Thoughts on Online Film Ordering and 2 other items

While hearing lots of positive things about the online ordering of microfilms and microfiche that became available in Canada on August 19, we also hear some things that need clarifying:

1. “Why do we need Family History Centres now that people can order films online and see them at home?” The new system is for ordering online and viewing can only be done at a Family History Centre.
2. “Some people don’t have an email address, so they can’t place an order.  What can we do?”  This also is a concern with new.FamilySearch.org where people without email accounts are hard to communicate with.  (a) Suggest the patron open a free email account (such as yahoo, gmail or hotmail), or (b) Suggest the patron use the email address of a family member (son or daughter) – a family member could even register and do the ordering for them
3. “Some people don’t have a credit card or don’t want to use their credit card online.  What can we suggest?”  (a) Suggest that the patron consider getting a no fee low limit credit card solely for online (Internet and telephone) purchasing  - that is what we do,  or (b) Suggest the patron have a family member, who is willing use a credit card, create an account and order for them, or (c) get a Visa or Mastercard that you pre-load with money – say $50.  I have checked with the FH Dept in SLC and they say these cards are acceptable.

Watch what we say!

Familysearch, new FamilySearch, and now beta familysearch or new familysearch????

Otherwise expressed as familysearch.org, new.familysearch.org and beta.familysearch.org.  Doesn’t new.familysearch.org also have a beta version every 3 months?

You can get these mixed up!  We are trying to make sure we say “Familysearch.org,”  “new dot familysearch dot org,” and “new version of familysearch.”  Hopefully this will make it clear which web site we are talking about!

PeterFH is now on Facebook!

Someone said we should do it – and we have!  We are now on Facebook!  – but not really knowing what we are doing, so please help!  We have a group called PeterFH.  Please join so we don’t feel lonely – and so we can contact you!  For now this is a public group – should it be?  For now the same information will appear in both the wordpress and facebook locations, but discussions will be different.  Tell us what you think!  PeterFH is for FH Consultants and FH Centre Directors primarily – but of course anyone interested in FH is welcome to read it.

We have created a second group called PeterHelpsFH while is more general and will have shorter posts focusing on helping people do their family history – tips, hints and news.  Please post any ideas you have!  I am going to try to keep posting to just a few sentences!

We want to communicate with as many people as possible.

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Area FH Newsletter August 2010

1. Online film ordering This went live in Canada on August 19. What does this mean? You order and pay for microfilms and fiche online and then go to the FHC to view them – less paperwork and less money for the FHC to handle. The United States will be next to move to online film ordering (before the end of the year hopefully). Go to https://film.familysearch.org . Contact your local FHC for implementation details. This new web site does not use an lds account nor a familysearch account for the sign in. FHCs have the opportunity to upload inventory and other information from Inventory Manager to the new system. There is an Admin side to the web site for FHC directors. The new system will replace Inventory Manager. Please be extra kind and patient with everyone working in FHCs until they learn the new system.
2. nFS Update We hope that you noticed the update to nFS on 9 August (click on the News and Updates link on the sign in page for nFS to get to the What’s New document). These What’s New documents are good to save to your computer (they are pdf files) or print if you wish. A couple of problems have become apparent since the update and the engineers are working on resolving the issues asap – so don’t call to report either of these problems: 1. Some recently completed temple ordinances are not appearing in nFS in a timely fashion, 2. Russian & Italian FAQ’s (Frequently Asked Questions) is blank.
3. Discussions in nFS. Please teach people to use the discussions tab in nFS but not to discuss or share ordinance information. The public will be able to see those items being discussed when it goes worldwide.
4. Community Volunteers As part of the preparations for making nFS public, community volunteers who have public/familysearch accounts no longer have access to temple ordinances. They can still help members with temple questions if they wish to by sitting beside a member who is signed in.
5. Beta FamilySearch.org Please check out http://fsbeta.familysearch.org/ , get familiar with the new version of familysearch.org and share it with people in your ward. Remember that not all the data has been migrated to the new site yet.
6. Griffiths Valuation online For those interested in Irish research an important resource has become available online. “The Primary Valuation was the first full-scale valuation of property in Ireland. It was overseen by Richard Griffith and published between 1847 and 1864. It is one of the most important surviving 19th century genealogical sources.” It is available at http://www.askaboutireland.ie/griffith-valuation/index.xml
7. Calgary Temple Construction workers are on the Calgary Temple site. An unofficial web site http://www.ldschurchtemples.com/calgary/ has construction photographs.
8. Family Insight will work with more programs. There is exciting news coming from Family Insight. This is a quote from the Summer 2010 issue 38 edition of Ohana Insights: “. . . almost 2 years ago, we changed the name of our product from PAF Insight to FamilyInsight. . . . Today, we are announcing our latest major update. You may now use PAF and Family Tree Maker 2010 files with FamilyInsight without the need of a GEDCOM file. We will be compatible with 2011 when that version of Family Tree Maker is released very soon. Ancestral Quest and RootsMagic users can join us in beta testing FamilyInsight for that program. Legacy users, please don’t loose heart, the ability to read a Legacy file is under development. We hope to develop the ability to work with other programs, too. If you are interested in helping us with our beta testing, please send an email to beta@ohanasoftware.com telling us which program you use and would like to help test with. To use these additional program files in FamilyInsight, you will simply open FamilyInsight from the desktop icon and select your Family Tree Maker (.ftm), Ancestral Quest (.aq), RootsMagic (.rmg) or Legacy (.fbd) file.” http://www.ohanasoftware.com/ We are blessed to have so many fine programs to choose from. I know the choices can seem like a burden at times but they really are a great blessing. PAF, PAF with Family Insight or Ancestral Quest, Rootsmagic, Ancestral Quest or Legacy or Family Tree Maker are all great choices. Be kind to those who make different choices from you. Neither of you is wrong!
9. Temple Policies. We previously recommended that you go to the Help Centre in nFS and search for Temple Policies to find a comprehensive knowledge document on Temple Policies. They have now renumbered that help document! The new number is 110136. Access this either by using the search term Temple policies or by searching for 110136. I added this to my favourites in the Help Centre. This is an important document for FH Consultants, Priesthood leaders and all members doing FH work. It is a good source of material to teach.
10. FH Blog Continue to encourage all family history consultants that you know to either read our FH blog (preferably weekly) or subscribe (on the blog page midway down on the right) to receive new articles by email. We publish at about 3 a.m. each Sunday morning. The address for the blog is http://peterfh.wordpress.com/
11. FH Consultants still need to register. All FH Consultants should go to consultant.familysearch.org to register with the FamilySearch. Interested Priesthood leaders should register at priesthood.familysearch.org. This puts you on the FamilySearch email list for occasional news items and gives you access to additional training materials through the help center at nFS.

Thank you for all that you do!

Upcoming blog articles:
1. The future of FamilySearch
2. Notes from devotional and key note presentations at the BYU FH Conference.
3. The Future of FH Centres – this will be a multi part article!
4. More Google for Genealogists
Plus any articles you would like to write or topics you would like to suggest.
Please contribute and read comments!

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Online Microfilm Ordering is coming to Canada

The Family History Dept in SLC has informed us that FH Centres across Canada will change to Online Microfilm ordering possibly as early as mid July 2010. FH Centre Directors should have received a letter.
The online ordering system is already in place in Ausralia, New Zealand, and the UK. Eventually it is planned to introduce the system to the United States.
Features of the new system
1. Microfilms and microfiche will be ordered by FH Centre patrons using a secure web site (part of LDS distribution system).
2. FH Centres will have administrative access to the web site to see details of films that have been ordered into their centre, to record that film have been received, later to record that they have been returned and other information regarding films and their centre.
3. After implementation the current Inventory Manager software used by FH Centres will no longer be needed.
What are some of the advantages of the Online system?
1. Anyone – either member of the public or member of the church – will be able to order a film from home instead of going to a FH Centre to fill out a paper form and pay for their order. For some people this could be a huge time and money saver. You will create an account for yourself on the website using your email address and password of your choice (this in not using LDS or FamilySearch Accounts). After you place your order you can check the status on the website – has the order been processed or is it going to be delayed? As currently happens only the FH Centre will be able to tell you that the film has actually arrived. You will still need to go to a FH Centre to view microfilms. As before films should not be removed from the FH Centre.
2. This will eliminate paper forms for placing orders and reduce the amount of money being handled by FH Centres.
3. The FH Dept in SLC will set the price for rentals – there will no longer be any need to try keeping up with the fluctuations in the Canadian dollar exchange rate. There will be one fee for all centres in Canada.
4. FH Centres will be able to upload their current film inventory to the new system and also patron information.
5. The change is taking place over the summer when film traffic at FH Centres is at a low level.
6. There will be no additional fees charged when films being returned are held up at the border. Once the system is told that the film has been returned (i.e. go on the web site and check returned) then there is no penalty for delays in shipping.
This is a major change for FH Centres. Inevitably there will be some challenges especially during the transition. Try to remember that the objective is to improve the system. Be especially kind to your FH Centre Director and their staff during the transition!
Possible challenges:
1. The new system needs either a credit card or debit card. What if a patron has neither or doesn’t want to order over the Internet? (note: I personally have a separate low limit credit card that I reserve for telephone and Internet ordering).
2. The system will need you to have an email address. What if the patron doesn’t? (note: perhaps they could create a free email account or use the email address of a family member such as a son or daughter). What if the patron doesn’t have a computer at home and can’t access email at the FH Centre?
3. The change is taking place when some FH Centres are closed for summer holidays or on reduced hours. (note: I suppose they will return and then start using the new system).
4. I did not hear any mention of how costs to return films would be dealt with. Some FH Centres use access to shipping companies used by the church and do not pay a fee. Some FH Centres pay postage to send the films to the shipping company used by the church – in those cases sending several films back at once appears to cost the same as sending one film back.
5. The proposed cost for ordering microfiche is high unless you are ordering several microfiche (same fee of $5 whether you order one microfiche or 50). Note: rental fees are not about the cost/value of the product bu the cost of handling and shipping.

While there will definitely be some challenges in the transition, there are many good features to the new system.
No doubt we will learn of other advantages and challenges – so please share your thoughts using the Comments link on this web site.

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