Our Next Meeting:January 10, 2026 |
Presentation: Robert Givens
The Place of Vital Records in Family History Research |
The regular monthly meetings of the Utah Valley Technology and Genealogy Group are held on the second Saturday of each month, except December, starting at 10 AM Mountain Time. The meetings are free and open to the public. If you would like to receive email notification of classes planned for the next meeting, go to our press release blog page for instructions on how to subscribe. The meetings are broadcast via Zoom to members of the group and via Facebook Live to the public. To watch it live click on the UVTAGG Facebook website link in the box above and view the meeting remotely.
Robert Givens
Title: The Place of Vital Records in Family History Research
Description:
Family Historians rely on Vital Records for many of the details that are needed to complete the research on their ancestors. When available, Vital Records, should be your go-to records. This presentation will explain what Vital Records are, why we seek them out, challenges in using them, what specifically can be found in them, when we can’t find them – the records we can substitute for them, and a FamilySearch tool – Guided Research – that makes finding Vital Records in select areas easy for everyone.
Bio:
Robert Givens has received degrees from Fresno State College and California State University, Fresno. His career in education spanned 39 years as a teacher and administrator. He started researching his family history during his high school years and has been even more actively involved since his retirement in 2008. This included 8 years directing the Fresno North Stake FamilySearch Center and currently with his wife are Area Temple and Family History Advisers for 8 stakes in the Fresno region. For 15 years as a FamilySearch volunteer, he was actively involved supporting various features of FamilySearch, including helping patrons with their problem records, launching and supporting social communities and administering research groups sponsored by FamilySearch in Facebook, and working on its Research Wiki. He is an experienced researcher in New England, Midwest and southern state records, has published 4 genealogy books, and has presented genealogical topics in multiple states. When he is not researching, he loves to travel, garden, read, and watch sports on TV.
There will no longer be a class after the main presentation.
The meetings are always open to the public and generally open with announcements that include what is happening in technology that effects family history work. A featured guest speaker will then make a one hour presentation on a topic of general interest relating to some aspect of technology and genealogy. Following the main presentation 3 or 4 classes are taught relating to technology and genealogy. These are at all levels from beginning to advanced and typically include classes about various genealogy programs and instruction for using the Internet for Family History work. The classes vary from month to month. There is a list of teachers and their specialties on the Teachers page. A few of the teachers have provided class outlines or summaries for some of their classes. For information about the meetings or about the Group, email us at uvtagginfo@gmail.com or call or text Gerhard Ruf at 801-602-5048.