Showing posts with label FamilySearch. Show all posts
Showing posts with label FamilySearch. Show all posts

Friday, April 5, 2013

FamilySearch UPDATE: The Canada Wiki

I just heard from Lisa who is a consultant at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City for the work on the Canada Wiki pages, and she has asked for our assistance

She says that “We are starting to post tasks on the FamilySearch Wiki to help us get the Ontario pages ready for a major renovation. If anyone would like to do some wiki reading and editing on the project they can find tasks at www.familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/FamilySearch_Wiki:WikiProject_Ontario

This project is in the beginning stages, but we hope to make the FamiliySearch Wiki a valuable place to find resource and record help for Ontario genealogists. As we finish Ontario we will move on to complete the same tasks in other provinces of Canada”.

So if you can help in any way, you can email Lisa at mcbridelw@familysearch.org

If you are already helping to read, write or edit Canadian Wiki Project pages at FamilySearch, let me know, so that I and the readers of this blog can recognize your good work.

Thursday, March 7, 2013

Family Tree is Live on FamilySearch.org for All Users


In a blog entitled Family Tree is Live on FamilySearch.org for All Users, Tara Bergeson wrote about the new Family Tree on FamilySearch.org.

She writes that “Much has been written about Family Tree, the first of several site enhancements for FamilySearch.org, and the replacement for new.familysearch.org. We’re happy to report that Family Tree is now live on FamilySearch.org and is available to all users. This opens up the contribution, collaboration, editing, and sourcing tools of Family Tree to researchers—including potential family members— around the world”.

You can

Connect and collaborate with others on shared family lines

Edit and delete incorrect data, including relationships

Provide sources and links to online information that shows where you found family information

Preserve family tree information for future generations

Use Family Tree on behalf of someone else (helper)

Print pedigree charts, family group records, and other reports

Go to the https://familysearch.org site and click on Family Tree at the top of the page. They also have a training website to view tutorials, and access a user guide that you can check.

Friday, February 1, 2013

WorldCat and FamilySearch Announce Partnership

An interesting press release was received by the office this morning that will see “services with data from both organizations to provide users with more resources for improved genealogy research”.

This is amazing news! Congratulations to both organizations.

“Under this new partnership, OCLC (World Cat) will incorporate data from FamilySearch’s catalog of genealogical materials into WorldCat, and FamilySearch will use OCLC cataloging services to continue to catalog its collections in WorldCat. FamilySearch will also use the WorldCat Search API to incorporate WorldCat results into search results returned by FamilySearch genealogy services.

FamilySearch, historically known as the Genealogical Society of Utah, is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the discovery and preservation of family histories and stories, introducing individuals to their ancestors through the widespread access to records, and collaborating with others who share this vision.

WorldCat is the world’s most comprehensive database of library materials. Updated at a rate of nearly one new record every second, WorldCat is a cooperatively-created catalog of items held in thousands of libraries worldwide, including public, academic, state and national libraries; archives; and historical societies. These libraries have cataloged their regular collections as well as many special collections—including digitized materials—devoted to local history. This makes WorldCat an indispensible tool for genealogy research”.

WorldCat is located at www.oclc.org, while FamilySearch is at https://familysearch.org

Wednesday, December 19, 2012

Genealogies at FamilySearch

Have you seen the latest improvement to FamilySearch.org?

On Dec 13th, they launched Genealogies which is a “set of lineage linked conclusion trees provided to FamilySearch by users. This data comes from the Ancestral File, the Pedigree Resource File and other user submissions”.

So I put in the name of one of my favorite ancestors, my 4th great grandfather Andrew BARCLAY, and his parents, and where he lived  – but I didn’t find anything new about him, or his grandson by the same name.

But the information submitted is correct according to my genealogy. And it’s so much easier than before, when you had to put in the information in each file in order to get the result.

Our thanks should go to those people who have and still are spending hours of their time checking this type of work to make sure that it is as correct as possible.

So give it a try, and see how it works for you..

To go to FamilySearch, the website is https://familysearch.org/family-trees

© Elizabeth Lapointe All Rights Reserved


Friday, October 5, 2012

New FamilySearch Video

The other day, I learned that FamilySearch Center had put a new 10 minute video on the Family Seach site.

So I decided to take a look.

The title of the video is “Doing Research in Real Time-An Exhilarating Collaboration Experience!", and a team of researchers led David E. Rencher as he sets about researching in real time. The team was from around the country, and used records in Salt Lake City, Ancestry.ca, and from other parts of the U.S., for example, Alabama in real time.

I found that it gave a very good picture of how the research is done. And I would recommend it to everyone to get your genealogy done in a resonable amount of time.

The video is at https://familysearch.org/learningcenter/home.html

There is a The Wiki Article/Handout link at https://familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/Doing_Research_in_Real_Time, that you can print out and use for reference later on, and a survey that you can complete.

The website for FamilySearch is at https://familysearch.org

Thursday, August 23, 2012

North American Indexing Volunteers Invited to Join New US Immigration & Naturalization Community Project

As many of you know, people who immigrated to North America often went to the United States first, and then proceeded to Canada, and many who went to Canada first, often crossed the border to go to the United States.

So even though this is a FamilySearch Community Project, it should be of interest to Canadians indexers.

FamilySearch says that “It will be an indexing effort to make passenger lists, naturalization records, and other immigration related records freely searchable online. Hundreds of thousands of North American volunteers are expected to contribute over the next 18-24 months, focusing initially on passenger lists from the major US ports”.

To find out more about the project, Individuals, societies and other groups that want to participate should visit From Sea to Shining Sea: Helping Everyone Find US Immigration Ancestors at https://familysearch.org/immigration

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Start a Facebook Research Community

FamilySearch.com is asking you to start a Facebook Research Community!

They say that "We are excited to announce the creation of several online research communities powered by FamilySearch, and would like to take this opportunity to invite you to join! These communities are being created to help you and others researching in the same area to:

collaborate on your research,

ask questions of each other, and

share knowledge you have gained as you've done your own research in that area".

There isn't any for Canada right at the moment.

If you would like to start one for a region of Canada, the instructions are at https://wiki.familysearch.org/en/Join_a_Facebook_Research_Community#Questions.3F

Wednesday, July 30, 2008

FamilySearch.org - From a Canadian Point of View

Every since the Internet has become like a second skin for the genealogy public, one site has become essential for research: <FamilySearch.org>.

I did that back in 1995 when I started my family history. There were three genealogies which had been done - but there were no supporting documents. So I am grateful that <FamilySearch.org> was there and that I was able to use them for free. But that might be changing in the near future.

In a recent press release from them, the word "free" is more clearly defined.

"Where possible, FamilySearch will seek to provide free public access to digital images of original images of original records. Due to affiliate obligations, free access to some images may be available only to FamilySearch members (volunteers and indexers who meet basic contribution requirements each quarter, patrons at Family History Centers, and members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who's contributions supply FamilySearch's operations)."

So what does this mean to you?

To me, it sounds like you will have to pay for access unless you fall into one of those categories. Will you be willing to go the local Family History library to do your research rather than turning on your home computer? Are you willing to index so much material per quarter in lieu of paying for access?

They are going to have the software by next year to verify that you are a member of FamilySearch so that you will be able to access future home use.

What do you think?