HELPS FOR FAMILY HISTORY CONSULTANTS,
FAMILY HISTORY CENTRE STAFF, AND LEADERS
©2013 by Donald R. Snow
Sections of the Class Notes
- Welcome and Introduction to Class
- Kinds of Helps Available
- Using FamilySearch
- Helps for FamilySearch, Family History, and Family History Centres
- Other Resources
- Conclusions
This page was last updated 2013-08-19.
Return to the Utah Valley Technology and
Genealogy Group Home Page or Don's Class Listings Page .
WELCOME AND INTRODUCTION
- Instructor is Donald R. Snow ( snowd@math.byu.edu
) of Provo and St. George, Utah.
- These notes with the Internet links active are posted on http://uvtagg.org/classes/dons/dons-classes.html
.
- Tips: (1) Easy to put an icon on your desktop for the URL for these
notes; just drag the icon in front of the address in your browser to your
desktop. (2) To open a link from here in another window, so you keep your
place here, hold down the Control key while clicking the link.
- The secret of doing family history and being a helpful FH Consultant is not knowing
the answers, but knowing where to find the answers, and this presentation is
about how to do that.
KINDS OF HELPS AVAILABLE
- Helps available include manuals and handbooks, articles, research
publications, videos, interactive lessons, PowerPoint
presentations, blogs, email lists, websites, notes, and more -- LDS Church has produced good training materials, but
they are not well-known
- Two major sources that will be discussed below are FamilySearch https://familysearch.org/
and lds.org http://www.lds.org/?lang=eng
- On FamilySearch see Get Help (upper right-hand corner), Search > Wiki, and
Search > Catalog
- On lds.org see Resources > Family History
USING FAMILYSEARCH
- About FamilySearch, its goal, history, and services -- https://familysearch.org/about
-- "About" link is at bottom of many FS pages
- Much of https://familysearch.org/
is available to everyone without signing in
- In FamilySearch clicking on the FamilySearch logo (upper
left) takes you back to the home page from any subpage.
- To access FamilySearch Family Tree, do FamilySearch Indexing, etc., you need an
account -- To help with
indexing, answer research questions, etc., click on Volunteer
(upper right-hand corner) and register
- Two types of accounts on FamilySearch
- LDS Account - requires your LDS membership number and birthdate; having an email
address is recommended, but not required -- you select your account name and
password; your log in information is checked against the Church records to verify
that you are an LDS Church member
- FamilySearch Account -- members and non-members can set up one of these, email
address is recommended -- you select your account name and password; can be used
to see and work on FamilySearch Family Tree, but does not show the LDS temple data
- With either type of account it sets up a Source Box for you in which to save
links and sources -- get to your Source Box by hovering cursor over your log in
name
- Search Historical Records - a major source
of records of all kinds from all over the world; has billions of names in
the databases; can search in various ways and can save info to "Your
Source Box"; can link sources to your ancestors from Your Source Box; has
many search techniques for the data and volunteers world-wide are indexing
about 1 million records per day -- Search Historical Records is an entire
class by itself and won't be discussed here -- more details are in other
notes on Don's FH Notes webpage -- http://uvtagg.org/classes/dons/dons-classes.html
- FamilySearch Family Tree (FS FT)
- FS FT program is still a "work in
progress", but has many features available now, including
adding sources and links, photos, and stories
- Original data was from "new FamilySearch" and much has been added later --
"new FamilySearch" is now closed and can be viewed, but not edited
- FS FT is only for deceased people due to privacy laws and goal is to have a
single database that everyone works on to get it correct, post sources,
documentation, photos, and stories
- Good place to store your sourced
(proven) genealogy for deceased ancestors with the sources and documentation
- Will soon be able to post images of documents -- for now you can post the
documents elsewhere and put a link to them in FS FT
- Recommended that you keep all your data and sources about the dead and
the living in your own computer database in some genealogy management program,
e.g. Ancestral Quest, Roots Magic, Legacy, etc.
- FamilySearch course on FS FT -- https://familysearch.org/learningcenter/lesson/family-tree-curriculum/818
- Video lessons on FS FT -- http://broadcast.lds.org/elearning/fhd/Community/en/FamilyTreeCurriculum/levelone/levelone.html
- FamilySearch Catalog (FSC) -- used to be called the Family History Library
Catalog (FHLC) -- go to Search > Catalog
- Lists all the resources, films, books, etc., in the Family History Library
in Salt Lake City
- Now has over 100,000 genealogy books in pdf and you can read and download
most at home
- Example -- https://familysearch.org/search/catalog/2153359?availability=Family%20History%20Library
-- Note that the catalog entry says in red: "To view a digital version click
here" -- leads you to a pdf
of the book that the Snow family gave the Family History Library permission
to digitize and post online so anyone can read, search, and/or download it
- The books are also listed on Search > Books
- FamilySearch Labs -- https://labs.familysearch.org/ -- new products for
public to tryout and comment on including the England Jurisdiction Map of 1851
and Pedigree Viewer (Retired) which allows you to upload a large GEDCOM file
and view the pedigree in various ways
HELPS FOR FAMILYSEARCH, FAMILY HISTORY, AND FAMILY HISTORY CENTRES
- Help Center (upper right-hand corner) has lots of content and contact
information for email or phone -- Product Support, Research Assistance,
Getting Started, Learning Center, Research Wiki
- Each of these has subheads such as FAQs
(Frequently Asked Questions) of signing up for accounts, using
FamilySearch, Getting Started, searching, using Family Tree,
indexing, Learning Center Videos, uploading photos and stories to
Family Tree, and more
- Research Wiki -- go to Search > Wiki -
takes you to https://familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/Main_Page
- "wiki" means anyone can add to or edit it, but to change
it you must be logged in with your account so it shows who
made the change
- Major source of FH research help, includes updated FH
Library Research Outlines, guides, word lists
- Does not include genealogy data, only information about
how to find it
- Example -- Search > Wiki > Canada > Ontario >
Peel Region - takes you to https://familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/Peel_County,_Ontario
- Example -- Search > Wiki - type in Yellowknife -- shows
11 entries in Canada, Northwest Territories - https://familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/Special:Search?fulltext=true&search=yellowknife&searchbutton=Search
- Includes the old FH Library Favorites
(websites) and lots more
- Good place to start when answering questions about FH, can
say "Let's see what the Wiki says about that."
- Knowledge Base documents for help on
FamilySearch -- https://help.familysearch.org/publishing/537/107551_f.SAL_Public.html
- FamilySearch Blog -- https://familysearch.org/blog/en/
-- good way to keep updated on what's new in FS; can get to it through the
Blog link at the bottom of many FS pages
- FamilySearch What's New -- https://familysearch.org/whats-new/
- Various newsletters you can sign up to receive on
FamilySearch, FH in the Church, etc. -- go to Settings to
subscribe
- For anyone with an LDS Church FH calling go to lds.org >
Resources > Family History - takes you to http://www.lds.org/topics/family-history?lang=eng
-- Note the instructions, videos, information, and Additional
Resources (bottom left) for each consultant and leader calling and for
temple work
- FH Consultant Training -- https://www.lds.org/callings/temple-and-family-history?lang=eng
-- Consultants should register here to receive information and so
their name will be on the list of consultants for their area; has
the FH Newsletters, FH Consultant Training, and 100s of FH courses
in the FS Learning Center -- https://familysearch.org/learningcenter/home.html
- Community
discussion about FamilySearch -- https://getsatisfaction.com/familysearch
-- can search for discussion of any topic here
- Online broadcast about Family History Centers -- http://broadcast.lds.org/elearning/FHD/Local_Support/FHC/Open_House_2011/Plan_for_Family_History_Centers.P2G/Player.html
-- These are being expanded in the LDS Church.
- The LDS Church's
Internet Training for FamilySearch employees and
others -- http://lds.netdimensions.com/
-- Requires sign in with an employee account
OTHER RESOURCES
- Email lists for FH Consultants and others interested
- [FHCNET] -- To subscribe go to http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FHCNET
or send blank email to FHCNET-subscribe@yahoogroups
- [LDS-WC] -- To subscribe send the one-word message SUBSCRIBE
to LDS-WARD-CONSULTANT-L-REQUEST@ROOTSWEB.COM
- [fhctech] -- To subscribe send note to fhctech-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
- Blogs about FamilySearch, Family Tree, and
related topics
- Genealogy's Star Blog by James Tanner -- http://genealogysstar.blogspot.com/
- Renee's Genealogy Blog by Renee Zamora -- http://rzamor1.blogspot.com/
- The Ancestry Insider Blog -- http://ancestryinsider.blogspot.com/
-- discusses FamilySearch and Ancestry
- FamilySearch's Facebook page -- https://www.facebook.com/familysearch
- George W. Scott's 100-page manual "How to Use Family Tree
Wisely" -- http://www.usingfamilysearch.com/
-- can download it in pdf for free
- Utah Valley Technology and Genealogy Group (UVTAGG) -- http://uvtagg.org
> Meetings > Class Outlines
-- has many presentations, classes notes, and other helps
- Brigham Young University resources
- BYU Independent Study -- http://ce.byu.edu/is/
- Center for Family History and Genealogy at BYU -- https://familyhistory.byu.edu/Pages/Home.aspx.
- Introduction to Family History -- http://261.byu.edu
- Ancestry's webpage -- http://www.ancestry.com/
-- Learning Center has many FH articles, links, and information
for free
- RootsTech 2012 and 2013 videos -- https://rootstech.org/videos/
-- many helpful videos
- Cyndi Howell's list of LDS FH links -- http://www.cyndislist.com/lds.htm
CONCLUSIONS
- There is a wealth of information on the Internet for FH
Consultants, LDS Church members, and leaders. We hope
these notes give you some places to start.
- Find more helps by Googling
"familysearch information" or "familysearch
helps" (without the quotes) or do a site
search by searching Google for
"site:www.familysearch.org helps" (without
the quotes).
- FH consultants don't have to know everything, but they need to
know where to find the answers.
Return to the Utah Valley
Technology and Genealogy Group Home Page or Don's Class Listings Page .