Putting our FAMILY in Family History – The First Annual Raymond Stake “Family” Family History Fair

Last weekend we had the pleasure of attending and helping with the Raymond Stake Family History Fair.  We thought this was a very very successful event which other stakes might want to try.  The Raymond Stake has been kind enough to share their plan with us.  About 150 people attended the Fireside and over 160 people attended the classes on Saturday.  The lunch of soup, whole wheat bread, cookies, and apple crumble (made from dried apples) was delicious.  Obviously a lot of planning and preparation went into the event and we have included some of the outlines. Another element that made the event so successful was the large number of presenters and helpers from organizations throughout the stake.   Congratulations Raymond Stake!

The following is an extract of their outline for the fair.  Please contact us if you need a complete copy of the outline and contact information for the FH leaders in the Raymond Stake.

On Friday evening, April 20^th and during the day, Saturday April 21^st, The Raymond Stake will host a Family History Fair, centered in Family History activities that we can do as families.

Our Goals

• Help our stake families to understand their ancestors and how they contribute to who and what we are today
• Provide family centered activities to help us learn about and enjoy our family backgrounds and history
• Show what is available and build interest within our Stake in family history and genealogy work

The Format

Our fair will be in two parts. It will begin with a family fireside on Friday evening at 7:00 pm at the Stake Center Chapel. Peter & Linda Darby, our Area Family History Advisors, will be the speakers. During the day Saturday we will host a “drop in” smorgasbord of family centered Family History activities at the Stake Centre and Cultural Hall. This will begin at 9 am and continue till around 4:30 pm. Attendees will be able to choose from a range of concurrent activities, classes, displays and programs, each one repeating 6 times, at 9:30, 10:30, 11:30, 1:30, 2:30, and 3:30. Some of the activities may require a previous signup with designated times for attending. Others will be “free form” and “drop in”. All will be designed for entire families to participate in. Each will take about 45 minutes, and allow 5 to 10 minutes for questions after, and 5 minutes to move the group out and a new one in. Lunch will be provided in the Cultural Hall between 12:30 and 1:30 (the Stake Emergency Preparedness group will be handling this so it could be interesting as well as filling).

The planned activities and their coordinating/sponsoring High Priests groups are: 

#1 – Build Your Family Tree and put it on your mantle, save it for a rainy day. (1^st Ward)

#2 – How can I write a journal when I can’t even write a note? (4^th Ward)

#3 – Can I really learn anything useful from my grandmas and grandpas, aunts and uncles? (7^th Ward)

#4 – What is indexing and do I need a dictionary to do it? (5^th Ward)

#5 – What does our family stand for, how are we unique, and where did we get our family traditions, traits, habits, recipes and all these things that make us who we are? (3^rd Ward)

#6 – How were the lives of our ancestors different from ours, and how were they similar (9^th Ward)

#7 – What is this whole NewFamilySearch thing, why is it “new” and is my family really lost enough that I need to be searching for it? (8^th Ward)

#8 – I’ve got all these old photos and artifacts and stuff – are they good for anything and if so, how can I save and use them? (6^th Ward)

#9 – What’s at the Family History Centre and what can it do for my family? (2^nd Ward)

There will be two additional activities that are not repeating “classes” but will be more of a service booth approach:

#10 – “The Doctors are IN” – what FH problems can we help you solve? (Area FH Advisors)

#11 – Haven’t registered for new FamilySearch yet? – Here is your chance – (Stake Clerk and FHC Staff)

What’s next

We are working with the High Priest Group Leaders to define and refine the activities and help find ways to make them whole family experiences. Someone has been assigned to coordinate a publicity campaign and we will all keep reinforcing in a positive way that this is a “Family” Family History event. We also plan to have family history related displays in the Cultural Hall and North Stake Centre foyers, – posters, materials, some artifacts and such.

Please contact (member of HC or FHC Directors) with suggestions, feedback and ideas.

 

Putting our FAMILY in Family History – April 21, 2012

Activity #1 – Build Your Family Tree (and put it on your mantle) – First Ward

Message – Families are made of real people who are connected in ways we can understand

Activity Description – As a family, talk about what a family tree is. Families can make a physical family tree that can be taken home and displayed, and can also register and receive a fanchart printout showing 9 generations of their family ancestors.

Target Group – Families with younger children for the physical tree and any family for the fanchart

Coordinator – 1^st Ward High Priests

Possible assisting organization – Stake Primary people and ward people as needed

What we need

• A simple way that people can select pieces, put names on them and construct a tree form showing their family relationships
• Some posters and discussion points or illustrations about relationships, what they are called and how they fit together
• A computer and printer setup to load and print fancharts from the NewFamilySearch website

The Take-home – an individual family tree, a visual reminder of how and who makes up our family

 

Activity #3 – Can I really learn anything new or useful from my grandmas and grandpas, aunts and uncles? – Seventh Ward

Message – Our ancestors and their experiences can be a blessing to us, but only if we know who they are and what they did. We can find these things out by talking to them about their lives and keeping notes or a recording in some way

Activity Description – Examples of Q and A family firesides, possibly a church video on interviewing, ask some of the questions and get the answers, talk about recording with ink and ipods

Target Group – Families with living relatives (that’s most of us)

Coordinator – 7^th Ward High Priests

Possible assisting organization – Stake YW, YM

What we need

• Illustrations of things learned from our progenitors and family members
• An opportunity to interview someone about a specific event as a learning process
• Discussion and examples about ways to preserve an interview
• A real interview with a family member about some significant event – marriage, first child, mission

The Take-home – a better knowledge of a family event or member and an understanding of how to find out about other events that have meaning from our past

 

Activity #4 – What is indexing and do I need a dictionary to do it? – Fifth Ward

Message – Indexing can be fun and it blesses us all – it is a powerful way to help Family History efforts

Activity Description – A presentation/demonstration about indexing along with actual involvement in indexing records

Target Group – All, with some emphasis on the “gadgetized” youth

Coordinator – 5^th Ward High Priests

Possible assisting organization – Stake Indexing director

What we need

• A location with a computer or two, a large monitor or projector and internet access
• Some demonstrations and illustrations about  the Church indexing program and why it helps us
• Discussion about the youth site at LDS.Org/youth/family-history
• Demonstrations on a smartphone/iphone and/or a tablet
• Some fairly easy record sets to work with
• Those taking this class will need their membership number and birth date if they are not registered already

The Take-home – an understanding of indexing and its importance in family history work

 

Activity #9 – What is at the Family History Centre and what can it do for my family? – Second Ward

Message – Tools, resources and training for our research needs can be found at the FHC

Activity Description – Show what is available at the FHC and what help we can receive there

Target Group – all

Coordinator – 2^nd Ward High Priests

Possible assisting organization – Family History Directors

What we need

• Sample setups from the FHC, one computer workstation, one microfilm reader, one microfiche reader, internet
• A presentation/discussion about what you can do at home and what you can do at the Center
• Illustrations of ways the FHC can complement family research at home

The Take-home – an understanding of where a Family History centre can help a family in their Family History program.

 

 

 

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Where to register as a Consultant, FH Centre Director or Priesthood leader

Obviously all of us should have registered for an LDS Account which we use at familysearch.org, new.familysearch.org, indexing, the research wiki (Learn link at familysearch.org) and to use the Forums (go to Familysearch.org, click on Help and then click on Community Assistance).

If you want to register for an LDS Account then either:

1.  go to new.familysearch.org and click on the link to Register , or

2.  go to familysearch.org then click on Sign in and then click on Create New Account

We welcome and encourage members of the public to register for a FamilySearch account.

It is also important that you register based on your calling.  For this go to familysearch.org/serve where you will be given the opportunity to register after you sign in with your LDS Account.

Why do this? 1.  To get news and updates directly from FamilySearch to your email box, and 2.  Get access to training and resources.

There is a new Knowledge Document that will help you understand why and also give detailed steps on how to register!

Sign in to either familysearch.org or nFS and go to Help or the Help Center, then search for the following document – 109348 – just type the number in the search space.  The document is entitled: FamilySearch Registrations for Serving in Family History.

There are sections for each of 1. FH Centre Directors and Assistants, 2. FH Consultants, and 3.  Priesthood Leaders

Then there is a section that deals with updating your profile if your email address changes or if you have a change in your calling.

Finally there are links at the end of the document to 2 other documents – one for new FH Centre Directors and one on FH Centre resources.

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The Future of FamilySearch

There are changes ahead!  – and we want to help you be prepared!   We have been fortunate to have attended training sessions and presentations where information on the changes has been given.  We thought, however, that perhaps the best way to summarize the changes was to share with you a handout used by Ron Tanner, project manager at FamilySearch, at the recent FH Expo in SLC.

Please:  1.  Familiarize yourself with the new version of familysearch.org (currently accessible from labs.familysearch.org or directly through http://beta.familysearch.org/ ).  Use it as much as you can.   Watch it develop.

2.  Note that the article states that nFS will become the Family Tree within the Familysearch.org web site – I have heard this term used but the name change has not been officially announced so maybe the new name for nFS has not been finalized.

3.  The section on Future Enhancements refers to changes to what we currently call nFS.

FamilySearch 2010 and Beyond

Presented by Ron Tanner

at FH Expo in SLC 27 August 2010

Overview

Sometimes doing genealogical research can be confusing. Unfortunately there are times when the software and services intended to help researchers end up adding to the confusion. FamilySearch is in the process of a major initiative to replace the existing FamilySearch.org website with new and improved software and hardware while at the same time integrating the different FamilySearch services into one, easy to use website. This presentation discusses the replacement of http://www.FamilySearch.org, the integration of the various FamilySearch services into one easy to use site, and near and long-term enhancements to the services.

3 Steps to an Integrated FamilySearch

The effort to replace http://www.FamilySearch.org with an integrated site is monumental. Because of the size and complexity of the task, it will happen in multiple steps. These steps are described below.

Step 1: Integrate

The first step is to integrate most of the FamilySearch services into one easy to use site. You can see our progress on this by looking at the FamilySearch beta located at beta.FamilySearch.org. The FamilySearch services being integrated are:

• Forums
• Wiki
• Indexing
• Record Search

Step 2: Replace http://www.FamilySearch.org

Once the initial set of services mentioned above are integrated, the FamilySearch beta will replace http://www.FamilySearch.org. At this point, all of the integrated services will be available at one website, http://www.FamilySearch.org.

Step 3: new FamilySearch becomes the Family Tree

Shortly after the FamilySearch beta replaces http://www.FamilySearch.org, we will integrate new FamilySearch into the http://www.FamilySearch.org web site. New FamilySearch will then be renamed Family Tree and simply be a service of http://www.FamilySearch.org.

Features of the Replacement Site

While the replacement site will have Forums, Wiki, Indexing, and Record Search all integrated into one easy to use site, it will also have additional services and capabilities. A brief description of all the planned features for the FamilySearch beta follows. These features are added to the beta website as they are built so depending on when you look at the FamilySearch beta, they may not all be incorporated yet. They will all be in place before the FamilySearch beta replaces http://www.FamilySearch.org later this year.

• Search. One of the biggest enhancements being developed concerns the way in which FamilySearch can help you find information. It is easy to do a simple or advanced search from the home page. The search allows you to search for and access digital images and transcriptions of historical records (all of the records that are in Record Search and more), family trees (records in Pedigree Resource File and Ancestral File), Learning (articles from the wiki and online classes from the Family History Library and other sources), Catalog (the Family History Library Catalog). You can also find a family history center near you.
• Getting Started. Getting started makes it easy for new users to get going with their family history. New users can explore rich information about famous ancestors, start their own tree or get step-by-step instruction through videos and other resources to help them start their family history.
• Learn. The learn section of the site provides access to all of the learning articles in the research wiki, research forums and a course catalog of online classes on a variety of family history topics from getting started to German handwriting.
• Library. The library section of the site provides information about the family history library and helpful tips for using the library. It also provides access to the Family History Library Catalog and the Family History Center Locator.
• Indexing. The indexing portion of the site allows users to volunteer to index historical records so the records can be found by the historical record search feature. It also provides information about what record sets are being indexed and the progress of volunteers to index them.
• Blog. Users can keep in touch with the latest and greatest information from FamilySearch about product offerings, research strategies, industry news and more by following the blog.
• Help. Users that need help or support on FamilySearch products can use the help features to get the support they need.

Features on the Near Horizon

In addition to the great features of the FamilySearch beta, we will also be releasing some new features for new FamilySearch. These features are described below.

• Single Sign-on. With single sign-on you can use the same user name and password for all of the different FamilySearch services. Members of the LDS Church can also use the same user name and password for other LDS Church web sites.
• Ancestor Discussions. Every ancestor in new FamilySearch will have a discussion page. Users can create and respond to discussions about their ancestors. This feature makes it much easier to collaborate with other users of the system.
• Invite Friends and Family. The initial roll out of new FamilySearch has been limited to members of the LDS Church. We plan to slowly start letting registered users of new FamilySearch start inviting their friends and family members regardless of religious affiliation to use new FamilySearch.

Future Enhancements

FamilySearch is also in the process of adding some other high-value features to the website.

• Change Log. The change log will track all changes to ancestors in family trees and allow users to undo changes when needed.
• Ancestor Pages. Ancestor pages provide a much richer and easier to use interface to how ancestors are viewed in family trees.
• Photos, Records and Stories. Users will be able to add photographs, historical records and stories to ancestor pages. Adding these artifacts adds richness to the ancestor and puts the evidence and sources into the forefront of the experience.

Conclusion

At FamilySearch we are working hard to deliver an easy to use set of services to support people working on their family history. The first steps toward this new world are the integration different FamilySearch services into one site and then the replacement of http://www.FamilySearch.org with this integrated set of services. At the same time, FamilySearch continues to add high-value features and move toward a world where users can fix any wrong data, undo bad changes, add artifacts and communicate with each other. We want to get the help of millions to find billions and build the human family tree.

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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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FamilySearch Indexing converts to LDS/FamilySearch Accounts.

A few weeks ago I wrote an article on LDS Accounts (8 February 2010 – I have added a link to it under categories on the right side of the blog page) and warned you that they were coming.  This past week Indexing converted to using an LDS Account for the sign in.  Your stake web site and wiki.familysearch are already using LDS Accounts.  nFS will be moving very soon to LDS Accounts with the next imminent update.

What happens when you now go to Indexing.familysearch.org for the first time since the change?  1.  It asks if you have an LDS Account or offers to make one for you.  If you make an LDS Account you will need your membership number and birthdate – at least you should know the latter!  2.  After signing in with your LDS Account it offers to help you merge information from your old Indexing account – you want to do this! 3.  To do the merge it will want you to enter your old (before LDS Accounts) user name and password for Indexing.  4.  Assuming you remember your old sign in it will bring up a summary screen of your old account including how many names  you have indexed so far.  5. When you click on the Merge button you get one of two results.  Either it says “Successful”  – you like this one! –  or “Failed” – not so nice!  Do not be discouraged by the Failed message – that is what I got the first time – just try again to merge . . .  and maybe try again with a little wait if more that 2 or 3 tries are necessary.

There is information on the change at indexing.familysearch.org under the News tab and this includes a link to a knowledge document on known issues and resolutions (kd 109578)

One of the really nice things about LDS Accounts is that you can edit your profile and change not just your password but also your user name.  May I suggest that you use a simple fairly short user name.  Obviously no two people can have the same user name – so first come first served on the good ones!  As many of you know mine is just my firstname and first initial of my last name – but I got mine a long time ago.

What is the difference between LDS Accounts and FamilySearch Accounts?  LDS Accounts are for members of the church and FamilySearch Accounts are for members of the public.  Sometimes they use the term FamilySearch Accounts to refer to both.

If all else fails call the April 6 number (1-866-406-1830) and ask for Indexing support or email support@familysearch.org  if you having difficulty getting into your indexing.  They might be busy this week   . .  .

Please help as many members as you can.

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LDS Accounts

Won’t it be wonderful when we can use the same sign in name and password to access church websites?  Currently this works on your Stake website and on the wiki.  It is coming to nFS soon and also to indexing.  LDS Accounts are also called the Common Identity System (CIS).

Now is a good time to make sure that you have an LDS Account!   How do I do that?  Go to lds.org then click on Stake & Ward Web Sites (on the right side of the screen) and follow the instructions on the screen.  Many of you already have an LDS Account but don’t realize it!

What information do you need to  register for an LDS Account?  1.  Membership number, and 2.  Birthdate

What if I’m not sure if I already have an LDS Account? There are links on the lower part of the page that help you recover user name and password which will show you if you already  have an account or trying to register with a membership number that is already in use will also tell you.

During the transition to LDS Accounts there will  no doubt be some confusion, and people will need your help.   If you already have several different sign in names and passwords for the various FamilySearch websites – and most of us do – then at some point in the future (but not yet!) you will have to merge those accounts so you only have a single username and password.  I have decided to use my nFS sign in name and password for my LDS Account.

The general public will also be allowed to register and their accounts will be called FamilySearch Accounts.

If you need more information go to the Help Center in new FamilySearch click on Advanced Search, then select Within All Products, and search for LDS Accounts.

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