Software News

Please don’t interpret the following comments to be our endorsement of a particular software package! As far as we are concerned there are many good ones and each of us should select the one(s) that we like the best and that we find easiest to use.
This is being shared because: 1. We often hear from Macintosh users wanting to know about FH software for the Mac that will work with nFS, and 2. This is important information for users of several FamilySearch Affiliate products.
1. Around the time of the the SLC Conferences, Ancestry.com announced that a version of their Family Tree Maker software would be made for the Macintosh. When? The Family Tree Maker web site says “later in 2010.”
2. The following is condensed from the April 2010 newsletter from Ohana Software the makers of FamilyInsight regarding Adding New File Formats. Ohana are:
- Beta testing a version that will work with Family Tree Maker 2010 and Ancestral Quest file formats.
- Developing versions that will work directly with RootsMagic and Legacy files.
- What does this mean? Do I need to stop using PAF? This means that you can use the program that works best for your needs and still have access to FamilyInsight. If PAF is your favorite program then by all means keep using PAF 5. If you like one of the other programs then you can choose the program that is best for you.
- Family Tree Maker has announced that they will be releasing a Mac Version and we will work with that program when it is released. We are also pursuing other Mac options to work with.
- Now that Get My Ancestors is in the Tools menu of FamilyInsight, you will be able to save your Get My Ancestors file in any of the formats that FamilyInsight saves to. This is only applicable to the version that is in the tools menu of FamilyInsight.
- The Get My Ancestors stand alone program will only save to a PAF file.
( Follow this link for the full newsletter article: http://www.ohanasoftware.com/files_documents/newsletter/Apr2010.pdf )

What does this mean?
1. Good news for Mac users – they will have another choice for FH software – and will be able to work more easily with nFS data once Family Tree Maker for Mac becomes available.
2. Those using PAF and other FH programs will also be able to use Family Insight if they wish.
3. The free Get My Ancestors program allows you to download information from nFS to help someone create or add to their FH file – but only in PAF format. The Get My Ancestors link from within Family Insight allows you to use Get My Ancestors to create files in the other formats supported by Family Insight.
Always remember to periodically check in the link to the lower right of the sign in page for nFS to see the growing list of Affiliate Products. Click on some of the links – try some of the products at least the ones that are free!

Footnote:
What is affiliate software? “FamilySearch Certified Affiliates are third-party companies and organizations that provide products and services with features that are compatible with FamilySearch programs. Certification indicates the affiliate’s declaration of compliance with FamilySearch requirements. Note that these products and services are independently developed and supported by their respective organizations, not by FamilySearch.” (from nFS website).
What does this mean? Among the features of affiliate software are the ability to move data in and out of nFS without re-typing anything, and being able to see the nFS data in different formats.

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Some Things I Learned . . . Part 2

Part 2

07. Lots of emphasis on social networking for genealogy by using things like FaceBook (person pages), Twitter, Google Docs, Google Wave, scribd.com, and others — Facebook is now the most used website, surpassing Google recently. See several of Alan Mann’s talks (Peter comment: remember the earlier item: Notes of the talks by the FamilySearch staff are on the FamilySearch Wiki at http://wiki.familysearch.org — do a search for “familysearch 2010 NGS” or “familysearch 2010 BYU” (without the quotes), or by name, e.g. Alan Mann, Jim Greene, Tim Cross, Michael Ritchey, etc.; also Alan Mann’s articles page ishttp://alanmann.com/articles/ ).

08. Several freeware programs and online note storage websites helpful for FH were discussed — OneNote, Zotero, Google Docs, and Zoho — many uses for FH notes

09. Google Earth program — download for free; very helpful for FH; shows 3D views and maps and overlays; lots of features; Google Maps now shows part of it online without downloading the Google Earth program, but not as feature-rich

10. New items on Footnote — many new records; now have free “Person Pages”; they have already set up Person Pages for everyone in Social Security Death Index; you can set up others for your ancestors; can store images of documents, photos, etc.

11. Announcements by Ancestry.com that they have a new search engine, that Family Tree Maker will be released for Mac’s, and that they have posted both reference books “The Source” and “The Red Book” online and free for everyone at their wiki
http://www.ancestry.com/wiki/index.php?title=Main_Page .

12. Class was held demo’ing how we could do FH research in a networked group with people in different locations – use Skype or other communication to talk; person in charge assigns others to look up data in FHL, or on Ancestry.com, search censuses on FamilySearch.org, another to go to cemetery and photograph the tombstones, one to compile all data the others send him and post it
on Footnote Person Page; all done in real time

13. Take a look at Dick Eastman’s presentation about backups at

http://prezi.com/kxoaczct_yxv/oh-my-goodness-wheres-my-data/

14. Several talks on using Google in FH with the usual things, plus that you can save your search parameters by saving them as bookmarks; can set Google Alerts to tell you when it finds more things for the search parameters you specify; can use Google maps to make up migration routes, etc.

15. Several talks discussed the Standard of Proof for Genealogy which requires:
1. Reasonably exhaustive research
2. Complete and accurate source identification
3. Skilled analysis and correlation of data
4. Resolution of any conflicts in evidence
5. A soundly reasoned conclusion or “proof argument”

16. Military Redress Claims Applications for Civil War, etc. — very valuable for FH since they list property, family members, losses, etc.

17. “Genealogy Boot Camp for 21st Century” presentation by Tom Kemp showed several helpful suggestions and URL’s and a picture of an artifact for sale on eBay that gave an ancestor’s name; suggested posting your FH research, photos, and docs online somewhere (Facebook, Footnote, scribd.com, etc.) so it will be available – said he almost died 2 years ago and realized much of his research would be lost; said his presentation had been videotaped earlier in the week for posting online (I assume at either http://wiki.familysearch.org or http://www.familysearch.org under Library > Education.)

18. Idea to help make more effective presentations and stay within time limits — have some mark you recognize in your PowerPoint (e.g. move a symbol to a different place) that tells you that you should be half way through the presentation; then have fillers (she called them “zippers” – short stories) that are not in your PowerPoint and that you can put in or leave out to stretch or shrink your presentation when you see it’s going short or too long

19. Several new Affiliate programs for new Familysearch – see full list on http://www.familysearch.org/eng/affiliates/index.html

20. Many vendors with new programs and URL’s; many give-aways and drawings; see list of vendors on Conference websites

21. The National Map (of US) — very helpful USGS online maps at http://nationalmap.gov/

22. Our talk (Don and Diane Snow) on “Freeware for FH” from the Conf last week will be repeated (in different format) at the UVPAUG meeting, Provo, this Saturday morning, 8 May — see details on http://uvpafug.org (peter: their handout is available in pdf format at http://uvpafug.org/old.htm )

Donald R. Snow, Math Faculty, Nauvoo Universityhttp://www.nauvoouniversity.com
Retired Professor of Mathematics, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah

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Some Things I Learned at the SLC FH Conferences Part 1

Some Things I Learned at the 2010 BYU Computerized Genealogy Conference and the 2010 National Genealogical Society Annual Meeting 26 April to 1 May 2010, Salt Palace, Salt Lake City, Utah
by Donald R. Snow (Math Faculty, Nauvoo University http://www.nauvoouniversity.com Retired Professor of Mathematics, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah) – used with permission

Please note: selecting a link in this article by dragging across it and then right clicking shows a “go to” option

These are a few things I learned and are not in any particular order, nor is this complete. The talks went from Monday through Saturday; from 8 am to evening, and each of the two printed syllabi are about 2 inches thick. You may still be able to purchase CD’s with pdf’s of the entire sets of talks. The URL’s for the conferences – with schedules of talks, etc. are http://ce.byu.edu/cw/cwcompu/ and
http://members.ngsgenealogy.org/Conferences/2010Program.cfm . CD’s of many talks from the NGS meeting will be available from http://www.jamb-inc.com/ . The NGS brochure about the conference is at

http://www.ngsgenealogy.org/galleries/new-gallery/Registration_brochure.pdf

. For talks at the 2010 BYU Computerized Genealogy Conf see

https://wiki.familysearch.org/en/FamilySearch_Presentations_at_BYU_2010

. Publicity info for the entire week is at

http://www.familysearch.org/eng/home/news/frameset_news.asp?PAGE=Press/2010-3-9_SLC_Prepares_for_Week_of_FH_Celebration.asp

01. David Rencher, Chief Genealogical Officer of FamilySearch, gave the keynote address at BYU Computerized Conf on the gap and how to bridge it between technology (young people know how to use it) and genealogy (older people are doing more of it)

02. Jay Verkler, President and CEO of FamilySearch, gave the keynote address at NGS meeting on “From the Granite Mountain to the Ends of the World” with a virtual tour of the Vault, how the digital pipeline works, and what’s ahead

03. FH Consultants were invited to a meeting in SL Tabernacle on Tuesday evening; Elder Allan Packer of 70, Exec Dir of FH Dept and son of Elder Boyd K. Packer, spoke on history of FH in the Church, how many people are helping, and some new things coming

04. A wonderful 2-hour program in the Conference Center on Thursday evening, “A Celebration of Family History”, with Pres. Eyring and David McCullough speaking, Tabernacle Choir, and 5 short videos about FH ; extremely well done — will hopefully be released on DVD and/or shown on byutv or elsewhere. (note from Peter: Videos clips used at the celebration on Thursday night in the conference centre are available at: http://www.newsroom.lds.org/ldsnewsroom/eng/news-releases-stories/-a-celebration-of-family-history-delights-thousands-of-genealogy-enthusiasts#media-video or http://mormonlife.com/story/2485-a-celebration-of-family-history-videos )
05. Notes of the talks by the FamilySearch staff are on the FamilySearch Wiki at http://wiki.familysearch.org — do a search for “familysearch 2010 NGS” or “familysearch 2010 BYU” (without the quotes), or by name, e.g. Alan Mann, Jim Greene, Tim Cross, Michael Ritchey, etc.; also Alan Mann’s articles page ishttp://alanmann.com/articles/

06. FamilySearch
1. Much discussion about https://wiki.familysearch.org — was
suggested we ALL contribute info to it
2. Community Trees — http://histfam.familysearch.org/learnmore.php
3. FamilySearch announced 300 million new names posted last week on beta.familysearch.org from Indexing; register on
http://beta.familysearch.org for a free account and search it and give them feedback on operations
4. Maps of England — http://maps.familysearch.org/ — wonderful map sets and viewer
Can search online Family History Library Catalog by using GenSeek for additional searches you can’t do on the FHLC directly
5. Was stated that all the microfilms in the Granite Mountain Vault will be digitized within 8-10 years
6. New FamilySearch will be released to Asian Temples this Summer and to everyone (non-LDS included) this Fall
7. Updated Family History Library Favorites are available to download at FHL — see info and how to download earlier version from https://wiki.familysearch.org

Part 2 next week

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Quarterly Newsletter May 2010

Sorry this newsletter is late! We have been away on a wonderful holiday!
1. Articles on FH continue to be posted to the blog at http://peterfh.wordpress.com/ every week. If you are a priesthood leader try to check the site once a month and encourage your FH consultants to read the blog. If you are a Family History Consultant or FH Centre Director we hope that you are checking the articles weekly. To make this easier for you there is an option to subscribe on the middle right of the page – then you need to click on the confirming email that is sent to you. So far 50 people have subscribed. We hope that number will increase! Subscription means that new articles automatically come to your mailbox. In addition to the 50 subscribers we have on average between 80 and 100 visitors a week. We are trying to keep the blog just for you in this northern part of the North America Central area – so we can see how many of you are reading the blog! We post a new article at about 3 a.m. on Sunday morning each week – don’t worry we don’t have to stay up to do this! – and the articles are posted whether we are home or not! Remember you are invited to contribute articles or topics for the blog.
2. There is a poll open on the use of the Blog – express your opinion!
3. On Saturday 15 May 2010 the ground-breaking took place for the Calgary Temple! What an exciting event!
4. Work is continuing on the rollout of new FamilySearch to the temples in Asia.
5. We continue to provide some basic statistics on Family History to stakes on a quarterly basis.
6. The largest source of news in Family History in quite a while occurred at during the week of April 26 to May 1 when 2 Family History/Genealogy conferences were held in Salt Lake City – the BYU Computerized Genealogy Conference and the National Genealogical Society Conference. I am told that the highlight of the week was the celebration that was held in the Conference Center on the Thursday evening with President Eyring and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. Several special video clips were used as part of that evening. If like us you were unable to attend the conferences you are no doubt anxious to catch up on all the news. To find out how to access those videos and to learn about the news from the conferences please read the “What I learned at the Conference . . .” postings that be posted over the next 2 weeks. We are grateful to Don Snow for granting us permission to use his summary of the conference news.
Thank you for all that you do to encourage Temple and Family History work.

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Poll on use of the blog

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Using the Wiki Part 3 – Creating Pages & Summary of What You Need to Do – the Final Word?

This is the third and final part of a series of articles on the FamilySearch Wiki. In part 1 we talked about viewing information on the web site. In part 2 we talked about how to edit information. Now finally we talk briefly about creating new content for the wiki. Note that we don’t want to create duplicate content on the wiki. The wiki helps you take care of this by searching to see if a page already exists. You can help by looking at the existing pages on your topic before you begin.
First you need to sign in! I think you should do this every time you go to the wiki so you can be ready to edit or add to anything that you come across. The link to Create a Page is on the right hand side under the heading Navigation. At the top of the page are some helpful links to further information you may need. Then you search to see if you page already exists. There is also the recommendation that you link your new page into existing wiki content.
Then follow the trail!
Summary
The FamilySearch Wiki is a valuable tool. We all need to at least be using it to look things up. We need to be teaching members how to use the Wiki. The Help Center in nFS and the Wiki are the places we go to take members to find answers.
In addition I hope that every FH Consultant and FHC Director will at least register for the wiki, sign in, and be prepared to edit. The wiki is a great resource.

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What Does the Lord Expect of Me in Family History & Temple Work?

By Ralph and Linda Miller, Area FH Advisers in northern New England

With all the resources available, and in light of other responsibilities (family, work, etc.), exactly what does the Lord expect of us regarding temple and family history work. Here are some thoughts.
There never has been a time of greater opportunity and responsibility for offering temple ordinances to your ancestors. With 130 temples, regular temple attendance has gone from a multi-day bus excursion to something that can be scheduled weekly or monthly for most of us.
Living in the information age brings archive resources and collected genealogical information to your home computer – you can do genealogy in your pajamas when the kids are in bed.
However, other responsibilities call for our time and attention – your occupation, meals to fix, work to do, family to transport to various activities, church assignments and callings, recreational and entertainment activities – the list goes on. There are so many of these that sometimes it seems impossible find time for the temple and informational resources now available to us.
So just what does the Lord expect? Do we need to quit our job or wait until the kids are grown (they may never leave home) before we can focus on this?
Here are our thoughts.
First, what the Lord does not expect you to do:
• Become an expert genealogist
• Quit your job
• Ditch your family
• Abandon your other responsibilities.

What we believe He does expect:
• Take advantage of the opportunities that present themselves
• Use the resources that are easily available to you
• Attend the temple regularly
• Be a tool in the Lord’s hands to help your kindred dead.

What does this mean? You aren’t on your own in this – you just need to be a willing partner. The Lord and your kindred in the spirit world will help things happen.
Go to new.familysearch.org. Use new.familysearch.org to access information already gathered that connects to your family. See if ordinances are needed. While new.familysearch.org includes people who have temple ordinances, it also includes many people who need them. Some of those probably are connected to your family. As you climb your family tree, don’t forget to check in-laws and their families – spouses of uncles and aunts, cousins, etc. Your responsibility includes these, not just direct great-grandparents.
Use information gathered by non-members. While most members of the church do not do a lot of research, there are thousands of non-members who are dedicating their lives to genealogical research. Many of these people are related to you – perhaps distantly and perhaps closely. Talk with your extended family (especially the non-LDS ones) to find out who has done genealogical research in your family. Contact them and ask if they would share the information they have gathered. Offer to provide them information on your own family, children, spouse’s parents and other information that might be of interest to them. Be sensitive about demanding that someone give you everything they have spent a lifetime gathering. Treat it as a treasure – it is! Show sincere interest and respect for their hard work.
Use information posted on genealogical internet sites. Without being an expert genealogist, you can tap into research others have done by using internet sources. In addition to http://www.ancestry.com, there are free sources such as worldconnect.rootsweb.com, where people have posted information about their relatives. No need to re-invent the wheel – use information that already has been gathered by others (perhaps by inspiration).
How reliable are compiled genealogies? As we tell our children, just because something is on the internet doesn’t mean it is true. However, internet information is helpful in pointing the way. If someone posts a lot of family information, complete with dates and places, that connects with your family, try verifying at least part of it it by checking census records. See if some family members show up in other records, such as new.familysearch.org or http://www.familysearch.org. If other independent sources confirm what is posted, it points to reliability.
While information should be as accurate as possible, it is not necessary to verify each piece of data before using it – especially if the researcher has given sources. But do check as much as you can.
But this might cost me money! Yes, subscriptions, gas to the temple, etc., require financial resources as well as time. The Lord does not expect you to bankrupt yourself doing this work. If your budget is tight, prayerfully consider your discretionary expenditures – entertainment, recreation, cable TV subscriptions, eating out, vacations, etc. Could you replace some temporal pleasures with eternal investments? We have found that when we include family history and temple work in our budget, things somehow work out amazingly.
Pray and seek guidance from the Lord. This is the best source of direction of all. Prayerfully ask the Lord how you can serve – in your current circumstances. Follow promptings and take advantage of opportunities. They come to you for a reason.

Thank you to Brother and Sister Miller for allowing us to use this article.

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