NEW FAMILYSEARCH AND AFFILIATE PROGRAMS I
©Copyright 2010 by Donald R. Snow This page last updated 2010-02-04.
W ELCOME AND INTRODUCTION TO CLASS
- Welcome
- Instructors are Donald R. and Diane M. Snow ( snowd@math.byu.edu and dms34@juno.com ) of Provo, Utah; St. George, Utah; and Nauvoo, Illinois.
- Spiritual thought
- These notes with active Internet links are posted on the Utah Valley Technology and Genealogy Group website http://uvtagg.org under Class Outlines , Don's Listings . Many other class notes for family history are posted there, too.
NEW FAMILYSEARCH AND AFFILIATE PROGRAMS
- New FamilySearch (nFS) is the new software that the LDS Church is producing to help LDS members with family history and temple work -- has been released in all temple districts except for the Orient
- Some things you want to do in New FamilySearch
- Affiliate programs are programs certified by the LDS Family History Department to help you work with New FamilySearch
- PAF compatible programs -- relate nFS to PAF databases (Personal Ancestral File freeware from http://www.familysearch.org )
- Other database format, i.e. programs relating nFS to other types of databases (will usually read a PAF database, but must use a GEDCOM to ever go back to PAF again)
COMPARISONS AND DISCUSSION
- Each program is better in some ways and does some things the others don't do, so there is no one "best program" for everyone
- Decide what you want your genealogy program to do, try them out, and decide -- change later, if you want to
- For simplicity, if you don't already have a genealogy database in some other format, use PAF -- can change later, when and if you want.
- Some comparisons of software
- Examples and discussion -- will be continued next time
ASSIGNMENT
- Use your LDS Membership Number and Confirmation Date to register for an LDS account that will get you into FamilySearch, New FamilySearch, LDS Distribution Centers, etc., all with the same user name and password.
- Go to a FHC and try out Family Insight on your PAF database to see what options you can use there.
- Try out Ancestral Quest on your PAF database by downloading the 60-day free trial and/or going to a FHC to use it there.
- Download RootsMagic Essentials and experiment with it. Again, this will save your database in a new format, so be sure you have a good backup before experimenting.
- Download and try out Legacy. Legacy will save your database in a new format, so be sure you have a good backup before experimenting.
Return to Don's Class Listings page or to the home page of Utah Valley Technology and Genealogy Group .