"The pot of new FamilySearch information
is beginning to boil..."
"Here is the
latest
information sent to me and selected from many excellent websites,
E-mail & Genealogy Blogs.
Credit is given to each
source."
31 July 2008
All
Temple districts in the
United States have been notified but Las Vegas, all of
Idaho and all Utah areas.
All others are in their 120 – 90 day rollout.
When church leadership is ready, all LDS Temple
districts will be using the newFamilySearch.
30 April 2008 As you
are aware over 50 of the Church's 126 temple districts
are now "live" using the new FamilySearch to clear names
for ordinance work. The remaining temple districts
are expecting to all be "live" by the end of this year.
You will continue to hear of
the encouragement of Church leaders for third party
vendors to develop their genealogy software to
synchronize with the new FamilySearch website. It
makes sense to allow members to choose which genealogy
database software they wish to use and have access to
the tremendous source of records. The Church is
not in the business of developing software for data
entry. They are taking the responsibility to help
us not duplicate temple ordinances on the same names
over and over again.
Several well known vendors are
working closely with the Church to make this a reality
soon. Since I still use PAF Vs 5.2 as my genealogy
data input software I will use the new Family Insight
program. I currently use the PAFInsight program
and it will convert automatically into Family Insight
when it becomes available. I encourage each of you
to consider using this vendor (Ohana Software) so you
don't have to learn a new genealogy data input software
program. You can learn more about the Family
Insight program by clicking
HERE.
1 May 2008
Family History Consultant new FamilySearch early access
training
For the past three months, the Consultant
Training team has taught a class that offered new
FamilySearch access to those who attended this
particular training at the FamilySearch Center, the
Family History Library, or at the Church History Museum
auditorium. The last of these scheduled classes
was taught on April 4th. Class attendance at these
sessions has been an overwhelming success and
we activated almost 900 new FamilySearch accounts.
The goal of this training was to give early
access to the system to ward family history
consultants along the Wasatch Front, thus allowing them
to become more knowledgeable in its use and thereby
hopefully lessening the WW Support load during the final
roll-out to our local temple districts. Just over
92% of those that attended the training were from the
Wasatch Front. While continuing improvements are
made to the new FamilySearch site, these classes will no
longer be offered. No timetable is set for
additional new FamilySearch classes for
local consultants at this time.
Please remember that all
registered consultants (
www.consultant.familysearch.org
) will normally get early
access to new FamilySearch 90 days before their assigned
temple roll-out deadline. Please inform all family
history consultants that contact you for information or
a schedule of future new FamilySearch classes
that they must be a 'registered' consultant or
priesthood leader. Registered consultants and
priesthood leaders will be notified of any future
opportunities as well as how to register for these
classes.
7 April 2008 This article comes from
DearMYRTLE's Genealogy Blog and is very insightful of
things to be thinking about concerning our use "forever"
of PAF. I encourage you to subscribe to
Dear MYRTLE's Genealogy Blog and Subscribe to keep
informed.
SOFTWARE SATURDAY:
Alternatives to PAF must be found if…
DearREADERS,
In
plain terms, you may need to find an alternative to PAF
(Personal Ancestral File) genealogy management software
if you want to synchronize your PAF data & the
newFamilySearch. I took copious notes during the keynote
address given by Timothy G. Cross, a Product Manager for
newFamilySearch, at the 2008 My Ancestors Found Family
History Expo in Logan, Utah March 22, 2008 at the Eccles
Conference Center, Utah State University. FamilySearch
was a co-sponsor of the event. My comments are listed
parenthetically in red italic lettering:
Continue to use PAF until
(the emphasis added reflects Tim’s intonation)
newFamilySearch goes live, then you have three choices:
-
Keep your genealogy completely online using
newFamilySearch
(This won’t include information on living
individuals such as your children and
grandchildren.)
-
Use a bridging program between your existing
PAF database and new
FamilySearch
(I took this to mean PAF Insight and
FamilyInsight by Ohana.)
-
Use a full-fledged genealogy software
program instead of PAF that has full
compatibility with newFamilySearch.
(I took this to mean programs like Ancestral
Quest, Legacy Family Tree, Roots Magic, The Master
Genealogist and such.)
Tim then explained that there are genealogy
software companies doing great work and that
FamilySearch seeks opportunities to associate in full
cooperation with these and others. Next, he introduced
three affiliates whose developers were also attending
the conference in Logan, calling them to join him at the
podium. They had each previously sent 3-4 slides that
were incorporated into Tim’s PowerPoint.
(A
very efficient transition in my view. Each mentioned the
ability to directly access your existing PAF data.)
-
Generation Maps
-
Roots Magic
-
Ancestral Quest
Each company rep had about 2 minutes to demonstrate with
screen shots how his product interfaces with
newFamilySearch. Following these three
mini-presentations, Tim returned to his part of the
Keynote address explaining that classes on
newFamilySearch and FamilySearch Indexing would be
convened at specific hours throughout the day.
OTHER AFFILIATES ARE WORKING WITH newFamilySearch
Please note that these three are not the only
affiliates, but they were the only affiliates whose
developers were in attendance at the MAF Family History
Expo in Logan in March 2008.
WHAT IS newFamilySearch?
FamilySearch.org is about half-way through the LDS
roll-out of an online collection of genealogy data
designed specifically to reduce duplication of LDS
temple work for ancestors.
WHY
SHOULD NON-LDS CARE?
The whole-world roll-out of newFamilySearch will involve
a multi-language, free-access, internet-based
environment for all genealogists -- providing workspace
for collaboration, eventually including capabilities to
link scanned images of proof documents for each
generation. The current roll-out is limited to LDS
church members, but I see this as a laudable solution,
working out the bugs with a small user group before the
world roll-out goes forth. We all remember how busy the
FamilySearch servers were when it first appeared on the
Internet as we individually sorted through the
disappointment of slow access and the confusion of a new
resource. Given the partial roll-out of newFamilySearch
to LDS first, it is likely that you’ll find support from
experienced local LDS Family History Center volunteers
when newFamilySearch is available to you as well.
AVOIDING DUPLICATION IS KEY
To save time, we tend to spot check the work of reliable
genealogists, and then incorporate their work into our
common family lines. Beginners don’t – but unfortunately
readily accept anything found in any published form, as
the truth about one’s heritage. The ability to combine
our genealogy data with online presentations of proof
documents in a free-access environment will
revolutionize genealogical research coordination. I
won’t need to spend time locating source documents on my
infamously obscure Dolly YOCKEY if someone else has
already solved that brick wall and has the documents to
prove it.
(One can only hope!)
ACCURATE LINEAGES BASED ON SURVIVING DOCUMENTS
Genealogists with an eye to accuracy in lineage studies
have long recognized the problem of blatantly erroneous
entries in the
IGI,
Ancestral File,
and the
Pedigree Resource File.
The newFamilySearch has the option to dispute and
provide alternative lineages with attendant notes and
proof documents. The links to images from the
FamilySearch scanning of Family History Library
microfilm and other ancient documents is a key component
of newFamilySearch and it key to compiling accurate
lineages. Responsible genealogists value the
results of “double, blind data entry indexing systems”
such as the Name Extraction Program, with its updated
younger sister,
FamilySearch Indexing,
since both provide reliable searches that lead to
original records.
Name Extraction projects include:
FamilySearchIndexing.org projects, most found currently
at
http://labs.FamilySearch.org
under “record search”, include:
-
1850 US federal census &
mortality schedule
-
1900 US federal census
-
1930 Mexico census
-
West Virginia Deaths, now
at the WV (State) Division of Culture and History)
website, 41% complete as of this morning.
OFFICIAL STATEMENT
I’ve personally twice heard this
statement about PAF from FamilySearch officials, as I’ve
reported in paragraph 2 of this blog entry, though it is
not listed anywhere in the newsroom of either the LDS
Church nor its genealogy component FamilySearch.org.
Another person blogged about the “Future of PAF” with an
“official public release” dated 31 March 2008 attributed
to Gordon Clark, but in my direct communication with
Gordon Clark, he stated that this is not an official
public release from him or anyone else at FamilySearch,
so I have not included a link here.
So you must rely on DearMYRTLE (the real life Pat
Richley) for her careful note taking, and accurate
report of what she heard.
RELUCTANCE TO CHANGE
Until now, finding a workable
alternative to PAF (Personal Ancestral File) was
something devoted PAF users tended to avoid because they
felt FamilySearch.org would not abandon the genealogy
management program. Most PAF users are aware that other
genealogy software programs are available with
enhancements.
The other programs’ enhancements not found in PAF
involve options to not merely compile genealogy info
including births, marriages, deaths and notes; but to
systematically update temple ordinances, assign surety
values of sources, search alternative record groups,
creatively share our genealogy with others in dynamic
book or CD format and now to directly interface with
newFamilySearch as it becomes available.
COMPARISON
HDTV broadcasts will become the industry standard by
federal mandate in 2009. At that time our existing old
style non-HD televisions will need an adapter (like
old-style PAF needs a bridging program) or we will need
to purchase HD-compatible television sets (like PAF
users may elect to purchase new genealogy management
software, which have been designed to directly import
PAF databases.)
Fortunately, the choices for improved genealogy software
other than PAF are not as expensive as the upgrade we’ll
each have to make for HDTV compatibility.
Happy family tree
climbing!
Myrt :)
DearMYRTLE,
Your friend in genealogy.
Myrt@DearMYRTLE.com
http://blog.DearMYRTLE.com
©
2008 Pat Richley All Rights Reserved.
This and previous blog entries are fully
searchable by going to:
http://blog.DearMYRTLE.com.
Myrt welcomes queries and research challenges, but
regrets she is unable to answer each personally.
5 March 2008
For those of you that are
on NewFamilySearch, the new version .92 was rolled out
this morning! On the sign on page, check out the link
"News and Updates" to see the changes. Please note it is
.92 and not a 9.2 version. It will still be some time
before we see the big 1.0 version. As of last Friday,
there are 26 Temple districts that are online with NFS!
Moving along!
May God Bless Your Research,
Sister Ybarra
Family & Church History
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
Product Support Team and FH Consultant
Bountiful Heights FHC
15 January 2008
To: Priesthood leaders,
family history center directors and family history
consultants in the Mesa Arizona temple district.
Beginning Tuesday, 5 February 2008, the new process for
printing temple name cards using Family Ordinance
Requests will be used in the
Mesa Arizona Temple.
New FamilySearch will be available to the general
membership of the Church who live in the
Mesa Arizona
temple district early in
the morning on the previous Saturday, 2 February 2008.
No additional notice will be sent to priesthood leaders
or members of the Church in the
Mesa Arizona
temple district concerning these dates.
We ask
that family history consultants and center directors
encourage members who have existing TempleReady disks to
take them to the temple and have their temple name cards
printed before 5 February. Beginning immediately, please
do not create any new TempleReady disks in your family
history centers for processing at the
Mesa Arizona
temple.
If you have not done so
already, please complete the new FamilySearch online
training prior to 5 February in preparation for helping
members to use new FamilySearch as part of the new
process for preparing ancestral names for the temple.
Please contact FamilySearch Support by e-mail or phone
if you have any questions or problems.
Thank you for your support of
temple and family history work.
Sincerely,
FamilySearch Support
10 January 2008 - Family
History Church Service Missionary Opportunity with the
new FamilySearch program
“One of
the most troublesome aspects of our temple activity is
that as we get more and more temples scattered across
the earth there is duplication of effort in proxy work
…… We, therefore, have been engaged for some time in a
very difficult undertaking. To avoid such duplication,
the solution lies in complex computer technology.
Preliminary indications are that it will work, and if
this is so, it will be a truly remarkable thing with
worldwide implications.”
President Gordon B. Hinckley, October 2005 General
Conference
The
Family History Department is looking for individuals to
serve as Church Service Missionaries called to support
the release of the new FamilySearch program as the
program is deployed to temple districts throughout the
world. Missionaries are also needed to answer phone
calls and / or e-mails regarding other aspects of family
history such as Family History Center Support, Internet
Indexing, PAF, Family Search and other programs.
Missionaries will have early access to the new
FamilySearch program and will be trained via a
self-paced training curriculum that can be accessed from
home.
Missionaries will serve completely from home in this
capacity; there is no requirement for any travel.
Missionaries will receive help and support via a variety
of computer and internet-based systems as they seek to
provide accurate and timely responses to patrons around
the world.
The opportunity is available immediately.
In order to be called as a Church Service Missionary for
the Family History Department, one should:
-
Meet with their
bishop and stake president to discuss the Church
Service Missionary call
-
Be willing to commit
to at least a 6 month call, and preferably 12-30
months
-
Be able to commit to
at least 12-20 hours a week, preferably in 4 hour
increments
-
Have some prior
family history experience
-
Have a DSL/Broadband
Internet connection
Potential
Church Service Missionary candidates should be those
currently unable to serve a full-time mission due to
health, family or other concerns. Stake presidents and
bishops should look at this opportunity to serve as an
ideal one for temple-worthy young men and women that are
unable to serve full-time missions in the mission field.
Comments from those currently serving in this capacity
include:
-
“I am
grateful that it isn’t only the 19 or 21-year old…or
the retired, that are capable of, or willing to
serve a mission…to learn and grow spiritually, while
being of benefit to others. Next to the Lord and my
family…family history is my greatest love in the
world. Serving a mission—even part-time-- from home
is an opportunity of a lifetime for me…a dream come
true,…for I love serving the Lord”
-
“I could not
now, nor do I think I ever will be able to go on a
mission outside of the confines of our home. While
this saddens and disappoints me, I appreciate the
fact that now I can make some small contribution
from my home. This blessing gives some comfort to me
because I really do want to serve.”
-
“It is the Lord's
work, and I feel highly privileged to be accepted as
a Church Service Missionary at this time of my life,
when many think my time of usefulness is past.”
-
“We came home and
served two years in the temple and then my husband
died and I felt like my life died. My bishop knew
how I felt and came to me and suggested this mission
since I had a computer and had done quite a lot of
genealogy. It has been a life saver.”
-
“This calling of
Family History Support Missionary is one of sitting
down at a computer with little physical labor. I
feel that the Lord has answered my prayers for a
position I could handle and help build the kingdom.”
We are
certain that similar, rich experiences can occur in many
of the stakes and wards across North America as Church
Service Missionaries are called to support this work.
Missionaries are truly a necessary part of this
remarkable work with worldwide implications.
4 January 2008 -
Quick Tip: Adding or Updating United States to US Places
This
training idea came from Sorena DeWitt, the co-director
of the Mt. Timpanogos Family History Center in American
Fork, Utah. Thank you for letting me share it with our
readers.
Currently, the new FamilySearch does not recognize any
US places that do not have United States at the end of
the name; therefore, you should change your records
according to this current standard. When you team PAF
Pal with PAF 5 you can quickly added USA to your US
places and then update it to United States. If you do
not have PAF Pal, use the Edit Places mode of PAF
Insight.
First,
BACK UP your records before you begin to safeguard your
file.
If you have not
already added USA to states or expanded the postal code
abbreviations to fully spelled-out place names, do this:
• Open PAF and go into "Tools" and click the link to PAF
Pal.
• The PAF Pal window comes up with several tabs across
the top.
• Click on the Clear/Change tab first.
• Go to the second column, Change Fields and click on
Expand Place Abbreviations. This changes the standard
postal code abbreviations for US states, Canadian
provinces, and English counties. I generally click all
three to ensure I do not miss anything. The change is
almost instantaneous.
• Check the report for accuracy then close it to return
to the Clear/Change menu.
• Click on the button for Add USA to Places With States.
• Check the report for accuracy then close it to return
to the Clear/Change menu.
• Click the Close button and return to PAF.
If you have expanded
abbreviations and added USA, use PAF 5 to change USA to
United States. Make another backup of your file. Global
Search and Replace sometimes updates more than you
expect and you will appreciate the safety net if it
happens to you.
•
Click on Tools
and select Global Search and Replace.
• Under
the heading for Search and replace text in... select the
Places option.
• In the
Search for: box, enter ", USA" (without the quotation
marks).
• Use the
comma and space before USA (all caps) so it does not
replace "usa" in any places such as Saint-Usage,
Cote-d'Or, France. In the Replace with: box, enter ",
United States" (without the quotation marks).
•
Carefully review the results to make sure you did not
get any unexpected changes. If you find a problem,
restore your file from the backup and try again. You may
also want to repeat the process using ",USA" without a
space between the comma and USA.
When I did this to my
file, most of the status markings in FamilyInsight
changed from See Suggestions to Recognized.
If you do not have
PAF Pal, check to see if it is available at your Family
History Center or use the Edit Places mode of
FamilyInsight.
2 January 2008 -
newFamilySearch Training
classes are now available in
Mesa, Arizona on
Saturdays from 1-3:30 PM (call 480-964-1200 to
pre-register) and in
Provo, Utah at the Utah South Area Family History
Training Center. More classes will continue to be
posted as I hear about them.
Now is the time to
register as a consultant, take the on-line training
classes and local training classes when available
because we will all be on line soon! Clean up your
own PAF file so you can use it to guide you in matching
the Church's massive amount of records with your own.
After a year or so goes
by the entire worlds genealogy records will be "looking
good". Then the LDS people will be among the
genealogy leaders in documented and correctly linked
family trees. The Ancestral File showed our
obedience to submitting our four generations into a
merged database. Now its time to get our entire
ancestral generations cleaned up and speak with one
voice. This will take the next year of your
life so roll up your sleeves and get it done!
By following the prophet
our records will be the standard for the entire world's
family tree back to Adam & Eve. Lets get the
training, polish the new software, stop duplicating our
efforts and go find our lost ancestors and bind them to
our families.
16 November 2007 - Click to see a
Google Map pinpointing a nFS Rollout Map of the
temples scheduled for using the new FamilySearch
program.
15 November 2007 -
Okay, if you are among the few temple districts now
using the new FamilySearch program you can begin using
the new FamilySearch website and see for yourself the
fantastic programming these dedicated computer experts
have been working on for the past couple of years.
Wait till it is available in every region of the world
and you will see another miracle performed in our own
day.
Click here,
sign in and Enjoy
if you are amongst the few... otherwise wait for your
local priesthood leaders to announce when the new
FamilySearch is about to be released in your temple
district.
What’s New in the New
FamilySearch?
Telephone Number or E-mail
Address Needed for Registration
Registration now strongly recommends you enter
either a telephone number or e-mail address.
FamilySearch Support will use this information to
help resolve problems that you report using the
feedback feature.
Easier Search Results
Search results are easier to read and compare. Each
record is now in columns with names, then events,
then relationships. You can easily compare the
various records.
- You
will see similar search results when you do the
following:
-
Click the Possible
Duplicates button.
-
Click the Add or
find . . . links (to find a
spouse, child, parent, or sibling). To add
an individual from the search results to
your family, click the
Add button.
Easier Entering of Dates and
Places
Entering dates and places is easier with the
type-ahead feature. As you begin to type a date or
place-name, the system will give you a list of
similar dates or places. If the correct choice
appears, click it.
New Person Identifiers
Each individual in the system now has a new Person
Identifier. This number is different than the one in
the first version of the new FamilySearch. Use the
new numbers to search for individuals. Look for the
person identifier on the Individual Details page in
the upper right corner or on a Family Ordinance
Request form, under the individual’s name. It is in
this format: p. _ _ _ - _ _ _ _
See All Sources for an
Individual
All of the sources in the new FamilySearch are now
available in one location.
To see all of an individual’s sources, do this:
- Click
the Individual Details
button.
- Then
click the Individual
sources link.
Edit Large Notes
You can now edit notes larger than 300 characters.
FamilySearch will keep these large notes that are
imported in GEDCOM files. (Notes entered directly
into the new FamilySearch can have up to 300
characters.)
Claim Information That You
Contributed before the New FamilySearch
You can now claim information that you submitted to
Ancestral File, to the Pedigree Resource File, and
for temple ordinances. Then you will be able to
correct any errors in this information, and all
temple cards previously printed will be assigned to
you.
To claim your information:
- Find
where contributors are listed (see Individual
Details pages).
- Click
your contributor name. Or click the
Multiple link,
and then click your contributor name.
- Click
the Declare This Legacy
Contributor as Yourself link. Then
follow the instructions given.
More Easily Combine Duplicate
Records
The combining duplicate records process has been
redesigned. To try it, from an Individual Details
page, click the Possible
Duplicates link and follow the
instructions on the screen.
Quick
Process to Combine Duplicate Spouses, Fathers, and
Mothers
- On the
Family Pedigree, click the
 or
 symbols
to see duplicate spouses, fathers, or mothers.
- Then
click one of these tabs:
-
Resolve Duplicate Fathers
-
Resolve Duplicate Mothers
-
Resolve Duplicate Spouses
- Follow
the instructions, and start combining duplicate
records in your family pedigree.
Restrictions on GEDCOM Files
The new FamilySearch will no longer accept GEDCOM
files that have been directly downloaded from
Ancestral File, Pedigree Resource File, and the
International Genealogical Index. This will help
reduce duplication. Users will be notified why their
file was rejected.
Temple
work
Click the New Temple Symbol [
] to See Needed Ordinances
The new temple symbol with the green arrow []
indicates that at least one family member needs
temple ordinances.
- To see
which ordinances need to be done, click
.
14 May 2007 -comments of Gary Foster - webmaster for
Surnames.com -
Training is Available Now!
The Mesa Regional Family
History Center is offering a series of classes to teach
Ward Family History Consultants, High Priest Group
Leaders and Stake High Councilman how to get ready for
the new FamilySearch (NFS) program.
These classes are taught by
Jim and Janyce Miller our Southwest Area Family History
Advisors. You must call 480-964-1200 and ask for the
Reference Desk to register for these classes as they are
limited to 25 to 40 persons. Classes are being taught
on both Tuesday & Wednesday evenings beginning at 7 pm.
Call and register now as over 500 people need training
as the temple submission process as we have known them
will change very soon.
1. Tuesday Evenings -
Priesthood & Ward Family History Consultants
"Basic Training Class" - All
new people should start here!
This class is limited to 25 people per class and is held
in the upstairs classroom (Mesa Regional FHC 41 S.
Hobson) every Tuesday evening 7 pm to 9 pm. This is a 4
week series of classes.
2. Wednesday Evenings -
Ward Family History Consultants
"Research Consultant Training" - Especially
designed to train Ward Family History Consultants in a
13 week series of more advanced training covering
Organization & Research, Surveying & Researching the
Internet, FHLC - Handy Book - PERSI, US Census Records,
US Vital Records, US Migration, Maps & Gazetteers, US
Land Records, US Probate, Land, Court, Church & Military
Records, Immigration & Emigration & Naturalization
Records. This class can accommodate up to 40 to 120
persons and is held at the Training Center (464 E. 1st
Street). This is a 12 week series of advanced
training. $10 fee for materials includes a notebook an
CD containing all PowerPoint presentations used. The
next available time to sign up is for classes starting
in August.
Ward members will depend
upon their newly trained Ward Family History Consultants
for assistance! If you wait too long the new program
will be here before you are ready! Call now to register
for these classes 480-964-1200.
Free access to online
databases is important and we therefore intend to add
many new databases to FamilySearch.org. Much of the data
preparation will be accomplished through the online
indexing program available at FamilySearchIndexing.org.
We encourage you to visit the website to learn more.
Volunteers have already
begun indexing the 1900 U.S. census and other projects.
Other censuses and vital record collections will be
indexed as soon as the 1900 U.S. census project is
completed. The more volunteers that participate, the
sooner access can be provided. Since access to databases
on FamilySearch.org is free to all, we anticipate that
this will be of great interest to individuals around the
world. We are also exploring opportunities to provide
broader access to additional databases from other online
service providers.
Please inform patrons
regarding our plans to provide access to records and
invite them to help by participating in the FamilySearch
Indexing projects. We will communicate as more
information becomes available. Thank you for all that
you do on behalf of our patrons.
Volunteers have already
begun indexing the 1900 U.S. census and other projects.
Other censuses and vital record collections will be
indexed as soon as the 1900 U.S. census project is
completed. The more volunteers that participate, the
sooner access can be provided. Since access to databases
on FamilySearch.org is free to all, we anticipate that
this will be of great interest to individuals around the
world. We are also exploring opportunities to provide
broader access to additional databases from other online
service providers.
Please inform patrons
regarding our plans to provide access to records and
invite them to help by participating in the FamilySearch
Indexing projects. We will communicate as more
information becomes available. Thank you for all that
you do on behalf of our patrons.
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