2014 Brookings Family History Fair May 3

Brookings Family History Workshop 

FREE!!!!!!!

A Taste of the Largest Family History Conference in the North America

—Rootstech 2014—

If you would like a taste (beginner, advanced or hobbyist) of the largest-attended Family History Conference in the North America (over 10,000 attendees) without having to pay a $190 admittance fee or travel hundreds of miles to view/hear a wide variety of current topics in Family History, along with live speakers, please plan to attend:

Saturday May 3, 8:00– 3:30 pm

Brookings Ward The Church of Jesus Christ of

Latter-Day Saints, 200 22^nd Ave, (south of Hospital)

Northeast door

Sponsored by Brookings SD Family History Center and Brookings Area Genealogical Society

Click Here to Register Online

To Print a Registration Form, Click Here

For Information or  Registration Forms emailed to you, contact:

Pat Walker 605 534 3103 or Liz Gorham 605 692 4551

Email: brookingsworkshop@gmail.com

Registration and Check In    8:00 am - 8:30 am

           Welcome     8:30 am

 Note: Some Syllabuses Already Online Now! 

 *Live Speakers—Remainder are RootsTech 2014 pre-recorded classes

Session 1 – 8:50 – 9:50 am

• *Navigating FamilyTree by Jean Steele* Learning to add and edit people; search and attach sources. This will be a hands-on workshop.  You are not required to bring a device, but if you do bring your own device, (to follow along with the instructor) you should have already registered at FamilySearch at www.familysearch.org by clicking on upper right corner "Join for Free". Laptops rather than mobile devices seem to work best for the search options. There are some minor limitations on mobile devices for entering and searching items on Family Tree. Bring what you have and we will work with it

• Information Overload: Managing Online Searches and Their Results by Josh Taylor When using a search engine pressing Search often yields an large amount of search results. Discover ways to manage online searches and read between the lines" of your results. This presentation includes search engines and popular family history websites

•  How to Use YouTube for Family History by Lisa Cooke– If you have a free Google account, you can have a free YouTube channel for your family history. Learn about:  Setting up Your channel, uploading your first video, customizing your channel layout, organizing channel playlists.

Session 2 – 10:00 – 11:00 am

• *Writing a Moment From a Life by Mary Haug* Focusing on writing narratives about your family history to enhance genealogy work that focuses more on factual data.  The instructor will talk about how she began writing her own memoir by focusing on one small moment, event, or character at a time. If time permits, the class members will write a response to a writing prompt. She will also provide a bibliography of books on memoir writing

• Piecing Together History: Crowd-sourcing Events by Cheri Daniels As a technology driven society we have focused most Crowdsourcing initiatives on social media venues and electronic collecting methods. However, a balance of tech and nontech approaches is necessary to reach a generation in transition.

• Effective Database Search Tactics by Kory Meyerink    Your research success depends on knowing the best way to search each different collection. Boolean, truncation, keyword, fielded data, proximity, phrase, wild cards and wild words are not foreign terms, but rather your keys to genealogical success!

Session 3 – 11:10 am – 12:10 am

• *Best Free Genealogy Websites by Jodi Sides*. Looking at best websites for climbing your tree without emptying your wallet.

• Finding Your British Roots by Elaine Collins Old World, New Records: findmypast.com as the Key Resource for Tracing British Ancestry - 35' BONUS - 5 Ways to Do Genealogy in Your Sleep or Visit FHC last 1/2 hour.

• Getting the Most Out of Ancestry by Christa Cowan (of Ancestry.com) – Cover 5 major areas of Ancestry website and favorite tools to advance your research.

12:15 pm Lunch

 Join us for a $7.50 prepaid (by April 26)  
Payable to: Brookings Ward
Sandwich, Salad, Desert Lunch or 

bring a lunch or visit nearby eateries

Session 4 – 1:20 – 2:20 pm

• *Who Will Write the Next Chapter in Your Family History? by Larry Cool*.

           This class is geared toward your next generation.  
 It is an interactive class so bring your laptop or your Ipad. 

• The class revolves around 6^th through 12^th grade students.  At some point in this time frame of a student’s education, their history, social studies, or English teacher will probably have them write a paper on their family.  They may also be part of an organization such as the Boy Scouts or the Girl Scouts where they may be able to earn a merit badge or some other rank or credit for doing research on their family’s history.
  
  
  You do not have to be this age to take part, but if as an adult you have a youth who is your son, daughter, grandson, granddaughter, niece, or nephew, bring them along.  If you are able to bring your grandfather or grandmother, so much the better.

• How to Scan an Elephant by Denise Levenick Learn how and when to achieve best results using a digital camera, mobile scanner, or portable device to digitize your awkward family keepsakes and oversize research materials

• Intro to DNA for Genealogists by James Rader  Family historians are presented with many tools in Genetics and DNA. This session is the first and will introduce the concepts and methods used in applying DNA results to Genealogy pursuits 

 

Session 5 – 2:30 to 3:30 pm

• *FamilySearch Search, Wiki and Blog by Perry Hanavan* FamilySearch (FS) provides free access to billions of records as well as  a powerful search engine for ancestors.  FS Wiki is about finding records that may have been generated about your ancestors and the places where the records might be found. The FS Blog keeps researchers current with family history information.  Search, Wiki and Blog will be introduced and examples provided.

•  Finding Family/Ancestors Outside the US with New Technologies by Daniel Horowitz Learn how MyHeritage can help break down brick walls in your research outside of the US by harnessing the power of an international family history network.

•   Basic Online Resource for Beginning Genealogists by Lisa Alzo This session will walk beginners through the exciting journey of genealogy as to what information is online, how to effectively search databases, and share information with others.

Visit the Family History Center (FHC) for Individualized Help (Sign up at Registration)

Click Here for more Information on our FHC--contacts, hours, holdings

DISPLAYS

Why LDS do Family History

Personal/Family History Display

Puzilla and other Family Tree Add Ons You Didn’t Know About

We invite you to pick and choose from a smorgasbord of topics that will satisfy your hunger for new information and ideas, timely topics and chance to mingle with fellow researchers from a wide geographic area.

Subscribe via email or check this page often for further details!

How to Request Copies from FamilySearch

How to Request Copies of Microfilm Images, Book Pages, CDs, Marriage, Death or Birth Certificates, Wills and/or Deeds from FamilySearch

FamilySearch has slightly reworded the policy for patrons who are requesting copies from the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah. Here is the summation:
"All requests for information copied from films, book pages, CDs, marriage, death or birth certificates, wills and/or deeds, etc. will be copied in digital format and emailed to patrons in a zipped PDF or JPG file format. There is no charge for this service if we are able to email to information to patrons."
You can read more in an article by Merrill White in the FamilySearch Blog at http://goo.gl/moULsS.

Posted by Dick Eastman on March 06, 2014 in Genealogy Basics

Policy Change for Patrons Requesting Photocopies From the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah

February 4, 2013 By Merrill White

Please note the following change in the policy for patrons who are requesting copies from the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah.
All requests for information copied from films, book pages, CDs, marriage, death or birth certificates, wills and/or deeds, etc. will be copied in digital format and emailed to patrons in a zipped PDF or JPG file format.

 There is no charge for this service if we are able to email to information to patrons.

 NOTE: Requests are limited to 5 image shots per month.

If a patron does not have an email address, we can mail the information to the patron using the US Postal Service.  However, as much as possible, we will rely on emailing all requests for information through the internet. If patrons do not own a computer or do not have an email address, they can request to have the information emailed to their local Family History Center, where they can print the information at the center.
Patrons should request copies by submitting their request here: Photoduplication Request Form.  All requests MUST include the following information:

• Film or Fiche number
• Item number
• Name of Individual(s) referred to in the record
• Title of the record
• Name of parents, spouse, grantor, grantee, etc.
• Event type (Birth, Death or Marriage)
• Complete event date and place
• Event place (county, parish, township, etc.)
• Volume or page number
• Registration or Certificate Number
• Any other information that will help us locate your record.

 

Backed Up Your Family Tree Lately?

YESTERDAY (to be sung to the tune of the Beatles' song - Yesterday)

Yesterday,
All those backups seemed a waste of pay
Now my database has gone away
Oh I believe in yesterday
Suddenly,
There's not half the files there used to be
And there's a deadline
hanging over me
The system crashed so suddenly.

I pushed something wrong
What it was I could not say
Now my data's gone
and I long for yesterday-ay-ay-ay.
Yesterday,
The need for back-ups seemed so far away.
Thought all my data was here to stay,
Now I believe in yesterday.

--Courtesy of

Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter Feb 25, 2014

MyHeritage Adds Millions of Nordic Records

MyHeritage Adds Millions of Nordic Records

(courtesty of Eastman's Genealogy Newsletter Online)

If you have Scandinavian ancestry, you will want to check this out. MyHeritage, the exclusive sponsor of this newsletter, today added more than 32 million records from Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Finland, dating back to the early 1600s.

Additionally, MyHeritage is investing millions of dollars to digitize more Nordic historical content and has signed new agreements that will result in a wealth of Nordic historical records to be added during the next few years.

Here is the official announcement from MyHeritage:

STOCKHOLM, Sweden & OSLO, Norway & COPENHAGEN, Denmark & HELSINKI, Finland & TEL AVIV, Israel -- MyHeritage, the popular family history network announced today a market expansion initiative focused on the Nordic countries. Millions of families can now search digitized Nordic records dating back to the 17th century to discover more about their ancestors and the lives they led.

In addition to the significant content added today, MyHeritage is investing millions of dollars to digitize more Nordic historical content and has signed new agreements that will result in a wealth of Nordic historical records to be added during the next few years.

MyHeritage is already the family history market leader in the Nordic region and is the only major company providing services in Norwegian, Danish and Finnish. With more than 470,000 registered users in Sweden, 350,000 in Norway, 300,000 in Denmark and 200,000 in Finland, MyHeritage has amassed the largest Nordic user base and family tree database in the market. MyHeritage users can now enjoy a more comprehensive family history experience that combines family trees and historical records, to paint a more detailed and colorful picture of their ancestry.

MyHeritage has also launched today dedicated social media channels for Norway, Denmark and Finland including local blogs and Facebook and Twitter accounts, to complement its existing popular Swedish social media presence. Followers will be notified about additional record collections as they are added and enjoy tips and tricks for family history research and more information about MyHeritage’s services.

The Nordic historical record collections added today include birth, death, marriage, baptism and other records, covering more than 90 million names. This comes in addition to more than 70 million profiles in 730,000 family trees created by MyHeritage users from the Nordic region, and many more contributed by users with Nordic ancestry. The records and the public profiles are available for searching via SuperSearch, MyHeritage’s search engine for historical records. MyHeritage users also enjoy powerful matching technologies that research their family trees automatically and notify them whenever records relevant to their family are found. This makes discoveries easier and quicker than ever before.

For Sweden, MyHeritage has added 11 million records with 31 million names. These collections include baptism documents dating back to 1611, marriage documents dating back to 1630 and burial documents dating back to 1649. Visitors can find more information about the collections from Sweden and search them at www.myheritage.se/svenska-samlingar.

For Norway, MyHeritage has added 10 million records with 30 million names. These collections include baptism documents dating back to 1634, marriage documents dating back to 1660, burial documents dating back to 1666 and the Norwegian national census from 1875. Visitors can find more information about the collections from Norway and search them at www.myheritage.no/norske-samlinger.

For Denmark, MyHeritage has added 5.5 million records with 14 million names. These collections include baptism documents dating back to 1618, marriage documents dating back to 1635 and burial documents dating back to 1640. Visitors can find more information about the collections from Denmark and search them at www.myheritage.dk/danske-samlinger.

For Finland, MyHeritage has added 5.5 million records with 16 million names. These collections include baptism documents dating back to 1657, marriage documents dating back to 1682 and burial documents dating back to 1725. Visitors can find more information about the collections from Finland and search them at www.myheritage.com/suomalaiset-kokoelmat.

“We're delighted to add this vast collection of historical records to our fast growing database and are excited about the new family connections that our users will make and the family stories they will reveal", said Gilad Japhet, Founder and CEO of MyHeritage. “This is a treasure trove not only for people in the Nordic countries but for everyone whose family originated from this region. We look forward to enhancing our leadership in the Nordic region and in many additional countries over the next few years – watch this space!”

With a diverse user base, spanning every country and continent, MyHeritage is a gateway to a massive variety of family histories from different cultures, religions and ethnic backgrounds. MyHeritage offers a private and secure environment for sharing and researching family history, and users can choose which information they wish to share. MyHeritage has ranked #10 in Deloitte's 2013 Fast 500 list of the 500 technology companies with the fastest revenue growth across all of Europe.

About MyHeritage

MyHeritage is a family history network helping millions of families around the world discover and share their legacy online. As technology thought leaders and innovators in the space, MyHeritage is transforming family history into an activity that’s accessible, exciting and easier than ever before. MyHeritage empowers its global community of users with unique social tools, a massive library of historical content and powerful search and data matching technologies. The service is available in 40 languages. For more information visit www.myheritage.com.

David Library of the American Revolution

From Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter Dec 3, 2013

David Library of the American Revolution

The David Library of the American Revolution is a great resource for students, historians, and genealogists. It is a non-profit educational institution dedicated to the collection and dissemination of information about the American Revolution as well as related topics of history during that period of American history, and the support of related educational programs and scholarly research. 
 

The David Library is primarily an in-person resource. Anyone who wishes to use the Library's resources will need to visit in person at Washington Crossing, Pennsylvania, not far from Trenton, New Jersey. None of the Library's holdings have been digitized, other than the Library's catalog. The David Library is a “non-circulating” library. Patrons must use Library's resources onsite. The collection includes more than 10,000 reels of microfilm, 6,500 books and 2,000 pamphlets. As stated on the David Library's home page:

"Here you will find almost all the basic primary sources on the Revolution, including materials, such as many documents microfilmed at the British Archives, found no where else in this country. And you will find this material in one building, serviced by a small but highly knowledgeable staff that has no other objective than to assist its users in learning about the broad era of the American Revolution."

The David Library's catalog has been digitized and is available at: http://207.67.203.70/D90002/OPAC/Index.aspx.

You can learn more at the David Library home page at http://www.dlar.org/ and especially at the Library's FAQ page at http://www.dlar.org/faqs.htm.

My thanks to newsletter reader Everett Stonebraker for telling me about this great resource.

CROWDSOURCING Genealogy

From Eastman's Genealogy Newsletter Oct 24, 2013

CrowdSourcing Genealogy

Would you be willing to pay $5 to have someone send you a picture of your ancestral village, or great grandma's house? One new crowdsourcing project hopes to makes this possible.

As defined by Dictionary.com:

crowd·source
[kroud-sawrs, -sohrs]
verb (used with object), verb (used without object), crowd·sourced, crowd·sourc·ing.
to utilize (labor, information, etc.) contributed by the general public to (a project), often via the Internet and without compensation.

Actually, crowdsourcing has already been used several times in genealogy. Perhaps one of the biggest crowdsourcing projects of all times was the indexing of the 1940 U.S. census in a joint initiative between the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), Archives.com, FamilySearch.org, findmypast.com, and other leading genealogy organizations. Literally hundreds of thousands of indexers around the world helped create a great resource and make it available to other genealogists. (See https://familysearch.org/blog/en/1940-census/ for details.)

More recently, on September 13–15, crowdsourcing volunteers from around the world joined together with FamilySearch.org to index and arbitrate 134,986 Italian records (approximately 400,000 names). Participants were invited to index and arbitrate over 35,000 Italian records in just 48 hours—slightly more than the previous high. (Details may be found at http://goo.gl/nfZDny.)

Ancestry.com has a similar project underway using volunteer indexers and dozens of local genealogy societies have been using volunteers for years to index local records. The recent Random Acts of Genealogical Kindness was actually a crowdsourcing project, although I don't recall the site's owner as ever using that term. That site went offline following the owner's death and a number of newer web sites have since appeared, each claiming to be a "replacement" for Random Acts of Genealogical Kindness. None of the replacements has been as successful as the original, however.

Now Eric Proffitt is organizing a similar project. His project plans to be a bit more formal than the others, including hiring software developers to create specialized software to allow millions of transactions between people doing family history and amateur genealogists.

Eric reports his family recently spent $1,200 hiring a professional genealogist to visit his wife's ancestral village in Ukraine and send pictures to Eric and his family. As a result, the family was able to see the great, great, grandmother's school, learn about cousins who are still alive, and got a feel for the culture of the area. However, the end result was expensive.

Eric writes, "This got us to thinking: what if we could create a place where normal people like you and me could help each other find their families?? For instance, if I wanted a picture of my Keith Family Castle, but couldn't afford to fly to the Scotland, I could post my request and have someone who already lives there take the picture and send it to me for as little as $5!"

Eric Proffitt has now created Crowd-Sourcing Genealogy, an online place where people can connect with other, normal people to access things such as gravestones, church records, marriage licenses etc. without having to travel across the world, or without having to pay $1,000's of dollars will take Family history to a whole new level.

You can read more about this project at http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/crowd-sourcing-genealogy or watch the video below or at http://youtu.be/D-y4-J6veH8.