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.

 

 

 

Read Full Post »

Don’t Fall For These Family History Myths

by Brother and Sister Miller, Area FH Advisers, Northern part of New England

Probably you are well aware of the family history myths that circulate endlessly.  Not only are they false, but they prevent people from getting the blessings they need and deserve.

Family history is hard.  Family history is a collection of many small steps.  The steps are easy, but together, they make up a magnificent tapestry of your heritage.  Even one or two pieces can make a big difference in how you see yourself and your ancestors.  Family history is people – your own family.  What’s hard about that?

Family history takes a lot of time.  Learning about your family is a life-long pursuit, but it is done in small bits of time.  By spending just two or three hours per month, you can accomplish a lot, whether it’s getting in touch with family members, interviewing relatives to learn stories, or preparing a name to take to the temple.

You need to be smart to do family history.  Obviously false, since we can do it!  Having success in discovering family history  requires curiosity and questions.  You don’t have to know a lot – you just need to want to find out about things.  Anyone can ask questions – and write down the answers.  The best part is when you are working on family history, you get help – from friends, from family members, and often, from beyond the veil.  Once you start asking questions, it will surprise you how the answers come.

Family history is expensive.  Like most things, you can spend as much money as you want on it.  There are subscription services, like ancestry.com that are helpful, but you can use them for free at your local family history center.  Some of the most important information you will get is from family members, and that doesn’t cost much at all!

There will be a better time for family history later.  Maybe when you retire, you will have more time – but how many of your older relatives will still be alive then?  And your children and grandchildren, who could benefit from learning about the family they are part of, will be grown and perhaps far away.  Now is absolutely the best time to begin your family history, or to continue it.  Don’t put it off for later.

All my family history is done.  When you start gathering information from family members, you will soon see that it is not all done.  In addition to building a pedigree on all your family lines, there are stories to record, life lessons to put into words, pictures to gather, and temple work to do.

The church has all my information.  One of the advantages of New FamilySearch is that it shows what information already is on file and what information is missing – including temple ordinances.  As FamilySearch Indexing continues, more and more information is available in New FamilySearch.  But because this information is not directly sent to the temple for ordinances, many of the people identified in the records still wait until a living relative finds them and requests temple ordinances for them.  How frustrating it must be to have your information there, in the church’s database, and not have any of your relatives request temple ordinances for you!  The church having the information (somewhere, along with information about millions of others) does not mean temple ordinances are done.  That step depends on you.

I’m just not interested.   Obtaining a testimony of family history and temple work requires involvement.  You must “plant the seed” before you taste the fruit.  To be honest, we weren’t at all interested in family history until we tried it.  We began (like everyone else) because we were “supposed to.”  But as soon as we started, we felt something.  You can feel it too, perhaps as you discover an ancestor, perhaps in the temple.

I need to focus on my living family before I can think about the dead.  Our own families require (and deserve) our best attention.  Thankfully, we have many labor-saving resources unknown to our ancestors, so providing home, shelter and other necessities doesn’t require the hours of back-breaking effort it did in the past (making our own soap, growing and preserving all our food – without refrigerators or freezers, making our own clothes, etc.)  However, even after the best we can do, our living family members may require more, whether for their health, testimony, or whatever.  Family history and temple work provide a great opportunity to secure divine help – not just for ourselves, but for those we love and yearn over.  We are convinced that if we will spend time helping unite our families in the spirit world, they somehow intervene to help with our families here on earth.

Read Full Post »

Help with Writing your Personal History

Need some encouragement to work on your personal history?  Look no further!

We often read articles in the Deseret News Mormon Times Edition.  Of course I like articles that relate to technology and family history.  One of my favourite columnists is Emily Jensen who writes a column called Today in the Bloggernacle (“presenting the best from the world of LDS oriented blogs”).  On 21 October her column included the following:

Personal histories: “I don’t know what to write.” “I don’t have time to do it right now.” “I don’t know how to do it.” And “No one even cares.” These are the four roadblocks to doing “Personal and Family Histories” this blogger dispels in an information-filled post. Here are just a few ideas for “I don’t know how to do it”: “Make an audio file of you talking about your history. You could do it in the car on the way to work, while getting ready for the day, in one of your favorite locations or while you’re sitting in bed.” Or, “Write a poem about an aspect of your life.” Or even, “Focus on one topic and make a list of things about you concerning that topic.” And there are so many more good ideas and tips. Click in!

The link is to an article at the Mormon Woman blog entitled “Personal and Family Histories:  Getting Past the Roadblocks”

In case the link above doesn’t work, here is the url:

http://mormonwoman.org/2011/10/19/personal-and-family-histories-getting-past-roadblocks/

Read Full Post »

How to Donate Family History Books

Occasionally we hear of people who have a family history book that they would like to donate.  We know that some of our FH Centres have donated books on the shelf.  Some times however the person would like to donate the book to the Family History Library in Salt Lake City.  How do you do that?

We would suggest that you do the following:

1. Go to FamilySearch.org then click on Help in the upper right hand corner
2. In the box below Ask a Question type in Donate Books and then click Search
3. The following is from a knowledge document entitled “How patrons can donate or loan records, books, or personal genealogy to Family History Library acquisitions” (number 101707)

“Many valuable records have been added to the Family History Library by patrons sending in their records to be copied and returned. The digital copy is placed in the library. We will need information about the records you want to have digitized so we can determine if they meet our criteria.

Donations may be sent to the following address:

FamilySearch

Library Rights–Gifts

50 East North Temple Street

Salt Lake City, UT 84150-0005

USA

Donations may also be delivered to the Family History Library donation desk, located in the main floor lobby.

For a complete list of items and guidelines for donating to FamilySearch, please see “Gifts, Donations, and Loans to FamilySearch,” attached and posted on FamilySearch.org. To locate these guidelines, go to http://www.familysearch.org, select FamilySearch Centers, then Family History Library, then Gifts and Donations, and then Donations to the Family History Library.

A summary of the items FamilySearch will accept is listed below.

FamilySearch will accept only materials that:

• Are readable, organized, and accessible to help researchers identify individuals and relationships by name, date, and place.
• Add new information to FamilySearch’s collection (duplicate materials are not accepted).
• Fit in available shelf space.
• Do not violate current privacy and copyright laws.

FamilySearch accepts the following materials:

• Autobiographies and biographies containing genealogical material.
• Family histories with genealogical information.
• Indexes to records.
• Local histories (limited).
• Well organized collections of genealogical and research materials (if preapproved by Library Rights).

FamilySearch accepts the following materials only if submitted with a Permission to Duplicate form signed by the copyright owner or legal custodian of the original documents:

• Census records.
• Directories (limited).
• Genealogical periodicals.
• Newspaper extracts (such as obituaries).
• Commercially available computer software.
• Original records, such as cemetery records, church records and histories, court records, land records, military records, naturalization records, passenger lists, probate records, and vital records.”

There is then 2 attachments:

1. Donations guidelines
2. Permission request

Read Full Post »

Synch your PAF data across multiple computers

by Bill Buchanan

I used to have a problem keeping my PAF data synchronized across multiple computers. Now I can do work on any of my computers and the changes are automatically made to all of them.

Dropbox.com offers 2 GB of free online storage, as does various other sites. The difference is that you can install Dropbox on multiple computers and Dropbox automatically synchronizes your data on each computer when that computer connects to the internet.

I have PAF installed on each of my computers, with my PAF data file (and linked photos) uploaded to Dropbox, which also stores a copy in my local DropBox folder. The rest is automatic. When I start PAF on any of my computers, it opens the file stored on the local computer and this folder is automatically synched across all of my dropbox folders.

So I can edit a PAF file on my laptop while doing research at a remote location and any changes will automatically be made to my desktop computer, my wife’s computer, and to all of the other Dropbox folders keyed to my email address and password (whether on a Windows PC, Mac, Linux, Android phone, or iPhone).

So I just use PAF as usual. There is nothing new to learn or do, but before shutting down the computer I check my Dropbox icon in the system tray to make sure that my PAF data file has a checkmark on it (showing it has been synched to my Dropbox “cloud” account). People with a faster internet connection probably don’t need to bother with that step.

I should never lose my data again or end up with multiple different versions of the same file. Dropbox also has other useful features.

Disclosure: I have no connection to Dropbox.com, except as a happy user of their free account.

(note from Peter:  Thank you, Bill.  I too am a happy user of Dropbox – works with Mac, Windows and Ipad – synchs all kinds of files – really good for personal history too! – and the program is free!  - for up to 2 GB of storage!)

Read Full Post »

Oh What Do You Do in the Summer Time?

from the newsletter published by Brother and Sister Miller who are Area FH Advisers in Northern Part of New England.  We appreciate them sharing!

… when all the world is green?  An old Primary song asks a question that has fun family history answers.  After such a long, difficult winter, try some of these activities with your family.  Take pictures and store up memories to review during the long winter that we know will follow.

• Visit ancestral home(s) where your family lived.  If you don’t know where, check an old historical atlas (like Beers) that have maps with homes shown (often labeled).  Ancestral homes include the homes where your parents or grandparents lived, so research may not be required.  If possible, take them inside and show them some of the fun places you played.

• Visit family gravesites with your children and decorate them with flowers or plants.  Write down information from the gravestones and see if some of your family members need ordinances in New FamilySearch.

• Hold a family reunion with either immediate or extended family.  These are a great opportunity for cousins to chat, for children to get acquainted with neat (young) relatives, and for older family members to share memories.

• Visit the temple with young children.  Touch the temple door and help them look forward to the day when they will go inside that door.  Take a picture of each child at the temple and attach it to “My Gospel Standards” (on the back of the Faith in God booklet).  Title the page “I Love To See the Temple – I’ll Go Inside One Day” and have them post it in their room, so they can see the temple and the gospel standards that will help them be worthy to go there.

• Take teenage children to the temple to perform baptisms – preferably for names you helped them research.  Make a keepsake by taking a picture of them outside the temple (holding the card!).  Put the card and picture in a page protector and give it to them to keep (it could be a start for their own Book of Remembrance).

• Visit a living history program, event or location.  Bring your children or grandchildren.  Learn something that relates to your ancestors – what did a blacksmith do, what was it like in the ___ war, etc.?  (occupation information is given in the US census – find out what it means) Take pictures, collect brochures, and put them in page protectors for the children’s Book of Remembrance.  This winter, you could write more information about an ancestor that relates to the site, photocopy it and give it to children to add to their Book of Remembrance.  It will be more meaningful since their living history experience.

• Visit family members who live further away.  Plan a visit (perhaps a camping trip) in the area where family members live.  Visit with them and try out some of the activities offered in that area.  You don’t need to stay with them (makes it easier for them) or wait for an invitation.  This is an especially great time to get oral histories from older relatives.  Arrange with them in advance so they have a chance to gather their thoughts together.  You may want them to talk about something specific – memories of their parents or grandparents, or a specific object or place.  The more information you give them in advance, the better they can prepare.  Be sure to bring a camera, notebook, and recorder.  Most people are grateful when younger people show interest in them, their lives and times.  If they are shy, ask them about their parents, grandparents, uncles, aunts, and siblings.

• Do something with your children that your parents or grandparents did with you.  Did your father or grandfather take you fishing?  Take your children or grandchildren to try it.  Explain that this is part of your heritage that you are passing on to them.

• Visit church historical sites.  (The ones in the east are quite a distance., but there are some in the Western USA and in Southern Alberta).  In addition to the “standard” tours, the tour guides can point out lesser known feature s that you and your family might enjoy.

Read Full Post »

Family History Projects for Youth

by Ralph and Linda Miller, Area FH Advisers for the northern part of New England

Young people have the opportunity to complete projects to gain experience with family history and following the spirit.  Young men and women can start on potentially life-changing or life-enriching experiences.  One of the difficulties is finding interesting, modest projects that won’t take their entire life but will yield significant results.  Here are a few thoughts that you could share with YM/YW leaders, families and youth.

• Learn about one of your ancestors.  What were they like?  What challenges did they face?  What blessings do you have because of them?  Record a faith-promoting or inspirational experience of one of your relatives (parent, grandparents, uncle, etc.).  Write how that experience strengthens you.

• Begin a book of remembrance.  Get a binder with divider tabs for pedigree charts, family group sheets, biographies, pictures.  Also include your patriarchal blessing and your testimony (date it).  Begin your personal history (life story).

• Index for 30 minutes each day for 4 weeks.  Record the number of names indexed and describe what you learned during this experience.

• Prepare a talk about an inspirational experience of one of your ancestors (could be parent or further back).  Write it neatly and put it in your scriptures for reference as an “instant talk.”

• Interview one of your parents or grandparents about how they received their testimony.  Write it down and put it in your Book of Remembrance or scriptures.

• Download Personal Ancestral File (PAF) from the www.familysearch.org website.  Create a picture pedigree, starting with yourself.  Seek help from your extended family in getting pictures (headshots) of your family going back as many generations as you can.  Experiment with several printing formats (PAF helps you do this) – try four generations, five generations, and see what difference it makes when you check the “allow last generation to split.”  Print out the picture pedigree you like best and put it in your scriptures and/or your book of remembrance.

• Identify a deceased relative who needs temple ordinances and use New FamilySearch to prepare that person’s name to take to the temple.  (Your ward family history consultant can help you do this.)  Then go to the temple to be baptized for that person.  Have someone take your picture near the temple door holding the temple card.  Write your feelings about the experience in your journal

 

Read Full Post »

Military History

Remembrance Day is an appropriate time to reflect on the military career of a relative. We are all grateful for those who sacrificed to preserve our freedom.

I have for some time been working on the military life of my father, James Henry Darby 1911 to 2003. He was known to his friends as Jim. You would think that this would be an easy task – and maybe it is for a more skilled Family Historian! It continues to be an interesting quest. Perhaps you have some suggestions to help me.

He was a British Grenadier. Because he was a volunteer soldier from 1930 to 1932 he was among the first to be “called up”when World War 2 began.

He taught me:

• War is a terrible thing
• Loyalty and support for colleagues

He never wanted to share details about his war experiences – his day to day experiences

He did tell me:

1. He was blinded during a training exercise and only had his sight restored by the King’s surgeon.
2. He served in North Africa and Italy.
3. He was wounded on Jan 23 1944 – my mother’s birthday!
4. When Mount Vesuvius erupted he had to be evacuated from Napoli to Sicily
5. He organized entertainment for the troops while in Sicily
6. He returned to active duty and was sent to Rome where he headed a squad assigned to retrieve bodies from a cave following a massacre.
7. He became a Company Sergeant Major
8. He returned home on a ship arriving on a Sunday to find the dockyard closed so no one could disembark. There was no welcome.

Is there more that can be learned about his military life?

1. Get a copy of his military record

• For Canadian servicemen and women there is a web site – http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/genealogy/022-909-e.html or just google search Canada Military records – expect to pay
• Other countries – go to wiki.familysearch.org and search for military records and name a country
• The Grenadier Guards are an elite regiment in England – they keep their own records!
• There are web sites such as Find My Past which have collections of military records – this is a subscription site that is available for free at a FH Centre.

2. Gather and analyze any pictures and documents

• Don’t throw away before you look carefully – you may be surprised what you find! – even special Christmas greetings like 1943 which shows his rank on that date – and receipts for musicians in Sicily (NE of Catania) – so he did organize concerts!

3. Study history – both books and web accounts

• often the books are the bargain books at the store or available as used books –we have read some great books!
• There are collections of personal accounts on the Internet
• Through books I found where his battalion were in January 1944!

4. Talk to his colleagues -

• Are there any members of his battalion still living? Can they say what happened and where? We found a very nice veteran who is now a Chelsea Pensioner – another topic for research if you are not familiar with the term – with whom we exchanged letters – yes real letters on paper!
• We learned about a little known battle in North Africa and the terrible losses to Dad’s battalion on Monte Camino in Italy (very near to Monte Cassino).

5. Visit places he went – travel in Europe is not as expensive as you might think

• We have visited Rome and with some difficulty the Ardeantine Caves where over 340 Italians were slaughtered by the Nazis in retaliation for an attack on some soldiers – but by the time we got there the visitor centre was closed! We need to learn more Italian and be better prepared.
• We took a train through the area where he must have bee wounded – and was impressed by the terrain.

Observation: Although there are more and more resources on the Internet, much of this research did not involve the internet.

The quest continues . . . .

Any research suggestions would be appreciated.

Read Full Post »

Preserving Your Family History

One of the sessions at the BYU FH Conference this year was by Gary Wright, Senior Product Manager for Records Preservation at FamilySearch.  This was a very interesting session.  Gary has just published a White Paper entitled “Preserving Your Family History Records Digitally.” Available at https://wiki.familysearch.org/en/White_Paper:_Preserving_Your_Family_History_Records_Digitally – or more easily go to wiki.familysearch.org and search for Gary Wright

Key Question: What are we doing to preserve our records?

Why go digital ?

• —  age and physical shape of records – no worry about records being too fragile to handle – or being destroyed
• —   color and contrast don’t fade with time – old prints fade
• —  copies are as good as the original
• —  records are easier to organize, use, and share
• —  more and more records are being created digitally – pictures, words – so already have to deal with digital

Paper vs digital

• —  both have challenges in preservation
• —   – but we should consider the need for secure storage
• —  –  and multiple copies capable of being shared

It is easier to archive both paper and digital poorly

There are simple things you can do to make your records more secure

What do you need?

• —  computer and software
• —  way to digitize
• —  way to preserve

What can be digitized?

• —  Photographs
• —  Documents and journals
• —  Written and audio histories
• —  Newspapers clippings
• —  Family videos
• —  Music and artwork
• —  Books

What is digital preservation?

• —  Not merely backing up data
• —  It is storing digital information with descriptive information
• —  In perpetuity
• —  In multiple locations
• —  Best quality you can afford
• —  Migrating data to new media and formats to avoid obsolescence

(pd aside – Do you remember when? . . .

• —  Floppy disks cost  $10 each
• —  Apple ProFile hard drive $3000 for 5MB
• —  Corvus Hard drive $9000 for 45MB

Today

• —  16 GB Flashdrive for $25
• —  1 Terabyte HD for $100)

Storage is cheap

—  But are hard drives and flash drives the best places to preserve your records?

—  Hard drives have a 2 to 5 year life about the same as ordinary grade CDs and DVDs

—  No one knows how long flash drives will last

—  All of these things can be part of the preservation plan

Why use optical discs? -Longevity

Solution 1

• —  Archive grade optical disks
• —  disks with a gold reflective layer and anti UV protection
• —  e.g. MAM-A disks – about $1 per CD or $2 per DVD – http://www.mam-a.com/
• —  CDs last over 300 years
• —  DVDs last over 110 years
• —  Can use your regular CD or DVD writer

Solution 2

• —  Use a high power laser to etch the data on a disk
• —  1000 year archival life
• —  Need special writer to create the disk
• —  Can be read on any DVD player
• —  http://www.millenniata.com/.com sell the M-Disk
• —  About $400 for the machine to create the disks – About $11 per disk

Quick list for Archiving:

• —  Use gold CD-R or DVD-R media (or M-Disk) for the best longevity
• —  Never touch the recording side
• —  Do not use adhesive labels
• —  Store vertically in a protective case
• —  Protective cases should be rigid and contact the disc at the center hub only
• —  Store in room temperature at moderate humidity (below 50%)
• —  For labeling, use a water based permanent, felt tipped marker for writing on the top (write area) of the disc, or mark in clear center hub with any marker or ideally, write only on protective case
• —  Do not subject CDs to rapid changes in temperature or humidity
• —  Protect from light
• —  Never flex a recordable disc
• —  Store 1 copy offsite if possible.

What file formats should we use?

—  File formats seem to change frequently

• —  Who has Wordstar files ?
• —  TIFF – high resolution but takes lots of storage space
• —  JPEG – compresses data but lowers resolution – quality over time?

Possible Solutions :

• —  PDF/A – not for audio or video – files become larger
• —  e.g. Soft Xpansion Perfect PDF Master – free
• —  JPEG2000 – for images – may result in lossless storage
• —  e.g. XnView – free program
• —  FastStone Image Viewer – free

Other suggestions

• —  Camera – use highest dots per inch you can
• —  Digital audio – use .wav
• —  Video – .mov or .avi

How to get started

• —  Scanner – 3 in 1 printer Ok – at least 300 dpi
• —  Digital camera – natural flat light – tripod if possible
• —  Audio digitizer – USB device
• —  DVD writer

Paradox:

—  The more “easy to use” tools we have the harder it seems to become

 

Read Full Post »

This I Believe – The Urgent Need to Record Living History

These are my notes taken during the devotional held on the second day of the BYU FH Conference 2010.  The speaker was Curt Witcher, Manager, Allen County Genealogy Center, Fort Wayne, Indiana.  He is a former President of FGS and NGS

Key message:  There is an urgent need to record living history

We have history in our hands – what are we going to do with it?
We are losing history as we speak
We need to create another core value
We have left the care of our written records largely in the hands of strangers
Who is caring for the records?
Increasingly we are retaining only what is legally required
We are limiting hours and access at archives and libraries
Historians are engaged in radical sampling – he was surprised that there was a US 2010 census – because can do it more cheaply in other ways by sampling for instance - will we have no population schedule? – just sampling – will lose information on lots of individuals (pd comment – think about the Canadian Census)
What if newspapers disappear?  What happens to our history?
Increasingly it is about profit over product

Key question:  Can I take a little time out of historical research to see who is minding the store on our records – and take a little time to create a living history?

So busy with the important things of life that we have crowded out the lasting things

79% of federal agencies at moderate or high risk of record loss
There are now disinterested keepers of the records
Ohio state library gave away its genealogical collection to another library
Increasing limited hours of access to libraries and archives

We have more ability but are losing interest in and focus on keeping thoughts and words for future generations
- who writes letters any more?
- how are you keeping and preserving your email? – your Christmas messages?

Do you have virtual photo albums?

We are fascinated with technology but are we using it properly?

Library of Congress announced they will preserve Tweets!!! – but not emails! – so what happens to the emails?

History is in our hands

What are we going to lose if we fail?  Can we afford this?

If we fail  to act we will be the 1st generation since the middle ages to go dark . . .   what’s going to be available to our descendants? The documents that evidence our rich history and heritage will be lost
We are going to lose voices of 11 yr olds – memories of falling in love –  Letter from child remembering her grandmother and visit to her grave – do we want to lose these?

Angels on flight 3405 – story – editorial – will it be lost?

Transcriptions of immigrant life, diaries – great when we see these become available online – what will remain for our generation?
Lose stories – e.g. Patti Ambrogi’s tribute to her grandmother
A ww2 love story
Telling our stories – so important – see web site  http://storycorps.org/ (pd:  is there a Canadian equivalent?)
Progressive letter – 34 pages long – feb 1916

What can we do?
Write – start today and never stop
Take a few moments every day to write
Write as you have never written before
Posturing to write  . . . – think of   sight, sound, smell
Let photo album fall open and write about the pictures that you see
Ritual – take a word that is important to you such as ritual – write Christmas letter about simple everyday rituals – marriage, graduation, burial – all in the year

Is that “Old junk”  - or precious memories that you have?
Publish – there is a space – somewhere you can post, leave family information
Write, share, publish
Tell our stories

“1819 – 1890″ can you fill in the dashes – what happened?

Do what you can

It will make all the difference
This I believe

Read Full Post »