with the Orchestra at Temple Square.

Following the main presentation there will be several classes about family history and technology with something for everyone at any level of expertise. The teachers and classes presently scheduled for this meeting are as follows: (1) Vital Records Indexes and Records Online, by Laurie Castillo; (2) Family History Books Online, by Don Snow; (3) MAC: Making Reunion and OSX Work For You, by Ron Snowden; (4) Personalized Help, by Don Engstrom and Finn Hansen; (5) Q&A Preserving Your Family History Records Digitally, by Gary T. Wright; (6) Video of last month's main presentation: Linking nFS Ancestors to Original Records, by George Ryskamp; (7) Ancestral Quest: Ordinance Reservation and Tracking, by Merlin Kitchen; (8) Legacy, by Dean Bennett; (9) RootsMagic, by Sue Maxwell; and (10) Family Insight, by Andrea Schnakenburg.

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. The officers are Gerhard Ruf, President; Don Snow, 1st VP; Laurie Castillo, 2nd VP; Liz Kennington, PAFology Editor; Kay Baker, Gerry Eliason, and Don Engstrom working with finances and membership; and Bruce Merrill and Marie Andersen, working with the DVD Library. Several of these will be there to help with membership, answer questions, distribute the current issue of the monthly newsletter PAFology, and check out DVD's of past presentations and classes to members of the group. Information about the Users Group, presentations, classes, and class notes can be found at the websites mentioned above. For further information contact President Gerhard Ruf at pres@uvpafug.org (801-225-6106) or 1st VP Don Snow at snowd@math.byu.edu or 2nd VP Laurie Castillo at laurie@everythingisrelative.net.

Don Snow, 1st VP of Utah Valley PAF Users Group
--
Dr. Donald R. Snow, Retired Professor of Mathematics, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah - snowd@math.byu.edu

[UVPAFUG] Press release for meeting 11 Sep 2010

2010-09-01T11:39:00.000-06:00

1 Sep 2010
Journalists, please run this as a news item and/or in your calendar of events. Ward newsletter editors, please include information from the first and second paragraphs and mention that there are classes for everyone. Email me, if you need further information. Thanks.
Don Snow

UTAH VALLEY PAF USERS GROUP MEETING
The next regular, second-Saturday-of-the-month meeting of the Utah Valley PAF (Personal Ancestral File) Users Group will be on Saturday, 11 Sep 2010, from 9 am to noon in the LDS "Red Chapel", 4050 North Timpview Drive (650 East), Provo. 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/ . On the Group's website you can sign up to receive an email copy of the press releases as they are sent out.

The main presentation for this meeting will be by George R. Ryskamp on CONNECTING NEW FAMILYSEARCH ANCESTORS WITH ORIGINAL RECORDS. This will be a discussion of how to use the clues you've found in New FamilySearch to connect with original records and find new ancestral family members. George R. Ryskamp, JD, AG®, is an attorney, author, and Associate Professor of History at BYU. He is the author of numerous books and articles, and a regular lecturer at National and International conferences. He is an accredited genealogist specializing in Spanish language research and United States probate and legal systems and has, each year for twelve years, taken groups of students to Spain, France and/or Italy to learn first hand how to research in archives. George is a popular speaker and is the Director of the Lindon FHC. He will be sharing the benefit of his experience with New FamilySearch. His Curriculum Vitae is posted at http://history.byu.edu/Assets/FacultyVitasPics/ryskamp.pdf

Following the main presentation there will be several classes about family history and technology with something for everyone at any level of expertise. The teachers and classes presently scheduled for this meeting are as follows: (1) Using Multimedia with PAF, by Bret Petersen; (2) Personalized Help with NFS and PAF, by Don Engstrom and Finn Hansen; (3) Genealogy on the MAC: Q & A, by Roger Lehr; (4) Q&A on Connecting to Original Records, by George Ryskamp; (5) Video of last month's main presentation: Answers From FamilySearch Wiki and Forums, by Kara Wahlquist; (6) Ancestral Quest: Uploading and Revising Data Between PAF and New FamilySearch, by Merlin Kitchen; (7) Legacy, by Dean Bennett; and (8) RootsMagic, by Sue Maxwell. There will be no FamiliyInsight Class this month.

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. The officers are Gerhard Ruf, President; Don Snow, 1st VP; Laurie Castillo, 2nd VP; Liz Kennington, PAFology Editor; Kay Baker, Gerry Eliason, and Don Engstrom working with finances and membership; and Bruce Merrill and Marie Andersen, working with the DVD Library. Several of these will be there to help with membership, answer questions, distribute the current issue of the monthly newsletter PAFology, and check out DVD's of past
presentations and classes to members of the group. Information about the Users Group, presentations, classes, and class notes can be found at the websites mentioned above. For further information contact President Gerhard Ruf at pres@uvpafug.org (801-225-6106) or 1st VP Don Snow at snowd@math.byu.edu or 2nd VP Laurie Castillo at laurie@everythingisrelative.net.

Don Snow, 1st VP of Utah Valley PAF Users Group

Donald R. Snow, Retired Professor of Mathematics, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah
snowd@math.byu.edu

[UVPAFUG] Press Release for meeting on 14 Aug 2010

2010-08-03T11:53:00.000-06:00

3 Aug 2010
Journalists, please run this as a news item and/or in your calendar of events. Ward newsletter editors, Please include the first paragraph, parts of the second 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
The next regular, second-Saturday-of-the-month meeting of the Utah Valley PAF (Personal Ancestral File) Users Group will be on Saturday, 14 Aug 2010, from 9 am to noon in the LDS "Red Chapel", 4050 North Timpview Drive (650 East), Provo. 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/ .

The main presentation for this meeting will be by Kara Wahlquist on ANSWERS TO WORLDWIDE RESEARCH PROBLEMS USING FAMILYSEARCH WIKI AND FORUMS. Learn how the Wiki, Forums, and Online Courses are valuable tools in finding family history answers faster than ever before! These
tools help connect researchers and sources all over the world. Family History Consultants don't have to know all of the answers – just where to find them! During the last year, Kara Wahlqjuist worked with the FamilySearch Wiki team preparing for the National Genealogical Society Conference in Salt Lake City, April 2010. She has been instrumental in teaching and infusing excitement for the Wiki and Forums by demonstrating how to use these new tools to their greatest advantage. Before joining the Wiki Team Kara worked as a consultant on the US/Canada Reference desk at the Family History Library. She worked for Ancestry.com and has been involved in British and U.S. Research for the past 30 years. Kara is a passionate, motivated genealogist who willingly shares her energy, experience and testimony to help others with their research.

Following the main presentation there will be several classes about family history and technology with something for everyone at any level of expertise. The teachers and classes presently scheduled for this
meeting are as follows: (1) Personalized Help with New FamilySearch and PAF, by Don Engstrom and Finn Hansen; (2) Family Insight, by Andrea Schnakenburg; (3) Q&A on the FamilySearch Wiki and Forums, by Kara Wahlquist; (4) Video of last month's main presentation, Are You My Mother? - Finding Maiden Names, by Bret Petersen; (5) Using Ancestral Quest to modify New FamilySearch, by Merlin Kitchen; (6) Legacy, by Joel Graham; and (7) RootsMagic, by Diana Olsen and Renee Zamora.

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. The officers are Gerhard Ruf, President; Don Snow, 1st VP; Laurie Castillo, 2nd VP; Liz Kennington, PAFology Editor; Kay Baker, Gerry Eliason, and Don Engstrom working with finances and membership; and Bruce Merrill and Marie Andersen, working with the DVD Library. Several of these will be there to help with membership, answer questions, distribute the current issue of the monthly newsletter PAFology, and check out DVD's of past presentations and classes to members of the group. Information about the Users Group, presentations, classes, and class notes can be found at the websites mentioned above. For further information contact President Gerhard Ruf at pres@uvpafug.org (801-225-6106) or 1st VP Don Snow at snowd@math.byu.edu or 2nd VP Laurie Castillo at laurie@everythingisrelative.net.

Don Snow, 1st VP of Utah Valley PAF Users Group
===============
Donald R. Snow, Retired Professor of Mathematics, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah
snowd@math.byu.edu
Math Faculty, Nauvoo University, Nauvoo Illinois - http://nauvoouniversity.com

[UVPAFUG] Press release for meeting on 10 Jul 2010

2010-06-30T10:39:00.000-06:00

29 Jun 2010

Journalists, please run this as a news item and/or in your calendar of events. Ward newsletter editors, please include parts of the first and second paragraphs and mention that there are classes for everyone. Email me, if you need further information. Thanks.

Don Snow

UTAH VALLEY PAF USERS GROUP MEETING

The next regular, second-Saturday-of-the-month meeting of the Utah Valley PAF (Personal Ancestral File) Users Group will be on Saturday, 10 Jul 2010, from 9 am to noon in the LDS "Red Chapel", 4050 North Timpview Drive (650 East), Provo. For directions to get there see the map on the group's website http://uvpafug.org .

The main presentation for this meeting will be by Bret Petersen on ARE YOU MY MOTHER? - FINDING MAIDEN NAMES. This will be a discussion of various types of records and research techniques that can provide clues in determining more about missing mothers. It can often be difficult to discover the maiden name of female ancestors, however, such a find can create a whole new branch on your family tree opening up connections to more and more families. Join us as we explore a few of the resources where you might look for more information regarding those elusive maiden names on your family line. Bret Peterson loves teaching and helping others learn all they can about using technology in researching their family history. He is a frequent presenter for classes ranging from just a few users to several hundred. He developed a love of family history research at a very young age and this continued through his college years where he graduated from BYU with a degree in communications/Journalism and a minor in Education/Sociology. His interest in computers began through newspaper writing, editing and design, and this led him into a professional training and support role with a company that supplies newspaper publishing systems internationally. His passion for family history research and the advancements in computer-assisted research led him to the Utah Valley PAF Users Group where he now serves as Webmaster. He is currently working towards accreditation with ICAPGen.

Following the main presentation there will be several classes about family history and technology with something for everyone at any level of expertise. The teachers and classes presently scheduled for this meeting are as follows: (1) Laurie Castillo on Military Research on the Internet; (2) Don Engstrom & Finn Hansen on Individual Help with PAF & New FamilySearch; (3) Bret Petersen on Cemetery Symbolism in Stone; (4) Video of last month's main presentation by Andrea Schnakenburg on How to Light a Fire Under Your Ward; (5) Andrea Schnakenburg on Family Insight; (6) Gaylon FIndlay on Ancestral Quest 12.1; (7) Joel Graham on Legacy 7.4; and (8) Bruce Buzbee on Roots Magic 4.

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. The officers are Gerhard Ruf, President; Don Snow, 1st VP; Laurie Castillo, 2nd VP; Liz Kennington, PAFology Editor; Kay Baker, Gerry Eliason, and Don Engstrom working with finances and membership; and Bruce Merrill and Marie Andersen, working with the DVD Library. Several of these will be there to help with membership, answer questions, distribute the current issue of the monthly newsletter PAFology, and check out DVD's 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) or 1st VP Don Snow at snowd@math.byu.edu or 2nd VP Laurie Castillo at laurie@everythingisrelative.net.

Don Snow, 1st VP of Utah Valley PAF Users Group

[UVPAFUG] Press release for meeting on 12 Jun 2010

2010-06-02T10:09:00.005-06:00

2 Jun 2010 Journalists, please run this as a news item and/or in your calendar of events. Ward newsletter editors, please include 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
The next regular, second-Saturday-of-the-month meeting of the Utah Valley PAF (Personal Ancestral File) Users Group will be on Saturday, 12 Jun 2010, from 9 am to noon in the LDS "Red Chapel", 4050 North Timpview Drive (650 East), Provo. For directions to get there see the map on the group's website http://uvpafug.org .

The main presentation for this meeting will be by Andrea Schnakenburg on HOW TO LIGHT A FIRE UNDER YOUR WARD. This presentation is geared toward family history consultants and family history center directors. Join us as we share some fun and fabulous tips for getting everyone excited about doing genealogy. We'll talk about how to get ward leaders involved, beginners excited, and research moving forward. Come learn how to motivate and inspire everyone, including the people who "just don't have the time". Andrea Schnakenburg is the Training Coordinator at Ohana Software where she organizes and teaches various free web seminars. After graduating from BYU with a Bachelor of Science degree in 2007, she started work with Ohana Software as a graphic designer. That's when she really caught the genealogy bug and she has been learning and teaching ever since. She recently returned to Utah after living in Hawaii where she started her work with Ohana Software. Following the main presentation there will be several classes taught concerning technology and family history with topics for all levels of expertise and interest.

The teachers and classes presently scheduled for this meeting are as follows. (1) Duane Dudley, Using the NFS Help Center and Sandbox to Solve Problems; (2) Andrea Schnakenburg, FamilyInsight: Separating Incorrectly Combined Individuals and More; (3) Barry Ewell, The Basics of Photoshop Essentials; (4) Larry Hudgins, Mac or PC - The Best of Both Worlds; (5) Don Engstrom & Finn Hansen, Individualized Help with PAF and NFS; (6) Video of last month's main presentation by Don and Diane Snow, Freeware and Shareware for Family History; (7) Gaylon Findlay, Ancestral Quest; (8) Dean Bennett, Legacy; and (9) Sue Maxwell, RootsMagic.

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. The officers are Gerhard Ruf, President; Don Snow, 1st VP; Laurie Castillo, 2nd VP; Liz Kennington, PAFology Editor; Kay Baker, Gerry Eliason, and Don Engstrom working with finances and membership; and Bruce Merrill and Marie Andersen, working with the DVD Library. Several of these will be there to help with membership, answer questions, distribute the current issue of the monthly newsletter PAFology, and check out DVD's 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) or 1st VP Don Snow at snowd@math.byu.edu or 2nd VP Laurie Castillo at laurie@everythingisrelative.net.

Don Snow, 1st VP of Utah Valley PAF Users Group

Donald R. Snow, Math Faculty, Nauvoo University http://www.nauvoouniversity.com Retired Professor of Mathematics, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah snowd@math.byu.edu

[UVPAFUG] Press release for meeting on 8 May 2010

2010-04-28T21:37:00.003-06:00

28 Apr 2009

Journalists, please run this as a news item and/or in your calendar of events. Ward newsletter editors, please include 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
The next regular, second-Saturday-of-the-month meeting of the Utah Valley PAF (Personal Ancestral File) Users Group will be on Saturday, 8 May 2010, from 9 am to noon in the LDS "Red Chapel", 4050 North Timpview Drive (650 East), Provo. There is a map showing the location on the group's website http://uvpafug.org . The main presentation for this meeting will be by Don and Diane Snow on FREEWARE AND SHAREWARE FOR FAMILY HISTORY. Their talk will show examples of free software and how they have used it in family history. The handout for the meeting will include the websites to download that freeware, plus many other free programs and will be posted on the Group's webpage. They will also give short reports about the 2010 BYU Computerized Genealogy Conference and the National Genealogical Society Annual Meeting, both held in the Salt Palace last week. They were speakers at the BYU Conference. The Snows have been involved with family history for many years and have served 4 LDS Church family history missions as a couple. Their last mission was to the London Family History Centre in England from which they returned 18 months ago. Don has been a Vice President of the Utah Valley PAF Users Group for many years. They are both retired BYU faculty members where Don taught Mathematics and Diane taught Humanities. This month they have just returned from serving as volunteer teachers in the fledgling Nauvoo Uinversity. See http://www.nauvoouniversity.com/ for information about this new school.

Following the main presentation there will be several classes taught concerning technology and family history. As always there will be classes and topics for all levels of expertise and interest. The classes and teachers presently scheduled for this meeting are as follows. (1) Documenting Sources in PAF 5 and in New FamilySearch, by Duane Dudley; (2) Genealogy on Your MAC - Bells and Whistles, by Venita Parry; (3) Hardware and Software Q&A, by Jerry Castillo; (4) Individual Help with PAF & NFS, by Finn Hansen and Max & Kathy Henrie; (5) Q&A: Freeware and Shareware for Family History. by Don and Diane Snow; (6) Video of last month's main presentation: FamilySearch's Extended Tree, by Tim Cross; (7) Ancestral Quest, by Merlin Kitchen; (8) Legacy 7.4, by Joel Graham; and (9) RootsMagic 4, by Sue Maxwell.

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. The officers are Gerhard Ruf, President; Don Snow, 1st VP; Laurie Castillo, 2nd VP; Liz Kennington, PAFology Editor; Gerry Eliason, PAFlogy Distribution; Kay Baker, Finances; Don Engstrom, Membership; and Bruce Merrill and Marie Andersen, working with the DVD Library. Several of these will be there to help with membership, answer questions, distribute the current issue of the monthly newsletter PAFology, and check out DVD's 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) or Vice President Don Snow at snowd@math.byu.edu.

Don Snow, Vice President of Utah Valley PAF Users Group

Donald R. Snow, Math Faculty, Nauvoo University http://www.nauvoouniversity.com
Retired Professor of Mathematics, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah
snowd@math.byu.edu

[UVPAFUG] Press release for meeting on 10 Apr 2010

2010-03-30T21:47:00.002-06:00

30 Mar 2009

Journalists, please run this as a news item and/or in your calendar of events. Ward newsletter editors, please include parts of the first two paragraphs and mention that there are classes for everyone. Email me, if you need further information. Thanks.

Don Snow

UTAH VALLEY PAF USERS GROUP MEETING

The next regular, second-Saturday-of-the-month meeting of the Utah Valley PAF (Personal Ancestral File) Users Group will be on Saturday, 10 Apr 2010, from 9 am to noon at our usual location at the LDS "Red Chapel", 4050 North Timpview Drive (650 East), Provo. There is a map showing the location on the group's website http://uvpafug.org . The main presentation for this meeting will be by Timothy G. Cross on FAMILYSEARCH'S EXTENDED TREE. His presentation will discuss current and future plans for FamilySearch's Tree. How does the Tree fit into FamilySearch? Is the Tree limited to just new.familysearch.org? Are we going to be able to make this "common" tree work? How are we supposed to source the Tree? Is this just for genealogists or can everyone participate? Brother Tim Cross has been a Product Manager for new FamilySearch for four years. Prior to working for the LDS Church, Tim worked in the computer industry for PriceWaterhouse; Booz, Allen, & Hamilton; and Novell. Tim is currently responsible for the Family Tree portion of new FamilySearch.

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 teachers and classes currently scheduled for this meeting are the following: (1) FamilyInsight: NFS Sync and Ordinance Preparation, by Andrea Schnakenburg; (2) Using Google in Genealogy, by Duane Dudley; (3) Genealogy on Your MAC - Searching, Charting and Reporting, by Venita Parry; (4) Newspaper or Military Research, by Laurie Castillo; (5) Personal Help with PAF & NFS, by Don Engstrom, Finn Hansen, and Kathy and Max Hennie (new regular class); (6) Q&A: FamilySearch's Extended Tree, by Tim Cross; (7) Video of last month's main presentation: How to Effectively Conduct Family History Research, by Barry Ewell; (8) Ancestral Quest, by Gaylon Findlay; (9) Legacy 7, by Dean Bennett; (10) RootsMagic 4, by Bruce Buzbee.

In addition to the classes this month Ancestry is providing professional scanning equipment again for those that are attending, with priority going to members of the Users Group. Individuals will be able to sign up for a 15-minute slot at the meeting that morning, so bring your genealogy scanning projects.

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. The officers are Gerhard Ruf, President; Don Snow and Laurie Castillo, 1st and 2nd Vice Presidents; Liz Kennington, PAFology Editor; Kay Baker, Gerry Eliason, and Don Engstrom working with finances and membership; and Bruce Merrill, Lynne Shumway, and Marie Andersen, working with the DVD Library. Several of these will be there to help with membership, answer questions, distribute the current issue of the monthly newsletter PAFology, and check out DVD's 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) or 1st Vice President Don Snow at snowd@math.byu.edu .

Don Snow, 1st VP of Utah Valley PAF Users Group

Donald R. Snow, Math Faculty, Nauvoo University http://www.nauvoouniversity.com
Retired Professor of Mathematics, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah
snowd@math.byu.edu

[UVPAFUG] Press release for meeting on 13 Mar 2010

2010-03-02T16:48:00.006-07:00

03 Mar 2009

Journalists, please run this as a news item and/or in your calendar of events. Ward newsletter editors, please include parts of the first two paragraphs and mention that there are classes for everyone. Email me, if you need further information. Thanks.
Don Snow

UTAH VALLEY PAF USERS GROUP MEETING The next regular, second-Saturday-of-the-month meeting of the Utah Valley PAF (Personal Ancestral File) Users Group will be on Saturday, 13 Mar 2010, from 9 am to noon at our usual location at the LDS "Red Chapel", 4050 North Timpview Drive (650 East), Provo. There is a map showing the location on the group's website http://uvpafug.org . The main presentation for this meeting will be by Barry J. Ewell on HOW TO CONDUCT EFFECTIVE GENEALOGICAL RESEARCH ON THE INTERNET. If you are frustrated with searching the Internet and not being able to find information about your family, this talk may help. It will show you how to do better Google searches and find more information about your family from obscure websites to more popular databases and collections. Barry Ewell resides in Riverton, Utah and is a Senior Marketing Manager for IBM. He graduated from BYU in Communications in 1981 and is a writer and researcher with extensive genealogical experience in field research, oral and written histories, using the web, and computer and digital resources. His genealogical research interests include Eastern U.S., United Kingdom, Scandinavia, Germany, and Russia. He is also the founder of http://mygenshare.com/ which will be launched soon and which will have lots of helpful genealogy resources and information.

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 teachers and classes currently scheduled for this meeting are the following: (1) Ralph Hansen on Decluttering Your Family History Closet; (2) Duane Dudley on Submitting Names to the Temple with New FamilySearch; (3) George Scott on Solving Problems in New FamilySearch; (4) Venita Parry on Genealogy on Your MAC; (5) Barry J. Ewell on Learn the Tech to Trace Your Roots; (6) Video of last month's main presentation by Art Johnson on Building Strong Relationships with Priesthood Leaders; (7) Gaylon Findlay on Ancestral Quest; (8) Joel Graham on Legacy 7; and (9) Bruce Buzbee on RootsMagic. 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. The officers are Gerhard Ruf, President; Don Snow and Laurie Castillo, 1st and 2nd Vice Presidents; Liz Kennington, PAFology Editor; Kay Baker, Gerry Eliason, and Don Engstrom working with finances and membership; and Bruce Merrill, Lynne Shumway, and Marie Andersen, working with the DVD Library. Several of these will be there to help with membership, answer questions, distribute the current issue of the monthly newsletter PAFology, and check out DVD's 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) or 1st Vice President Don Snow at snowd@math.byu.edu.

Don Snow, 1st VP of Utah Valley PAF Users Group

Donald R. Snow, Math Faculty, Nauvoo University http://www.nauvoouniversity.com
Retired Professor of Mathematics, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah snowd@math.byu.edu

[UVPAFUG] Press Release for meeting on 13 Feb 2010

2010-02-03T13:05:00.002-07:00

03 Feb 2009

Journalists, please run this as a news item and/or in your calendar of events. Ward newsletter editors, please include parts of the first two paragraphs and mention that there are classes for everyone. Email me, if you need further information. Thanks.
Don Snow

UTAH VALLEY PAF USERS GROUP MEETING
The next regular, second-Saturday-of-the-month meeting of the Utah Valley PAF (Personal Ancestral File) Users Group will be on Saturday, 13 Feb 2010, from 9 am to noon AT OUR OLD LOCATION, THE LDS "RED CHAPEL", 4050 North Timpview Drive (650 East), Provo. The "Red Chapel" remodeling is finished now. There is a map showing the location on the group's website http://uvpafug.org . The main presentation for this meeting will be by Arthur Johnson on BUILDING STRONG RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN PRIESTHOOD LEADERS AND FAMILY HISTORY WORKERS. The presentation centers around finding harmony in the administration of family history work through joyful service. The 2006 revised Handbook of Instructions serves as the basis for this presentation with helpful suggestions around propelling family history work forward in wards and branches of the church. Art Johnson is an Area Manager with the Family History Department and has responsibility for the global contact center. As such he coordinates the effort of over 1,000 missionaries serving worldwide across many languages. His experience with both priesthood leadership and in supporting members in various church callings associated with family history provides a unique perspective on family history work. Art has been working for the Church since 2005 after many years in the contact center industry. He and his wife have 4 children and reside in Utah County. In his spare time he enjoys running (preparing for a marathon in September 2010), reading, and following the Utah Jazz.

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 teachers and classes currently scheduled for this meeting are the following: (1) Duane Dudley on Submitting Names to the Temple with New FamilySearch; (2) George Scott on Getting to Know New FamilySearch (Class 4 of 4); (3) Venita Parry on Genealogy on Your MAC; (4) Art Johnson, Q&A on Building Strong Relationships; (5) Video of last month's main presentation by Janet Hovorka on Comparing Software Certified on New FamilySearch; (6) Gaylon Findlay on Ancestral Quest; (7) Dean Bennett on Legacy 7; and (8) Sue Maxwell on RootsMagic.

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. The officers are Gerhard Ruf, President; Don Snow, Vice President; Beth Ann Wiseman, PAFology Editor; Kay Baker, Gerry Eliason, and Don Engstrom working with finances and membership; and Bruce Merrill, Lynne Shumway, and Marie Andersen, working with the DVD Library. Several of these will be there to help with membership, answer questions, distribute the current issue of the monthly newsletter PAFology, and check out DVD's of past presentations and classes to members of the group. We are sorry to have lost one of our stalwart co-workers, Brian Cooper, who died of cancer on 19 Jan 2010. Brian served as a Vice President for several years. 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) or Vice President Don Snow at snowd@math.byu.edu.

Don Snow, Vice President of Utah Valley PAF Users Group

Donald R. Snow, Math Faculty, Nauvoo University http://www.nauvoouniversity.com
Retired Professor of Mathematics, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah
snowd@math.byu.edu

[UVPAFUG] Press Release for meeting on 9 Jan 2010

2009-12-31T12:16:00.002-07:00

31 Dec 2009

Journalists, please run this as a news item and/or in your calendar of events. Ward newsletter editors, please include parts of the first two paragraphs and mention that there are classes for everyone. Email me, if you need further information. Thanks.

Don Snow

UTAH VALLEY PAF USERS GROUP MEETING

The next regular, second-Saturday-of-the-month meeting of the Utah Valley PAF (Personal Ancestral File) Users Group will be on Saturday, 9 Jan 2010, from 9 am to noon BACK AT THE OLD LOCATION, THE LDS "RED CHAPEL", 4050 North Timpview Drive (650 East), Provo. This is a change back from the temporary location where the Group was meeting while the "Red Chapel" was being remodeled. There is a map showing the location on the group's website http://uvpafug.org .

The main presentation for this meeting will be by Janet Hovorka on COMPARING NEW FAMILYSEARCH CERTIFIED SOFTWARE. Her presentation will compare the features available in the various software programs that have been certified by the LDS Church to interface with New FamilySearch including Ancestral Quest, Family Insight, Legacy, and Roots Magic. Janet Hovorka has a BA in Ancient Near Eastern Studies and an MA in Library Science from BYU and has held positions at BYU and Salt Lake Community College before having her children. She has been teaching family history classes at local, regional, and national genealogical conferences for a number of years. Janet and her husband, Kim, operate Generation Maps, an online genealogy chart printing service at http://www.generationmaps.com/ . She also authors The Chart Chick Blog at http://thechartchick.blogspot.com/ .

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. The officers are Gerhard Ruf, President; Don Snow and Brian Cooper, VP's; Beth Ann Wiseman, PAFology Editor; Kay Baker, Gerry Eliason, and Don Engstrom working with finances and membership; and Bruce Merrill, Lynne Shumway, and Marie Andersen, working with the DVD Library. Several of these will be there to help with membership, answer questions, distribute the current issue of the monthly newsletter PAFology, and check out DVD's 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) or VP1 Don Snow at snowd@math.byu.edu.

Don Snow, 1st Vice President of Utah Valley PAF Users Group

Donald R. Snow, Math Faculty, Nauvoo University, http://www.nauvoouniversity.com
Retired Professor of Mathematics, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah; snowd@math.byu.edu

[UVPAFUG] Press release for 14 Nov 2009 meeting

2009-11-03T16:11:00.001-07:00

03 Nov 2009
Journalists, please run this as a news item and/or in your calendar of events. Ward newsletter editors, please include parts of the first two paragraphs and mention that there are classes for everyone. Email me, if you need further information. Thanks.
Don Snow

UTAH VALLEY PAF USERS GROUP MEETING
The next regular, second-Saturday-of-the-month meeting of the Utah Valley PAF (Personal Ancestral File) Users Group will be on Saturday, 14 Nov 2009, from 9 am to noon in the Edgewood/Riverside LDS Chapel, 3511 North 180 East, Provo, Utah. The chapel is in the Provo "River Bottoms" behind the Jamestown shopping plaza on the east side of University Avenue. You get to it by turning east from University Avenue at 3700 North ("Will's Pit Stop") and then south on 180 East. There is a map showing the location on the group's website http://uvpafug.org .
The main presentation for this meeting will be by Marlo Schuldt on EASIER SCANNING - AN ART AND A SCIENCE. He will be demonstrating the use of a scanner so that you can see and understand the actual steps and processes you need to get better scanning results. This workshop will provide you with some very useful information, tips, and tricks. Questions will be welcome. Marlo Schuldt is President of LifeStory Productions, Inc., an Orem, Utah based company that develops family history software and provides assistance to individuals desiring to gather, prepare, print, and share family history. He earned both BS and MS degrees from Brigham Young University in Communicative Disorders. Mr. Schuldt is married and has five children and 12 grandchildren. He recently received a patent on Heritage Collector Software - see http://heritagecollector.com/ . His past presentations for the UVPAFUG have been well-received and he has published 35 free newsletter articles on family history topics. You can read them at http://www.heritagecollector.com/Newsletter/Newslist.htm .
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 teachers and classes currently scheduled for this meeting are the following: (1) Duane Dudley on Using "Record Search" to Examine Records Being Indexed; (2) George Scott on Getting to Know New FamilySearch (Class 2 of 4); (3) Venita Parry on Genealogy on Your MAC; (4) Marlo Schuldt Q&A on Easier Scanning and More; (5) Robert Raymond on The Genealogy Game Show - video of last month's main presentation; (6) Merlin Kitchen on Ancestral Quest; (7) Dean Bennett on Tagging in Legacy; and (8) Sue Maxwell on RootsMagic.
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. The officers are Gerhard Ruf, President; Don Snow and Brian Cooper, VP's; Beth Ann Wiseman, PAFology Editor; Kay Baker, Gerry Eliason, and Don Engstrom working with finances and membership; and Bruce Merrill, Lynne Shumway, and Marie Andersen, working with the DVD Library. Several of these will be there to help with membership, answer questions, distribute the current issue of the monthly newsletter PAFology, and check out DVD's 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) or VP1 Don Snow at snowd@math.byu.edu.

Don Snow, 1st Vice President of Utah Valley PAF Users Group

Donald R. Snow, Math Faculty, Nauvoo University http://www.nauvoouniversity.com
Retired Professor of Mathematics, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah - snowd@math.byu.edu

[UVPAFUG] Press Release for meeting on 10 Oct 2009

2009-09-30T23:44:00.001-06:00

30 Sep 2009

Don Snow

UTAH VALLEY PAF USERS GROUP MEETING

The next regular, second-Saturday-of-the-month meeting of the Utah Valley PAF (Personal Ancestral File) Users Group will be on Saturday, 10 Oct 2009, from 9 am until noon in the Edgewood/Riverside LDS Chapel, 3511 North 180 East, Provo, Utah. The chapel is in the Provo "River Bottoms" behind the Jamestown shopping plaza on the east side of University Avenue. You get to it by turning east from University Avenue at 3700 North ("Will's Pit Stop") and then south on 180 East. There is a map showing the location on the group's website http://uvpafug.org .

The main presentation for this meeting will be THE GENEALOGY GAME SHOW by Robert Raymond. Think you can read a census record? Properly interpret old documents? Do online records have special pitfalls? Come and quiz yourself. This presentation provides a fun way for beginners to learn, experienced genealogists to review, and advanced genealogists to challenge their knowledge of interpreting records and genealogical skills. Robert Raymond is a genealogical technologist. He's a 40 year veteran of genealogy and a 30+ year veteran of computers. Robert works for FamilySearch International and previously worked for The Generations Network (Ancestry.com). He holds over a dozen patents and received a Masters Degree in Electrical (Computer) Engineering from BYU where he was a Kimball Scholar. Robert is a popular presenter and a shadow writer for one of the most popular genealogical blogs on the web.

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. The officers are Gerhard Ruf, President; Don Snow and Brian Cooper, VP's; Beth Ann Wiseman, PAFology Editor; Kay Baker, Gerry Eliason, and Don Engstrom working with finances and membership; and Bruce Merrill, Lynne Shumway, and Marie Andersen, working with the DVD Library. Several of these will be there to help with membership, answer questions, distribute the current issue of the monthly newsletter PAFology, and check out DVD's 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 online 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, Math Faculty, Nauvoo University,
http://www.nauvoouniversity.com
Retired Professor of Mathematics, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah; snowd@math.byu.edu

[UVPAFUG] Press Release for meeting on 12 Sep 2009

2009-09-01T21:35:00.003-06:00

1 Sep 2009

Don Snow

UTAH VALLEY PAF USERS GROUP MEETING

The next regular, second-Saturday-of-the-month meeting of the Utah Valley PAF (Personal Ancestral File) Users Group will be on Saturday, 12 Sep 2009, from 9 am until noon in the Edgewood/Riverside LDS Chapel, 3511 North 180 East, Provo, Utah. The chapel is in the Provo "River Bottoms" behind the Jamestown shopping plaza on the east side of University Avenue. You get to it by turning east from University Avenue at 3700 North ("Will's Pit Stop") and then south on 180 East. There is a map showing the location on the group's website http://uvpafug.org .

The main presentation for this meeting will be by Crista Cowan on IF YOU GET STUCK GOING BACKWARD, GO FORWARD: TRACING DESCENDANTS OF YOUR ANCESTORS. Are you stuck in your march back through time identifying ancestors? Turn around. Revitalize your research. Rekindle your desire to continue with some success. Descendancy research utilizes much of the same methodology as ancestral research, but can lead to a whole new way of looking at your genealogy. Often it can lead to the discovery of cousins who have missing pieces of the puzzle needed to complete your picture of common ancestors. Crista Cowan is the owner and operator of Legacy Family History Services. She has been involved in family history research for over 20 years, actively doing client research for the past eight years. She specializes in descendancy research, Jewish Immigration, and sharing family history with the genealogically challenged. Crista is an active member of the Association of Professional Genealogist (APG), currently serving her second term as president of the Utah Valley chapter. She regularly teaches Family History classes at her local LDS Family History Center and has been employed at Ancestry.com since 2004.

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. The officers are Gerhard Ruf, President; Don Snow and Brian Cooper, VP's; 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 Library. Several of these will be there to help with membership, answer questions, distribute the current issue of the monthly newsletter PAFology, and check out DVD's 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 online 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, Math Faculty, Nauvoo University, Nauvoo, Illinois - http://nauvoouniversity.com/
Retired Professor of Mathematics, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah
snowd@math.byu.edu

[UVPAFUG] Press Release for mtg on 8 Aug 2009

2009-07-29T16:08:00.003-06:00

29 Jul 2009

Don Snow

UTAH VALLEY PAF USERS GROUP MEETING

The next regular, second-Saturday-of-the-month meeting of the Utah Valley PAF (Personal Ancestral File) Users Group will be on Saturday, 8 Aug 2009, from 9 am until noon in the Edgewood/Riverside LDS Chapel, 3511 North 180 East, Provo, Utah. The chapel is in the Provo "River Bottoms" behind the Jamestown shopping plaza on the east side of University Avenue. You get to it by turning east from University Avenue at 3700 North ("Will's Pit Stop") and then south on 180 East. There is a map showing the location on the group's website http://uvpafug.org .

The main presentation for this meeting will be by Mary E. V. Hill on USING A DIGITAL CAMERA IN GENEALOGY. She will discuss how to use a digital camera for many things in genealogy, for example, copying records in libraries and archives and photographing tombstones and other items. Mary E. Vassel Hill was born in Norwalk, Connecticut and obtained a BA in Family and Community History and an Master of Library Science from Brigham Young University. She was a Reference Librarian at BYU (1989-1992), Instructor in Family History and genealogical research at BYU (1992-1995), and joined the staff of the Family History Library in Salt Lake City as a cataloger in Spanish and Portuguese (1995-1998). In 1998 Mary joined the US/Canada reference staff and was an instructor in various aspects of genealogical research. She served as an LDS Missionary at the Family History Library (2006-2008). She is an accredited genealogist in Eastern and Southern states research, and is a sought after speaker at genealogy fairs and conferences. The workshop she developed on setting up a paper filing system in this day of the computer has been particularly popular. She is also a mother and grandmother and author of several genealogy books. Her website is http://www.maryevhill.com .

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. The officers are Gerhard Ruf, President; Don Snow and Brian Cooper, VP's; 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 Library. Several of these will be there to help with membership, answer questions, distribute the current issue of the monthly newsletter PAFology, and check out DVD's 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 online 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

[UVPAFUG] Press Release for meeting on 11 Jul 2009

2009-06-30T16:11:00.001-06:00

30 Jun 2009

Journalists, please run this as a news item and/or in your calendar of events. Ward newsletter editors, please include parts of the first two paragraphs and mention that there are classes for everyone. Email me, if you need further information. Thanks.

Don Snow

UTAH VALLEY PAF USERS GROUP MEETING

The next regular, second-Saturday-of-the-month meeting of the Utah Valley PAF (Personal Ancestral File) Users Group will be on Saturday, 11 Jul 2009, from 9 am until noon in the Edgewood/Riverside LDS Chapel, 3511 North 180 East, Provo, Utah. The chapel is in the Provo "River Bottoms" behind the Jamestown shopping plaza on the east side of University Avenue. You get to it by turning east from University Avenue at 3700 North ("Will's Pit Stop") and then south on 180 East. There is a map showing the new and old locations on the group's website http://uvpafug.org .

The main presentation for this meeting will be by Lance McIntosh on SUPPORT RESOURCES AVAILABLE TO FAMILY HISTORY CONSULTANTS. He will be discussing the various support resources available to family history consultants and how they can get answers to their questions. With the Utah LDS temples coming online with New FamilySearch soon he will also be updating us on what is happening in our area. He will have a PowerPoint presentation as part of his discussion. Lance McIntosh is the LDS Church's North America Area Manager for FamilySearch Support and that provides family history assistance to priesthood leaders, family history consultants, family history centers, and patrons in the United States and Canada. He has over 20 years of experience in the area of support and training and holds a BS degree from the BYU College of Life Sciences in 1986. He is a popular speaker at genealogy conferences throughout the U.S. and will be speaking again at the BYU Genealogy and Family History Conference in July on these same topics. He and his family live in Lindon, Utah.

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 the following: (1) Searching for Completed Ordinances in the IIGI and nFS, by Duane Dudley; (2) Genealogy Software for the MAC, by John McKinney; (3) Q&A: FamilySearch Support, by Lance McIntosh; (4) DVD of last month's main presentation: Genealogy in 2020, by Beau Sharbrough; (5) Legacy, by Joel Graham; (6) RootsMagic, by Sue Maxwell; and (7) Ancestral Quest, by Donald Engstrom.

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. The officers are Gerhard Ruf, President; Don Snow and Brian Cooper, VP's; 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 Library. Several of these will be there to help with membership, answer questions, distribute the current issue of the monthly newsletter PAFology, and check out DVD's 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 online 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

[UVPAFUG] Press Release for meeting on 13 Jun 2009

2009-06-03T01:01:00.003-06:00

3 Jun 2009

Don Snow

UTAH VALLEY PAF USERS GROUP MEETING

The next regular, second-Saturday-of-the-month meeting of the Utah Valley PAF (Personal Ancestral File) Users Group will be on Saturday, 13 Jun 2009, from 9 am until noon IN THE EDGEWOOD/RIVERSIDE LDS CHAPEL, 3511 North 180 East, Provo, Utah. The chapel is behind the Jamestown shopping plaza on the east side of University Avenue in the Provo "River Bottoms". You get to it by turning east from University Avenue at 3700 North ("Will's Pit Stop") and then south on 180 East. There is a map showing the new and old locations on the group's website http://uvpafug.org .

The main presentation for this meeting will be by Beau Sharbrough on GENEALOGY IN 2020. In 2020, you won't use your web browser to look up your pedigree chart, linked to all the sources already. That will be ancient history. In 2020, you'll attend a family reunion and have dinner with the animated holograms of your ancestors. What questions would you ask your ancestors? This will be a presentation of a "report" from a person who was the historical subject of such a meeting, and asking "How did you get so much of my life wrong?" This is a cautionary tale about assuming that records tell everything about a person, and the risks of reasoning from the general to the specific. We currently place lots of emphasis on vital events (birth, marriage, death) to make sure we know exactly which person we are talking about. In the future we will probably be able to use relationships and put more "meat on the genealogy bones" and know more about the individuals themselves. Many people now refer to that as "family history" and just the dates and places as "genealogy". For members of the LDS Church that's the full version of "turning the hearts of the children to their fathers". Houston native Beau Sharbrough received a Philosophy BA from Texas A&M in 1977. His programming career began in 1980, and he is presently self-employed. He is the founder of the FGS web site, the GENTECH web site, and the Lexicon Working Group. He is a former president of GENTECH and has previously worked as a Product Manager for tree products at Ancestry.com and as Vice President of Content at Footnote.com. Beau writes regularly on technical topics in family history, with an occasional overdose of humor, and maintains the RootsWorks.com website. He is the author of Gene's Anniversary Scrapbook. This promises to be an interesting discussion.

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 and Brian Cooper, VP's; 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 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 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 online 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

[UVPAFUG] Press Release for meeting on 9 May 2009

2009-04-28T15:43:00.002-06:00

28 Apr 2009

Don Snow

UTAH VALLEY PAF USERS GROUP MEETING

The next regular, second-Saturday-of-the-month meeting of the Utah Valley PAF (Personal Ancestral File) Users Group will be on Saturday, 9 May 2009, from 9 am until noon IN THE EDGEWOOD/RIVERSIDE LDS CHAPEL, 3511 North 180 East, Provo, Utah. The chapel is behind the Jamestown shopping plaza on the east side of University Avenue in the Provo "River Bottoms". You get to it by turning east at 3700 North ("Will's Pit Stop") from University Avenue and then south on 180 East. There is a map showing the new and old locations on the group's website http://uvpafug.org .

The main presentation for this meeting will be by Donald R. and Diane M. Snow on FINDING GRANDMA THROUGH THE LONDON FAMILY HISTORY CENTRE. Don and Diane Snow recently returned from the England London Mission with the particular assignment of serving in the London Family History Centre. This presentation will describe the odyssey of finding information about Don's Grandmother, Ann Stafford Snow Condie. Where she was christened in England and information about her family have been a genealogy brickwall for many years. The Snows daughter, Linda Westover, in preparing for a trip to visit them in London a year ago, found information in an index of a parish register that was newly posted online and which broke through the 20-year old brickwall and opened up lots more. They will describe the entire odyssey and show how they used websites, timelines, libraries, GPS's, Google maps, digital newspapers, and many other on- and off-line genealogy records. This research all culminated with the visit of the daughter and her husband to England and a trip to see the actual location in Derbyshire. The Snows both taught at BYU, Don in Mathematics and Diane in Humanities. They have 6 children who live with their families in Utah, the Midwest, and on both coasts. Don and Diane are snowbirds and spend part of the year in Provo and part in St. George. Don was one of the early founders of the UVPAFUG and has been working with and teaching classes for it since 1991.

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 and Brian Cooper, VP's; 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 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 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 online 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

[UVPAFUG] Press Release for meeting on 11 Apr 2009

2009-04-02T09:51:00.001-06:00

2 Apr 2009
Journalists, please run this as a news item and/or in your calendar of events. If any of you Ward newsletter editors are printing your newsletters this weekend even though it's General Conference, please include 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, 11 Apr 2009 from 9 am until noon IN THE EDGEWOOD/RIVERSIDE LDS CHAPEL, 3511 North 180 East, Provo, Utah. The Group appreciates the Edgemont Stake for allowing us to meet in their new LDS chapel behind the Jamestown shopping plaza on the east side of University Avenue in the Provo "River Bottoms". You get to it by going east on 3700 North from University Avenue and then south on 180 East. There is a map showing the new and old locations on our website given below. The main presentation for this meeting will be by Roger C. Flick on EXCITING FAMILY HISTORY FINDS IN THE BYU SPECIAL COLLECTIONS. Roger was born and raised in East Los Angeles and went on a mission for the LDS Church to the West Central states. He graduated from BYU in Math and Education and then obtained a Master of Library and Information Science degree from there. He went to work at the BYU Library and had a major role in setting it up and doing much family history research. Roger is a popular presenter at national and local genealogy conferences and is a frequent speaker at BYU Education Weeks. He serves as a cataloger librarian and consultant for Computer Assisted Research Projects at BYU's Harold B. Lee Library. He is also an Accredited Genealogical Researcher in English research. He has also served as president of the local chapter of the Sons of the Utah Pioneers and teaches family history classes in the BYU Distance Learning program. His talk will discuss what is available and how to use it from the Harold B. Lee Library's Special Collections.

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 the following: (1) Using PAF Insight and Family Insight, by Duane Dudley; (2) Panel Discussion: Organizing Your Paperwork by BethAnn Wiseman and Renee Zamora; (3) Genealogical Software for the MAC, by John McKinney; (4) Q&A: Exciting Family History Discoveries in the BYU Special Collections, by Roger Flick; (5) Ancestral Quest 12.1, by Gaylon Findlay; (6) Legacy Review and Handwriting in English Records, by Joel Graham; and (7) Roots Magic 4, by Bruce Buzbee.

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; 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 & 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 online 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

[UVPAFUG] Press Release for UVPAFUG meeting on 14 Mar 2009

2009-03-03T21:49:00.002-07:00

3 Mar 2009

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, 14 Mar 2009, from 9 am until noon IN THE EDGEWOOD/RIVERSIDE LDS CHAPEL, 3511 North 180 East, Provo, Utah. Note the Group has moved from their old location to this new LDS chapel which is behind the Jamestown shopping plaza on the east side of University Avenue in the Provo "River Bottoms". You get to it by going on 3700 North east from University Avenue and then south on 180 East. There is a map showing the new and old locations on our website given below. The main presentation will be by Marcy Brown on WELCOME TO ROOTS TELEVISION! Have you discovered all the terrific, free genealogical programming at Roots Television yet? Did you know that you could tune into all the Ancestors episodes that were featured on PBS? Or a whole channel of genetic genealogy shows? Or an impressive collection of programs on Irish roots? And those are just three of the 20 channels! Whatever your interest, Roots Television has something for you! Come learn how to navigate this site, contribute your own videos, and watch what you want when you want! RootsTelevision™ was launched online in late 2006 and already provides more than 1,000 videos –- free, on-demand, and 24/7 -- for family history enthusiasts around the globe. In its first year this Internet-based channel won four Telly Awards for its diverse programming. For more information please visit Roots Television.com™ Marcy Brown is an award-winning independent media producer and a co-founder of Roots Television, a ground-breaking Internet television network. Marcy has written, produced and directed documentaries and television programming in diverse world-wide locations, on topics ranging from family history to competitive sports to religion in Africa. She has had a long-time presence in the family history community as a creative partner and Executive Producer of the award-winning PBS Ancestors series, which continues to air on public television channels across the United States. In the LDS Community, Marcy is a writer/producer/director of the popular documentaries Pioneers of Africa, Beyond The Dream: The Story of The Polynesian Cultural Center, and Eternal Man: Reflections on the Life and Thought of Truman G. Madsen. She also developed scripts and content for BYU Television's new Real Families, Real Answers series and produced and directed the Real Families, Real Answers Studio episodes which will begin airing nationally on public television stations in April of this year. Most recently, Marcy co-founded the Talk Story Foundation (www.talkstoryfoundation.org) whose mission is to capture, preserve and share oral history documentaries in video and other new media formats. In addition to the Foundation's flagship film on Truman Madsen, other Talk Story projects currently in development and/or production are Remembering Matthew Cowley, My Icelandic Heritage, Swiss Pioneers of Santa Clara, and The Rescue Continues: Descendent Stories of the Martin/Willie Handcart Companies. Marcy holds a Master of Fine Arts degree in Film Production and has experience working with television stations and film studios in the U.S. and with the BBC in England. She believes strongly in the power of media to wield a positive influence in peoples' lives. After spending hundreds of hours capturing the stories of ordinary and extraordinary people, she is convinced that there is no such thing as an uninteresting life. Everyone has a story to tell. Every life has a message worth sharing.

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; 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 & 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, Retired Professor of Mathematics, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah
Recently returned from the England London Mission, London Family History Centre
snowd@math.byu.edu

[UVPAFUG] Press Release for meeting on 14 Feb 2009

2009-02-03T16:39:00.002-07:00

3 Feb 2009

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, 14 Feb 2009 (Valentine's Day!), from 9 am until noon IN THE EDGEWOOD/RIVERSIDE LDS CHAPEL, 3511 North 180 East, Provo, Utah. Note the Group has moved from their old location to this new LDS chapel which is behind the Jamestown shopping plaza on the east side of University Avenue in the Provo "River Bottoms". You get to it by going on 3700 North east from University Avenue and then south on 180 East. There is a map showing the new and old locations on our website given below. The main presentation, AVOIDING PITFALLS IN YOUR FAMILY HISTORY RESEARCH, will be given by Jake Gehring of the LDS Church's Family History Department. Every genealogical researcher must take care not to fall victim to some classic poor behaviors in the field. These include not performing a thorough survey of available research, lack of research documentation, and failing to take advantage of educational opportunities to further their own skills. This presentation will help you learn practical and sensible ways to approach these problems to improve your research and make genealogy more rewarding. Jake Gehring is former editor of Genealogical Computing and lecturer and author of several dozen articles in genealogical journals on topics ranging from GIS to lineage-linked databases to query management. He has been heavily involved in genealogical publishing and digital publishing technologies for over ten years. His career highlights to date include work as product manager for search features and functionality at Ancestry.com, the largest genealogical web site on the Internet; director for RootsWeb.com, the largest free community of genealogists on the web; and publisher for HeritageQuest, a division of ProQuest Information and Learning, the largest and most successful provider of genealogical data to public and academic libraries in the United States. Jake is currently employed with the LDS Church as manager of its Data Operations Group. He is responsible for key processes that publish genealogical records on the Internet. Jake is active in the professional genealogical community and currently serves as President of the Association of Professional Genealogists. Jake graduated from Brigham Young University with a degree in Genealogy/Family History and lives in Woods Cross, Utah with his wife and family.

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; 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 & 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

[UVPAFUG] Press Release for meeting on 10 Jan 2009 and new location

2008-12-31T17:49:00.002-07:00

31 Dec 2008

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

Press Release for Utah Valley PAF Users Group meeting 8 Nov 2008

2008-10-29T17:52:00.003-06:00

29 Oct 2008
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.

Elder Snow

UTAH VALLEY PAF USERS GROUP
The next regular, second-Saturday-of-the-month meeting of the Utah Valley PAF (Personal Ancestral File) Users Group will be on Saturday, 8 Nov 2008, from 9 am until noon in the LDS "Red" Chapel at 4000 North Timpview Drive (650 East), in Provo. The main presentation will be by Gerhad Ruf on USING WORLDCONNECT AT ROOTSWEB FOR PUBLISHING AND BACKUP. The presentation will describe the advantages in using the WorldConnect database to publish your genealogical data online and to use it as a backup for that data. There are many options for controlling your data and these will be detailed in the presentation. Gerhard Ruf has worked with various aspects of computers and technology over the past 25 years and since 1995 he has served in the leadership of the Utah Valley PAF Users Group. He has been its President for many years. Gerhard has been presenting classes on genealogical software for at least 10 years and his topics have included many aspects of using computers and the Internet to enhance your family history research. He has spoken at local, regional, and national genealogical conferences and workshops, and is currently employed at MyFamily.com as a Community Operations Specialist at The Generations Network, the parent company of Ancestry, RootsWeb and other genealogical web sites. He develops and teaches classes to the staff on the application of genealogical principles. Gerhard was born in West Germany, grew up in Utah, and graduated from BYU with a degree in Physics. He and his wife, Deon, reside in Orem, Utah.

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; Brian Cooper, 2nd VP; Eileen Phelps, PAFology Editor; Kay Baker and Gerry Eliason working with finances and membership; and Bruce Merrill, Lynne Shumway, and Marie Andersen, working with the DVD & 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 past press releases are at http://blog.uvpafug.org/. For further information contact President Gerhard Ruf at pres@uvpafug.org (801-225-6106), VP1 Elder Don Snow at snowd@math.byu.edu, or VP2 Brian Cooper at vp2@uvpafug.org.

Elder Donald R. Snow, 1st Vice President of Utah Valley PAF Users Group

Elder Donald R. Snow, England London Mission London Family History Centre (formerly Hyde Park Family History Centre), http://www.hydeparkfhc.orgRetired Professor of Mathematics, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah; snowd@math.byu.edu

[UVPAFUG] Press Release for UVPAFUG Meeting on 11 Oct 2008

2008-10-01T09:42:00.004-06:00

01 Oct 2008
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.

Elder Snow

UTAH VALLEY PAF USERS GROUP
The next regular, second-Saturday-of-the-month meeting of the Utah Valley PAF (Personal Ancestral File) Users Group will be on Saturday, 11 Oct 2008, from 9 am until noon in the LDS "Red" Chapel at 4000 North Timpview Drive (650 East), in Provo. The main presentation will be by DearMYRTLE (Pat Richley) on A PRACTICAL GUIDE FOR FAMILY HISTORY CONSULTANTS. The role of Family History Consultants is crucial to an active FH program in any ward and stake and especially during the much anticipated change-over to new FamilySearch. Many wonder what we can be doing while our long awaited "official" FH manual is still awaiting final signatures? Myrt offers suggestions to build interest among non-genealogists in wards, tackle organization challenges, teach correct research principles even for class participants with diverse ancestral backgrounds, and coordinate with other consultants in the ward and stake. DearMYRTLE is the nom de plume of Pat Richley, a retired post-secondary computer instructor. An active genea-blogger, Myrt is author of DearMYRTLE's Joy of Genealogy (2006), and The Everything Online Genealogy Book (2000), instructor at DearMYRTLE's Salt Lake Study Group, hostess of DearMYRTLE's Family History Hour and the Family History Expos genealogy podcasts, author of the Teach Genealogy Blog, and coordinator for UGG (The Union of Genealogy Groups in Second Life). She recently presented classes at BYU's 2008 Computerized Genealogy Conference, the National Genealogical Society, the Utah Genealogical Association 2008 Fall Conference and will serve as the dinner speaker at UGA's 2009 Salt Lake Institute. Myrt last presented at a Utah Valley PAF Users Group meeting in 2006, where she spoke about "Getting from the Index to the Original". Her website is www.DearMYRTLE.com.

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; Brian Cooper, 2nd VP; Eileen Phelps, PAFology Editor; Kay Baker and Gerry Eliason working with finances and membership; and Bruce Merrill, Lynne Shumway, and Marie Andersen, working with the DVD & 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 past press releases are at http://blog.uvpafug.org/. For further information contact President Gerhard Ruf at pres@uvpafug.org (801-225-6106), VP1 Elder Don Snow at snowd@math.byu.edu, or VP2 Brian Cooper at vp2@uvpafug.org.

Elder Donald R. Snow, 1st Vice President of Utah Valley PAF Users Group

Elder Donald R. Snow, England London Mission, London Family History Centre, http://www.hydeparkfhc.org
Retired Professor of Mathematics, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah, snowd@math.byu.edu

[UVPAFUG] Press Release for UVPAFUG Meeting on 13 Sep 2008

2008-09-03T05:39:00.001-06:00

3 Sep 2008
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.

Elder Snow

UTAH VALLEY PAF USERS GROUP
The next regular, second-Saturday-of-the-month meeting of the Utah Valley PAF (Personal Ancestral File) Users Group will be on Saturday, 13 Sep 2008, from 9 am until noon in the LDS "Red" Chapel at 4000 North Timpview Drive (650 East), in Provo. The main presentation will be by Tim Crabb on A RECORD SEARCH OVERVIEW. Record Search is the website linked on http://www.familysearch.org where the records are available that many of you are helping index through http://www.familysearchindexing.org . This is a wealth of indexed records worldwide with millions more being added regularly. The home page has a clickable world map that will take you to a list of indexed records for that part of the world, or click on "View All Collections" to see them categorized by world location. These records include census, vital, church, and many other types, and the list shows which ones have images attached at present. Tim Crabb is the Product Manager for Record Search in the Family and Church History Department of the LDS Church and will be describing the project. Previously Mr. Crabb worked in the high-tech industry for 17 years in many different capacities including sales, Information Technology and development, and enjoys using that experience in the exciting project of helping people find their ancestors using Record Search. For further information about Record Search you can also log onto http://labs.familysearch.org/ and Click on Record Search. The FamilySearch Labs blog, accessible from there, will keep you up to date on new developments and you'll see Tim Crabb's name there answering many questions about the project. To volunteer to help index go to the FamilySearch Indexing website shown above.

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 the following: (1) Searching for Completed Ordinances: IIGI and new FamilySearch, by Duane Dudley; (2) LDS Databases, by Pat Andrus; (3) Q&A on Record Search, by Tim Crabb; (4) Individual Mentoring; (5) Ancestral Quest, by Paul Johnson; (6) Legacy, by Dean Bennett; and (7) RootsMagic, by Sue Maxwell.

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; Brian Cooper, 2nd VP; Eileen Phelps, PAFology Editor; Kay Baker and Gerry Eliason working with finances and membership; and Bruce Merrill, Lynne Shumway, and Marie Andersen, working with the DVD & Video Library, will all be there. They will help with membership, 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 . For further information contact President Gerhard Ruf at pres@uvpafug.org (801-225-6106), VP1 Elder Don Snow at snowd@math.byu.edu, or VP2 Brian Cooper at vp2@uvpafug.org.

Elder Donald R. Snow, 1st Vice President of Utah Valley PAF Users Group

Elder Donald R. Snow, England London Mission
London Family History Centre (formerly Hyde Park Family History Centre), http://www.hydeparkfhc.org
Retired Professor of Mathematics, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah; snowd@math.byu.edu

[UVPAFUG] Press Release for UVPAFUG Meeting on 9 Aug 2008

2008-07-29T16:53:00.002-06:00

29 Jul 2008
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.

Elder Snow

UTAH VALLEY PAF USERS GROUP
The next regular, second-Saturday-of-the-month meeting of the Utah Valley PAF (Personal Ancestral File) Users Group will be on Saturday, 9 Aug 2008, from 9 am until noon in the LDS "Red" Chapel at 4000 North Timpview Drive (650 East), in Provo. The main presentation will be by Laurie Werner Castillo on FAMILY HISTORY RESEARCH AT BYU: THE OTHER FAMILY HISTORY LIBRARY. BYU's Harold B. Lee Library (HBLL) is a major university library with 5 levels of books, manuscript collections, periodicals, maps and gazetteers, photographs, and displays. Additionally, it provides an Interlibrary Loan service for patrons to see books from other libraries. The HBLL website contains a wealth of valuable digital collections with many items of interest to family historians. The family history section of the HBLL was recently designated as a Family History Library, so it is no longer a Family History Center, but a branch of the Family History Library in Salt Lake City. This presentation will show some of the family history items available at the HBLL, as well as on its website. Laurie Werner Castillo is a mother and grandmother first, and then a professional genealogy researcher, speaker, and free-lance writer. She has served at the BYU Family History Center for many years as a Consultant, Teacher, and Family History Missionary Trainer. She has also served as a Ward Family History Consultant, Stake Family Records Extraction Coordinator, President of the Utah Valley Chapter of the Utah Genealogical Association, and Vice-President and Member of the Board of Directors of the Utah Genealogical Association. Currently, she serves with the Utah Valley PAF Users Group teaching many classes there.

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 the following: (1) FamilySearch Indexing and RecordSearch, by Duane Dudley; (2) LDS Databases, by Pat Andrus; (3) Mentoring and a New England mini-class, by Becky Roberts and Lynne Shumway in the FHC; (4) Q&A on the BYU Family History Library, by Laurie Castillo; (5) Video of last month's main presentation on Digital Photography for Family History, by Marlo Schuldt; (6) Legacy 7, by Joel Graham; (7) RootsMagic, by Bruce Buzbee; and (8) Ancestral Quest, by Gaylon Findlay.

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; Brian Cooper, 2nd VP; Eileen Phelps, PAFology Editor; Kay Baker and Gerry Eliason working with finances and membership; and Bruce Merrill, Lynne Shumway, and Marie Andersen, working with the DVD & Video Library, will all be there. They will help with membership, 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. For further information contact President Gerhard Ruf at pres@uvpafug.org (801-225-6106), VP1 Elder Don Snow at snowd@math.byu.edu, or VP2 Brian Cooper at vp2@uvpafug.org.

Elder Donald R. Snow, 1st Vice President of Utah Valley PAF Users Group

Elder Donald R. Snow, England London Mission
London Family History Centre (formerly Hyde Park Family History Centre), http://www.hydeparkfhc.org
Retired Professor of Mathematics, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah; snowd@math.byu.edu

[UVPAFUG] Press Release for UVPAFUG Meeting on 12 Jul 2008

2008-07-02T06:55:00.001-06:00

2 Jul 2008

Elder Snow

UTAH VALLEY PAF USERS GROUP
The next regular, second-Saturday-of-the-month meeting of the Utah Valley PAF (Personal Ancestral File) Users Group will be on Saturday, 12 Jul 2008, from 9 am until noon in the LDS "Red" Chapel at 4000 North Timpview Drive (650 East), in Provo. The main presentation will be by Marlo Schuldt on DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY IN FAMILY HISTORY. He will discuss things to look for in buying a digital camera, including the lens and a digital card reader. He will also discuss using your camera including fill-in flashes in the shade, candid photos, creating natural frames, getting clear pictures, panoramas, optical vs digital zoom, indexing your photos with GPS coordinates, getting in the picture yourself, shooting both stills and video with your digital camera, and using your camera to photograph documents that are too big to scan. Marlo Schuldt is President of LifeStory Productions, Inc., an Orem, Utah based company that develops family history software and provides assistance to individuals desiring to gather, prepare, print and share family history. He earned both BS and MS degrees from Brigham Young University in Communications. Mr. Schuldt is married with five children and 12 grandchildren and recently received a patent on Heritage Collector Software - see http://heritagecollector.com/ .

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; Brian Cooper, 2nd VP; Eileen Phelps, PAFology Editor; Kay Baker and Gerry Eliason working with finances and membership; and Bruce Merrill, Lynne Shumway, and Marie Andersen, working with the DVD & Video Library, will all be there. They will help with membership, 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 . For further information contact
President Gerhard Ruf at pres@uvpafug.org (801-225-6106), VP1 Elder Don Snow at snowd@math.byu.edu, or VP2 Brian Cooper at vp2@uvpafug.org.

Elder Donald R. Snow, 1st Vice President, Utah Valley PAF Users Group

Elder Donald R. Snow, England London Mission, London Family History Centre (formerly Hyde Park Family History Centre),
http://www.hydeparkfhc.org
Retired Professor of Mathematics, Brigham Young University, Provo,
Utah; snowd@math.byu.edu

[UVPAFUG] Press Release for UVPAFUG meeting, 14 Jun 2008

2008-06-04T05:24:00.001-06:00

4 Jun 2008

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.

Elder Snow

UTAH VALLEY PAF USERS GROUP

The next regular, second-Saturday-of-the-month meeting of the Utah Valley PAF (Personal Ancestral File) Users Group will be on Saturday, 14 Jun 2008, from 9 am until noon in the LDS "Red" Chapel at 4000 North Timpview Drive (650 East), in Provo. The main presentation will be by Matt Misbach on SELF-PUBLISH THE EASY AND FREE WAY. With recent advancements in technology in the publishing industry self-publishing is easier than ever, and is gaining tremendous popularity. This presentation will show you how to self-publish your book for FREE. The process is simple enough that anyone can do it. Matt Misbach is President of Misbach Enterprises, a genealogy company specializing in charting and publishing for over 40 years. Matt has developed several genealogy software programs, designed numerous pedigree and descendant charts, and has published the following books: The Griffiths Story, Jacob Persinger, The Van Der Kemp Collection, Jacob the Indian, and Misbachs In Mongolia.

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 the following: (1) Documenting Sources in PAF and New Family Search, by Duane Dudley; (2) Using Footnote and Other FamilySearch Affiliates in Family History Centers, by Robert Raymond; (3) Stuck? Tips for Getting Unstuck, by Laurie Castillo; (4) Q&A on Self-Publish the Easy and Free Way, by Matt Misbach; (5) Individual Mentoring (and mini-class on Using Census Records at Heritage Quest for Free), by Larine Mortensen and RaeLee Steinacker; (6) Video - newFamilySearch Synchronization with Ancestral Quest, Family Insight, and RootsMagic by Gaylon Findlay, John Vilburn, & Bruce Buzbee; (7) Legacy 7: Charting, by Dean Bennett; and (8) RootsMagic, by Bruce Buzbee.

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; Brian Cooper, 2nd VP; Eileen Phelps and Lynne Shumway, PAFology Editors; Kay Baker and Gerry Eliason working with finances and membership; and Bruce Merrill and Marie Andersen working with the DVD & Video Library, will all be there. They will help with membership, 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 . For further information contact President Gerhard Ruf at pres@uvpafug.org (801-225-6106), VP1 Elder Don Snow at snowd@math.byu.edu, or VP2 Brian Cooper at vp2@uvpafug.org.

Elder Donald R. Snow, 1st Vice President of Utah Valley PAF Users Group England London Mission, London Family History Centre (formerly Hyde Park Family History Centre)

Elder Donald R. Snow, England London Mission London Family History Centre (formerly Hyde Park Family History Centre), http://www.hydeparkfhc.org
Retired Professor of Mathematics, Brigham Young University, Provo,
Utah; snowd@math.byu.edu

[UVPAFUG] Press Release for UVPAFUG meeting, Saturday, 2008-05-10

2008-04-30T16:04:00.002-06:00

30 Apr 2008

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 everyone is invited. Email me if you need further information. Thanks.
Elder Snow

UTAH VALLEY PAF USERS GROUP
The next regular, second-Saturday-of-the-month meeting of the Utah Valley PAF (Personal Ancestral File) Users Group will be on Saturday, 10 May 2008, from 9 am until noon in the LDS "Red" Chapel at 4000 North Timpview Drive (650 East), in Provo. The main presentation this time will be NEW FAMILYSEARCH SYCHRONIZATION WITH ANCESTRAL QUEST (Gaylon Findlay), FAMILY INSIGHT (John Vilburn), AND ROOTSMAGIC (Bruce Buzbee) . These presenters are the primary authors of these programs and as such will be able to give us a really good overview of how their programs will work with New FamilySearch (NFS) which the LDS Church is releasing a few LDS Temple Districts at a time. It is presently in operation in over 50 of the more than 125 Temple Districts of the Church and will be in more, if not all, by the end of 2008. NFS is designed to fulfill President Gordon B. Hinckley's concern of how to make temple names submission simpler, while still avoiding duplication. It is a massive effort by the LDS Church and has been many years in the planning and programming. The LDS Church has encouraged private ventures to work on making their genealogy programs capable of synchronizing (communicating) with New FamilySearch. In the case of Family Insight (new name for PAF Insight), the program allows PAF (Personal Ancestral File) databases to communicate with New FamilySearch. This synchronization allows editing of New FamilySearch data, e.g. searching and combining names in NFS, as well as downloading data from NFS databases to update the patrons' personal genealogy database. These are programs that Gordon J. Clarke referred to in his presentation when he mentioned third-party products to work with New FamilySearch as he spoke to the Utah Valley PAF Users Group a few months ago. These presentations and questions and answers by the authors will take the entire time of this meeting, so there will be no classes this time. Other programs to synchronize with NFS besides these three will undoubtedly be announced later, but these are the first.

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; Brian Cooper, 2nd VP; Lynne Shumway, PAFology Editor; Kay Baker and Gerry Eliason working with finances and membership; and Bruce Merrill, Eileen Phelps, and Marie Andersen, working with the DVD & Video Library, will all be there. They will help with membership, 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 . For further information contact President Gerhard Ruf at pres@uvpafug.org (801-225-6106), VP1 Elder Don Snow at snowd@math.byu.edu, or VP2 Brian Cooper at vp2@uvpafug.org.

Elder Donald R. Snow, 1^st Vice President of Utah Valley PAF Users Group
England London Mission
Hyde Park Family History Centre (soon to be renamed the London Family History Centre)

Elder Donald R. Snow, England London Mission
Hyde Park Family History Centre, http://www.hydeparkfhc.org
Retired Professor of Mathematics, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah; snowd@math.byu.edu

FamilySearch Web Services and 3rd Party Products

2008-04-30T15:36:00.003-06:00

9 Feb 2008

Introduction of Speaker by Brian Cooper
Main Presentation: Gordon Clarke – FamilySearch Web Services and 3rd Party Products

Gordon Clarke joined the Family and Church History Member Needs team over 2 years ago. He is coordinating Developer Services and Affiliate Marketing in addition to his product management responsibility for the FamilySearch Web Services. Previously Gordon was the founder and president of ici MEDIA. Over the last 25 years Gordon has organized and led numerous companies and projects, creating and delivering Internet, desktop computer, audio/video, and enterprise solutions for many different industries.

Gordon Clarke – FamilySearch Web Services and 3rd Party Products

I really enjoy users groups and have been a big advocate of software user groups. I worked with various software developers’ user groups in California and now in Utah I work with the Flex user group. Which is geek speak for flash developers that are using flash for enterprise or internet applications. There is some connection from that resent experience and what I am doing now at the Church developing a community for software developers that are working to interface with our new FamilySearch.

Web Services and 3rd Party Products - Web services is where a programmer can access a website. He does it through means different than just launching a browser. 3rd Party Products when you get right down to logic it should probably be second party products. 3rd Party Products is determined in the industry if you look at FamilySearch offering media services and they are offering it through another entity other than FamilySearch we call it 3rd Party. This presentation is going to be about our web services and now it is going to be made available and accessed to third parties.

To kick off the introduction to it I like to play two minutes of Sister Virginia Pierce talk at Presidents Hinckley’s funeral where she talked about “7 Generations”.

“In the year 1837 in the back country of Ontario, Canada, John E. Page preached the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. Wearing the coat that Joseph Smith put on his back in Kirtland, Brother Page and his companion taught the gospel to the Hinckley and Judd families as well as many others. Lois Judd Hinckley, Gordon B. Hinckley’s great-grandmother was among those baptized. With her children and other family members she followed the saints south. By 1843 they found themselves in Springfield, Illinois. Her son Ira Nathaniel Hinckley now about 14 years of age found his way to Nauvoo. He became a skilled blacksmith and laborer, he married. In 1850 on their way to the Salt Lake valley cholera claimed Ira’s young wife and his half brother. He buried them himself on the same day. And he picked up his 11 month old baby and finished the journey.

Ira would spend the rest of his life answering the needs of a colonizing church. Cove Fort stands today as the product of his able workmanship and devotion. Ira Nathaniel’s son Bryant S. Hinckley, father of President Hinckley was an educator, teaching at the Brigham Young Academy and LDS Business College. He was president of the largest stake in the Church for many years. He knew heartache and faced challenges that would test the faith of the strongest saint but he never wavered in devotion to the Lord and his Church.

Speaking at a devotional at BYU in 1999 President Hinckley recalled “These three generations of my forebears who have been faithful in the Church.” Reflecting on their lives he said “I look down at my daughter and her daughter who is my grandchild and her children my great-grandchildren I suddenly realized that I stood right in the middle of these seven generations, three before me and three after me. And there passed through my mind a sense of tremendous obligation that was mine. To pass on all that I would receive as an inheritance from forebears to the generations that now come after me.” As part of those generations who have would come after him we thank him and our mother for the temple and strength of their wake between our forebears and us. Our parents loved us, they taught us, corrected us, laughed and prayed for and with us, we honor them. And we likewise pledge to pass on to future generations our complete devotion to the Savior and his Church.”

What this causes me to reflect about - I really like that 7 generation thing. Again every time I say something I am NOT making a Church announcement that we are going to have a seven generation program. When you get your three generations of descendants totally organized, picture and audio, and then you get your three generations above and put it in some electronic file and ship it to the Church. OK, I am not talking about a 7 generation program. I just want to highlight in your minds the idea that this is about family up and down. Hopefully that message comes across. Especially with the tools that are surfacing on the internet because not only can you learn about your living relatives and share information, and photos and divide up genealogy work. This work of trying to pull together the family both the living and the dead is really what we should be about at this time.

Third-party websites and desktop products are quickly making it possible to gather and share information about our deceased and living relatives. That is what I am thrilled about, third-party programs about desktop products and it’s also about web based applications. I am going to share how those can work together.

The press release went out just last week announcing the FamilySearch Developers Conference. We will talk a little bit about this; I will read two paragraphs about that. “FamilySearch announced today its first annual conference for the software and Web application developers. The 2008 FamilySearch Developers Conference will be held on Wednesday, March 12, 2008, in conjunction with the Brigham Young University Computerized Family History and Genealogy Conference in Provo, Utah. FamilySearch engineers and community developers will discuss new FamilySearch Web Services (API) and share best practices from its application to a variety of popular environments. Attendees can register online at http://FamilyHistoryConferences.byu.edu/familysearch.

FamilySearch now has a full platform for software developers – genealogy content, interfaces, tools, code, support and training. This platform enables developers to launch a new business or boost their target markets by adding features that are programmatically linked to FamilySearch’s expanding online resources. “Developers can produce solutions that integrate private, shared, and public data about living and deceased individuals, including rich stories, photos, audio, and video. FamilySearch is putting developers into the driver’s seat to do what they do best – effectively create and deliver innovative products wherever there is a need and profit,” said Gordon Clarke, FamilySearch Web Services Product Manager.

This idea of a platform is a tool so everybody is not waiting for the Church to come out with the next release of its next product. That the whole industry is working on - multiple products for multiple purposes that are sharing some common data amongst them so everybody develops. I put together this little diagram (stadium) that this platform is not just one stadium it’s a league. I call it the FSGL – FamilySearch Genealogy League. It’s a league and hopefully as big organizations join with us you will have multiple teams and multiple spectators and multiple players. It will be more of a united work that can happen.

Our Wildly Important Declaration
Provide to Software Developers
The Family History Platform of Choice
Technology and Content
Developer Services
Marketing Assistance

My objectives have been in creating this platform is to provide the technology. The FamilySearch group has done a great job on providing content. By content you have heard about new FamilySearch - the all new centralized database that is working on a master family tree. You may have heard about Record Search this is where online you will view the complete archives of the granite vault. It will take about 6 years to get all those microfilms digitized but all of that is going online.

Developer Services I will share a little bit later on what we are doing to make it easier for software developers to make new product. Then, lastly how we can help encourage the development of new product so that there is a financial incentive for this league of software developers.

I made mention about the March 12th Developers Conference. That is a day before the Tech Workshop, which is the day before the two days Family History Computerized Genealogy Conference. At the Tech workshop we are going to have the people that we have products that we have been working with - that interface with new FamilySearch. That was going to be more of a tech talk - it is if their difficulties or methodologies interface with NFS. Then at the Computerized Conference, Friday the fourteenth we are going to have a Product Showcase, so that the early adopters of this interface will be able to show their ability to search NFS and draw associations to choose to synchronize their data with our data. It is all happening the week of March 12th. I am personally quit excited it is a beginning of a new era, I think, in sharing the development of software products and data.

So What About PAF?
I start right out I am talking to a PAF User Group. What About PAF? What I can say, what I won’t say, what I can say. No! I am only going to tell you what I can say. What I can say is:
PAF
- FamilySearch is very focused on the successful roll-out and maintenance of the New FamilySearch website.
-Support of PAF 5.2 application will continue for many years into the future.
-There are many software companies working on products that will be compatible with the PAF file and the New FamilySearch.
-Some individuals and companies are working on New FamilySearch compatible products using the PAF Add-In Software Development Kit with the New FamilySearch Web Services (API).

The NFS compatible products use something that I’m responsible for and our department has been shipping for four or five years. It’s what’s called a Software Development Kit and this Software Development Kit gives examples and instruction and sample code so that software developers can create files that create programs that read and write PAF. An example of that is Ohana Software they use the PAF SDK, the shorten version, to make their product. The other organization that is very familiar with the reading and writing of PAF is Ancestral Quest. In fact Ancestral Quest is going to be presenting at the Developers Conference how to use the PAF SDK to store information that is capable with NFS.

Right there before I go on let me tackle the questions so they don’t brew. Does anyone have questions about PAF and then I will move on.
(Answers only)
-SDK is a term in the industry for Software Development Kit. It is given to programmers so they know how to write compatible programs with the PAF file format.
- I will make comments about Legacy when I give a complete list later on. They were one of our early affiliates. We worked with about ten of them before opening the doors to anybody else. That smaller group was very, very helpful and successful in getting this interface done.
-Support is looked at more in a training and systems support.
-The question is in layman’s term is somebody does product using the SDK what does that mean. The PAF application has a menu that goes across the top. And in that menu across the top when you click on it, it gives a drop down or a sub-menu. The first thing that PAF SDK does is show people how to put new menu items in that tools sub-menu. In that sub-menu they can call their program that will read and write to the same data on the file disk that the PAF application is writing to. So you as a user will seem like you are using one product because it is in the menu and it is writing to the same data the other menu items are writing to. So that means that they can integrate their application add-on with the PAF product.
- Let me clarify that Ohana Software is the company name; PAF Insight is the product name. So if you are familiar with PAF Insight they definitely will have a NFS compatible upgrade or product. I can’t make announcements for them in detail but I know they have been working with this. I have seen their demonstrations.
- I can say from my stand point, looking at what is happening in the Third Party market place there is wonderful solutions. Whether or not if the Church will decide to do something new with PAF I cannot comment. The future has unknowns in it.
- I would direct you to a website which is DevNet.FamilySearch.org.
- I can speak for myself and my endeavors that I am seeing wonderful solutions in the third-party market place. Subjects about what the Church will or will not do in the future is that the future has unknowns.
-FamilyTree Maker – the question we paused on here was PAF. Do we have any more PAF questions or I will move on with web services so you can understand how Third-Party Products can access NFS.
- He said that he is aware of a knowledge document that in the cases for questions about PAF’s future might answer some of these questions. He is going to route that to me because I was not aware of exactly what that knowledge document says.

What is a Web Service?
I kind of gave you a preview of Web Services. FamilySearch is making it possible for many existing and new software products to work in conjunction with New FamilySearch through the use of Web Services.

Software developers, programmers, web masters, or “computer geeks” will be excited to hear about FamilySearch Web Services. If you are one of these, want to become one, know one, are married to one, or have a son or daughter that is one, tell them about FamilySearch Web Services and the Developers Conference.

(He showed a video of “Got the Knack?” a Dilbert cartoon.)

The point was that engineers are a special wonderful class, but they always talk a different language than we do. They have motives that might be different than our motives. That’s my market place. Again, spread the word if you potential one of these geeks, or someone that has the knack. Tell them about what we are doing at FamilySearch Web Services.

How I have to go a little bit into geek talk. I want to do it slow so I can learn if these concepts can be learned by the everyday genealogist. I have been told that the majority of you have been working with computers for a long time.

Simple concepts – Web Services makes it possible to programmatically exchange data with a website. To talk to a website and get data back. So we have a website representing the FamilySearch Tree and we have a product. The way it talks to it is it sends a list of letters. http://api.familysearch.org/familytree/v1/person/N9CR-1M7 And you many have seen these letters coming and going in the location bar the address bar of your browser. I won’t go into it but it is readable. What you get back is a bunch of data that is in a format called XML. The reason that is helpful is that it separates all that information so that a programmer can say “Ah, I can write a program that will know what to do with this so it can be displayed on your screen and action can be taken upon it. If you have ever heard of HTML, XML is a Mark-up language that programmers like; it is more machineable if you will than HTML.

(He shows an example of what can be returned in making search into the New FamilySearch web services.) In HTML if you have seen it you have seen the little brackets, the greater than and the less than sign. Those are what isolate these various words so they give meaning to them rather than just have a sentence. So it kind of chops up the sentence so programmers can know what those words are. Basically this is showing the hierarchal order of how information comes out of our NFS. That they are the person, person ID, there is the information about the person, with the gender, the living, alternative arches and the assertions.

This system is all about assertions that relates to the event. Because it has this beginning and ending descriptions programmers can get that text and write a program that knows what to do with it and what the organization is, what assertions is associated with what person and what events are associated with that person. I won’t go into this format just saying that XML is the easiest programming data to read. They translate this easy data into stuff that is even more complicated than this.

Remaining Agenda
FamilySearch
-New FamilySearch
-The “Pipeline”
-FamilySearch Family Tree & Record Search
Cross-linking (“ornamenting the tree”)
Third-Parties
-Why use Third-Parties
-Third-party Products
-Developer Services
-Affiliate Programs
Questions

FamilySearch
-DBA for Genealogy Society of Utah (GSU) sponsored by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints
-Branding used for Family History products and services

I am training myself to use FamilySearch as we moving more to a non-member market place. To say FamilySearch and in effect that is the organization that I work for. For branding purpose FamilySearch is what we are going to use for everything dealing with genealogy.

www.familysearch.org
-Website for searching and sharing family history information
-Online repository for genealogical records
-Website for learning about and accessing resources from the Family History Library

new.familysearch.org
-New website with a combined, collaborative family tree
-The “new” will go away after more data and features are added to it.

Back last June for certain temple districts those that heard about it saw new.familysearch.org. If you were in that temple district you were able to actually register. We have been rolling-out to the temple districts, there are over 20 now. More and more people are able to access the new.familysearch.org. What I wanted to highlight was that eventually the “new” will go away.

And the process of that is www.familysearch.org an then we have the new.familysearch.org, the new.familysearch.org will be a new program that we have to move data from new resources to and data from the FamilySearch website to. So it has been all combined together. If you go to search by index on the www.familysearch.org you can search by Ancestral File, IGI and other sources. Those have all been merged together on the NFS with the addition of membership historical information and temple historical information. So that is all in one place now and the beauty of the new online system is we will get on going updates from temple activity and from membership activity.

If you are online in your district and your ward person is on the ball and they are recording deaths or baptisms on a regular basis they will show up on the website for those that have the right to see it. If you go through the new process and take the names to the temple because of these on going updates, it is an immediate update really, they get entered in at the temple then the activity that happens at the temple will be recorded on the website.

Before I move onto how programs are moving to locations are there any general comments about all this data being put on the new.familysearch.org. (Answers only)
-Pedigree Resource File had a big merge and then there are some ongoing updates that go to it.
-There would be I think at some point storagement for members to submit to PRF they should be submitting to the new system, because then you have access to it. You should go to the new system directly then trying to get it to go to PRF.
-I will talk about all that new additional data further on in the conversation.
- When will the Wasatch Front get NFS – before the end of the year and it might be sooner.

There is the first look at the data – now we have new features being added to NFS. Every three months we go through new features. Hopefully on this new website before the end of the year we might see indexing on new website. Records Search on the new website.

So there will be new programs accessing new data on the new website. This last screen shows that when the work is all done that they get everything that we need onto the new system what will happen is the old system will fade away. The new system will drop off its “new dot”. That is the progression we are going through in a very simple way.

Back to your question about the data – we call it “The Pipeline”. There are crews all over the world that are digitizing information with cameras. That is coming in to online systems through many, many value added processes. That is why we call it “The Pipeline”. The microfilm out of the libraries it is estimated that six or seven years all microfilm will be digitized and available online.

A third area is that we are teaming up with what is called “Record Access Affiliates”. I will give you more clarification on this later. Record Access Affiliates partner with us and people that actually have the data, whether it is a national archive or a genealogy society. To help them get their information digitized and online. So we are in the roll of working with third parties to help additional records get online beyond what we’re digitizing ourselves either through crews that go out or working at the granite vault.

The big part of this is the online index. How many of you have used the FamilySearch Indexing? Great! We plan to expand that volunteer force since about 150,000 now we’re hopeful to reach a million volunteers doing it. Because if you can imagine all this data that is being put online. It needs to be indexed to be searchable. Not to call it a bottle neck, but I will call it a very, very important step in this pipeline is the indexing of information. There are ways to index it for fast retrieval to at least get people to the image and then there is a way to get all the vital information off of those records so that you have a more detailed search capability.

That will make all that stuff that has been indexed make it available through this word called “Record Search”. Record Search you can see working on labs.familysearch.org. I will show you that URL a little bit later. That is where you can see what is coming, were we are prototyping, getting feedback before we actually release it to the Church at large. But there you can see the records search application. I will show you some samples of it. So if you look at the two worlds I am suggesting here the records world and the tree world it is part of the pipeline. Through the goodness of all the work of people that have drawn conclusions about lineages and have submitted that to us and then all of you that are going to be working on the NFS we are going to expand the availability of not only the number of names that we just search but how they are related and build that tree.

The next one is build the tree and draw the conclusions online so that people can share that information and discuss it and collaborate about it. Then on the back end we have a very, very large preservation effort. What that pipeline that I come back to is these two areas – Records Search and new Family Tree. Before I move on any questions about the difference between these two areas?
-I will show you in the next slide. The question was how do you get stuff out of Records Search into new Family Tree?
-Yes, that is what I call cross-linking internally.

Family Tree you have seen the demos you’ve been to presentations. You might have been on beta a couple of times. So you have a sense of what Family Tree is. (Common Pedigree, Identify Relatives, Reduce Duplication, Collaboration) Here is the look of it (shows slides).

Then Records Search is based upon Records (electronic information), Images (digital captured records) and Collections (Census and Lists, Migration, Military, Court and Legal Records and Vital Records). If you go to labs.familysearch.org you will see screens like this where you can search information, get back reports that you can re-filter and re-sort to narrow in and find people that might be your relative or might be somebody that you are researching. So that’s Records Search

Now if you need to correlate data between two websites either you do it manually or if you have web services both directions a program could be written that will bring the both in. What I am looking at here is the idea of what we call it an Affiliate Product. We have a certification program so that if an Affiliate Product is searching the records search, get the information so that that product can be used to review that data and associate it with their local database then that information in the future will be able to put into NFS not all the information, the image doesn’t go all the way through, not all the detail data is going to go all the way through, but probably enough to say what the information is and what person does it relate to and how do I get additional information. So with that in the Family Tree then the Family Tree will go back to their original online source if you want to get the image and additional information. So that way everybody doesn’t need to get a copy of everything they are concerned about they just have to keep a save and remember how to look it up to get the additional information.

Question was asked and response: Hopefully having the family tree as your back bone that’s where you are looking to see where that is happening and where the duplicates are to know where you are at. Where do you see the merging happening? Let me review a little bit about the family tree.

The Family Tree is collaborative non-destructive environment. Presently on the family tree everyone body opinion is valid. Nobody gets to be the authority to say you’re right and I’m wrong. In that case the word merge in what you may think about it in a desktop product goes away. You can’t put two records together. You can associate them, look at them different ways but you won’t be able to put them together. There is no destructive merge on the collaborative tree. You get to see what everybody thinks.

Questions (Answers only)
-The issue here is more so than the ID. There is lots of reasons for alternate IDs. The real issue here and I need to couch this that this presentation is not about NFS or the web application. The point here is every contributor is associated to a fact. You can have ten contributors that are saying this person was born on 10 different dates. That will all show up in the Family Tree.
-She explained what Ancestry.com is doing it is a valuable feature and certainly that makes sense in our world too. The current web app doesn’t allow you to automatically search and find things in Records Search. That is definitely the plan so that you can be navigating the tree and look up sources and associate that source with my person then have the tree remember that or a third party product looking both directions at once can do the same thing.
-What we are finding is that it is better to push the responsibility to individual patron the contributor to decide if two people are the same people or if a source is actually tied to that person. Those decisions of what sources and who should be combined more times or not through the elaborate combining work we went to, now we are to the point any additional combining with association to sources is going to be the patrons that do it.
-FamilySearch is the umbrella there are multiple applications. The first application we released is called New FamilySearch it really is a Family Tree application. The second application we are going to release is going to be Records Search and then you have already seen the internet indexing that hasn’t been integrated into this new environment. So there will be multiple applications that can work stand alone, then they can share information amongst themselves. That is the direction we are going.
-We can do a ranking and third party products share our ranking and they do their ranking. There are all sorts of tools to help people decide who is a match and who isn’t. Then place your vote and push that up to the new system.
- You can contest information, disagreement or dissertation what ever word you like. But you can say I think you are wrong so to speak, have your notes and why and please get in touch with me. That frees the collaboration circle.

This idea of cross-linking can happen between two, third-party products. We want to facilitate it happening between a more uniform way; so that the sharing of genealogy information can go through not only our two or three website applications but with other third party website applications, and for the purpose of ornamenting the tree so to speak.

The new FamilySearch Family Tree has its first type of cross-linking in that it will display on a Google map all of the events of a person you are looking at. The map is not coming from our website the map is coming from Google’s website.

Rich media, Geo-mapping, Family Communities, other people and trees, richer information about the place and topics, Research Collaboration - This is the directions but I can’t tell you when it all will come together. We will give you announcements are they come up, but this is the direction we are going. The internet is wonderful to share information and associate that information even though it might be coming from multiple vendors and multiple websites.

What About PAF?
Who are some of our current Web Service Affiliates? Desktop Applications that read PAF Files.
-Ancestral Quest*
-Generation Maps
-Millennium (Legacy)
-Ohana Software (PAF Insight)*
-Progeny (PAF Companion)
-Roots Magic
-RC Martin (Has not released a product but has been working with us and will sometime release a product that does read PAF.)
Note: *These programs will Read and Write PAF files compatible with New FamilySearch.

One thing to note this idea of connecting to NFS means you are going to have to do a new process. You are going to have to search, you going to have to compare, you are going to have to say the person that is on NFS is my person in PAF, draw that relationship however the programs does it. You can’t just plug in a PAF add-in and have it work magically with NFS. You’ve got to decide the people in that local database are in NFS and which ones aren’t, then push up the new ones or just link the ones that are the same one. If the information changes then you have the choice to push up the new information or keep it local. So it is a new paradigm to look at your own little horde so to speak and then the stuff that you share and contribute to the master family tree. Many of these products I see give you the choice of what you share and what you don’t share and how you update your local system with what is happening in the shared community.

Who are some of our current Web Service Affiliates?
-Family Pursuit
-Living Genealogy
-World Vital Records
-GeneTree (Sorenson Media)
-US FamilyTree
-Bungee Labs
-One Great Family
-Find My Past
-The Generation Network (Ancestry.com)

The next list is of people that already have websites that have additional services. They are working with us so that if you are looking at the master tree we are working as a backbone for this correlation that is going on. They are looking to work with us so they know who our people are, you put a media or biography or stuff up on their website for certain people then it can all come together for a common viewing of that.

Family Pursuit is a hosting service specifically to genealogy which has a collaboration element so that you can talk to other family members about what is on that website. Living Genealogy similar situation. GeneTree is an interesting situation, Sorenson Media just announced their new website which they are going to associate DNA information from one of their websites with people information and with our tree and rich media. So that way hopefully these applications will come so that you can on your system look up a person and go hey where can I see additional information about that person in whatever format that it is. The richness of learning about your relatives is what makes us more sensitive to them and is part of the spirit of Elijah but also a part of your own experience of learning about your relatives, or learning about your living relatives. Many of these hosting sites will work for living people of deceased people it is family collaboration.

Looking at this initial list remember it next month is when we are starting to say hey software developers lets give us your best creativity. We are just starting to roll out this idea and these interfaces and the desire to create more applications.

Any questions about these two lists about affiliates that have been working with us to learn how to read and write the NFS through web services? (answers only)
-We feel a responsibility for certain features to give a certification status and a logo that relates to that. That process has not been completed with any of these products. We think most of these early adopters are going to be certified. But there will be a certification process so that we can give you some level of confidence that the product features will work as they are intended to and that we are aware of them and we know how they work. We are not going to say which product from a users stand point is better than another. But we will have a bear minimum standard to say which product we are ok with.
-Later on I will tell you what a Record Access Affiliate is. Footnote is a very meaningful Records Access Affiliate. They haven’t yet decided to consume our web services.
-At the Developers Conference we have libraries for Macintosh developers to have them write programs that interface into NFS.
-We are working with companies based in Europe in one of the slides was Find My Past. This is just the beginning to get the starter team together so that we open it up to more. We are just barely starting.

Why Use Third-parties
For a desktop application?
-Integration between Records Search and Family Tree
-Interface that appeals to different audiences
--Age groups
--Genealogical or computer experience
--Counties and cultures (internationalization)
-Ability to work with data offline
-Maintain private, living, and research data as you desire.

For a web application?
-Share with others
-Work with “living” data
-Handle rich content (stories, photos, audio/video)
-Interact with other contributors more effectively

It’s one way of intergrading between multiple web services. It makes it possible for software developers to target different audiences. That audience might be an interface that belongs to their computer experience or genealogy experience, language, cultural difference. We want to have all the data roll up and be available to everybody to that they can find their family connections. We are not looking at creating a separate software program for all target markets out there that we see.

This group has been wonderful you have one program that we created a long time ago and it was kind of like one program for all people for all reasons. As you find you have all learned by these users groups of how to stretch it and use it for your needs and work around. By opening this up there will be more products out there, smart developers, smart companies will find special niches and they will make products that are specific to those niches.

The ability to work with data offline is available things which you are used to. Some people love the website orientation where no matter where they are just go to the web if they can get to a computer they can go to our website and they can do their searches, and decisions and make it happen. There are other people that like to deal with bigger volumes of data where they want to download a lot of data, look it over at the time, make decisions and then commit those changes onto the server. The sometimes connected model - a lot of people like that. Many of you are in a situation where you may have never been connected. In a very simple way the PAF product does allow you to do searches to NFS so that is very similar to this situation.

Answer to questions asked:
-The pipeline that I showed you in the very beginning we have tremendous amount of effort. It’s kind of like if we are focused on getting records accessible that is a big enough effort it itself. To try to create a product that delivers all those things to different audiences it is too much for us. One of our biggest focuses is the Granite Vault, working with third-parties for all the different records custodians as we call them, in whatever form they might be, they might be libraries, national archives, to digitize all that stuff there is a major, major effort going on and will continue to get billions and billions of names online over the next ten years.
- He is referring to the way we are going about working with various record custodians. We do what is called a request for information. So we might target certain censuses, certain archives and we say hey who wants to join our team in putting these collections online. Then we put together a team and then we sign contracts and we go to work. Those types of announcements you will see again, and again, and again of new projects started to digitized and put information online.
- A few years ago a lot of the contracts that where identified and most that I have heard about have been renegotiated for these types of electronic rights. So there is a major, major effort started even before I came to the Church two years ago to renegotiate the rights of a lot of this stuff. There is so much work to do if there’s 10 percent that we don’t have rights to right now things might change later. 10 percent I am not quoting I am just saying for instance. There is plenty of work to team up with the market place and our team to digitize.

Why a desktop application through a third-party? This idea of providing your own research your private data and living data and choosing, there are two worlds here, choosing what you want to share and what you want to keep local. As people get more and more into this and understand more how the collaborative experience works I think they will find that they will want to share more and more. They will start to find that the more they share the more other people will share and the more there will be available. This is how communities get built. Contributing to the whole will benefit you individually. But it is a little bit of a different thinking that people have been working on in their one database at times. We are hopeful that this paradigm shift will change.

Why for a web application? The big thing is here is a way to share electronically. A subject matter that you share electronically everybody can look at it and benefit from it. There are some web services that allow you to opt in. Opt in means it’s an option - are you sure you want other people to see this data? Do you want them to see under these conditions or not. Third party websites can let you make all sorts of choices of how they allow people to see the data. We have some restrictions that are historical that doesn’t make the Church’s merger data as open as we would like it. So there will be other websites might be able to share other data that might be more open that ours. So there is going to be a value of having these online resources because it means more possibilities are going to be available to identify your ancestors.

Lastly the whole idea is there are many, many websites just starting up that allow you to collaborate with living people interested in the same subject matter, whether they are relatives or they are just interested in the same line, people and places. That’s the beauty of the website it’s coordinating and collaborating with living people about the deceased. We see lots of things happening in that area there is very, very fast growth.

My role is to get more developers involved in this work and more companies involved in this work. You may have seen similar things happening on other websites that are out there.

Compared FlickR, Yahoo, Amazon, Ebay and Google to what FamilySearch will have all of: Registration, Email / List Servers, Forums, FAQs, Knowledgebase, Newsletter, Blog, Documentation, Sample Code, Client Toolkits, Sandbox Testing, and Support

FlickR has web services so that you can pull pictures and everybody that you want to can see the pictures. Because there is a web service there you can have that exchange happen from your program and the website. Yahoo has its web services as do Amazon, and EBay have their web services. You can use the web applications but there are lots of third parties that have created applications that have a different look and feel, but they are getting at the same data. That is the focus of offering web services it is to make the data available and then have people compete to make up various products that expose that data. Google you’ve all seen Google Maps like Map Quest.

So we’ve seen and my job is to see what’s out there and to make the decisions of what to offer the market place to attach software developers that are interested in genealogy and software development. So that means we have a community we need to create. Where they register, join, they talk to each other, they share their experiences, it’s like an online users group. Just like to all do here. Newsletter, blogs, documentation, sample codes, we want to have this website which is started at devnet.familysearch.org. This is where software developers for major commercial companies, individuals or students at university can get together and talk about projects and learn how to write code that will talk to these web services.

Developer Services
-Websites
--Tech.LDS.org
--Labs.FamilySearch.org
--DevNet.FamilySearch.org
-Support
--Dedicated email address
--Dedicated toll-free phone number

Tech.LDS.org – A community that has LDS programmers get together and talk about things that are happening in the Church in regards to programming and projects that are happening whether or not it is genealogy based, or family history based.

Labs.FamilySearch.org is family history based it is where we show applications and ideas that we are working on, prototypes of new interfaces. If you go there now you will see what used to be called the Pedigree Viewer is being called the Family Tree, there’s a Life Browser, Records Search is there and eventually we will have a new look, where you can go as well to FamilySearch Indexing.

Support – we have developers support isolated from world-wide support and if you call in and ask for developers services you will get routed to people that understand our API and learning more about it everyday. API is geek speak for web services it stands for Application Program Interface. So you are able to interface with the application that is on server programmatically. Web services is a general one that you may have heard that we are usually talking about geek speak as an API. For those that qualify there will be a toll-free phone number to assist developers in working on their projects.

Web Service Affiliates Program
Marketing
-Marketing incentives
-Church announcements
-Press releases and Industry announcements
-Web marketing activities
-Featured Affiliate product articles
-Affiliate Column in FHC Newsletter
-Benefits according to Affiliate Level
-New FamilySearch exposure
-Trademarks, Logo, and Link Logo Plan
-Certified Features listing

For the marketing incentives we are starting to prepare some press releases of things that are happening. The first one was the Developers’ Conference. As products are going to be released from third parties we are going to certify them and announce which products are certified. Press releases, emails, posting on websites - whole lists of things that developers find very valuable and encourage them to develop new products so that they can get some mind share of the market place.

Possible Web Service Affiliates
-DESKTOP INSTALLED BASE
--Additional Genealogy Software Vendors
--PAF User Groups
--PAF Add-In Developers
-ONLINE CONTENT PROVIDERS
--Living data
--Rich Media
--Collaborative Communities
--Images and Records Services
-OPEN SOURCE DEVELOPERS
--LDS Open Source Developers
--Ruby, PHP, Java, Perl
--Open Source developers at large
-ADOBE DEVELOPERS (Flash, Flex)
-MS.NET DEVELOPERS (VB.net, XAML, WPF, WPF-E, ASP.net)

My market place is not geographical in a sense it is North America right now, but I can find these geeks different places. They hover around existing software or certain software languages. You may of heard of Open Source, Open Sources developers have different languages they will like, be it Perl, PHP and there are all these buzz words out there. Then there are those developers that are following what Adobe is doing and those developers that are following what Microsoft is doing. So I’m looking for the cross-over between people that are Church oriented or family history oriented and they like programming or have been in the software business. Those are the type of people that were looking for to assist them in creating or improving products.

Types of Affiliates
Web Service Affiliates – Affiliates that create desktop or web products to access FamilySearch Web Services such as Family Tree API and Records Search API
Record Access Affiliates – Third party organizations that assist FamilySearch in helping records custodian provide online access to their collections.
Family History Center Affiliates – Their products or services can be used for free by FHC patrons, who may then choose to purchase them for home use.

Right now we have three different types of affiliates. I’m focusing on affiliates that are going to be consuming our web services; they are going to be using our web services. Then there are the affiliates that are assisting us in putting records online. They’re called Record Access Affiliates. You will see press releases about record access affiliates as projects are determined and they sign up for it. Then there is a third area you may have heard about which is a Family History Center Affiliate. These are affiliates, that could either be the two above; that have agreed to offer their product or website through a Family History Center for three years. An announcement has gone on about that. It is a joint thing they get special PR and then we get for patrons free products in our Family History Centers. So those are the three types of programs and agreements and affiliates that we have. My focus is really the top one and then the bottom one is a service that can be offered from the web service affiliates.

Questions and Answers
-Security – We have a higher standard than many of the websites out there. We have studied the techniques. All the big websites have a lot at risk and their techniques to prevent security be it Google, be it EBay with a financial interest, the banks, we have studies all and we are implementing secure measures so that this environment will be able to work between us and other vendors.
-Images – we are hopeful as the volunteer marketing of indexing expands that we will keep up.
-Affiliate collections are owned by companies. We will not make arrangements with organizations unless the indexes the important information, is available for FamilySearch. We want information to a point to flow freely. Now these third parties need their profit incentives and they also want traffic, so there is a payoff here getting the most amount of traffic by what you offer for free verses when you get to the point that you are going to have to charge. Some companies are looking at making everything for free except the actual original image. Other companies looking at a summary citation so vital information about the people will be on the record but if you want to get more detail information you will have to pay. There will become, now the Church won’t make you pay, but for some third parties there will be that level that this is free, this is free, and then you will have to pay.
-A big part of this records access program is not only to make all of our data freely available but to have a business strategy method to encourage other parties to make more available. We wouldn’t be endeavoring to do this unless we felt very strongly that we have a case to get more information available from third parties.
-We are teaming up together with Footnote.com. They are one of our earliest record access affiliates. We are thrilled with the amount of information that membership is going to get from that arrangement. That is a wonderful example of a very positive arrangement with organizations that knows how to index and understands this world. That’s going to make a lot of this information available with the members. There was a press release from the Church about Footnote.
- We will have the records portions of that online before the end of the year, through the roll-out of our Records Search application. So Records Search will be here before the end of the year. If you want to look at it you can go to lab.familysearch.org and see how that all works. That will start showing stuff from Footnote, our archives, the digitization efforts that we are doing with our Church owned teams, we have an enterprise of members and non-member and Church and non-church people working on getting stuff digitized.
-Cindy’s List is and Information Portal about genealogy. She is linking to all sorts of resources and gathering some of that herself. I don’t know how she fits into this presentation. She is a website that has chosen to gather information about lots of other websites, lots of other resources she is kind of like an online genealogy portal. She is not building a master family tree, and she is not tamped into the actual owners of records. She is on the web providing a great, great service but doesn’t really fit into this. I don’t see it anyways.
-Have any of your programmer friends drop by DevNet.FamilySearch.org short for developers network have them sign up and register. That is how we communicate with developers.
-The majority of all these applications focus on how do you find the matches and make it easy to combine people to reduce the duplication. So you will find that is a big part of our certification is how do they do the matching and combining. That is a very important process and you are going to find a lot of competition in the interface of how that happens. Have any of you used PAF Insight this comparison I think will work for you. You notice how you have your local data being compared to what’s on the IGI. You got it on the right side and on the left side. What I am seeing now is not the combining of the IGI data with your local PAF but what’s happening now is you’re looking at a list of the person you are concerned about, a list of all the duplicates and that same comparison method you get to in group one by one and I’ve seen different application in how it will help you through that process for you to say this person is the same as all those people. So a major component of all these third party applications is the matching of duplicates on the family trees so you can actually tie it together.

This presentation is available on DVD #135 for UVPAFUG members to borrow or purchase.

Press Release for UVPAFUG meeting, 12 Apr 2008

2008-04-02T06:47:00.003-06:00

2 Apr 2008

Journalists, please run this as a news item and/or in your calendar of events. Ward newsletter editors, this Sunday is General Conference, so most of you won't be having newsletters, but if you do, please include in them parts of the first paragraph and mention that there are classes for everyone. Email me if you need further information. Thanks.

Elder Snow

UTAH VALLEY PAF USERS GROUP
The next regular, second-Saturday-of-the-month meeting of the Utah Valley PAF (Personal Ancestral File) Users Group will be on Saturday, 12 Apr 2008, from 9 am until noon in the LDS "Red" Chapel at 4000 North Timpview Drive (650 East), in Provo. The main presentation will be by Prof. Larry EchoHawk on SPIRITUAL BLESSINGS FROM KNOWING MY NATIVE AMERICAN ANCESTORS. He will describe his journey in searching for his Native-American ancestors, preparing their names for temple ordinances, and gaining a deeper appreciation of his Native American heritage. All of this involved many avenues of research including the Internet and the Family History Library. His wife Terry is also an avid genealogist and helped with this research. There is a good article about Professor EchoHawk in Wikipedia at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larry_EchoHawk . He was born in Cody, Wyoming, raised in Farmington, New Mexico, and attended Brigham Young University on a football scholarship, then received his Juris Doctor degree in 1973 from the University of Utah. He practiced law in Salt Lake City and in 1977 became the General Legal Counsel for the Fort Hall, Idaho-based, Shoshone-Bannock Tribes. He is a member of the Pawnee Tribe and was the first Native American elected to a constitutional statewide office, serving as Attorney General of Idaho from 1991 to 1995. Currently he is a Professor of Criminal Law at BYU's J Reuben Clark Law School and presides over the BYU 7th Stake. He resides in Orem with his wife, Terry, and they are the parents of 6 children with 20 grandchildren. On 7 Aug 2007 he gave the BYU Devotional talk about his conversion and his heritage and a copy of that talk is posted online at the Journal of Book of Mormon Studies at http://farms.byu.edu/display.php?table=jbms&id=435 . You can also listen to that devotional at http://ldsfiles.com/newforums/ldsfiles-com-talk-repository/4598-byu-devotional-unexpected-gift.html .

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 the following: (1) PAF5: Using Preferences, by Lila Sowards; (2) Using Google in Genealogy, by Duane Dudley; (3) Managing Genealogy Information Using PHPGedView (class 3 of 3), by John Finlay; (4) Q&A on his presentation by Larry EchoHawk; (5) Individual Mentoring by Pat Andrus & Claudia Benson (including a German Internet Research mini class); (6) Video of last month's main presentation on The Future of Family History Centers, by Don Anderson; (7) Legacy, by Joel Graham; (8) Ancestral Quest, by Gaylon Findlay; and (9) RootsMagic, by Bruce Buzbee.

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 will be there, including Gerhard Ruf, President; Brian Cooper, 2nd VP; Lynne Shumway, PAFology Editor; Kay Baker and Gerry Eliason working with finances and membership; and Bruce Merrill, Eileen Phelps, and Marie Andersen, working with the DVD & Video Library. They will help with membership, 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 on their blog at http://blog.uvpafug.org/ . For additional information contact President Gerhard Ruf at pres@uvpafug.org (801-225-6106), VP1 Elder Don Snow at snowd@math.byu.edu, or VP2 Brian Cooper at vp2@uvpafug.org.

Elder Donald R. Snow, 1st Vice President of Utah Valley PAF Users Group
England London Mission, Hyde Park Family History Centre

Elder Donald R. Snow, England London Mission
Hyde Park Family History Centre, http://www.hydeparkfhc.org
Retired Professor of Mathematics, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah; snowd@math.byu.edu

[UVPAFUG] Press release for UVPAFUG meeting 2008-03-08

2008-02-27T18:23:00.003-07:00

27 Feb 2008

Elder Snow

UTAH VALLEY PAF USERS GROUP
The next regular, second-Saturday-of-the-month meeting of the Utah Valley PAF (Personal Ancestral File) Users Group will be on Saturday, 8 Mar 2008, from 9 am until noon in the LDS "Red" Chapel at 4000 North Timpview Drive (650 East), in Provo. The main presentation will be by Don Anderson on THE FUTURE OF FAMILY HISTORY CENTERS. Will the number of FHC's stay the same or will there be fewer or more in the future? With all the microfilms digitized and online what will be the purpose of FHC's? Or will all the films be online? What about the ones the Church doesn't have the copyright permission to post? Will everyone have a computer at home and know how to use it? Will there be a "Computer Specialist" called in each ward to help those with no computers or computer expertise? Who will teach the Church members how to do genealogy research when their lines get past the easy-to-find names? Will the purpose of FHC's shift? These are some of the questions we hope to hear considered by our speaker, Don Anderson at this meeting. Don R. Anderson is the Director of the Worldwide Support Services Division of the Family and Church History Department of the LDS Church. In this role Don has responsibility to provide help to individuals searching for their ancestors using family history department software and services as well as support for family history centers and priesthood leaders worldwide. Prior to his employment with the Department, Don was the Vice-President of Operations in Technical Support Services for the Convergys Customer Management Group. Don studied Business Administration at Weber State University. He is married to the former Anne Russell and they are the parents of two boys.

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; Brian Cooper, 2nd VP; Lynne Shumway, PAFology Editor; Kay Baker and Gerry Eliason working with finances and membership; and Bruce Merrill, Eileen Phelps, and Marie Andersen, working with the DVD & Video Library, will all be there. They will help with membership, 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 . For further information contact President Gerhard Ruf at pres@uvpafug.org (801-225-6106), VP1 Elder Don Snow at snowd@math.byu.edu, or VP2 Brian Cooper at vp2@uvpafug.org.

Elder Donald R. Snow, 1st Vice President of Utah Valley PAF Users Group
England London Mission, Hyde Park Family History Centre

Elder Donald R. Snow, England London Mission
Hyde Park Family History Centre, http://www.hydeparkfhc.org
Retired Professor of Mathematics, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah; snowd@math.byu.edu

Digital Photography for Genealogy by Barry Ewell

2008-02-18T18:01:00.003-07:00

12 Jan 2008

You can request a PDF of the Presentation and related materials by email to: bj57barry@msn.com, subject line: Digital Photography. This will include about a 200 page document about photography and scanning. There is a combination between the two and we bring them together. The same principles I use in photography I also use in scanning.

Defining Digital Imaging
The Digital Advantage versus Film Advantage
Film camera use film
-Reoccurring film costs.
-Processing costs. Wasted shots.
-Full rolls of film to expose before you can see any of the pictures.
-Film expiration dates to worry about.
-Necessity of protective film bags when passing through airport security.
-Negatives or slides to scratch or collect dust

After exposing a roll of film
-You have to reload the film camera.
-Take the exposed film to be developed.
-Pick it up and hope you have the pictures you wanted.

We all used film. I don’t know about you but my slide collection I am proud of it. Its in boxes and boxes. There is color film that you like and you try to bring the slide up to the light so you can see what you got. When you are trying to find that image of your four year old from 1974 and you have to go Umm, which of these slides is that. When you get down into film cameras there is still a need for them, my daughter still uses them, she is an art major. She still uses slides quite heavily in presenting portfolios. In all candor I haven’t used a $1,500 film camera in about 10 years. I extensively use my digital camera when working with it.

The Digital Advantage versus Film Advantage
Most Digital Cameras
-Record and store photos on some sort of removable media card.
-Allows you to shoot numerous photos.
-Easily download them to a computer.
-Clear the card to be used again.

With a Digital Camera
-You can look at the picture as soon as you snap.
-Decide whether it’s good enough to keep.
-If not, you can retake them; before you leave the library or cemetery.
-Create opportunities for example, visit relatives and have them pull out their old photo albums and take photos of them on the spot.

When you think about digital images you can use it in all light conditions. You can take that image and put it in a photo editor, i.e. PhotoShop Elements or whatever you choose to use. I can take what would be normally a very horrible picture with film and I can pop it up, brighten it up. I can do all kinds of things. It is the most forgiving form of media.

Desired Features When Choosing a Digital Camera
-4-megapixel camera (Min).
-Selling for $350 to $500.
-Good quality glass lens.
-Automatic and manual exposure controls or scenes.
-Built-in-flash.
-Ability to shoot multiple formats. (JPEG, TIFF, RAW).
-Lens cover that closes automatically when the camera is turned off.
-4” or closer macro resolution and quality controls.
-Can use rechargeable batteries.
-Minimum 3X zoom on playback.

Today when you are looking for a camera this is not a big deal. When you start looking at them off the shelf they are 10 megapixels. For those of you with an existing digital camera, .that want to use it for genealogy it’s really, really critical that you have at least a four megapixel camera. The real short reason you are going to need for when you start to use a camera for documents. When I go to a library and I come across a book I want, it’s 200 or 300 pages of something that I want, i.e. a family history or something of that nature, rather than photocopying it I will take a photo of it.

When I have that image up on my screen if I have less than a four megapixel and I start to enlarge that I loose the image. Where if I have a four megapixel and above I really get down into detail. There has been times when I photocopy the document and I got have my magnifying glass out trying to figure out if that is an “A, B or a C”, what is that? When I bring that image up on a screen I can blow that image up to the point that there is no question in my mind that it’s a C or a B. I can blow that image up to 4 or 5 or a 1000 percent larger than what it is. Sometimes you need to do that depending on what you gather.

As far a costs of cameras you can get real exotic, you can get into $400-$500. My camera that I brought with me today I spent $800 on it four years ago. Today you can buy that same camera for $50 to $100 on the used market. It’s a great camera and it is still a great camera. If you are looking to find that kind of a camera to do the extra work with. On of the things that will be critical for going genealogy work is a one that allows you to screw on a lens. I also have the ability to zoom something else into it, I can put a barrel on the front of it and then put on a slide adapter. I can get better images taking photo of slides this way than I can using my scanner. I can do 100 slides in about an hour. With your scanner you can’t do that.

Defining Image File Formats
Each picture is stored in the camera as a digital image file. Two most common formats are:
TIFF (*.tif)
1. Best quality for master copy.
2. Image format is a commonly readable file that is recognized by nearly every image-editing program.
3. Some cameras allow you to save the data as .tif files which are much larger than .jpg files and require more storage space.
4. These files require more time to open or save.

JPEG (*.jpg)
1. Smallest files size for email and websites.
2. Higher quality JPEG format is usually good.
3. This file format compresses the actual data from your camera records and reduces the file size, without a noticeable change in image quality.

In my camera I have the ability to define whether if it is a TIFF or multiple levels of a JPEG, a low end, a middle end, or a high end JPEG. There are sometimes that I want a TIFF image. Often times when I am doing scanning for archival purposes, i.e. photo or those types of materials, I will scan it at TIFF at 400dpi. The bottom line is that the TIFF is like your original negative.

If you think about the original negative you had with your film or can do multiple versions off that and no degradation. If you take the picture and start making copies off that picture it is not the same. There is always a little bit of differentiations off like taking a photocopy of a photocopy. The TIFF is jam packing all that information that you have into that picture. When you blow up an image you can start to see the depth into an apple. That’s why you need the megapixel so you can get the crispness of the image.

Defining Image File Formats
Difference in image size.
JPEG (*jpg) 8 x 10 Photo – 343 KB
TIFF (*.tif) 8 x10 Photo – 18,620 KB (18.6 Meg) 54 times larger than JPEG version.

When I started doing scanning I was really concerned about my hard drive space. My hard drive space was 25 megabytes. The first computer I bought was a Macintosh in 1981, I paid for 5 megabytes $3,500. 5 Megs is a JPEG image. Today buying hard drives is not bad. I have a terabyte of disk space at home that is a thousand gigabytes. I am not afraid of disk space you are spending about $1.00 or less a gigabyte now. One of the better places I have found to shop is PC Club in Orem. I like PC Club very simply because its high end hardware and their support and management make it great to deal with.

In your camera is you will just make sure that you are on the high end JPEG, if you have the option to choose between JPEG or TIF the high end JPEG will work for you in 95% of the cases. Once in a while when I am working with slides and doing copy legwork and I come across one that is really, really important to me I cherish it and it’s really critical I will take a TIF image of that slide. That is how I make my choices in that area.

Moving Photos from Your Camera to Your Computer
Method 1: Cable/Docking Station
Your camera will connect to the computer by a cable special docking station. Docking stations are usually proprietary and only work with a camera make and model.

Method 2.: Card Reader/writer
Requires the memory card to be removed from the camera and places in the card reader that connects to your computer. Card readers are available for each type of memory (storage) card or stick.

As far as your camera and your computer we all have issues with docking. I just plug a cord into my camera and download. One of the secrets when you start working with images is it is important to make sure before you start downloading to make sure your batteries don’t run out – otherwise you will loose all your images. It’s really, really critical when you are starting to do work that you have that extra set of batteries.

It’s a beautiful photograph but do you know WHY it’s beautiful? Before we get into the heart and soul of using the camera in genealogy there is this whole concept of composition. I remember when I was taking photography from my teacher back in college. Rick Knight from Knight Photography in Orem was my professor. I learned a lot from Rick. When we first got into cameras he said it was all about composition. I asked when are we going to take pictures? After I got into that I realized the importance of composition. What makes a picture look good? What makes it important? It’s the common force we go do genealogy work we find the land that our ancestors lived on, what do we do, we jump out of the car we stand at the fence line and we take a picture of the land. We are feeling it. When we bring it home we put it in a family history book and we say, just look at the land, and they turn page. Why, because it is not interesting.

When we think about composition it’s all about the ability to think about what you are doing. The principles I am talking about right now, whether you are doing a simple page in a book or microfilm these principles hold true and some level. The first issue is to get close. I can’t tell you how important that is.

When you see the Japanese groups on vacation as you travel around what do they all do? Whatever object they might be, if it is a statue we all have to stand in front of it and take a picture. We I see them coming I stand aside because I am going to have to take 25 pictures with different cameras of them standing in front of a palm tree. What happens is they stand right in front of the picture and they stand up tall. How many of you have pictures like that. It’s like the grand canyon beautiful picture I’m at the grand canyon take my picture of me standing in front of the grand canyon. Well where is the grand canyon – well I’m in the middle of it. If you want me then get close. The whole idea is get close up on it. If you think about the face of a jaguar, the face of the monkey or even the coins, getting up close there is a different feel and excitement that comes with it. When we think about close we think about faces. There is the whole idea about getting up to close to faces that we are going to miss the hair. Me I don’t care if they get up close there is nothing on the side or the top that I care about.

It’s a beautiful photograph, but do you know WHY it’s beautiful? This is the most important principle I want you to understand.
Photographic Composition: The Rule of Thirds and the Golden Mean
-The rule of thirds is a guideline for when you have vertical and horizontal lines in your image.
-the “Golden Mean” says that the main subject of an image should be placed at the interesting points.

Just remember tick-tack-toe – divides the screen up in thirds either horizontally or vertically. Then we have the junction points, the target or the bull’s eye. When you are thinking about a picture you say – I like those pictures. The land is on the lower third, the sky is on the upper third, when you learn to work with that it will make a large difference. There is something about the image and where it sits on the page that makes all the difference in how something feels and looks with that.

Photographic Composition:
Triangle
-By placing objects in your composition along strong diagonal lines that create a triangle, you’ll add strength to your image.
-Another way to use triangles is to draw a line diagonally from one corner to the other of your frame, then draw another line in from either of the remaining corners so that it meets your first line at a 90 degree angle.

Simple rules of composition will help you in doing genealogy photography into absolute magic. If you are taking photos of grandfather’s home or your doing your scanning you are doing the same principles.

Frame within a Frame:
-Use materials near you in your foreground and include them in your photograph around two or more of the edges to create a sort of “frame.”

When I am taking pictures I will actually frame the shot with my hands to see what is a good picture. On my ancestors land I framed the picture with a tree and fence post. You can still see the land but it gives it more interest. When you are working with open land if you have the ability to frame at any level do that or at least take one picture of it framed and then open and when you get back home you can make the choice of what you like and what you don’t like.

The other concept is a Leading Line
-Roads and footpaths are a great way to use leading lines to your advantage and draw your viewer into your photograph.

You are getting lower to the space, whether a face line, road or space, and your letting the line lead your eyes. I could stand up and take a picture of the road or I could crotch down just a little bit and let the road lead my eyes. You can see how the railroad tracks or a path how that works to help out.

Photographic Composition: Circle
-The circle (breaks the Golden Mean) can be used effectively when composing a photograph, if the subject is right.
-“The Circle” is a tricky element to use in photography effectively, but when done well, makes for an outstanding photograph. This is really a fantastic shot – the moody lighting adds a gritty, realistic feel.

One of the toughest things to photograph is circles. How do you work with a circle? I finally decided the best way to work with a circle is straight on. If find if I am dead on center on top that seems to make it just a little bit easier to work with. This comes into play when you are working with artifacts, i.e. a cosmetic case or watch face.

Photographic Composition: Rhythm
-This is a way to use repetition of form and shape in an image to create interest.

One place that is really, really fun is the cemeteries; you will get a rhythm to the headstones. One of the common rhythms we will see with the headstone is like with Arlington Cemetery. I often find that when we are doing family history you find a rhythm in the fence line that is in front of the ancestor’s home. You find a rhythm in the trees near the home. There is a sense of feel that comes with them.

Photographic Composition: Negative Space
-Negative space is a term used in photography that implies only a tiny fraction of the frame is taken up by the actual subject.
-Negative space is usually used to make the subject seem very small, or to give the impression of the subject being in a wide-open space.

So you don’t have a tree your family is from Nebraska. When I was doing some genealogy work in Otis, Kansas, it is smack in the middle of that state and the closes Wal-Mart is a 150 miles away. There weren’t any trees. One of the things you can use is negative space. You are putting off in the picture one element to one side of the frame. If you are using negative space, one way is to have that element point towards where you want the eyes to go.

In the materials I will send to you is a list of what to take with you on a genealogy trip, to the extra battery, film or cards. When I am out doing genealogy on the road for about 2-3 weeks plus and every day is a rush to get something done I was taking 3-4,000 pictures a day. Especially when you are in a library setting and you’ve got a lot of books. There is only one book in the archive and need to get it. When I am doing really heavy work and a JPEG is a meg and half in size I will take a gig or two gigs or four gig backup. In my camera bag I may take up to 10 gigs of cards. Why do I have so many gigs, well over a period of time I didn’t bring enough gig with me and I happened to collect them along the way.

He shows a chart of how many pictures you can take per megapixels. 4MP will fit 724-800 images on a 1GB memory card. 5MP – 565-625 images, 6MP – 452-500 images, 8MP 301-333. You are probably saying 8MP that has to be good, yes, but you don’t need it all. 5MP is just fine, it is not really necessary to go much beyond that.

Taking Better Digital Photos: Overall Tips
-Be prepared. Gather everything you’ll need, such as a tripod; extra batteries, and any props you’ll use.
-Hold your camera steady. Camera movement causes most of the blurry pictures you see.
-Get closer. Try to get within two to four feet of your subject. Ideal photo composition is 90% subject and 10% background.
-Cut the clutter. Nothing ruins a photo like stray objects that detract form your composition.

When I went to Otis, Kansas there was a Lutheran cemetery and a Methodist cemetery. I had family in both cemeteries. I got through the Lutheran but my batteries died before I got to the Methodists. Talk about a mad side of the family. It took me three years before I was able to go back and finish the photography work in that cemetery. A camera battery literally was and 1 ½ drive to the nearest Wal-Mart.

Holding your camera steady a simple trick that will save you a lot of effort in jittery pictures, in some cameras it may take a second or two before it clicks and takes the picture and it’s jittery. It’s especially true in low light. If you don’t have a tripod then use palm of your hand. Put the camera on the face of your hand and that becomes your tripod. Before you take the picture either breathe out or breathe in and just hold it. That will make you steady now. If your fortunate to have a tripod that’s great too.

The idea about clutter, there is people and bushes and all types of things behind your image. The cleaner you can make your image the better off you are. I remember in the photo lab spending to much time trying to get the things out that I didn’t want. If you can do that before you ever get to your editing software you can make images clean and it will save you a lot of work.

Taking Better Digital Photos: Overall Tips
-Don’t say cheese. Sometimes you want a perfectly posed picture, such as a portrait of the kids with their grandparents.
-Avoid the bull’s-eye effect. There’s nothing wrong with placing your subject in the exact center of the frame, but there’s nothing particularly interesting about it either.

People don’t always have to be smiling. Sometimes I will sit back at family reunions over in the corner looking for people and faces. I’ve got pictures where we all stand in a row and say cheese. But I have also found like in the girl, a simple face that is just as good too.

Zero In on the Real Picture
The famous picture of the granddaughter sitting on the couch, I get tired of seeing the lower portion. Get closer in on the person. You can take a larger picture but then in your editing software you can get in closer. There are many times when I have been scanning that I have gotten 3 or 4 pictures out of one image. I’ve done a save as and then cropped portions out and I’ve been able to make these multiple images that are important to me.

Photographing Slides and Film
-For best results, mount your camera on a tripod.
-Mount your adapter to the camera.
-Place the camera in front of light source that will provide constant steady light.
-Insert memory card. Suggest 256 meg or higher.
-Insert the first slide/film and click the shutter button.
-If you are unable to secure an adapter for your camera: Strongly suggest using scanner equipped for slides and film.

Photo Studio in-a-box – www.specialtyphotographic.com
Provides desired tools to photograph documents indoors.

I will use PhotoShop in-a-box when I am in a library with very dark scenarios. You will see that the lights are on the side. Libraries will allow me in about 80% of the times to set up the box with the lights on the side and the book on the bottom and they will let me start taking pictures.

When I am taking pictures of slides I will face the light and let it come in as I take the picture. Not only does it have a slide attachment it will also let you take the microfilm with all your family on it. If you have ever used the scanners at the FHL trying to scan about 400-500 images and just about the time you get going someone’s tapping you on the shoulder – my turn. The images aren’t that great. I have just ordered the films to my local FHC, taken the attachment, slide it along and take a picture of it. It’s a full image like if I had it printed. On those microfilms I have been able to take about 100-200 pictures and put them on CDs and sharing them out with the family to help with the indexing of them. Not everyone has to go to the FHC anymore. I don’t have to worry about the copier being down or giving me bad images.

There is also a picture mount that comes with it so I can put the colored film through it. For all those items, it’s a simple tool, it cost me about $100 for the barrel, about $100 PhotoShop in-a-box. It has saved me hundred of hours if not thousands of dollars in effort.

Genealogy Photography is 10% Outdoors and 90% Indoors
Indoors
-Libraries
-Courthouses
-Museums
-Historical societies
-Homes
-Family reunions
-Other places where documents and pictures are.

Outdoors
-Cemeteries
-Land and buildings where family members once lived, worked or worshipped.
-Many outdoor shots are of historical consequences, but not of genealogical substance.

Why do I use my digital camera versus photocopying? When I first started using it was simply about time. I was at the state library in Kansas and the photocopier went down. I am back the next day and sorry he won’t be here to fix it until Tuesday. I had a plan that leaves in five hours and I’ve already spent a $1,000 to get here so I am going to use my camera. I went through the books. All of a sudden I found when I got home that magic had happened. The images I had were better than the photocopies. Even if they were dark I could take them in my photo editing software and just do auto correct and take a yellow page and turn it bright white. All those types of things became very clear.

Digital Photography Is All About Lighting and Location
-Use flash less than 10% of the time.
-Instead of flash use:
--Natural lighting (e.g., near a window).
--Light stands with diffusion screen and lights.
--Self-contained photo studio includes: tripod, diffusion lights and screen, and copy stand.
-Shooting documents with flash indoors usually creates a “Hot Spot” caused by using flash too close.
-When you have no choice but a flash; use it sparingly like in a group setting or for a gravestone that is in shaded area.
-Many libraries and research facilities prohibit flash photography.
-Come prepared to shoot without flash.

The first problem you will always face is lighting. He shows examples of cemetery headstones in morning sun, mid-day sun, sunset and an overcast day. The best light outdoors for cemeteries in an overcast day. In the information he will send to you is a whole section on how to work with headstones. Simple ticks on using a water bottle and spraying the face you want to cover on a white stone. It will darken it up enough to give you a darker image.

Photographing Unbound Pages
-Mount your camera on its stand, in shooting postion.
-Use a white sheet of paper, or the white painted cookie sheet.
--Set the pre-set white balance on your camera.
--Choose auto white balance if your camera doesn’t have a pre-set option.
-Place your document in position and anchor it with magnets.
-Select the camera’s macro mode if necessary.

Take a new cookie sheet and on the back cover it with white contact paper. Use magnets the best are the ones you get from the insurance guys and cut them up into strips. It’s a nice way to get a clean flat surface to take you photos.

Photographing Unbound Pages
-Zoom in so document is properly framed.
-Make sure the focus is clear and sharp.
-Set the camera’s self-timer, and press the shutter.
-View the picture on the LCD; zoom in and check for the proper focus, and exposure (brightness and contrast). Can you easily read the text?
-If the focus and/or exposure are incorrect, make the camera corrections, and re-shoot the document.

Books can be a problem, because the pages seldom lay completely flat when the book is opened to a normal reading position.
-Shoot book pages with the cover held up at the 80-degree angle.
-Rotate the book so spine is facing the back of the copy stand.
-Open the book to the first page you want to shoot.
--Make sure there are no shadows falling on the page.
--Hold the front, or back cover and the pages preceding the one you are shooting.

In one of my trips I came across a clue that said that there was a women that donated some documents to the library of Virginia. I kept trying to call this archive for multiple days saying I don’t have time to come out but would you please photocopy them. I finally got a hold of him and he said Mr. Ewell we can’t do that for you. Guys money isn’t the issue I don’t have time to come out, I’ve been in the field 10 days and my plane goes back tomorrow. Barry you don’t understand there are a hundred volumes here. I said I will be right up. Thinking that I still have a 6 hour drive to the airport and the things I need to do. I drive back up the other way. When I get there I see these volumes and something magically happens.

I set up my items there and I am taking photos. My wife was going to come in and we were going to spend a few days together and I’m saying I can’t leave I gotta get this stuff. Her plane lands and I am still four hours out from Washington. She calls and says sweetheart I am looking for you. I’m here. Where? In Virginia, four hours away. I said I would be right there but ½ an hour later I am still taking pictures. As I left the University there’s a strong spirit that says this is why I sent you to Virginia. I realized that the work is just more than photos but it was capturing the work that would be done for this women that had spent 25 years capturing pictures and documentation. This was a live, live document.

I made that decision on the way to pick my wife up that I would extend my trip for an extra 2 ½ weeks. I came back to the University about a week later and set up for four days just taking these 100 volumes of information. There was this whole idea if I going, am I only capturing my own family? That is the beauty of the camera you can capture a lot more than just what you are looking for. It’s frustrating to think that you have a photocopy of something and then it says refer back to page 452. Not good if you only have page 453.

Photographing Bound Pages
-Set the timer and press the shutter button halfway down and hold in position for a few seconds to give the camera time to adjust the automatic focus and exposure settings.
-Check to make sure the focus is correct before pressing the button all the way down so the timer releases the shutter.
-Before photographing the next pages, place the opposite cover down on the table.

What is nice about the camera is that I can capture two pages at a time. If I need to split the pages I can do it in my photo editing software. If I take pictures right side up or upside down I don’t care I can turn it in the software. Even if my image is crooked I can set it up in the imaging software. Digital photography without the digital editing software is kinda hard to work with.

Photographing Bound Pages
-Slide the book back into position so that it is under the camera, with the spine of the book next to the stands.
Note: if the page is upside down, that’s ok. You can fix that during your editing.
-Repeat for each page, turning the book around each time.

Using Voice Recognition Software for Scanned and Filmed Documents
Background
-Page Photographed
Need
-Need to turn into a Word Text File to use in family history, website, etc.
-File Size 239 Words
Voice Recognition
-Naturally speaking (Speaking and Editing) 2 Min 23 Sec.
-99% Recognition
Data Entry
-Data Entry into Word (Typing and Editing) 6 min 45 Sec.

I went down to the Daughters of the Utah Pioneers and in the index I found 75 histories of both sides of my family. I am taking 500 pictures and we say I would like to get that in a text format. Well, I don’t want to be typing 500 pages again. What I do have is a digital recorder and I use a software, Dragon Naturally Speaking, I can speak into the headset and it will type it automatically for me. I spent 10 hours over a period of weeks and I had a transcript that I read into the digital recorder. I put it into the jacket and I synced it up into the software in about and hours time I had 400 pages of script that I never had to put my fingers on. You give commands to the software so it knows what to do with it. For me it’s about 98% correct.

Photographing Oversized Pages
-Set up your stand, and adjust your camera.
-Open the large book/page.
-Adjust the camera and take photos.

I was in one of the libraries and I came across this map 18” x 24” and I had my camera up. I wasn’t able to get the whole document so I got up a little higher on the chair. Next thing you know I am standing on the table. I look down and there is a librarian looking up. What are you doing? I’m sorry, I got down and I said I got to work this out. This isn’t going to work.

Here is a secret for Photographing Oversized Pages
-If the page is too large for your camera (e.g. map, newspaper) consider taking multiple photos which can be “stitched” together in editing program. For example:
--Use card: START
--Use card: 1 Top Left:
--Use card: 2 Top Right
--Use card: 3 Bottom Left
--Use card: 4 Bottom Right
--Use card: END
-Rotate the book/paper as needed.

Like most genealogist it is exciting to gather but it might be a few months or years before we are able to get back to the materials we gathered. When I am able to take this document and reassemble it I know how it fits together. It makes it really simply to work with.

Common Experiences of Photographing Photos
-Photos are tucked away in trunk, glued in albums, etc.
-Access to the photos requires owner to be there with you.
-Sometimes photos are already in book or magazine.
-Photographs are captured best with scanner.
-When scanner is not available, digital camera is next best thing.

Type of photos expected:
-Usually black and white.
-Tintypes and sepia toned portraits.
-Postcards.
-Color photographs.
-Old negatives.
-Slides.
-Transparencies
-Printed in book/magazine
-Cut out from/printed in newspaper.

I had that opportunity to sit in at an aunt’s home and scan photos. I was there all day and I only had one day to do it. As the day was drawing near I didn’t have time to finish the scanning. I made sure I did all the photographs but then when it came to paper documents I used my camera. Sometimes that is all that you have the ability to work with. You found that photo in a library and that’s the only image you have seen available. That camera is going to give you the ability to bring home and you are going to have that picture of that relative, it’s not going to be a photocopy, it’s going to be a good solid image. With a few little tricks you can make it almost as good as the original.

Photographing Photos
-Mount your camera on it’s stand, in shooting position.
-Use a white sheet of paper/copy stand.
-Place your photo in position and anchor it with magnets if desired.
-Select the camera’s macro mode if necessary.
-Zoom in so photo is properly framed.
-Make sure the focus is clear and sharp. Set the camera’s self-timer, and press the shutter.
-View the picture on the LCD; zoom in, check for the proper focus, exposure (brightness and contrast).
--Make sure you don’t see any reflections, hot spots, etc.
-If the focus and/or exposure are incorrect, make the camera corrections, and re-shoot the document.

Photographing Microfilm
-Hold the camera up next to the lens. Or place your camera on a tripod located in front of the reader screen.
-Place a white paper (or other color) on the read surface as the target area for shooting.
-Adjust the camera/tripod position so the information you want to copy fills the LCD frame, not the viewfinder.
-Focus and or set the macro mode if necessary. This will depend on your camera model and how far away it is from the microfilm reader.
-Make sure the flash is turned off. Set the camera’s self-timer if needed.
-Gently press the shutter button halfway to lock the exposure and focus.
-Press the button completely down. If using the tripod; move away from the camera and wait for the self-time to trip the shutter.
-Take several shots. Consider using the “best shot selection” and/or auto bracketing your shots if your camera has these features or manual bracketing if it doesn’t.

Photographing People
-Enjoy taking photographs
-Take close “tight” photos of your subject.
-Take candid pictures.
-Use natural light.
-Avoid harsh shadows.

Photographing Children
Make picture-taking a part of your everyday life with children. Children are always climbing, building, exploring, and trying out new things.
-Begin a photo tradition.
-Be patient
-Shoot at eye level
-Take candid pictures
-Include friends
-Get close
-Lets kids record their world.
-Place your subject off-center

Photographing Buildings
-Choose your angle, avoid distractions
-Include an interesting object in the foreground
-Take pictures of the buildings architectural details
-Include people when appropriate
-Use lines to lead the eye
-Wait for the right light
-Consider the direction the building is facing.

Telling a Story
Take a sequence of pictures that convey the main point of the project – tearing down a wall, digging a hole, showing a horse, taking a trip, walking in the steps of ancestors. Include all the steps.
-Start with a “before” shot.
-Include people
-Show details
-Shoot at different angles.
-Fill the frame.
Photographing Family Gatherings
-Scenes from the funeral.
-Get close

Photographing at the Cemetery
-Take photos of the cemetery entrance, sign, book of records, and church.
-North, south, east, and west: Best time of day for photographing headstones
-Large headstones need a close-up of inscriptions.
-Family grave plots need group and individual photos of each headstone.
-Consider taking photos of all headstones in small community cemetery.
-Look at the base, top, sides, and back of headstones.
-Take eye-level photos of headstone inscriptions
-Talk to the sexton.
-Take the time to clear grass and other foliage away from inscription.
-Use a little chalk for the hard to read old headstones.
-Tilt your camera to the angle of the headstones.
-Black and gray polished marble shoot at angle.
-Try using flash on shady headstones on cloudy days.
-Try soft brush or natural sponge and water to remove surface soil.
-Never use hard objects or stiff brushes to clean the stone.
-Removing lichens with sharp objects most often destroys surface.
-Keep a written record.

Photographing at the Cemetery
-Some items to consider as part of the written record include:
--Location
-Map of the cemetery with stones numbered.
--When photographed (time, date, and frame number).
--Transcription of the epitaph.
-Post your photos of headstones on family websites of sites such as Virtual Cemetery. http://www.genealogy.com/vcem_welcome.html

In closing: The same principles I talked about with using the camera apply to the scanner. He showed how he was able to use his imaging software to clean up some photos.

This presentation is available on DVDs #132 for UVPAFUG members to borrow or purchase.

UVPAFUG Monthly Meeting - 9 Feb 2008

2008-02-01T18:00:00.000-07:00

UTAH VALLEY PAF USERS GROUP

The next regular, second-Saturday-of-the-month meeting of the Utah Valley PAF Personal Ancestral File) Users Group will be on Saturday, 9 Feb 2008, from 9 am until noon in the LDS "Red" Chapel at 4000 North Timpview Drive (650 East), in Provo. The main presentation will be by Gordon J. Clarke on FAMILYSEARCH WEB SERVICES AND
THIRD-PARTY PRODUCTS.

This will be a discussion of how FamilySearch has made it possible for many existing and new software products to work in conjunction with New FamilySearch through the development of Web Services. Web services is the way that web and desktop applications can communicate with an online service such as new FamilySearch. Desktop applications can work online or offline and synchronize, as desired. Learn what type of products and tools are becoming available. Discover when and why to use various compatible web or desktop products according to individual needs, purposes, and abilities.

Gordon Clarke joined the Family and Church History Member Needs team over 2 years ago. He is coordinating Developer Services and Affiliate Marketing in addition to his product management responsibility for the FamilySearch Web Services. Previously Gordon was the founder and president of ici MEDIA. Over the last 25 years Gordon has organized and lead numerous companies and projects, creating and delivering Internet, desktop computer, audio/video, and enterprise solutions for many different industries.

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 the following:

Using All the Features of PAF Insight, by Duane Dudley
Administering a PHPGedView Website (Part 2 of 3), by John Finlay
What Can I Do with SMGF DNA Test Data?, by Gerhard Ruf
Keeping Your PC Healthy, by Jerry Castillo
Q&A: New FamilySearch and 3rd Party Programs, by Gordon Clarke
Video of last month's main presentation: Digital Photography for Genealogists, by Barry J. Ewell
Individual Mentoring (British Research mini-class), by Vivien Brown and Val Buxton
Legacy, by Dean Bennett.
There will be no classes for RootsMagic or Ancestral Quest this time.

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; Brian Cooper, 2nd VP; Lynne Shumway, PAFology Editor; Kay Baker and Gerry Eliason working with finances and membership; and Bruce Merrill, Eileen Phelps, and Marie Andersen, working with the DVD & Video Library, will all be there. They will help with membership, 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 . For further information contact President Gerhard Ruf at pres@uvpafug.org (801-225-6106), VP1 Elder Don Snow at snowd@math.byu.edu, or VP2 Brian Cooper at vp2@uvpafug.org.

UVPAFUG Monthly Meeting - 12 Jan 2008

2008-01-08T20:21:00.000-07:00

UTAH VALLEY PAF USERS GROUP

The next regular, second-Saturday-of-the-month meeting of the Utah Valley PAF (Personal Ancestral File) Users Group will be on Saturday, 12 Jan 2008, from 9 am until noon in the LDS "Red" Chapel at 4000 North Timpview Drive (650 East), in Provo. The main presentation will be by Barry J. Ewell on DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY FOR GENEALOGISTS.

Barry Ewell lives in Riverton, Utah, and is a Senior Marketing Manager for IBM. He is a writer and researcher with extensive genealogical experience in Internet and field research, digital and software resources, and mentoring genealogists. His research interests and expertise include Eastern U.S., United Kingdom, Scandinavia, Germany, and Russia. He will discuss turning your digital camera into one of your most valued genealogical research tools to effectively acquire records and preserve documents. It will greatly cut reproduction costs and help you achieve more with your available time. He will also discuss how to preserve, catalog, and file images for easy access.

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 the following:

1. FamiliySearch Indexing and Record Search, by Duane Dudley
2. Installing and Configuring a PHPGedView Website by John Finlay
3. What Can I Do with SMGF DNA Test Data? by Gerhard Ruf
4. Video of the main presentation at the last meeting: FHL Internet Favorites by G. David Dilts
5. Individual Mentoring in the Family History Center by Lila Sowards and Sherry Stevens
6. Ancestral Quest by Gaylon Findlay
7. Legacy by Geoff Rasmussen
8. RootsMagic by Bruce Buzbee.

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; Brian Cooper, 2nd VP; Lynne Shumway, PAFology Editor; Kay Baker and Gerry Eliason working with finances and membership; and Bruce Merrill, Eileen Phelps, and Marie Andersen, working with the DVD & Video Library, will all be there. They will help with membership, 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. For further information contact President Gerhard Ruf at pres@uvpafug.org (801-225-6106), VP1 Elder Don Snow at snowd@math.byu.edu, or VP2 Brian Cooper at vp2@uvpafug.org.

Family History Library Internet Favorites by G. David Dilts

2008-01-08T20:05:00.000-07:00

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.

Share Your Genealogy and Collaborate with Relatives Online Using PhpGedView by John Finlay

2008-01-08T19:59:00.000-07:00

13 Oct 2007

Introduction of Speaker by Brian Cooper
Main Presentation: John Finlay – Share Your Genealogy and Collaborate with Relatives Online Using PhpGedView
John Finlay graduated from BYU with a degree in Computer Engineering. He worked in the Information Technology industry for several years, developing systems for digital archives and preservation. He is currently a full-time faculty member teaching at Neumont University. In the summer of 2002, John created PhpGedView as an open source genealogy application. If you haven’t heard of Open Source, it means that the code for the program is made freely available to anyone who wants to look at it. You might compare it to the difference between sharing the sources of your family history research, or just sharing your conclusions. If your sources are open and available for review and update, other researchers can assist in the work and it can progress forward much faster than if only one person or group is working on it. PhpGedView is currently the largest and most active Open Source genealogy application. John is married to Melissa Corn Finlay, who holds a degree in genealogy and family history. They reside in South Jordan, Utah and have 5 children.

John Finlay – Share Your Genealogy and Collaborate with Relatives Online Using PhpGedView

There are a lot of new and exciting things like FamilySearch that are coming available. It’s always good to remember why we are doing it. This technology is to help us to remember our ancestors, those that came before us and are such a part of us.

How many of you have ever had to share GEDCOM files before? How many of you enjoy doing that process when you were doing? In general works this you have someone is maybe in Utah and another person in Washington, D.C. you are both relatives working on the same genealogy line. To share your data you have to send GEDCOM files back and forth. Once you do that you have to import it and take all the people and match theirs with yours and merge everything together. Doing that takes a lot of time. You could have hundred of people duplicated and it takes hours to clean up. It’s a mess. When I was working on PhpGedView this was one of the problems we wanted to solve. How can we make the process of sharing our data and working together better?

Sharing
How many of you post your genealogy on a website? Not as many that share GEDCOMs but still quit a few. The advantages of that are you get people who are related, such as cousins. When people put it online people can search Google and find you.

How do you traditionally share your genealogy on the internet.
You – Genealogy application – Export HTML files – Upload to a Web Server – On the Internet – where you family can find them. The big problem here is if anyone has updates, and you will have updates, they have to send them back to you and you then have to start the whole process over again. This was another problem we wanted to address. How can we make this whole process of sharing your genealogy on the internet easier.

What is PhpGedView?
PhpGedView (PGV) is an internet based genealogy program that you can use to:
-setup your own genealogy website
-edit your data online
-collaborate with people working on the same family lines
-also great for surname studies or locality studies

It is an internet genealogy program it’s meant to be a full replacement of your desktop application. You set it up on a website. All you have to do is upload your GEDCOM file to it and it automatically shares your data on the internet in an editable and collaborative fashion. I will put my genealogy up there and its automatically for search engines and everyone to come find. I can give usernames and passwords to my relatives who also can work with the exact same data.

A lot of people also like to use it for surname studies or locality studies. A surname study is when you are doing all the Finlay’s for example or all the Finlay’s in a certain area, or maybe you are doing you small home town you grew up in. You could record all the people in that town and record all of their lives.

PGV can do all of the things that a typical desktop genealogy program can do, but it runs over the internet. It has all the sources capabilities and you can create all the reports you are used to having with your traditional program. It imports and exports GEDCOM files, so it is compatible with other genealogy software.

You don’t have to completely give away your traditional software if you want to use this. A lot of people still use it to share their genealogy online and they still do all their editing or stuff on PAF or tradition legacy program. You can continue to do it that way.

PGV Viewing Features
-PGV includes standard genealogy charts such as pedigree, descendant and family group.
-It also has lists, calendars, PDF reports, and several other charts.
-PGV supports photos, audio, and many other types of media.

Collaborative Scenario
-Suppose you have Aunt Edna who lives in New York working on her favorite family lines.
-Uncle Kobi lives in Israel and works on his favorite people.
-Leonid in St. Petersburg updates his part of the family
-You live in Utah and work on your favorite lines
-Give Aunt Edna, Uncle Kobi and Leonid the ability to edit online
-They keep their favorite lines up to date
-You keep the ability to review new data before it goes live on your site.

You would just give Aunt Edna, Uncle Kobi and Leonid a PGV username and password, they can come to your website, log in and edit and work the data directly online. I use these international countries because PhpGedView has full multi-lingual support. It supports Hebrew, it supports Russian, it supports Sweden and German. It supports 25 different languages that you can use. I recently helped someone set up a website; they were doing a Polish family reunion. One of the big things he was interested in was that it supports the Polish language so all his Polish relatives could participate.

So they are all working online on their data. There is no sharing GEDCOM files and matching and merging and all that stuff. They can all work together on this data. All of the editing stuff that goes in there you can set it up so you have review capabilities. Everything that they put on is not made public immediately. First it goes to a holding area. You will get an email notification that will say Hey they made this change. You can go in and look at it, edit it to meet your standards or you can accept it or reject it if you don’t agree with it. Some people don’t want that and they have everyone have full editing capabilities and that is completely possible. So it is up to you how you want to handle that.

Say you have relatives you trust doing genealogy and others you are not so comfortable because maybe they are not so good at doing sources yet. You can give some the ability to automatically enter their data and it goes public and you can give others the ability to be peer reviewed first before it goes public.

PHP is actually the program language that this was written in. When I created the program it was common in the industry if you were using PHP language to prefix it with the application PHP. That is where the PHP comes from most of the time now I abbreviate it to PGV. It also started out as a GEDCOM viewer so that’s how the name came about. But now it is a full featured way to edit you genealogy online. It stands for personal homepage tools, basically a programming language.
Brian mentioned that it is open sourced. Part of being open sourced means anyone in the world can help me work on it. I stated this as open sourced hoping that other people would help me develop it. I don’t get paid to work on this. I am a computer facility member at Neumont University, my day job is that I stand up and teach people how to program computers. Then I do this on the side. But I have people all over the world helping me to do this. I have people in Israel, France, Great Britain, four or five here in the United States. It’s been a very interesting and exciting thing not only to work with other programs around the world but other genealogists around the world. We have a great international community of people around the world all dedicated to helping this program succeed.

How PhpGedView simplifies Collaboration
Remember before how you had to take all these steps to get on the internet. Now all you have to do is put your GEDCOM file, your genealogy on a server with PhpGedView running on it. That web server with PhpGedView automatically makes it available. What you do is work with your data on the internet. Because it is on the internet you family can also log in and work with it on the internet and also the world can see it.

Privacy Settings
-PGV has many privacy functions built into it to protect personal information about living people.
-The default privacy settings will hide the names and details of living people from users who are not logged into the site.
-These privacy features can be adjusted by site administrators to meet their desired level of privacy.

You will notice that the world has a privacy filter on there. So all of you private data is not public to the world. So if you went to my website and tried to find me you could find me, I am a living person and privacy laws prevent us from sharing that. You have full privacy controls. Some people don’t want the world to find anything. They say you have to be logged into find anything. Other people say I don’t want any of my sources viewable to the public. I want all those kept private until they log in. You have full privacy control and control data once it’s up there and what people can see.

-PGV can be downloaded for free from the http://www.phpgedview.net website.
-It requires that you have some web-space that supports the programming language PHP and it will take some technical knowledge to set it up.
-There are also several hosting services that can set it up for you for a nominal fee.

Finlay Family Genealogy - http://finlayfamily.org/genealogy
You have full multi-media support you can upload pictures, documents and stories, full things video and sound files. Cool things about your family members that people like. One person sent me a note and said thank you for helping me help my uninterested family members become interested in genealogy again. Because they have the ability to share all this rich media with them.

The homepage is completely customizable you can change the way things are laid out. It allows you to save a list of favorites, like bookmarks, people that are your favorite people. It allows you to keep multiple GEDCOMs so if you are working on, say you divided up your family line into multiple files you can share them with different family trees. The look and feel of the homepage is also totally customizable. There are several themes you can use. If you know some HTML you can also change it to how you want it.

On the top of the homepage are icons one is to change the language it is displayed in. Hebrew is interesting because it is read from right to left. You have to switch everything around. As an administrator I can choose which language I want. I also has full support for entering the names of people in multiple character sets. If you have a Russian relative they will have a Russian name and then they will have a Romanized name. You would spell one in the Russian alphabet and then another in the English alphabet so you can record all of those names.

Clicking on any name will send you to the details on that person. You could see all his events, census details, sources. There is also full LDS support. The sources look very similar to what you do in PAF. You can attach a source to any fact or any person, and see a list of all those attached to the source afterwards.

There is a vanity counter on each page so you can see which of your ancestors is the most popular. You can search for people by their RIN number if you want or by name. The album is where you will see their multimedia. You can see all their close relatives and details on those. You can see a Google map of all of his events. There are a variety of charts you can look at. On the pedigree chart you can change the number of generations to view.

What people were very interested in when we were developing it was to see more information on it at a time. If you are researching something you generally want to jump back and forth between the data and see things. If you are researching the father you often want to see information on the children, dates, and possible locations for things you are going to research. One of the things you can do is on any of the boxes there is a zoom. You can expand his box and it fills in all of his details so you can see it right there. All of the boxes and charts have that capability.

The reports are printable quality you can do them in HTML you can have the full record of his life and print it out. The same way you could from your regular application. There are templates; it is a new thing I have been working on. When you log in you will get edit options on the page. You will see whatever features you have enabled for this option. For the templates we have the Research Assistant. It is designed to help you track and manage the research you are doing about a relative. We have several of the common search engines out there you can choose what data that you want to include in the search. It will automatically do the search for you on Ancestry or FamilySearch, etc. You can keep a research log you can decide what task you are doing and assign a task to a particular researcher, then you can attach it to a source. You can also attach multiple people to the task – say his whole family for the census. It helps you organize your research that way.

Once you have created a Research Task you can then choose a form you want to enter your data in. This is a very source orientated way to enter your data. The Census Form or template has all the fields that you would normally see on a census. Once you fill it out it will compare it against his record and help you to automatically choose some facts that you should probably add for him. From a census records we learn a lot of things about them, names, birth place, parents’ name, and their parents’ birth place. I can add immediately all the facts that comes from this source citation.

When you enter dates it will correct them to the right format. You can search for places to enter by your place list. When you add facts from the form or templates it will automatically add the source citation. When you add new information it will show up as blue. When you change something on a person’s data it will show up as red. Now you can choose to approve or accept the changes made to your database or undo and deny them. If you decide to remove facts afterwards you can just delete them. If you are signed in as an administrator you can deny all the changes you just made if you want to.
You have the option to even remove the Research Assistant if you don’t want it. You can pick and choose with features you have on your database. On the Individual List you can sort by any column in it. You can sort by birth or death date or name or places. You can also sort by last changed. If you want to know all the recent charges just sort on that column and you can see the last person with information changed.

You can import your GEDCOM file from PAF to PhpGedView or download from PGV to PAF. We have taken great care that the GEDCOM capabilities are the best. If you have some weird tag in there it will not be removed it just might not show it. You can keep as many GEDCOM files as you want on your database. You can download all of a GEDCOM or part using the Family Tree Clippings Cart. You can take clippings of your family tree and download parts of them.

Every page has a help icon on it. If you are confused and you click on the icon it will tell you about that page. Some items have help icons on them and they will them you what that item does. There is a lot of online help. Since this is open sources all the documentation is user contributed. So it is other users like your self helping to write the documentation for this. There is a Wiki to help people to that. You will find a users guide there. You can search through the entire users guide. A lot of this documentation has been translated into other languages.

You cannot search PhpGedView for other people’s sites; it is not a global site. You can only search in one person’s site with their unique URL for the individuals that they have. If you do a Google search it will pull it up if it is in a PhpGedView database on the web. I have had people use PGV with 50mgs of data – about 60,000 people, theoretically it can handle as large as you have.

Usually you will have to pay for a hosting service about $3-4 a month. An example is X-Mission in Salt Lake you can rent a hosting site from them for about $5.00 a month. Then you just load these files a GEDCOM and it goes. There are hosting services that will do it for you. There are four of them right now; they run about $7.00 a month. The links are on our site http://www.phpgedview.net/ The free ones are only for a couple hundred people. A hosting service will set everything up for you, you just send them a GEDCOM.

If you just want to see how it works you can download a demo and version and it will work on your computer. It will run like it’s a website on your computer. No one else will see it and once you shut down your computer it will turn off, but it will allow you to play with all the features and such. You can even put your own data into it, it comes already with some data in it.

Why would we go with this instead of waiting for New FamilySearch? I have been participating in the betas for new FamilySearch and they have done a great job. NFS has a lot of good features that are new in it. The reason I am not going to go to NFS for all of my data is privacy control. I can’t say don’t share this person with other people, even if he is dead. I don’t have that control at FamilySearch. Their source citation stuff is still a bit behind. They are going to work on that though. Another thing is that at least for the next couple of years only everything in NFS is LDS access. So if you have relatives that are out there and they are not LDS they will not be able to access it for a couple more years.

I also like to control the presentation of it. The way I present my family is import to me online. With FamilySearch you only have one way to do that. Finally NFS does not have any multimedia support. And they have no plans to every add that.

Now like I said I love what FamilySearch is doing, they are doing great work. They talked about how Ancestral Quest, Legacy, RootsMagic are going to work with NFS. I have also been in on a lot of those meetings. We are also looking to integrate with NFS. We will be integrating differently than those programs. What we are going to do is allow you, if you have already have a PhpGedView website, to link people in FamilySearch to your data it will automatically pull that data over and connect them up and keep them linked and synchronized between NFS and PhpGedView.

One of the goals of NFS is to not have duplicate people and to put the whole world into one big family tree. I think that is a great goal and I’m glad that the Church and FamilySearch is working on that. But when I want to work with my data I am interested in my people. Those are the reason I am not going with that but you might find it works for you.

If you choose to do everything online and work with multiple users at one time a lot of people are not comfortable doing that yet. You are fully welcome to continue to use PAF or your traditional program for that. Then you would upload your GEDCOM file when you want to update the site. It’s very easy. It will just replace what is up there and it won’t duplicate anything.

Now that other programs are use to these other options I have already been approached by Legacy to add integration. The same integration they will have with FamilySearch they will have with PhpGedView.

If you go into Google to search someone using PhpGedView you would type the name followed by PhpGedView and it will find it anyone is using the program working on your line. [Ezekiel Johnson PhpGedView] You could contact people and see if you can collaborate with them.

Demonstrated how to add multi-media, it supports all the formats you can normally put on a website. Demonstrated various charts on the program. There are backup capabilities with the program. It includes all your uses and media files, etc. not just the GEDCOM file.

You can also link people onto someone else’s site that is using PhpGedView or NFS. It will show that this person found is also in these other places. There are a lot of people looking at the code so they will find if there are security breaches. In their history they have had two security breaches and it was found and a patch was given within the day. This is one of the most secure programs out there because of that. It’s been over two years since they had any major security problems. You can also make a demo CD of your site and give it to family members.

When changes have been made my other uses you will be sent an email notification of the changes. There is also an option to have it show up on the homepage. It will list all the changes that have been made that need to be accepted. You can also show recent changes.

There is an option feature to add Message Forums. It allows people to post messages. If you want to have a family discussion about people or your genealogy you can enable the message forums. It works like any other message forums.

You can merge two people files together in the program but it is easiest to do it from within PAF or your other computer software, then upload it to the site.

There are tutorials online in the helps to walk you through the program but they are not connected to a live site – that is a great suggestion to have one.

There are 30 active contributors to the program but they are not all developers, a lot of them are translators. In any given week there are about 5 people submitting code, in a month about 10-12. Every quarter I get a group of students that work on this program. I will have them do different features. This quarter I am having them do an advanced search. The students also have to learn this they have 10 weeks to learn PHP, the architecture of the program; it’s a great learning experience for these students. Genealogy is one of the most complicated things from a computer science prospective but it is also someone can easily know. I know I can be related to people once you have to do that in computer science it is a fascinating problem.

I have been asked if I will do classes and I would be happy to set them up and have myself or one of my students teach them.

This presentation is available on DVDs #127 for UVPAFUG members to borrow or purchase.

GenealogyBank.com - Unique Content for Documenting Your Family Tree by Thomas Kemp

2008-01-08T19:54:00.000-07:00

8 Sept 2007

Introduction of Speaker by Gerhard Ruf
Main Presentation: Thomas Kemp – GenealogyBank.com – Unique Content for Documenting Your Family Tree
Thomas Jay Kemp is the Director of Genealogy Products at NewsBank. A well-known librarian and genealogist for more than 30 years, he is the author of more than two-dozen books. His numerous articles regularly appear in state and national library, archival and genealogical journals.

He is currently a member of the Board of Directors of the Utah Genealogical Association; and ALA Delegate to the International Federation of Library Associations. He is a life member of the Association for the Bibliography of History, the New England Archivists, the New Hampshire Library Association and the New York Genealogical & Biographical Society.

His most recent books include: “Virtual Roots 2.0: A Guide to Genealogy and Local History on the World Wide Web”. Wilmington, DE: Scholarly Resources, 2003. 311p. with CD-ROM and “The 1920 Census: A Reference and Research Guide”. North Salt Lake, UT: ProQuest, 2003. 250p.

For many years he was the director of Godfrey Memorial Library. Many of us used that to get a cheap subscription to Heritage Quest’s Census Records on the Internet. He is all the way from Connecticut to make presentations in the area and for us.

Thomas Kemp – Unique Content for Documenting Your Family Tree

The minutes are currently being edited by the presenter.

This presentation is available on DVDs #124 for UVPAFUG members to borrow or purchase.

A Brief Introduction to LDS Record Sources at the Church History Library by Jay Burrup

2008-01-08T19:43:00.000-07:00

11 Aug 2007

Introduction to Speaker by Gerhard Ruf
Main Presentation: Jay Burrup – A Brief Introduction to LDS Record Sources at the Church History Library
Jay Burrup is a native of Downey, Idaho. He served an LDS mission in Milan, Italy, and graduated from BYU with B.A. in History (1982) and Master’s degree in Library and Information Science (1984). He has been employed as an archivist and information specialist at the LDS Church History Library since 1985. In recent years he has completed over 150 oral history interviews with LDS Church leaders and members in the United States and Europe. Jay is a certified archivist with the Academy of Certified Archivists and has published numerous articles regarding archival and family and local history topics. He is married to the former Dorothy Anderson of Taber, Alberta, Canada, and they are the parents of four daughters, two of whom are attending Utah State University. The Burrups reside in West Valley City.

This presentation provides an introduction to the purpose of the LDS Church History Library and focuses on research sources available there for documenting and enhancing LDS ancestral biographies and local histories. Many of the sources, such as the Brigham Young papers, minutes of LDS congregational meetings, and thousands of diaries, manuscript collections, and photographs are unique to the Church History Library.

Jay Burrup – A Brief Introduction to LDS Record Sources at the Church History Library

LDS Church History Library, 50 E. North Temple St, 100 EW-COB, SLC, UT 84150, phone: 801-240-2272. Contact us at: churchhistorylibrary@ldschurch.org

Handouts where passed out

Application for Research Privileges
You must fill out this form before you come up to do research in the Church History Library. Because we are an archive, a special collections area, we do have rules of use.

Application for a copy of a Patriarchal Blessing
You may obtain a copy of a patriarchal blessing of yourself, your spouse, a direct line descendant, or a deceased direct line ancestor. We have between 2 ½ -3 million patriarchal blessings on file. About 100 people per week have applied for a lost patriarchal blessing.
LDS Church History Library Survey for the UVPAFUG please fill it out and return it to the address on the back of the form.

Selected LDS Family and Local History Sources at the Church History Library
Buff colored handout, four pages, and an outline of his presentation and gives a brief description of many of the sources in his presentation.

The purpose of this presentation is to acquaint you with sources that can document and enhance the life stories and histories of your LDS ancestors and the areas where they were members of the church. We hope through these sources you will be able to add detail and color to your life histories of your ancestors.

Currently we are located in the east wing of the Church Office Building. Many times we are simply confused with the Family History Library. We are not the Family History Library we have different purposes. Our purpose is to document the history and growth of the LDS Church and its members throughout the world. That is our focus. The Family History Library focuses on the genealogies of all mankind. We’re focused on the LDS Church and its members.

We have some doctrinal backup
D & C 69: 7&8 – John Whitmer was the second church historian, after Oliver Cowdery. John Whitmer wasn’t sure what he should to document the history and growth of the Church. This section in the D&C elaborates to him he needs to preach, expound, write, and copy, select and obtain records related to the church. The rising generations mentioned here are all of us, our children and grandchildren. They will benefit from knowing what happened to the early founders and members of the church.

D&C 85: 1&2 – We have a huge treasure trove in the Church History Library of diaries, journals, church records that testify of the manor of life, faith and works of the early church members and members clear up today. We also have the largest anti-Mormon collection on the face of the earth. We are to document our apostates who give us a hard time. Sometimes you will see members of our staff pausing at the gates of temple square to gather materials from the decedents that gather there. They don’t know what we are doing and we don’t tell them. We just pick things up and take them in.

When you come into the Church Office Building we are in the east wing. The entrance right now is at the end of the mural in the foyer of the office building. You will be greeted by a friendly church security officer; they are trained not to smile. You will need to bring one form of photo ID to identify who you are. All visitors to the Church Office building need to wear a badge with your photo on it for security purposes. All services have been combined we are no longer on the second floor. The new building will be north of the building near the conference center. It will be completed in the spring of 2009. We have been waiting for a building since 1959; we are excited about a new building.

We don’t allow any briefcases, hand bags, etc. to be taken into the area where you are going to be actually looking at the records. We have free lockers for you to use. We ask that you turn off your cell phones. We don’t allow any food or drink. Pencils only, we do supply you with pencils and scrap papers. You can bring your laptop in to take notes. We ask you to use care when you are handling the items. Most items have been microfilmed. We don’t allow instantaneous photocopying of our archival and rare materials. If you want a photocopy you will have to fill out a form and we have to check it to make sure it’s already been filmed, that there aren’t copyright problems, or issues of private, sacred or confidential information in that document. Such as bishop court minutes, temple ceremonies, and things like that.

At this time our computer catalog is not accessible through the internet. You will have to come up to the Church History Library to use it. We hope that someday it will. We are going through a major change right now reorganization. That is one of our priorities but we don’t know exact time it will be available.

You can search by Author. A Subject search will pick up anything written about an individual. If a person is in a photograph the author is actually the photographer. The people in the photograph are subjects. That is an important thing to remember when you are searching in an archive. After you find something in the catalog you will fill out a call slip, with your name the call number and the title. Bring the slip up to the front desk. We will order it down and in about 10-15 minutes it will be ready for you to look at. We can scan a photograph to a CD or make paper copies for you, about a couple dollars for each. It is fairly economical. You can search the content notes in any of the bibliographical sources. You can use the keyword search.

Three major collection types:
Published Sources – books, newspapers, magazines
Online Sources – databases
Unpublished Sources – diaries, histories, hand-written records, etc.

Published Sources
We have a lot of Daughters of Utah Pioneers series books. There are over 70-80 volumes that have been published over the years. They provide information and stories regarding early LDS members and Utah pioneers and their accomplishments, as well as stories connected with the settling and developing of Utah and areas of the western United States, Canada, and Mexico. Diaries, manuscripts, life sketches, photographs, newspaper articles, published local histories, and many other sources are cited.
Multi-volume sets Chronicles of Courage, An Enduring Legacy, Hearth Throbs of the West, Our Pioneer Heritage, Pioneer Pathways, and Treasures of Pioneer History.
-Pioneer Women of Faith and Fortitude – published by the DUP, four-volume set contains a large collection of life sketches and photographs of Utah pioneer women; one of few sources that helps identify and document early LDS women.
-Conquerors of the West – published by the Sons of Utah Pioneers, this four-volume set contain a large collection of life sketches and photographs of pioneer-era men.
-Latter-day Saint Biographical Encyclopedia – Compiled by Andrew Jenson, four-volume set includes a large collection of life sketches and photographs of early members of the Church; includes selected women’s sketches and photographs; information is current to ca. 1936.
-Encyclopedic History of the Church – Compiled by Andrew Jenson, this large compilation contains brief histories of branches, wards, stakes, conferences, districts, missions, localities, Church publications, and miscellaneous subjects; information is current to 1941.
-Church Chronology – Compiled by Andrew Jenson, this volume consists of brief chronological entries of Church-related historical events, 1805-1914.
-Pioneer and Prominent Men of Utah – Published by Frank Esshom in 1913, this volume contains a large collection of about 5,900 photographs and thousands of brief life sketches of early Utah and Intermountain West pioneers and settlers.
-A Database of the Mormon Battalion – Compiled and edited by Karl V. Larson, this volume provides rosters of members of the Mormon Battalion, with accompanying genealogical and biographical information compiled from a variety of sources; bibliography and index are included.
-Mormon’s and their Neighbors – indexes life sketches that appear in local county, city histories published in the intermountain west, Canada and Mexico.
-Mormon Immigration Index – It has thousand of names that appear on the official Church rosters as they are coming across the ocean. Available at the Church distribution center for $5.00
-74 DVDs of Early Church Documents – about 400,000 pages of early church documents. Originally it was priced at $1,500 it’s down to a thousand or less now at the BYU Bookstore.

Online Sources
-Mormon Pioneer Overland Travel – www.mormontrail.lds.org – Database of searchable indexed rosters of pioneers who traveled to Utah (1847-1868) and the companies to which they were assigned; includes bibliography of sources – journals entries, letters, newspaper clippings. Many overland trail accounts are transcribed and can be printed from the site. Database currently contains over 40,000 names – an estimated 20,000 names are missing because of incomplete rosters. An option is available on website to submit missing ancestral information and corrections for inclusion in the database. You can submit information if you ancestor does not appear in this database.
-LDS Church Periodical Index – www.chperiodicals.lds.org – Index to database containing authors, titles, subjects, and abstracts of articles from periodicals published by the LDS Church as well as from other journals and magazines from 1976 to the present.
-Mormons and Their Neighbors – http://w3.lib.byu.edu/Ancestry/ - Index to over 100,000 life sketches published in many local and regional history books relating to northern Mexico, New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, southern California, Nevada, Utah, Idaho, Wyoming, and southwestern Canada. Includes sketches of selected non-LDS pioneers and settlers; index also indicates if a photograph accompanies life sketch.

Unpublished Sources
For access to unpublished sources, see a staff member at the reference desk.
-Journal History of the Church – Chronological day-by-day “scrapbook” compilation of Church history form 1830 to present; focus of pre-1990s volumes is events and personalities in Intermountain West region. Card index available for early years; electronic index available from approximately 1990 to present. Card Index (hard copy) and electronic indexes available only at CHL. Microfilm version available at FHL (1830-1973 and index).
-Church census records, 1914-1962 – First Church census was taken in 1914, next one in 1920 and thereafter every five years until 1960. No census conducted during 1945 (World War II). Census for 1962 available only for branches, districts, and missions. Census information helps locate ward/branch in which members were living (especially useful for large cities). Also available at FHL.
-Deceased member records, 1941-July 1988 – Beginning in 1941 a deceased member’s record was sent to the Historian’s Office for filing. Record usually contains complete list of priesthood ordinations –very useful for tracing priesthood line of authority. Also available at FHL.

Local unit records (for branches, wards, stakes, districts, missions):
-Manuscript histories (Series 2 and 3) – Unpublished historical compilations for local units; initial information was gathered by Historian’s Office staff starting ca. 1890s; histories compiled ca. 1906+. Quarterly historical reports (1925-1967) and annual reports (1968-1983) were added to previous Historian’s Office compilations. Annual reports (1984-1999) were submitted only from stakes, districts, and missions; current annual reports (2000+) from wards are submitted collectively by the stake and added to previous compilations. Information includes descriptions (in varying degrees of completeness) of historical events and activities, lists of calling and releases, newspaper clippings, newsletters, programs, ward/stake conference sustaining sheets, occasional photographs, etc. Available only at CHL.
-Record of Members – Membership records kept in varying degrees of completeness and organizations; few pre-Utah era records exist for members in U.S. Call numbers differ between CHL and FHL – consult registers at CHL and Register of Genealogical Society Call Numbers, Volume 2, by Laureen R. Jaussi and Gloria D. Chaston at FHL. No master index is available; many volumes are indexed internally. Available at both CHL and FHL; however, CHL may have recent acquisitions not available at FHL.
-Annual “Form E” (ward) and “42-FP” (mission) reports – Reports begin in 1907 and end in 1983; consist of statistical summaries and lists of members born, blessed, baptized, confirmed, married, divorced, ordained, set apart for missions, returned from missions, etc. during the year in specific local unit. Call numbers differ between CHL and FHL – see comment above under “Record of Members” to obtain correct call numbers. Microfilm copy available at FHL, 1907-ca. 1948; reports beyond that date are available only at CHL.
-Annual “Officers, Historical, and Statistical” reports – Reports begin in 1907 and end in 1937; consist of statistical summaries and lists of current ward officers and brief historical notes regarding local events. Available only at CHL.
-Minutes of meetings – Minutes recorded by designated clerks. Local unit auxiliary minutes (e.g. Relief Society, Sunday School, Primary) were sent to Historian’s Office until 1973 and general minutes (Sacrament meeting) until 1977; minutes have not been submitted to Church headquarters sine 1977. Minutes provide insight into ancestor’s activity level – prayers, talks, callings, remarks offered during fast and testimony meetings, etc. Early Intermountain West units’ minute books may contain sporadic miscellaneous information (e.g. membership records, cemetery maps and burial records, funeral proceedings, school attendance records, irrigation information, business records, personal financial notations, diary entries, etc.); many local units’ records at CHL have sporadic and/or significant record gaps. Available only at CHL. Other university, state, or private historical institutions may house volumes of minutes and other local unit records that should have been sent to Church headquarters but were not forwarded and have been acquired subsequently by other entities.
-Other local unit records – Wide variety of records potentially available for local units – newsletters, dedicatory papers, programs, histories, photographs of ward members and buildings, etc. Many items available only at CHL, but other historical institution may also house similar items.

Other Useful Collections
-Selected Collections from the Archives of the Church
-Brigham Young papers, ca. 1840s-1877
-Missionary recommendations and call, 1877-1918
-Patriarchal blessings
-Nauvoo Temple carpenters time book, 1842-1846
-Seventies quorum membership records and autobiographies (Nauvoo era)
-High Priest of Nauvoo and Salt Lake City
-Iowa branches, 1839-1859
-Perpetual Emigration Fund, 1849-1887
-Rebaptisms in Great Salt Lake Valley, 1847-1854
-Public Works, 1850-1893
-Photographs – 1 million images
-Journals, diaries, autobiographical and biographical sketches, and autograph books (published and manuscript)

This presentation is not available on DVD.

Your Genealogy in Your Pocket - PDAs by Beau Sharbrough

2008-01-08T19:35:00.000-07:00

14 July 2007

Introduction to Speaker by Brian Cooper and Robert Raymond
Main Presentation: Beau Sharbrough – Your Genealogy in Your Pocket – PDAs
We have had Beau here before and he has spoken on a number of good topics. I remember your digital photography class very well. Beau worked for Ancestry and now works for Footnote.com. Beau is one of the foremost genealogical experts in the nation. He was early on one of the instigators of the genealogical data model. He had a role in the push towards the standard interchange format which the Church finally answered with GEDCOM. The organization was GenTech. Beau is a nationally know figure and it is quit a treat to have Beau talk to us.

Beau Sharbrough – Your Genealogy in Your Pocket – PDAs

I now work for Footnote and my job is to decide what content we are going to acquire and put on the site. I do have the best job in the world. We have a license agreement with the National Archives and that is a fairly big candy store to turn a genealogist loose in. In May we also signed a license agreement with FamilySearch. Two weeks ago we signed a similar agreement with the Allen County Public Library. The more these things happen the easier my job gets. People that wouldn’t take my calls a year ago call me now and say they think they have things that will look good on the Footnote site as well. Footnote is a history website with a strong focus on original records. There are more Nationalization records on that site than any where else in the world.

My last PDA was a Tungsten T3, it has an expansion slot that wasn’t bad for watching a movie. The battery life wouldn’t get you to the end of the movie. Other than the shortcoming it was nice little guy. I refer to things as gadgets because there are too many technical terms for them. There are handheld computers, smart phones, PDA, they come in so many groups that I don’t want to confuse you.

Why would I want a gadget?
1. If you have to ask, maybe you don’t.
2. Reference
-Genealogy (there is a palm version of PAF, its free.)
-Flight times, movie info, etc
3. Navigation
-Maps
-Routes
-Traffic
-Finding the hotel
4. Communication
-Email
-Web
-Calling
5. Creating sources
-Maps
-Photos of gravestones and other places
-Movies of people

What’s a PDA?
1. A Personal Digital Assistant. This is a handheld computer.
2. They can be used in genealogy to
-collect research
-look up information
-work as a PC replacement for basic office applications, and
-as an organizer
3. Don’t let the size fool you – these are serious machines
My current PDA is a Treo 650, I’ve had it over a year. 60mg of memory built in and I have a 1 gig expansion card. I have more processing power and storage space available to me than someone that owned an IBM 360 computer in 1971.

Basics
1. Forget the keyboard. You enter information by transferring it from another computer, by scribbling in “Graffiti”, or by pecking at a virtual keyboard.
2. They’re all in color now.
3. “Beaming” is sending addresses, business cards, and appointments wirelessly, using an infrared port.
4. You can sync your information from your desktop to your PDA.

Palm vs PocketPC
1. There are two “operating systems” used for PDA’s: Palm and Pocket PC.
2. Palm started the game, and Microsoft, as usual, wants in.
Palm has announced that they are not going to make any more PDAs using the Palm operating system. They are going to use Unix. Right now the choice is Palm or Windows CE operating systems. You need to decide which one you want to go with before you buy it.
3. If you use a Mac, and like PDAs, you won’t be using a PocketPC.

How much and how big?
1. Chevy. $100 and less. These are great for note-taking, phone numbers, and appointments. Your basic organizer.
2. Buick. $300. These are good for running PDA applications, like Office, and genealogy programs.
3. Cadillac. $500 and up. Wireless. Lots of memory. Better add-ons. Bigger screens.

You can put your genealogy on an iPod.

Get a bigger memory card -
1. Amazon has a 1GB Secure Digital (SD) card for $12.99
2. 2GB for $19.48
3. There are bigger ones (4 GB $40.98)

Peripherals Accessories
1. GPS. A PDA is not too big to be used as a combination compass and map. They are good for walking trips. He showed a BlueLogger from DeLormay, a Bluetooth GPS.
2. Camera. Built in camera and add-ons have exceeded a megapixel.
3. Storage. There are generally expansion slots for more memory. And soon, hard drives.
4. Chargers. You will want a couple of these.
5. Modems. They make them with phones in them now – mine is Cingular.
6. External keyboards. For that long plane trip when your laptop battery can’t keep up. They make virtual and they make mechanical ones.

Genealogy
1. All have a PC part (a computer program) to read GEDCOM, some read others. It creates a PDA compatible file.
2. Hotsync downloads the file.
3. The PDA side (a computer program) uses it.
4. Some allow updates and changes, that can be uploaded – the Personal Reference Boundary.

Reference Boundary
I update stuff on this side of the boundary
-Phone numbers
-To-Do lists
-My desktop genealogy
I don’t update stuff on this side of the boundary
-Encyclopedia
-Dictionary
-My PDA genealogy

They can all read GEDCOM and some can read other file formats than GEDCOM. One of them uses The Master Genealogist’s GenBridge program. I find that when I go to the FHL I can’t really carry all of the three rings binders that I have. If I go there to work on the Tuckers and I find something on the Sharbroughs I don’t have my three ring binder for them. If I don’t know if I already know who that guy is or not I like to be able to look up everyone in my record on my PDA.

The PAF version for the PDA is read only. You can’t put new people in it. It’s reference only. Some of these programs will let you put information into your PDA. Then when you upload it to your computer it might make a mess of it.

The guy that makes MyRoots says you can update this stuff but don’t try to hot sync it back into your desktop program. Instead sort the entries you made by date and then key them again into the desktop program. Use it as a tablet, a way to right down the things that you come across. It’s fairly easy to carry a laptop to the FHL these days.

PDAs Review
http://www.consumersearch.com/www/computers/pda-reviews/
reviews.html

List of PDA Manufactures
-Siemens
-Garmin ique
-Rim blackberry
-Palm Treo
-Palm Tungsten
-Palm Zire
-iPhone
-Nokia
-Dell
-HP / Compaq ipaq

PDA Report of how the companies are doing and which sell the most.
http://www.palminfocenter.com/news/8564/gartner-pda-report-
for-q1-2006/

Smartphones pass pdas
http://www.c-i-a.com/pr0306.htm

PDA Gen Software
http://www.moss-fritch.com/pda_software.htm
http://genealogy.about.com/od/software_handhelds/
http://mobilegenealogy.com/
http://www.rootsworks.com/pda2005/
http://www.tapperware.com/

You can also browse the internet with some PDAs. Beau has surf the internet while on TRAX. Ancestry.com is difficult to read while on your PDA. I have never heard of a virus attacking a PDA. The cost of the phone and internet service: Cingular charges $40 a month for unlimited data use and about a $40 a month for phone service and roll over service. For my laptop I have a Verizon wireless card, unlimited broadband for $80 a month.

I use Palm for my PDA because I use Microsoft products a lot. You might say but doesn’t Microsoft write the operating system? They write the PocketWord and PocketExcel. But those things loose all there formats and all their fonts when you look at the PDA version of them. If you change them and upload them back up those hosed format go back up to your desktop. There is a program called DocumentsToGo that I use with my PDA. It lets me use all my office documents, Word, I can do PowerPoints on it. I can do all those things on my PDA in their native format, when I upload them back up it will update the version on my desktop and it doesn’t loose the formats, fonts or anything. A non-Microsoft company can do it better than Microsoft can. DocumentsToGo is the only program that will read Vista documents on a PDA.

This presentation is available on DVDs #118 for UVPAFUG members to borrow or purchase.

Introduction to Footnote.com: An Online History Research Library by Justin Schroepfer

2008-01-08T19:30:00.000-07:00

9 June 2007

Introduction to Speakers by Gerhard Ruf
Main Presentation: Justin Schroepfer – Introduction to Footnote.com: An Online History Research Library
Justin Schroepfer is the Marketing Director for Footnote.com, with 14 prior years in Marketing and Advertising experience. He used to work for Franklin Covey, Ancestry.com and a number of other companies. He received his BS and MSA degrees in Business from the University of Utah’s Business School. Footnote.com specializes in the preservation of historical data by subscriptions is a subsidiary of iArchives which is a document digitalization service for companies, industries, educational and governmental organizations. They help them access their historical data.

Justin Scheoepfer – Introduction to Footnote.com: An Online History Research Library

Through some recent discussion and a partnership that we created with the Church, Footnote is now going to be available in all the family history centers across the world. This will be a resource that we hope many of you will utilize in accessing some records that have never been on the internet before. We are pretty excited about that. We are really young and the website has only been out there five months.

Background – Where We’ve Been
1. History of iArchives
-Pioneering movement from paper to digital since 2000.
-Developed patented OCR know as OWR
-Wide range of digitization projects

Footnote stems from what was iArchives, it’s a digitization company. We were basically in business to digitize documents. It started in around 1999, 2000. We were primarily focused on digitizing trucker forms, medical forms doing that sort of type of documents. We created our own OCR technology and we patented it and called it OWR. We started to do that for those businesses. They would provide us with some documents and we would put it through our OWR software and index it for them. Now they would be able to search all these documents and find things a lot easier.

We started to do historical newspapers as well. We started to work with a few entities, universities, locally BYU and University of Utah and some others across the nation, as well as some libraries and organization. We are involved in the National Digital Newspaper Program. As we started to do this, the thought came to us, we are digitizing a lot of great content, especially historical newspapers, NewsBank had been one of our biggest clients. We would digitize, index it and then send it back. We thought wouldn’t it be fantastic if we created our own website so that we could put this information out to the public? Footnote started from that idea. We started conceptualizing the website back in January of 2006 and within a year we launched the website.

Transition to Footnote
-Build off of conversion core competency and host the data
-Create content repositories available through the internet
-Create a website that allows people to save, build, and share their discoveries.

Mission Statement:
Develop an online community for individuals who are passionate about collaboratively viewing, contributing, and preserving rich content.

That includes everyone from the casual family historian to the really hard-core genealogist, to those that are just interested in history. We see ourselves not just a genealogy site, we have information on there that is really dealing with all sorts of history. Of course, genealogist and family historians being historians we know that they will find a great amount of value in that.

In conjunction with our launch back in January this year we basically entered into a partnership with the National Archives. We have been talking with them for many, many months. We knew they had some amazing content and we wanted to be able to digitize that.

The National Archives and Records Administration
-Truly unique – no other organization is partnering with NARA in this way
-Working on digitizing the entire holdings in the National Archives
-Over 9 billion records

We are first going after the content that hasn’t been out on the internet before. The censuses are great records but they are already out there.

FamilySearch
-World’s largest holder of genealogical information
-Footnote will be available for free in all 4,500 Family History Centers
-First project – 3 million Revolutionary War Pension Files

We are working with FamilySearch in helping to digitize their content as well. We have about 150,000 digitized Revolutionary War records on the website right now. We are moving really fast, there are 9 billion records just in the National Archives alone and we now have this part FamilySearch and we even have other partnerships that we are working with. There is so much to do.

We are actually putting on our site an average of about 2 million records per month. We have had all that experience from that digitization that we have been able to apply this concept to other projects, that way we can really pump out the information. We expect big things to hit the site on a regular basis.

Vision – Where We’re Going
-The Footnote difference.
We didn’t want to just be a records repository or a database of records that you could go and get. We thought to be different we could take the records of the images, digitize and index them, so they are searchable. We wanted to add community on top of that, to allow people to add their own comments and content and to be able to get in touch with other people that might have the same interests. I really think that is where genealogy is going to start to take off.

I recently worked at Ancestry.com and worked there for about 4 years. One of the things that surprised was we had about 800,000 paid subscribers to the site at the time. What percentage of the 800,000 subscribers to you think were LDS? It was about 3-5%. That shocked me. There is just a huge amount of people out there that are interested in genealogy that are doing this. Maybe not for the same reasons that the LDS church are but there are a lot of people doing this.

If I have done something on my Schroepfer line and I put something out on the internet and somebody finds a Schroepfer line they are interested in maybe they have some additional information that I can build out my tree. It’s helping each other that is really going to help spread this work. We have the community and tools to help people talk together to progress the work.

Homepage
We have great content around the Revolutionary War, the founding fathers and the letters they wrote. We have a lot of content that goes beyond just genealogy work. We are currently working on a new search tool on the site. That should show up in the fall. We put all our indexed out on the internet for free. We don’t charge for people to access that metadata. We will provide a thumbnail of the record itself. So we can give people a better idea of what they are about to look at.

We are a subscription website and basically the only thing we require a paid membership for it is to look at the actual documents that we have digitized. Membership is $59.95 a year or $7.95 a month and that gives you access to everything. In a family history center is it all for free.

The Demonstration
We group our titles by time era for you so you can get into specific time periods or collections you are interested in. From “Early America: Before 1775” to “Post War: 1950 and After”, there are also “News and Town Records” and “Photos” collections too. You can click on a collection and then choose down a list of sub-categories to find your items. There is a search engine on the bottom of the page that will search on any of the collections or sub-categories you have highlighted.

The interesting thing about the information we have been able to go after is what a lot of genealogist may not be familiar with. Dick Eastman has written a variety of stories about our collections. It’s been interesting to read based on his perspective as a genealogist. For example we have a collection called the Bureau of Investigation files that preceded the FBI. About 1908-1922 they are basically case files that the government kept. They will report on people suspect of supporting Germans or pro-abition, things of that type. That doesn’t necessarily sound like a very strong genealogy type database, but people have been able to go in there and what they find is amazing. It gives very detailed information on the people, where they lived, their occupations, family relationship and what they were doing at that time frame. Along with contextual information there is a lot of vital information as well. We are excited that people can access these records on the internet instead of having to order a microfilm or visit a National Archive on their own.

For typed records we can use OCR to read and index them for hand written documents we will digitize them and then we send them to get indexed for primary names, etc. We also allow our members to annotate the documents.

More partnerships to come

Content Providers
-NewsBank
-National Digital Newspaper Program (NDNP)
-BYU
-University of Utah
-The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
-Tundra Time

After digitizing records for many people we thought this is great content wouldn’t it be nice to put it on the internet.

The transcription to this presentation is not yet completed.

This presentation is available on DVDs #116 for UVPAFUG members to borrow or purchase.

WorldVitalRecords.com and FamilyLink.com: Social Networking in the Genealogy and Family History Space

2008-01-08T19:22:00.000-07:00

12 May 2007

Introduction to Speakers by Brian Cooper
Main Presentation: Yvette Arts, Whitney Ransom, and Jason McGowan – WorldVitalRecords.com and FamilyLink.com: Social Networking in the Genealogy and Family History Space
Yvette Arts is currently the Vice President of WorldVitalRecords.com. She has tremendous credentials. She has worked in corporation communications and research. Interests include development of human potential and the creation and the retention of working knowledge. Her interest in genealogy began when her great-grandmother encouraged her to keep a book of remembrance.
Whitney Ransom is the director of communications at WorldVitalRecords.com. She is currently getting her master’s degree at BYU in Instructional Psychology and Technology. She loves her family and doing genealogy. She is thrilled about the advances in technology that enable individuals to build connections and find the resources they need.
Jason McGowan is from Alberta, Canada though his roots are in England. He is the product manager of FamilyLink.com. He has been with this project from it’s inception to its launch. He is their tech specialist. At the age of sixteen he managed a restaurant which consequently provided him with opportunity to be on a cooking show for six episodes were he was the assistant to the chef. He is also the former owner of ElderMissionary.com and SisterMissionary.com. He is excited to discuss the technical aspects as well as the benefits of FamilyLink.com.

Yvette Arts, Whitney Ransom, and Jason McGowan – WorldVitalRecords.com and FamilyLink.com: Social Networking in the Genealogy and Family History Space

Yvette Arts
It is great for us to be here to share some of the things we are doing with two different websites that were started by Paul Allen. He was one of the former founders of Ancestry.com and MyFamily.com. These are two new additions to the Genealogy and Family History space. WorldVitalRecords came on in October of last year and FamilyLink we are just still in beta testing of that website. That website is a social networking site.

Brian mentioned that my great-grandmother got me interested in genealogy and family history. What she did for each of her grandchildren (I call her my grandmother) was make a book of remembrance. This was not only the pedigree charts and the family group sheets, this was family histories and photos. This was before scrap booking was big; it was clear back in the 60’s & 70’s. We people just cut out their own things and did not buy dye cut things. It was little pieces of material or little buttons, something that really meant a lot to her, that were hooked to these pages. I came to realize through all of this, the generations of time, it’s the little mementos that meant something to her and her family that we live in and through each other. As was mentioned in the prayer, help us find our kindred dead, I love that word kindred, people that we love, we are out to find them. Hopefully we are in the mean time keeping our own histories and keeping track of all the records associated with ourselves and our immediate family.

When we talk about today the technical aspects of these two websites, keep in mind the idea of the social networking. Social networking is talking to each other; some teenagers do get in trouble with that, such as with website as Facebook or MySpace. Social networking when you gather together as a group, we have reunions, we get together and talk to each other and share some of the things that are important to you. With technology it is becoming easier to do that because most of us have access to the internet and computers. There is something called Web 2.0 it has features that allow this social networking to take place. Just like when Brian was talking about the new features of FamilySearch where you can do your work on the internet and print out your own information that you take to the temple. Those are some of the features that are allowed through this new technology, that allow us to hasten the work. We want to talk about some of those tools that hasten the work.

We are a very small company right now. We have a lot of phases that we still intend to go through on developing this technology; that will allow you to integrate with what the Church is doing with our technology and have a nice social networking space were you can interact with genealogists all over the world and find out what they are doing.

Like with my grandmother, her books were on paper. They were not done on the computer, they were handwritten. So there is only one copy of that book. Now with technology of course those pages can be scanned and images can be viewed. We all know of the Church’s program that is all over the world, photographing those records and the extraction program that helps bring those records to light.

WorldVitalRecords.com
Introduction
-Purpose
-Agenda
-Presenters (Yvette, Whitney and Jason)
-Mode of Discussion (raise your hands with questions)
-Handouts (follow the printed presentation)
-Ways to provide feedback to WVR/FL (feedback@worldvitalrecords.com)
-Paul Allen (founder)

Say you only had the names Hyrum Bogart and Henrietta and you didn’t have any pictures of them. You do a search for them and you found a photograph associated with those two names. Then you find their vital records, maybe some land records, etc. A lot of that searching now is done on the internet, indexes that can point you to where you can go in the county or somewhere in the world where you can go to get that record. With some of the features we are going to show you today you can make that easier.

The internet of course is kind of a family thing. Everyone has their own things they are doing on the internet. We are trying to show you that with the internet and some of the tools that we have that it can help you find some of the things you are looking for. The WorldVitalRecords website we have over 300 free databases online right now. We add at least a database a day.

Whitney Ransom
This is a good group. When we designed this site this is the kind of audience that we pictured. You have a good spirit about you and we are happy that you have come today. Hopefully what we have to say will be of use to you. That you will be able to go home and get on WorldVitalRecords.com and find some information that you really need.

The background of WorldVitalRecords.com - why it exists, and what we are trying to do. I need to tell you a little bit about Paul Allen. I think of Paul like 1 Nephi 2:11 – a visionary man. Paul is one of the founders of Ancestry.com and MyFamily.com. He has a lot of great ideas. He was at Ancestry and MyFamily for a while and decided to try some other business adventures. Paul has an entrepreneurial spirit, so he did that for a while. In the past year he will tell you that he had a compelling need to get back into the genealogy industry. That is how we got started; he felt the need to do more in genealogy. He is very compelling, he told others his ideas and we started to follow because we felt this would help other people.

Paul’s Vision:
-Love of genealogy
-Fill some needs in genealogy that aren’t being met
-Alternative to other companies
-Really helps genealogists

Paul loves genealogy. He has been involved in a lot of different business ventures but genealogy is something close to his heart. He feels there are needs in genealogy that are not being met. We hope to be able to fill some of those needs. We are not claiming to fill all of those needs but are trying to help where we can.

Paul also feels there needs to be an alternative to some of the other companies. If you ask him he will tell you that competition in and industry is very healthy. It helps keep prices lower, it helps people get out and do new and innovative things.

Paul really wants to help genealogists. One thing that we are working on in the process is building a search probability engine. What that will do is you will get on the site and type in the name of the person you are searching for and it will give you a whole list of names. It will tell you names and places it won’t just be at WorldVitalRecords.com but also other websites. It will tell you the percentage or likely hood that that person you are looking for will be found in that database. That will really help genealogists. If we don’t have the information that you are looking for we are not afraid to say go find it here, or it’s with this company. I think that is kind of the idea that Paul wants, maybe we won’t have the records you are looking for but if we know where to find it we are going to tell you. The probability search engine is in the works and I wish I could kind of tell you the technicalities of it the algorithms is pretty complex and we are not going to go there today.

Paul is really big in understanding who our audience is and what our audience wants. We frequently send out polls. Trying to found out what are our needs of our genealogists. How experienced are they, what do they look like, what are they looking for, and what software do they currently use? A couple of weeks ago we sent out in a poll:

Which Country Should WorldVitalRecords.com Prioritize Next? (After U.S., Canada, England, and Germany)
-Ireland (19%)
-Poland (19%)
-Scotland (10%)
-Slovakia (10%)
-Belarus (5%)
-France (4%)
-Czech Republic (4%)
-Sweden (3%)
-Denmark (2%)
-Italy (2%)

We had a couple thousand people respond to this poll. We are focusing more heavily on the results that came in first – Ireland and Poland. These results were not just from the polls it was from other comments to our sites also.

What Distinguishes WorldVitalRecords.com?
-Price
-International Focus (Content, Communities)
-Web 2.0 Features (Cemeteries, GoogleBooks, Newspapers)
-FamilyLink.com

Paul really feels that a lot of people are right now priced out of being able to do their genealogy. It costs too much money. People are sometimes on limited funds and can’t afford to spend tons of money to do something that they love. That’s one thing that Paul really wants to have is low prices. Right now we have a two membership for $48.00, which is $24.00 a year. I think that is pretty low priced. You also get a download of Everton’s Handybook and Ancestral Quest 12, software that you can use. That is just one aspect the price – something that is affordable. One of the other reasons it is lower is because we don’t have every database that you want. We just started; we launched our subscription site in October 2006. We have only been out for seven months so you kind of have to give us a little break. We are going as fast as we can. We are downloading the information from indexing and scanning as quickly as we can. We have only been out for seven months and with this two year offer we are basically saying “Maybe we don’t have every record you want right now but we are adding content every single day. If we don’t have it right now maybe in a couple of months we will. Or maybe in a year or two we will. We might have as many databases as other companies but we are growing.

The other aspect is an International Focus. We want to go out and find records and databases that are unique, records that other companies might not have yet. Yvette will speak more about content. I wanted to speak on the International Genealogy Communities. This is something that we have put up in just the last couple of months. We have 48 different countries here. You will go to the country and type in the search engine the information you are looking for.

We have programmed it to find the most relevant websites dealing with that word. If you go on Google you are going to find thousands of results. This will give you results that are most relevant to your word. Some will be in English or another language depending on what community you are searching. If you want to look for specific sites this is a good place to look. It’s free you can just go on and take a look. It might give you some URLs or websites that you haven’t come upon. These ones are specifically dealing with genealogy and family history, that’s in the International Search Communities.

The next aspect is the web 2.0 features. Yvette talked a little about what web 2.0 is, I am going to show you some sites.
Cemeteries – search a name and place, they showed the Social Security Death Index. Once you click on a record it is going to show you a map of the area. It will show you little tombstones where cemeteries are located in that area. It will show the name of the cemetery and where it is located.
See Neighbors – near the nearby cemeteries in the search results. These are people that died in the same time period and place as the person you are looking at. This is just another resource. A pending item coming is a percentage to tell you the chance of this person being related to you searched individual.
Googlebooks – search an individual and in the results you will see Book Results. GoogleBooks is implementing this feature right now. They are scanning millions of books and they are putting them on the web. It depends on the publisher and the book. Some you can view every page for free. Some you can see a couple of pages, it gives you a teaser and then you have to buy the book. We have taken all the books they have scanned and we have put them on our site. If you really like the book you can download a PDF of the book for free. This is just something that has been recently implemented. There are a lot of rare and unique books that have never been scanned and they are doing that right now. You can go home and try this out and maybe you will find ancestors you are related to in books.
Newspapers – All the newspapers that come from SmallTownPapers Company on WorldVitalRecords are free. We have a partnership with them. There are several hundred newspapers from them on the site. You will find the newspapers available in the results of your search. When you click on a newspaper it will come up in the basic viewer. It’s very simple and you can go from page to page. There is an enhanced viewer that will give you a few more options. The name you searched for will be highlighted on the newspaper page. In the enhanced viewer you can highlight a section and then share it with others or even send it to yourself. You can also find all the newspapers by viewing all databases on the main page. You can pick a category and view all newspapers in Texas. If you are from a certain area and you don’t see newspapers from that area, you can contact the local newspaper and tell them about SmallTownPapers and ask if they will do it too. SmallTownPapers will work out an agreement with these newspapers to scan their archives. The newspaper will ship their archives to them to be scanned quickly, two pages at a time. The images are then read by OCR and it will do the best job it can reading the newspaper. It will remember the coordinates for those words. When we get the material we take the output XML, an OCR scanning of the words, put it into a database and then match it with the image. We get a hundred thousand pages a month from SmallTownPapers that we process. It’s millions of dollars that SmallTownPapers has invested and they have not seen a return on their investment yet. WorldVitalRecords pays them a royalty every time a page is viewed. You can also view all the years and dates a newspaper is available for by clicking on the link for the newspaper name while viewing a page for a newspaper.

We are still developing our Probability Search Engine so you will not be directed to other paid sites from our website. When we have the Probability Search Engine we will have the index of main of those sites and it will say you can find this at…and it will give you the probability of it being a correct match. The hope is that we will get enough partners to get indexes to their records and direct people to their records.

Yvette Arts
Content
-WorldVitalRecords.com Databases
-Each new database free for 10 days
-Newsletter/Blog/Press Releases
-How to find records (Title, Category, Browse, Search features)
-Partnerships – Everton, SmallTownPapers, Quintin, Susan Easton Black, Shauna Anderson
-Content Acquisition
-GED COM and Photo Uploads
-FAQ, Accounts/Login/Logout, Sitemap, Chat

We have over 500 databases on the site. We just signed an agreement where we will acquire 10,000 more. Quickly you will see a surge on the content we have on here. It will take at least six weeks to find those databases, if not two months. Each new database that we offer under subscription is free for the first 10 days. You can search that database and see if it has what you want in it.

We have a partnership with Everton Publishing to put on their online database over to our site. We are currently scanning their library. They have about 80,000 holdings there in their library. It will take us quit a while and not all of them can we scan and put up, because some can be found on GoogleBooks. We look for particular records that are exclusive to Godfrey that we are putting up. We just put up quit a few of those this last week some compilations from John and Enid Ostertag of the Kansas Chief Newspaper from the 1800s.

We have the Everton Pedigree and Family Group Sheets about 150,000 records. We have over 60 years of the Everton Genealogical Helper so any query that was submitted to the Helper you can search and find that. We have a few census records these are not complete. We are working to get complete census records. We have a lot of parish registers records and some proprietary databases. We also Susan Easton-Black’s collection; all of her work, that was done on LDS and RLDS family history. Her latest work, which is only found on WorldVitalRecords, is the Nauvoo Land Records. We are working to geo-code those records as well. Shauna Anderson provided a database from Scottish records. She is a genealogist that works with Susan Easton-Black, she searched parish records to find out how people died. She is a microbiologist so there is a lot of rich data in the death records from the Scottish parishes.

Quintin Publication has a lot of books on CD-ROM. They have about 3,000 family histories and several other collections and vital records. We have partnered with them in putting their collection online, currently it is just on CDs. We are working with several other content partners and in the next several weeks, next month we will be announcing some partnerships. We are working with a library back east to scan their collection as well. We are small but we are growing continually to add those databases.

In FamilyLink we have about 11 million records of people that have been upload their GEDCOM. We just don’t have them searchable right now, they will be searchable. You can upload you GEDCOM files or photos if you want to make them searchable for everyone and have a place or repository for those records. Other options on the website are to send us Feedback, Upload Family Tree, or Manage Your Account. There is also a free newsletter that goes out that Whitney will talk about.

Whitney Ransom
We have a newsletter that goes out every week. The newsletter is free just click on the link Free Newsletter to sign up. It has all of the new databases that we have launched throughout the week. It has a genealogical tip on there. A new feature we have just started is Genealogy in 15 minutes or less. We know you are busy and if you just have something that you can move towards for 15 minutes. It has different conferences that are coming up. It’s a useful resource if you want to know what is happening at WorldVitalRecords and some of the others things happening in genealogy, and it’s free.

FamilyLink.com is a new social genealogy network. We are thrilled about this new site and think it will help genealogists a lot. Paul is really, really excited about this site. He said he is just as excited about this site as he was when he was building MyFamily.com and Ancestry.com. What the purpose of this is to connect with other genealogists throughout the world.

We have currently 1600 cities where you can connect with genealogists. For example we are here in Provo and I need to get a record over in France. I can go onto the site and I can see who the genealogists in France are. I can see if they are willing to do a local record lookup and I can contact them directly. We can talk and see if they can go to that cemetery and get this, or go to that records office and check out this name. So basically for the first time you are going to be able to connect with people from all over the world who are doing genealogy and you can work on your genealogy together. Jason who is the builder of FamilyLink will give us some more detail on that.

Jason McGowan
I am excited to be here today. I am new to the genealogy field. I have expertise in connecting people. I have worked on several other big websites before I help connect people together. I came into WorldVitalRecords, I had known Paul from other ventures, and he said I want you to work on genealogy. You know that face you see on new individuals that come into the Family History Centers and he’s excited then he comes in and you try to show him genealogy, you know the face I am talking about, he is so confused and they have no idea what is going on. Well that was me when I came in and saw it. I was really excited to see this group of people and see everyone working together, it’s such an interested and exciting industry for me to be and I get to help all the genealogists connect with one another.

FamilyLink is absolutely free. You can choose to look for genealogists in your local area or the area you are researching in. You are also able to see who is online right now and using the site. Right now you can only see the first name of an individual; that is for security. After you become friends you will be able to see their first and last names and be able to communicate.

The first thing that you do after signing up is create a genealogy profile. This is who I am; this is kind of how long I have done genealogy for, etc. You can see what software program they are using and what databases they have access to. You can indict if you are willing to do lookups for others. There is a link – Find Genealogists, it gives you the ability to search for other genealogists on the site. You can search for other people with access to databases you are interested in by clicking on the link in someone’s profile with access to a database – it will show you all others with access. Clicking on any link under an individuals profile will help match up all others with that same profile or access in their descriptions. It is a way to connect with people and view what they are doing.

The next step is to add all the research cities you have researched in the past or have an interest in them. You can join a city and it will be added to your profile and people can see the cities you are researching or interested in. You can also view all those researching in a given area. Some of our sites are limited so you can’t do a Google search to find members. Our email addresses also show up as images.

On the city pages you can also upload historical photos. With the social networking aspect the more people that come onto the site the more useful it is. Your uploading images and you can add links to other websites that have good resources for the particular county or place. You can also upload ancestors and you will be able to upload a GEDCOM file. No one can view your family tree unless you are friends with that person.

The main purpose of this site is to help people to connect with each other. And to help people connect with genealogists around the world. We will allow you with a lot of experience to help someone else.

This presentation is available on DVDs #114 for UVPAFUG members to borrow or purchase.