SOUTHERN UTAH FAMILY HISTORY AND GENEALOGY GROUP
Formerly known as Washington County PAF User Group
We are so much MORE than a PAF User Group - We specialize
in Computer and Family History Technology
CHANGES....CHANGES....CHANGES
Seems to be going on these day within our group
We have a new Name - Southern Utah Family History and Genealogy Group
We have a new President - Fran Lightner
We have several new Board Members - Don Snow, Wilma Staton and Sandra Bryant
We have a new meeting place - St. George East Stake Center
449 So. 300 East - St. George
The Presenters for our February Meeting - Robert and Elaine Booth
Will enlighten us about 'The CHANGES in New.FamilySearch'
WHEN: Saturday, 19th February 10:00 am to 12:00 noon
WHERE:
St. George East Stake Meeting House - 449 So. 300 East - St. George
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Thursday, February 3, 2011
2011 has brought changes to our group
JANUARY CONTINUES TO BRING CHANGES TO OUR GROUP
Washington County PAF Users Group is now doing business as - Southern Utah Family History & Genealogy Group
When I first joined the WC-PAF Users Group Board, 5 ½ years ago, one of the agenda items was what to do with the PAF part of our name. Not just us here in St. George, but all PAF Users Groups.
That was about the time that at least three new genealogy software programs were getting ready to be put on the market. RootsMagic, Ancestral Quest and Legacy.
Some discussion was held on what would happen to PAF – would it be around, or not. Most expected it to continue to be a part of genealogy software, but not sure if keeping PAF Users Group in a group name would be good.
Part of the discussion has always had two areas - First – many who have not been involved in family history/genealogy have no idea what a PAF is. We would lose their interest before they even knew exactly what our group was. Or, knew what PAF was, but are no longer using it and saw no reason to come to our meetings.
Second – keeping PAF in the name did not let others know that ‘we’re not just PAF anymore’. We’re research: using all of the current software: using our computers, and keeping them safe: using the internet: organizing our files: writing personal histories: and any other subjects that are needed by our members.
Discussion has been held on this right up to 2011.
Now, almost 6-years later we all know of the many changes that have been made. With multiple programs available it seems hard to know where to go with a name change. Other PAF Users Groups have had the same discussions.
After much discussion, and wondering what to do, our Board made a decision. That decision was to keep the original, Washington County PAF Users Group, but to have a ‘doing business as’ (dba).
The dba that was chosen is 'Southern Utah Family History & Genealogy Group’ We are in the process of making the many changes on our brochures, newsletter, web site and blogspot. Putting out that we are a family history and genealogy group.
Our intent to educate in all areas of doing family history remains the same.
Our meeting location and our dba name have changed, our classes and meetings will continue on as they have for so many years.
Thank You for your membership and support!
President Fran Lightner
Washington County PAF Users Group is now doing business as - Southern Utah Family History & Genealogy Group
When I first joined the WC-PAF Users Group Board, 5 ½ years ago, one of the agenda items was what to do with the PAF part of our name. Not just us here in St. George, but all PAF Users Groups.
That was about the time that at least three new genealogy software programs were getting ready to be put on the market. RootsMagic, Ancestral Quest and Legacy.
Some discussion was held on what would happen to PAF – would it be around, or not. Most expected it to continue to be a part of genealogy software, but not sure if keeping PAF Users Group in a group name would be good.
Part of the discussion has always had two areas - First – many who have not been involved in family history/genealogy have no idea what a PAF is. We would lose their interest before they even knew exactly what our group was. Or, knew what PAF was, but are no longer using it and saw no reason to come to our meetings.
Second – keeping PAF in the name did not let others know that ‘we’re not just PAF anymore’. We’re research: using all of the current software: using our computers, and keeping them safe: using the internet: organizing our files: writing personal histories: and any other subjects that are needed by our members.
Discussion has been held on this right up to 2011.
Now, almost 6-years later we all know of the many changes that have been made. With multiple programs available it seems hard to know where to go with a name change. Other PAF Users Groups have had the same discussions.
After much discussion, and wondering what to do, our Board made a decision. That decision was to keep the original, Washington County PAF Users Group, but to have a ‘doing business as’ (dba).
The dba that was chosen is 'Southern Utah Family History & Genealogy Group’ We are in the process of making the many changes on our brochures, newsletter, web site and blogspot. Putting out that we are a family history and genealogy group.
Our intent to educate in all areas of doing family history remains the same.
Our meeting location and our dba name have changed, our classes and meetings will continue on as they have for so many years.
Thank You for your membership and support!
President Fran Lightner
January 2011 - Monthly Meeting
St. George East Stake Building
449 South 300 East, St. George, UT
SATURDAY, JANUARY 15, 2011
Greeters................ Marilyn Rohrer and Wilma Staton
WELCOME: Fran Lightner – 10:00 am
OPENING PRAYER: Sunny Konold
➔Welcome was extended to all members and visitors.
➔Fran noted and gave Thanks to the Directors of the St. George Family History Center, Robert and Elaine Booth, for procuring this meeting site for our group. A special thanks was extended to Director Booth for securing means to set-up the Internet. It appears the Internet is not Family History friendly and he, Elder Booth, will be meeting with the powers-that-be to see if various genealogical sites can not be available through this Internet.
➔Former President Connie Stewart was present and she was given a Thank You gift from the user group with much applause and many thanks. The gift was a gift card for Desert Book.
➔We have a new “Intro Minute” beginning today which will highlight the various Family History Centers in our areas. Marlene Williams from the Ivins Multi-Stake Family History Center gave a short history of their center which services 4 stakes. Many classes are given at this center.
PRESENTERS: ..... Don and Diane Snow
Donald and Diane Snow are both Californians with Utah roots; Don's ancestors are the Snows from Southern Utah and Diane's are the Manwaring's from Northern Utah. Both of the Snows are retired from BYU where Diane taught in the Humanities Department and Don in the Mathematics Department. Diane has a Masters Degree in Humanities from BYU and Don has a PhD in Mathematics from Stanford. They have lived and taught in Minnesota, Colorado, Ontario Canada, Peru, London England, and Provo. They have 6children and 30 grandchildren. Since retiring from BYU, they have been on four Family History missions for the LDS Church, including being Directors of the New York Family History Center, serving in the London Family History Center, and in Nauvoo where they worked on a database of LDS Church members which is now posted on http:// earlylds.com. They have been involved with family history for many years, and Don has been a Vice President of the Utah Valley PAF Users Group since the 1990's. Don is currently a Board Member of our User Group. They are frequent speakers at genealogy and family history conferences.
Don told the group of the classes that are being held at the Morningside Stake Center by he and Diane. A list was presented to those attending. Family History Update Series - 1st and 3rd Wednesdays – 1:00 to 2:30 pm
16 February 2011 – The Best Things in Life are Free: Freeware for Family History
02 March 2011 – Filling Out the Family: Censuses in Family History
16 March 2011 – Great Grandpa was a Mormon: LDS and Utah Records
PRESENTATION: ..... Don and Diane Snow
This class discussed and demonstrated some programs that were freeware or inexpensive shareware for genealogy, which are defined as:
• "Freeware" means completely free with no "nag" screens; can use freely and give copies to anyone else
• "Shareware" means that if you plan to use it regularly, you should send a specified donation (usually small) to the author at the address given in the program.
• "Open Source" means freeware including the source code, so you can edit it if you know programming
• "Apps" means applications, i.e. software.
The lesson was summarized as follows:
“THE BEST THINGS IN LIFE ARE FREE”
#23 – FASTSTONE CAPTURE 5.3
• Freeware screen capture tool allows you to capture images online
• Capture Options – Active Windows, Window/Object, rectangle, Free Hand, Scrolling Window Full Screen.
• Capture in jpg, pdf, tif, and other formats.
#51 – EVERYTHING
• Freeware to find files quickly anywhere on your computer
• File Maintenance
• Use in tandem with Explorer or Q-DIR to move files to where they belong
• Drag and drop
• Find and delete duplications
#52 – FILESEEK
• Freeware to search in files for specified texts
• Can have it search entire hard drive or only specific folders
• gives a list of which files contain those words or phrases
#44 – ESSENTIAL PIM
• Freeware Personal Information Manager
• Daily calendar and record
• Easy to search for any word, event, name, location
• Good for historical record and shows activities in context
#15 – OURTIMELINES.COM
• Free website to show a life in its historical context
• Helpful in writing history
• Gives ideas of what records to research, e.g. wars going on during his/her life
#42-JOCR
• Freeware optical character recognition (OCR) programming
• Requires that you have MS Word 2003 or later on your computer, but doesn't use it
• Saves text to clipboard so you can paste it anywhere, e.g. into PAF sources
• Good accuracy; does better when text is larger size
#43-TRANSCRIPT
• Freeware program to help in transcribing handwritten documents (DOESN'T read handwriting)
• Format is two panels, one to show image of document and one where you type the transcription
• Has many features such as moving the image down when you press ENTER at end of line, can convert image to negative an zoom in or out
#53-Q-DIR
• Freeware program that acts like having two or more copies of Windows Explorer open at once
• Panels in Q-DIR (windows) can show contents of different folders so you can rename files or drag and drop between them to copy or move files from one to the other
• Has many other features as well, including printing a directory of a folder
The complete handout contained the following:
GENEALOGY DATABASE MANAGEMENT PROGRAMS
1. PAF 5.2 -- http://www.familysearch.org/ -- Free and still a good program to use until you need something more; can get help for it at any FHC
2. PAF Companion 5.2 -- http://www.familysearch.org/ -- Additional reports not in PAF 5.2, including fan charts; free trial version only does 3 generations; full version is on CD bundled with PAF 5.2 CD from the LDS Church Dist Centers (about $8) or can be ordered online
3. Ancestral Quest -- http://www.ancquest.com/ -- Has a free version (Ancestral Quest Basics), as well as a 60-day free trial of full version; can be used to link to and download from new FamilySearch; full version is free to use in FHC's
4. RootsMagic -- http://www.rootsmagic.com/ -- Has a free version (RootsMagic Essentials); can be used to download from new FamilySearch; full version is free to use in FHC's
5. Get My Ancestors -- http://www.ohanasoftware.com/ -- Freeware to download data from new FamilySearch -- Family Insight is also from Ohana Software - commercial program, but free to use in FHC's; links your PAF database to new FamilySearch
6. Legacy -- http://www.legacyfamilytree.com/ -- Free version (Standard version); full version is free to use in FHC's
7. Family Tree Builder -- http://www.myheritage.com/family-tree-builder -- Free genealogy program
8. Smart Genealogy -- http://freewareapp.com/smartgenealogy_download/ -- Free genealogy program; can import/export Excel and GEDCOM files which is sometimes very helpful
9. PhpGedView -- http://www.phpgedview.net/ -- Freeware to generate web pages from your GEDCOM for on- and offline use; requires PHP (also free)
OTHER GENEALOGY PROGRAMS AND DATABASES
10. PAF Pal -- http://www.ohanasoftware.com/ -- free helpful utility for PAF 5 databases to expand and contract US state names and add "USA" after every state; can then change "USA" to "United States" globally, as nFS wants now
11. GENViewer Lite -- http://mudcreeksoftware.com/genviewer.htm -- free and commercial versions; very fast and helpful to read and analyze GEDCOM's and databases from several genealogy programs
12. Addnote -- http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~gumby/ged.html -- free utility to add a note to every record in a GEDCOM
13. Addsour -- http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~gumby/ged.html -- free utility to add a source to every record in a GEDCOM
14. GEDCOM Viewer -- http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=90339 -- Open source program to view GEDCOM files
15. OurTimelines -- http://ourtimelines.com/ -- Free website that makes timelines of world events during your ancestor's life; can be personalized with up to 10 events of your own ancestor's life; can then save as pdf or html file and link it into your PAF program like a photo
16. OnePageGenealogy -- http://roots.cs.byu.edu/pedigree/ -- Makes pdf's of large pedigree and/or descendant charts from GEDCOM's
17. Pedigree Viewer -- http://labs.familysearch.org/ -- Trial release of new FamilySearch program by LDS Church to view large pedigree and descendant charts
18. Parish Locater -- http://www.parloc.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/ -- Program and database of 15,000 parishes in the United Kingdom; draws maps with nearby parishes
19. Parish Locater for Windows -- http://web.onetel.net.uk/~gdlawson/parfind.htm -- Program and database of 25,000 parishes in the United Kingdom
20. PRF Magnet -- on http://www.ohanasoftware.com -- Downloads data from Pedigree Resource File index (index only, no notes nor sources) on FamilySearch
21. FamilySearcher -- http://myweb.cableone.net/kevinowen3/FamilySearcher.htm -- Searches IIGI and several other web sites for names in a GEDCOM
GRAPHICS PROGRAMS
22. Adobe Reader X -- http://www.adobe.com/products/reader/ -- Free reader for pdf files
23. FastStone Capture (version 5.3 is last freeware version, later versions are shareware) -- http://www.aplusfreeware.com/categories/mmedia/FastStoneCapture.html -- Excellent screen capture utility that also captures entire scrolling screens
24. FastStone Image Viewer -- http://www.faststone.org/download.htm -- Good image viewer that also has screen capture features, but doesn't capture scrolling screens
25. Namexif -- http://www.digicamsoft.com/ -- Renamer for digital photos that copies date and time from metadata and puts them at start of file name, so sorting arranges photos in chronological order; can add other descriptive terms after the date/time for further ease of searching
26. Irfanview -- http://www.irfanview.com/ -- Photo editor, converter, and slideshower; many features, including batch conversions
27. Picasa 3 -- http://picasa.google.com/#utm_source=en-us-more&utm_campaign=en-pic&utm_medium=et -- Google's free photo editor and organizer
28. GIMP -- http://gimp-win.sourceforge.net/stable.html -- Freeware open source photo editor -- GIMPShop is an interface that makes GIMP menus look and act like PhotoShop
29. Oscar's File Renamer -- http://www.portablefreeware.com/?id=69 -- Good batch file renamer that allows you to see what the file name changes will look like before you actually change them
SOUND PROGRAMS
30. Audacity -- http://audacity.sourceforge.net/ -- Excellent sound recorder and editor, but parts are hard to learn
31. WavePad -- http://wavepad.en.softonic.com/ -- Sound recorder and editor
32. VLC -- http://www.videolan.org/ -- Good media player, has adjustments to synchronize sound and video when they don't match
33. Skype -- http://www.skype.com/download/ -- Free program to talk through your computer and the Internet - free to talk to other Skype users worldwide, small charge to talk to any land or cell phone worldwide; requires a broadband connection
TEXT AND OFFICE PROGRAMS
34. Jarte -- http://www.jarte.com/ -- Small, very fast, free text editor that handles txt and rtf
35. IBM Lotus Symphony office suite -- http://symphony.lotus.com/software/lotus/symphony/home.nsf/home -- Free and compatible with MS Word, Excel, and PowerPoint; seems to work faster than OpenOffice 3
36. OpenOffice 3 -- http://www.openoffice.org/ -- Powerful open source office programs compatible with MS Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and others
37. Gnumeric spreadsheet -- http://projects.gnome.org/gnumeric/ -- Open source spreadsheet compatible with Excel and many others
38. NotePad++ -- http://notepad-plus.sourceforge.net/uk/site.htm -- Excellent open source text editor - very useful for many formats
39. PDF995 -- http://www.pdf995.com/ -- Installs as a printer so you can "print" anything to pdf, e.g. PAF genealogy reports
40. PDFX-Change Viewer -- http://www.tracker-software.com/product/pdf-xchange-viewer -- PDF utility, allows you to write on pdf files, e.g. to fill out a pdf form and save the results to print, email, etc.
41. PDF Split and Merge -- http://sourceforge.net/projects/pdfsam/ -- Open source program to split or combine pdf files
42. JOCR -- http://download.cnet.com/JOCR/3000-2192_4-10768898.html -- Freeware optical character recognition program for images of text on screen - small, fast, and works well, but requires that MS Word 2003 or later be installed (doesn't work with OpenOffice)
43. Transcript -- http://www.jacobboerema.nl/en/Freeware.htm -- Helps you in transcribing from images of handwritten documents, keeps image and your typed text in sync as you move down the page
44. Essential PIM -- http://www.essentialpim.com/?r=download -- Personal information manager (PIM); good for appointments, calendars, To Do lists, etc.
45. TreePad Lite -- http://www.treepad.com/treepadfreeware/ -- Personal information manager (PIM), uses tree-format
46. Tinyspell -- http://tinyspell.m6.net/ -- Spell checker that works even in PAF notes
47. Thunderbird Email -- http://www.mozillamessaging.com/en-US/thunderbird/ -- Free email reader with many helpful features
48. Eudora Email -- https://wiki.mozilla.org/Eudora_OSE -- Freeware email reader with many features; open source version is in progress
COMPUTER UTILITIES
49. BelArc Advisor -- http://www.belarc.com/free_download.html -- Utility to analyze and list your computer's hardware and software
50. Dropbox -- http://www.getdropbox.com/ -- Automatically synchronizes (copies via the Internet) whatever you put in the Dropbox folder on one computer to any other computer(s) you specify
51. Everything - desktop search engine -- http://www.voidtools.com/ -- Very fast desktop search engine for files on your computer; very helpful to search, launch, and organize files on your computer
52. FileSeek -- http://www.fileseek.ca/Download/ -- Free and fast search engine for text inside files on your computer
53. Q-Dir -- http://www.softwareok.com/ -- Helpful two or more panel Windows Explorer-type program for file maintenance such as checking, copying, moving, and deleting files
54. DupKiller -- http://www.snapfiles.com/get/dupkiller.html -- Fast program to find all the duplicate files on your computer
55. Piriform Defragler -- http://www.piriform.com/defraggler -- Good defragger for your hard drives
56. Glary Utilities -- http://www.glaryutilities.com/ -- Helpful computer utilities to keep your computer running smoothly; free for home use
57. Advanced SystemCare Free -- http://www.iobit.com/advancedwindowscareper.html?Str=download -- Helpful computer utilities
58. JustZipIt -- http://free-backup.info/justzipit.html -- Simple zip/unzip file compression program
59. WinHTTrack -- http://www.httrack.com/ -- Will download all or part of an entire website for offline browsing and backing up
60. PageNest Free -- http://dailyfreeware.net/2009/08/20/pagenest-free-edition-321/ -- Website copier for offline reading and backing up
61. Clipboard Magic -- http://www.cybermatrix.com/clipboard_magic.html -- Allows saving multiple items to clipboard
62. Karen's Replicator -- http://www.karenware.com/powertools/ptreplicator.asp -- Freeware to backup your data from one location to another
63. ImgBurn -- http://ask-leo.com/imgburn_free_cddvd_burning_tool.html -- Freeware CD/DVD image burner with instructions
64. LogMeIn Free -- http://www.logmein.com (listed under Products) -- Allows you to control one computer through another over the Internet
CONCLUSION
• Many freeware programs are better than the corresponding commercial programs.
• http://alternativeto.net/ -- Lists freeware that works like commercial programs
• http://www.osalt.com/ -- Finds open source alternatives to commercial programs
• Free Apps -- http://www.freenew.net/ -- you select the freeware programs you want from a list and it installs all of them for you
• Portable Apps -- http://portableapps.com/ -- contains several good freeware apps and allows them to run from your flash drive so you can take them with you
• Many additional freeware and shareware programs
• http://www.softpedia.com/ -- Categories of freeware
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_source -- Article and list of open source freeware
• http://www.pricelesswarehome.org/index.html -- List of freeware
• http://www.fsf.org/ -- The Free Software Foundation
• http://sourceforge.net/ -- The largest open source software (freeware) development site
• http://www.oldversion.com/ -- Old Versions of software
• http://www.oldapps.com/ -- Old Apps - older versions of freeware and some commercial apps
• To find many more such websites do a Google search for terms like "genealogy freeware" or "free software for family history" (without the quotes)
CLOSING PRAYER
RECORDING SECRETARY: June Morton
Members Attending: 43
Visitors: 10
TOTAL ATTENDANCE: 53
449 South 300 East, St. George, UT
SATURDAY, JANUARY 15, 2011
Greeters................ Marilyn Rohrer and Wilma Staton
WELCOME: Fran Lightner – 10:00 am
OPENING PRAYER: Sunny Konold
➔Welcome was extended to all members and visitors.
➔Fran noted and gave Thanks to the Directors of the St. George Family History Center, Robert and Elaine Booth, for procuring this meeting site for our group. A special thanks was extended to Director Booth for securing means to set-up the Internet. It appears the Internet is not Family History friendly and he, Elder Booth, will be meeting with the powers-that-be to see if various genealogical sites can not be available through this Internet.
➔Former President Connie Stewart was present and she was given a Thank You gift from the user group with much applause and many thanks. The gift was a gift card for Desert Book.
➔We have a new “Intro Minute” beginning today which will highlight the various Family History Centers in our areas. Marlene Williams from the Ivins Multi-Stake Family History Center gave a short history of their center which services 4 stakes. Many classes are given at this center.
PRESENTERS: ..... Don and Diane Snow
Donald and Diane Snow are both Californians with Utah roots; Don's ancestors are the Snows from Southern Utah and Diane's are the Manwaring's from Northern Utah. Both of the Snows are retired from BYU where Diane taught in the Humanities Department and Don in the Mathematics Department. Diane has a Masters Degree in Humanities from BYU and Don has a PhD in Mathematics from Stanford. They have lived and taught in Minnesota, Colorado, Ontario Canada, Peru, London England, and Provo. They have 6children and 30 grandchildren. Since retiring from BYU, they have been on four Family History missions for the LDS Church, including being Directors of the New York Family History Center, serving in the London Family History Center, and in Nauvoo where they worked on a database of LDS Church members which is now posted on http:// earlylds.com. They have been involved with family history for many years, and Don has been a Vice President of the Utah Valley PAF Users Group since the 1990's. Don is currently a Board Member of our User Group. They are frequent speakers at genealogy and family history conferences.
Don told the group of the classes that are being held at the Morningside Stake Center by he and Diane. A list was presented to those attending. Family History Update Series - 1st and 3rd Wednesdays – 1:00 to 2:30 pm
16 February 2011 – The Best Things in Life are Free: Freeware for Family History
02 March 2011 – Filling Out the Family: Censuses in Family History
16 March 2011 – Great Grandpa was a Mormon: LDS and Utah Records
PRESENTATION: ..... Don and Diane Snow
This class discussed and demonstrated some programs that were freeware or inexpensive shareware for genealogy, which are defined as:
• "Freeware" means completely free with no "nag" screens; can use freely and give copies to anyone else
• "Shareware" means that if you plan to use it regularly, you should send a specified donation (usually small) to the author at the address given in the program.
• "Open Source" means freeware including the source code, so you can edit it if you know programming
• "Apps" means applications, i.e. software.
The lesson was summarized as follows:
“THE BEST THINGS IN LIFE ARE FREE”
#23 – FASTSTONE CAPTURE 5.3
• Freeware screen capture tool allows you to capture images online
• Capture Options – Active Windows, Window/Object, rectangle, Free Hand, Scrolling Window Full Screen.
• Capture in jpg, pdf, tif, and other formats.
#51 – EVERYTHING
• Freeware to find files quickly anywhere on your computer
• File Maintenance
• Use in tandem with Explorer or Q-DIR to move files to where they belong
• Drag and drop
• Find and delete duplications
#52 – FILESEEK
• Freeware to search in files for specified texts
• Can have it search entire hard drive or only specific folders
• gives a list of which files contain those words or phrases
#44 – ESSENTIAL PIM
• Freeware Personal Information Manager
• Daily calendar and record
• Easy to search for any word, event, name, location
• Good for historical record and shows activities in context
#15 – OURTIMELINES.COM
• Free website to show a life in its historical context
• Helpful in writing history
• Gives ideas of what records to research, e.g. wars going on during his/her life
#42-JOCR
• Freeware optical character recognition (OCR) programming
• Requires that you have MS Word 2003 or later on your computer, but doesn't use it
• Saves text to clipboard so you can paste it anywhere, e.g. into PAF sources
• Good accuracy; does better when text is larger size
#43-TRANSCRIPT
• Freeware program to help in transcribing handwritten documents (DOESN'T read handwriting)
• Format is two panels, one to show image of document and one where you type the transcription
• Has many features such as moving the image down when you press ENTER at end of line, can convert image to negative an zoom in or out
#53-Q-DIR
• Freeware program that acts like having two or more copies of Windows Explorer open at once
• Panels in Q-DIR (windows) can show contents of different folders so you can rename files or drag and drop between them to copy or move files from one to the other
• Has many other features as well, including printing a directory of a folder
The complete handout contained the following:
GENEALOGY DATABASE MANAGEMENT PROGRAMS
1. PAF 5.2 -- http://www.familysearch.org/ -- Free and still a good program to use until you need something more; can get help for it at any FHC
2. PAF Companion 5.2 -- http://www.familysearch.org/ -- Additional reports not in PAF 5.2, including fan charts; free trial version only does 3 generations; full version is on CD bundled with PAF 5.2 CD from the LDS Church Dist Centers (about $8) or can be ordered online
3. Ancestral Quest -- http://www.ancquest.com/ -- Has a free version (Ancestral Quest Basics), as well as a 60-day free trial of full version; can be used to link to and download from new FamilySearch; full version is free to use in FHC's
4. RootsMagic -- http://www.rootsmagic.com/ -- Has a free version (RootsMagic Essentials); can be used to download from new FamilySearch; full version is free to use in FHC's
5. Get My Ancestors -- http://www.ohanasoftware.com/ -- Freeware to download data from new FamilySearch -- Family Insight is also from Ohana Software - commercial program, but free to use in FHC's; links your PAF database to new FamilySearch
6. Legacy -- http://www.legacyfamilytree.com/ -- Free version (Standard version); full version is free to use in FHC's
7. Family Tree Builder -- http://www.myheritage.com/family-tree-builder -- Free genealogy program
8. Smart Genealogy -- http://freewareapp.com/smartgenealogy_download/ -- Free genealogy program; can import/export Excel and GEDCOM files which is sometimes very helpful
9. PhpGedView -- http://www.phpgedview.net/ -- Freeware to generate web pages from your GEDCOM for on- and offline use; requires PHP (also free)
OTHER GENEALOGY PROGRAMS AND DATABASES
10. PAF Pal -- http://www.ohanasoftware.com/ -- free helpful utility for PAF 5 databases to expand and contract US state names and add "USA" after every state; can then change "USA" to "United States" globally, as nFS wants now
11. GENViewer Lite -- http://mudcreeksoftware.com/genviewer.htm -- free and commercial versions; very fast and helpful to read and analyze GEDCOM's and databases from several genealogy programs
12. Addnote -- http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~gumby/ged.html -- free utility to add a note to every record in a GEDCOM
13. Addsour -- http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~gumby/ged.html -- free utility to add a source to every record in a GEDCOM
14. GEDCOM Viewer -- http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=90339 -- Open source program to view GEDCOM files
15. OurTimelines -- http://ourtimelines.com/ -- Free website that makes timelines of world events during your ancestor's life; can be personalized with up to 10 events of your own ancestor's life; can then save as pdf or html file and link it into your PAF program like a photo
16. OnePageGenealogy -- http://roots.cs.byu.edu/pedigree/ -- Makes pdf's of large pedigree and/or descendant charts from GEDCOM's
17. Pedigree Viewer -- http://labs.familysearch.org/ -- Trial release of new FamilySearch program by LDS Church to view large pedigree and descendant charts
18. Parish Locater -- http://www.parloc.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/ -- Program and database of 15,000 parishes in the United Kingdom; draws maps with nearby parishes
19. Parish Locater for Windows -- http://web.onetel.net.uk/~gdlawson/parfind.htm -- Program and database of 25,000 parishes in the United Kingdom
20. PRF Magnet -- on http://www.ohanasoftware.com -- Downloads data from Pedigree Resource File index (index only, no notes nor sources) on FamilySearch
21. FamilySearcher -- http://myweb.cableone.net/kevinowen3/FamilySearcher.htm -- Searches IIGI and several other web sites for names in a GEDCOM
GRAPHICS PROGRAMS
22. Adobe Reader X -- http://www.adobe.com/products/reader/ -- Free reader for pdf files
23. FastStone Capture (version 5.3 is last freeware version, later versions are shareware) -- http://www.aplusfreeware.com/categories/mmedia/FastStoneCapture.html -- Excellent screen capture utility that also captures entire scrolling screens
24. FastStone Image Viewer -- http://www.faststone.org/download.htm -- Good image viewer that also has screen capture features, but doesn't capture scrolling screens
25. Namexif -- http://www.digicamsoft.com/ -- Renamer for digital photos that copies date and time from metadata and puts them at start of file name, so sorting arranges photos in chronological order; can add other descriptive terms after the date/time for further ease of searching
26. Irfanview -- http://www.irfanview.com/ -- Photo editor, converter, and slideshower; many features, including batch conversions
27. Picasa 3 -- http://picasa.google.com/#utm_source=en-us-more&utm_campaign=en-pic&utm_medium=et -- Google's free photo editor and organizer
28. GIMP -- http://gimp-win.sourceforge.net/stable.html -- Freeware open source photo editor -- GIMPShop is an interface that makes GIMP menus look and act like PhotoShop
29. Oscar's File Renamer -- http://www.portablefreeware.com/?id=69 -- Good batch file renamer that allows you to see what the file name changes will look like before you actually change them
SOUND PROGRAMS
30. Audacity -- http://audacity.sourceforge.net/ -- Excellent sound recorder and editor, but parts are hard to learn
31. WavePad -- http://wavepad.en.softonic.com/ -- Sound recorder and editor
32. VLC -- http://www.videolan.org/ -- Good media player, has adjustments to synchronize sound and video when they don't match
33. Skype -- http://www.skype.com/download/ -- Free program to talk through your computer and the Internet - free to talk to other Skype users worldwide, small charge to talk to any land or cell phone worldwide; requires a broadband connection
TEXT AND OFFICE PROGRAMS
34. Jarte -- http://www.jarte.com/ -- Small, very fast, free text editor that handles txt and rtf
35. IBM Lotus Symphony office suite -- http://symphony.lotus.com/software/lotus/symphony/home.nsf/home -- Free and compatible with MS Word, Excel, and PowerPoint; seems to work faster than OpenOffice 3
36. OpenOffice 3 -- http://www.openoffice.org/ -- Powerful open source office programs compatible with MS Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and others
37. Gnumeric spreadsheet -- http://projects.gnome.org/gnumeric/ -- Open source spreadsheet compatible with Excel and many others
38. NotePad++ -- http://notepad-plus.sourceforge.net/uk/site.htm -- Excellent open source text editor - very useful for many formats
39. PDF995 -- http://www.pdf995.com/ -- Installs as a printer so you can "print" anything to pdf, e.g. PAF genealogy reports
40. PDFX-Change Viewer -- http://www.tracker-software.com/product/pdf-xchange-viewer -- PDF utility, allows you to write on pdf files, e.g. to fill out a pdf form and save the results to print, email, etc.
41. PDF Split and Merge -- http://sourceforge.net/projects/pdfsam/ -- Open source program to split or combine pdf files
42. JOCR -- http://download.cnet.com/JOCR/3000-2192_4-10768898.html -- Freeware optical character recognition program for images of text on screen - small, fast, and works well, but requires that MS Word 2003 or later be installed (doesn't work with OpenOffice)
43. Transcript -- http://www.jacobboerema.nl/en/Freeware.htm -- Helps you in transcribing from images of handwritten documents, keeps image and your typed text in sync as you move down the page
44. Essential PIM -- http://www.essentialpim.com/?r=download -- Personal information manager (PIM); good for appointments, calendars, To Do lists, etc.
45. TreePad Lite -- http://www.treepad.com/treepadfreeware/ -- Personal information manager (PIM), uses tree-format
46. Tinyspell -- http://tinyspell.m6.net/ -- Spell checker that works even in PAF notes
47. Thunderbird Email -- http://www.mozillamessaging.com/en-US/thunderbird/ -- Free email reader with many helpful features
48. Eudora Email -- https://wiki.mozilla.org/Eudora_OSE -- Freeware email reader with many features; open source version is in progress
COMPUTER UTILITIES
49. BelArc Advisor -- http://www.belarc.com/free_download.html -- Utility to analyze and list your computer's hardware and software
50. Dropbox -- http://www.getdropbox.com/ -- Automatically synchronizes (copies via the Internet) whatever you put in the Dropbox folder on one computer to any other computer(s) you specify
51. Everything - desktop search engine -- http://www.voidtools.com/ -- Very fast desktop search engine for files on your computer; very helpful to search, launch, and organize files on your computer
52. FileSeek -- http://www.fileseek.ca/Download/ -- Free and fast search engine for text inside files on your computer
53. Q-Dir -- http://www.softwareok.com/ -- Helpful two or more panel Windows Explorer-type program for file maintenance such as checking, copying, moving, and deleting files
54. DupKiller -- http://www.snapfiles.com/get/dupkiller.html -- Fast program to find all the duplicate files on your computer
55. Piriform Defragler -- http://www.piriform.com/defraggler -- Good defragger for your hard drives
56. Glary Utilities -- http://www.glaryutilities.com/ -- Helpful computer utilities to keep your computer running smoothly; free for home use
57. Advanced SystemCare Free -- http://www.iobit.com/advancedwindowscareper.html?Str=download -- Helpful computer utilities
58. JustZipIt -- http://free-backup.info/justzipit.html -- Simple zip/unzip file compression program
59. WinHTTrack -- http://www.httrack.com/ -- Will download all or part of an entire website for offline browsing and backing up
60. PageNest Free -- http://dailyfreeware.net/2009/08/20/pagenest-free-edition-321/ -- Website copier for offline reading and backing up
61. Clipboard Magic -- http://www.cybermatrix.com/clipboard_magic.html -- Allows saving multiple items to clipboard
62. Karen's Replicator -- http://www.karenware.com/powertools/ptreplicator.asp -- Freeware to backup your data from one location to another
63. ImgBurn -- http://ask-leo.com/imgburn_free_cddvd_burning_tool.html -- Freeware CD/DVD image burner with instructions
64. LogMeIn Free -- http://www.logmein.com (listed under Products) -- Allows you to control one computer through another over the Internet
CONCLUSION
• Many freeware programs are better than the corresponding commercial programs.
• http://alternativeto.net/ -- Lists freeware that works like commercial programs
• http://www.osalt.com/ -- Finds open source alternatives to commercial programs
• Free Apps -- http://www.freenew.net/ -- you select the freeware programs you want from a list and it installs all of them for you
• Portable Apps -- http://portableapps.com/ -- contains several good freeware apps and allows them to run from your flash drive so you can take them with you
• Many additional freeware and shareware programs
• http://www.softpedia.com/ -- Categories of freeware
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_source -- Article and list of open source freeware
• http://www.pricelesswarehome.org/index.html -- List of freeware
• http://www.fsf.org/ -- The Free Software Foundation
• http://sourceforge.net/ -- The largest open source software (freeware) development site
• http://www.oldversion.com/ -- Old Versions of software
• http://www.oldapps.com/ -- Old Apps - older versions of freeware and some commercial apps
• To find many more such websites do a Google search for terms like "genealogy freeware" or "free software for family history" (without the quotes)
CLOSING PRAYER
RECORDING SECRETARY: June Morton
Members Attending: 43
Visitors: 10
TOTAL ATTENDANCE: 53
Thursday, January 13, 2011
Genealogy Now - January 29, 2011
GENEALOGY NOW - a FREE Family History Conference
Keynote Speaker - Former Governor Olene Walker
Free Admission - Free Classes, Displays, Exhibits, Door Prizes
Janury 29, 2011, 10am - 5pm
LDS Meetinghouse - 550 E. 700 S., St. George
Sponsered by: St. George Family History Center
Classes: Getting Started: NewFamilySearch: Indexing: Ancestry.com: File Organization: Photo Editing: Google Earth: Free Websites: Cemetery Search: Ancestral Quest: Family Insight: Legacy Family Tree: RootsMagic:
FH Consultants.
More Information: 673-4591
www.FamilyHistoryCenter.org
Keynote Speaker - Former Governor Olene Walker
Free Admission - Free Classes, Displays, Exhibits, Door Prizes
Janury 29, 2011, 10am - 5pm
LDS Meetinghouse - 550 E. 700 S., St. George
Sponsered by: St. George Family History Center
Classes: Getting Started: NewFamilySearch: Indexing: Ancestry.com: File Organization: Photo Editing: Google Earth: Free Websites: Cemetery Search: Ancestral Quest: Family Insight: Legacy Family Tree: RootsMagic:
FH Consultants.
More Information: 673-4591
www.FamilyHistoryCenter.org
Saturday, January 8, 2011
January 2011 - President Messsage
Happy New Year!
Welcome to our 3 new board members: Don Snow, Wilma Staton and Sandra Bryant.
New meeting place:
As the Board looked forward to 2011, planning all the needs of our group, trying to look ahead.
Most importantly in our on-going discussion every year are bringing information to our members that will help with our on-going research: our keeping up with the daily, or hourly, changes in so much of what we use: keeping our computers clean and avoiding ‘bugs’: and encouraging us all to continue our family history.
The history of the Washington County PAF Users Group is now about 19-years of meetings. Mostly these meetings were held in the Morningside Stake Center. The Relief Society and Primary Rooms have been our ‘home’. We have appreciated the on-going use provided for our meetings.
Our ‘Thank You’ to those who provided our meeting place for all these years.
The Board was notified in mid-December that the Morningside Stake would no longer make the rooms available to our group as of January 2011.
It was quite a surprise, but we got right on finding another meeting location. We looked into the Senior Center, the Pioneer Center (behind the Senior Center), the Library and other possible locations around the area. Each one had guidelines that would keep us from using that location.
The St. George Family History Center offered us the option to meet there, but none of the rooms offered enough space for us.
We were coming up with ‘almost’, but nothing that would meet all our needs.
It was then that we were given the opportunity to meet in the East Stake Center building. This offers all that we had in the Morningside Stake Center, and allowed us just one large change to be made, instead of many little ones - moving to a new location.
After discussion and opening up any suggestions for another option, it was decided this would be the best option available.
January 2011 brings a new ‘home’ for our meetings - the St. George East Stake Center
The St. George East Stake Center is located across from the Temple, and the old hospital, now the Women’s Hospital. 449 S. 300 E.
Our meeting day and time will remain the same. The 3rd Saturday of each month, except June, July and August, 10:00 a.m. to noon.
This will be the first year of taking 3 months off during the summer months. It is not the easiest time to get presenters for classes, and our attendance is low during these 3 months. This subject has been discussed by our Board to come to this discussion. The newsletter will continue during this time.
We hope everyone will enjoy the summer break and come back in September.
In October, Family History Month, we had a wonderful meeting where many brought an artifact, or story of their ancestors. It was so nice to share. We will keep this activity in our October meeting in 2011. Sharing our ancestors, and their stories is just a very special experience.
2011 will being some changes in the Washington County PAF Users Group. Some planned and others not even in our agenda. Changes aren’t always easy, but we have done our best to make this as easy a change as possible. The Board hopes that in our new location will allow us to continue on with meetings and classes that help us all to do our research in Family History.
Welcome to our 3 new board members: Don Snow, Wilma Staton and Sandra Bryant.
New meeting place:
As the Board looked forward to 2011, planning all the needs of our group, trying to look ahead.
Most importantly in our on-going discussion every year are bringing information to our members that will help with our on-going research: our keeping up with the daily, or hourly, changes in so much of what we use: keeping our computers clean and avoiding ‘bugs’: and encouraging us all to continue our family history.
The history of the Washington County PAF Users Group is now about 19-years of meetings. Mostly these meetings were held in the Morningside Stake Center. The Relief Society and Primary Rooms have been our ‘home’. We have appreciated the on-going use provided for our meetings.
Our ‘Thank You’ to those who provided our meeting place for all these years.
The Board was notified in mid-December that the Morningside Stake would no longer make the rooms available to our group as of January 2011.
It was quite a surprise, but we got right on finding another meeting location. We looked into the Senior Center, the Pioneer Center (behind the Senior Center), the Library and other possible locations around the area. Each one had guidelines that would keep us from using that location.
The St. George Family History Center offered us the option to meet there, but none of the rooms offered enough space for us.
We were coming up with ‘almost’, but nothing that would meet all our needs.
It was then that we were given the opportunity to meet in the East Stake Center building. This offers all that we had in the Morningside Stake Center, and allowed us just one large change to be made, instead of many little ones - moving to a new location.
After discussion and opening up any suggestions for another option, it was decided this would be the best option available.
January 2011 brings a new ‘home’ for our meetings - the St. George East Stake Center
The St. George East Stake Center is located across from the Temple, and the old hospital, now the Women’s Hospital. 449 S. 300 E.
Our meeting day and time will remain the same. The 3rd Saturday of each month, except June, July and August, 10:00 a.m. to noon.
This will be the first year of taking 3 months off during the summer months. It is not the easiest time to get presenters for classes, and our attendance is low during these 3 months. This subject has been discussed by our Board to come to this discussion. The newsletter will continue during this time.
We hope everyone will enjoy the summer break and come back in September.
In October, Family History Month, we had a wonderful meeting where many brought an artifact, or story of their ancestors. It was so nice to share. We will keep this activity in our October meeting in 2011. Sharing our ancestors, and their stories is just a very special experience.
2011 will being some changes in the Washington County PAF Users Group. Some planned and others not even in our agenda. Changes aren’t always easy, but we have done our best to make this as easy a change as possible. The Board hopes that in our new location will allow us to continue on with meetings and classes that help us all to do our research in Family History.
Saturday, January 15, 2011
FAMILY HISTORY PRESENTATION BY DON AND DIANE SNOW
Don and Diane Snow will be the main presenters at the January meeting of the Family History and Genealogy User Group: Washington County PAF Users Group on SATURDAY MORNING 15 JAN 2011 from 10am-noon. The Group's meeting location has been changed to the Relief Society Room of the ST. GEORGE EAST STAKE CENTER across the street east of the Temple. The title of the Snows' presentation is FREEWARE FOR FAMILY HISTORY and will discuss free software that you can use to help in various ways in family history. There is no charge to attend. Printed notes will be given out and will be posted online at http://uvpafug.org/classes/dons . The WCPAFUG has a webpage at http://wcpafug.org which will list more of the details, but has not been updated for the new meeting location yet. For any comments or questions please get in touch with the Snows at 435-673-1932 or snowd@math.byu.edu.
Don and Diane Snow will be the main presenters at the January meeting of the Family History and Genealogy User Group: Washington County PAF Users Group on SATURDAY MORNING 15 JAN 2011 from 10am-noon. The Group's meeting location has been changed to the Relief Society Room of the ST. GEORGE EAST STAKE CENTER across the street east of the Temple. The title of the Snows' presentation is FREEWARE FOR FAMILY HISTORY and will discuss free software that you can use to help in various ways in family history. There is no charge to attend. Printed notes will be given out and will be posted online at http://uvpafug.org/classes/dons . The WCPAFUG has a webpage at http://wcpafug.org which will list more of the details, but has not been updated for the new meeting location yet. For any comments or questions please get in touch with the Snows at 435-673-1932 or snowd@math.byu.edu.
We're moving our meeting location
After so many years at the Morningside Stake Center the Washington County PAF Users Group is moving.
This was not a planned move, and not one we wanted to make.
We searched various locations in the area, but were unable to fine a meeting room that meet our needs, or that we fit the criteria.
Elaine Booth, at the St. George Family History Center (across from the temple) was able to help us out. We appreciate Elaine's help, and because of her help we will not miss any meetings.
Starting with our January 2011 our new location is: St. George East Stake Center - 449 South 300 East - St. George, Utah. (Across from the old hospital and the temple.)
It will take some getting use to. Being at the same location for so long our cars could go there on their own. Now we'll have to take our cars off of automatic pilot, or change the GPS directions.
The monthly board meetings will now be held at the St. George Family History Center at 5:15 p.m. the Wednesday before our regular Saturday monthly meeting.
If you have any questions or comments please call Fran Lightner 688-1260, Helen Lenz 668-2099 or June Morton 652-9463.
This was not a planned move, and not one we wanted to make.
We searched various locations in the area, but were unable to fine a meeting room that meet our needs, or that we fit the criteria.
Elaine Booth, at the St. George Family History Center (across from the temple) was able to help us out. We appreciate Elaine's help, and because of her help we will not miss any meetings.
Starting with our January 2011 our new location is: St. George East Stake Center - 449 South 300 East - St. George, Utah. (Across from the old hospital and the temple.)
It will take some getting use to. Being at the same location for so long our cars could go there on their own. Now we'll have to take our cars off of automatic pilot, or change the GPS directions.
The monthly board meetings will now be held at the St. George Family History Center at 5:15 p.m. the Wednesday before our regular Saturday monthly meeting.
If you have any questions or comments please call Fran Lightner 688-1260, Helen Lenz 668-2099 or June Morton 652-9463.
Saturday, December 18, 2010
Our annual December business meeting and social was held today. No class is held during our December meeting.
Out-going President Connie Stewart presided over the annual business meeting. An overview of activities and classes presented in 2010 was given. Then nomination and election of officers and board members for 2011 was held.
After the business meeting was ended drawings were held for several gifts donated by various business' in the area. We thank all those who made those donations!
With the various finger foods brought by those in attendence we had plenty to try.
Thanks to all for another good year at the WC PAF UG in 2010 and we look forward to 2011!
Out-going President Connie Stewart presided over the annual business meeting. An overview of activities and classes presented in 2010 was given. Then nomination and election of officers and board members for 2011 was held.
After the business meeting was ended drawings were held for several gifts donated by various business' in the area. We thank all those who made those donations!
With the various finger foods brought by those in attendence we had plenty to try.
Thanks to all for another good year at the WC PAF UG in 2010 and we look forward to 2011!
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Saturday, November 20, 2010
FAMILY HISTORY AND GENEALOGY USER GROUP
WC-PAFUG
Meeting Notice
Saturday - 20th November - 10:00 am
Morningside Stake Center
900 South and River Road - St. George
PRESENTER
November Meeting to Feature
Family Insight with Don Burton
Read about Don in the Newsletter
... And JOIN us on Saturday ...
WC-PAFUG
Meeting Notice
Saturday - 20th November - 10:00 am
Morningside Stake Center
900 South and River Road - St. George
PRESENTER
November Meeting to Feature
Family Insight with Don Burton
Read about Don in the Newsletter
... And JOIN us on Saturday ...
Monday, October 25, 2010
Saturday,October 16, 2020
WASHINGTON COUNTY PAF USER GROUP
Morningside Stake Center on 9th South and River Road
Member Meeting
16 October 2010
GREETERS: .....Helen Lenz
WELCOME: ..... Connie Stewart
Connie welcomed all in attendance, with a special welcome to the visitors.
OPENING PRAYER: .....Margaret Miller
ANNOUNCEMENTS: Remember the great genealogical programs which are available on TV.
· “Who Do You Think You Are” on NBC TV. All previous programs can be viewed at:
http://www.nbc.com/who-do-you-think-you-are/
· “Generations Project which can be viewed on BYUTV. Check on line for when available with yourcable network ...http://www.byutv.org/thegenerationsproject/
· The St. George Family History Center is holding an Open House on Saturday, 30th of October 10:00am to 4:00 pm. Everyone is invited to visit, see the renovations and enjoy a treat.
• The User Group Blog and WebSite addresses to all in attendance with the suggestion to log on and view the sites.
• Sterling Davis is 91 years young today and we all sang Happy Birthday to him. He has been attending our user group since it's inception about 20 years ago.
PRESENTER INTRODUCTION: .....Connie Stewart
Julie Bliss Hammons our presenter today is a Millard County native who moved to St. George a little over a year ago. She has been a Stake Family History Director, and has traveled and taught genealogy research classes at conferences and for Genealogy Societies. She also wrote a genealogy newspaper column before moving to St. George about a year and a half ago. She currently teaches classes at the St. George
FHC, the Ivin’s Stake, and other places when she is asked.
Julie is on the PAF UG Board and is currently serving as a Family History Service Missionary at the St. George FHC, and serves as a Stake Family History Consultant to the Young Singles Adult 1st Stake.
She put up her 1st website ‘Relative Bliss’ a number of years ago and success that came from it has kept her focused on technology and how it can help you in your research.
She will show you how to use the new technologies, and tools that are available to you to accomplish your genealogy goals. She will also show you the new features that are now in FamilySearch, and available to everyone, to help you find success with your genealogy.
PRESENTATION: .....Julie Hammons
Julie followed her handout as listed below and reveiewed the social network sites, with her stories of successes. She them took us through all the new and interesting items on FamilySearch and it's wiki.
Social Networking 2010 – Podcasts, Wikis, Blogs, Facebook, FamilySearch
Terminology Define Where to find one
Message Board A place to post a message www.rootsweb.com [free]
Mailing List A group of people who have an interest is a
particular surname/locality. Each email or question
is shared with all members of the mailing list
www.rootsweb.com [free]
Blog An online news column generally about a specific
subject. One person manages the blog, however,
often those who read it may offer comments.
www.blogspot.com [to start your own free blog]
www.blogfinder.genealogue.com [to locate a free genealogy blog]
Podcast An audio file [think of a radio program] that you
can subscribe to, download onto your computer
using a free service such as Itunes. You can put
these on an mp3 player such as an Ipod. You can
listen to these whenever you have time.
www.blogfinder.com/podcast.asp [to find a
free genealogy related podcast]
www.apple.com/itunes [to download itunes free]
RSS Feeds Really Simple Syndication [Subscription] Installs a
link between the file you want to subscribe to and you.
Wiki What I Know Is - A website that allows creation
and editing by members of the site. Allows people
to pool their knowledge to the benefit of all.
Social Networking Benefits
You can connect with people you would never be able to under normal circumstances.
You can find people interested in your family history, or they can find you.
You can subscribe to online magazines and newsletters, and even blogs
You can keep up on events that are of interest to you, without having to search for them.
Some Sites with Social Networking Capabilities
Find a Grave http://findagrave.com
Footnote http://footnote.com
Facebook http://facebook.com
Twitter http://twitter.com
Genealogy Wise http://genealogywise.com
Google Docs [need to have a free google account
Genealogy Wise http://genealogywise.com A site for genealogists
Facebook - Many online sites now allow you to link to facebook and post messages
Free - go to www.facebook.com
Register for a free account - you will be asked for some information - you can decide which information
you want others to see.
Write down what your password.
Basics are on the top right there are three tabs.
Account Tab – This is where you set your privacy settings. Set options for what you want others
to see – Everyone - Friends of Friends - or Friends only.
Profile Tab gives the information you want others to see, and the messages that have been sent
to only you.
It also shows in the left column your list of friends. You can post a message to them, by clicking on
their photo and either writing on their ‘wall’ which all their friends can see, or you may send them a
private message.
Home Tab shows the home page is divided into three columns
- Left column shows request, messages and notifications, and allows you to be visible online
where you can chat with friends.
- Middle column is the news feed where you see messages that have been posted by your friends.
You can comment on these or post your own message.
- If you see a message you don’t like to can hide it, or hide the person who
sent it.
- Right column shows events, advertising, suggestions for friends, requests etc.
Help Center
The presentation on the Beta FamilySearch site was MORE than informative ….. Who Knew there
was so much information available to us. It is, for one thing, a learning center .. a place to locate
and research your area of interest.
CLOSING PRAYER: .....Lena Jones
Prize Winners:
Curt Rohrer, Roseann Zempter, Gaylie Morehead, and Gatha Wilson
October is Family History Month and it was celebrated in our group today. Many of the members brought family memorabilia and personal treasures and shared with all a little of their history. AND then we all enjoyed a treat!
A Great Way to Celebrate Family History Month!
Total Attendance: 37
Filed by: June Morton – Recording Secretary
Morningside Stake Center on 9th South and River Road
Member Meeting
16 October 2010
GREETERS: .....Helen Lenz
WELCOME: ..... Connie Stewart
Connie welcomed all in attendance, with a special welcome to the visitors.
OPENING PRAYER: .....Margaret Miller
ANNOUNCEMENTS: Remember the great genealogical programs which are available on TV.
· “Who Do You Think You Are” on NBC TV. All previous programs can be viewed at:
http://www.nbc.com/who-do-you-think-you-are/
· “Generations Project which can be viewed on BYUTV. Check on line for when available with yourcable network ...http://www.byutv.org/thegenerationsproject/
· The St. George Family History Center is holding an Open House on Saturday, 30th of October 10:00am to 4:00 pm. Everyone is invited to visit, see the renovations and enjoy a treat.
• The User Group Blog and WebSite addresses to all in attendance with the suggestion to log on and view the sites.
• Sterling Davis is 91 years young today and we all sang Happy Birthday to him. He has been attending our user group since it's inception about 20 years ago.
PRESENTER INTRODUCTION: .....Connie Stewart
Julie Bliss Hammons our presenter today is a Millard County native who moved to St. George a little over a year ago. She has been a Stake Family History Director, and has traveled and taught genealogy research classes at conferences and for Genealogy Societies. She also wrote a genealogy newspaper column before moving to St. George about a year and a half ago. She currently teaches classes at the St. George
FHC, the Ivin’s Stake, and other places when she is asked.
Julie is on the PAF UG Board and is currently serving as a Family History Service Missionary at the St. George FHC, and serves as a Stake Family History Consultant to the Young Singles Adult 1st Stake.
She put up her 1st website ‘Relative Bliss’ a number of years ago and success that came from it has kept her focused on technology and how it can help you in your research.
She will show you how to use the new technologies, and tools that are available to you to accomplish your genealogy goals. She will also show you the new features that are now in FamilySearch, and available to everyone, to help you find success with your genealogy.
PRESENTATION: .....Julie Hammons
Julie followed her handout as listed below and reveiewed the social network sites, with her stories of successes. She them took us through all the new and interesting items on FamilySearch and it's wiki.
Social Networking 2010 – Podcasts, Wikis, Blogs, Facebook, FamilySearch
Terminology Define Where to find one
Message Board A place to post a message www.rootsweb.com [free]
Mailing List A group of people who have an interest is a
particular surname/locality. Each email or question
is shared with all members of the mailing list
www.rootsweb.com [free]
Blog An online news column generally about a specific
subject. One person manages the blog, however,
often those who read it may offer comments.
www.blogspot.com [to start your own free blog]
www.blogfinder.genealogue.com [to locate a free genealogy blog]
Podcast An audio file [think of a radio program] that you
can subscribe to, download onto your computer
using a free service such as Itunes. You can put
these on an mp3 player such as an Ipod. You can
listen to these whenever you have time.
www.blogfinder.com/podcast.asp [to find a
free genealogy related podcast]
www.apple.com/itunes [to download itunes free]
RSS Feeds Really Simple Syndication [Subscription] Installs a
link between the file you want to subscribe to and you.
Wiki What I Know Is - A website that allows creation
and editing by members of the site. Allows people
to pool their knowledge to the benefit of all.
Social Networking Benefits
You can connect with people you would never be able to under normal circumstances.
You can find people interested in your family history, or they can find you.
You can subscribe to online magazines and newsletters, and even blogs
You can keep up on events that are of interest to you, without having to search for them.
Some Sites with Social Networking Capabilities
Find a Grave http://findagrave.com
Footnote http://footnote.com
Facebook http://facebook.com
Twitter http://twitter.com
Genealogy Wise http://genealogywise.com
Google Docs [need to have a free google account
Genealogy Wise http://genealogywise.com A site for genealogists
Facebook - Many online sites now allow you to link to facebook and post messages
Free - go to www.facebook.com
Register for a free account - you will be asked for some information - you can decide which information
you want others to see.
Write down what your password.
Basics are on the top right there are three tabs.
Account Tab – This is where you set your privacy settings. Set options for what you want others
to see – Everyone - Friends of Friends - or Friends only.
Profile Tab gives the information you want others to see, and the messages that have been sent
to only you.
It also shows in the left column your list of friends. You can post a message to them, by clicking on
their photo and either writing on their ‘wall’ which all their friends can see, or you may send them a
private message.
Home Tab shows the home page is divided into three columns
- Left column shows request, messages and notifications, and allows you to be visible online
where you can chat with friends.
- Middle column is the news feed where you see messages that have been posted by your friends.
You can comment on these or post your own message.
- If you see a message you don’t like to can hide it, or hide the person who
sent it.
- Right column shows events, advertising, suggestions for friends, requests etc.
Help Center
The presentation on the Beta FamilySearch site was MORE than informative ….. Who Knew there
was so much information available to us. It is, for one thing, a learning center .. a place to locate
and research your area of interest.
CLOSING PRAYER: .....Lena Jones
Prize Winners:
Curt Rohrer, Roseann Zempter, Gaylie Morehead, and Gatha Wilson
October is Family History Month and it was celebrated in our group today. Many of the members brought family memorabilia and personal treasures and shared with all a little of their history. AND then we all enjoyed a treat!
A Great Way to Celebrate Family History Month!
Total Attendance: 37
Filed by: June Morton – Recording Secretary
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
October Is Family History Month!
FAMILY HISTORY AND GENELOGY USER GROUP
WC-PAFUG
We are having a Special Meeting on Saturday, 16th Oct.
and a Party!
Bring a Family History memorabilia item
to the meeting for display
BRING A FRIEND
Come and enjoy the Presentation and
Enjoy a TREAT!
WC-PAFUG
We are having a Special Meeting on Saturday, 16th Oct.
and a Party!
Bring a Family History memorabilia item
to the meeting for display
BRING A FRIEND
Come and enjoy the Presentation and
Enjoy a TREAT!
Sunday, October 10, 2010
Monthly Meeting -October 16, 2010
Family History and Genealogy User Group WC-PAFUG
Presenter - Julie Hammons
Your Ancestors Online
Focusing on the Internet technology available
and how it can help in your research and genealogy goals.
Plus some of the new features in newFamilySearch
available to everyone.
Join With Us in Celebrating Family History Month
Presenter - Julie Hammons
Your Ancestors Online
Focusing on the Internet technology available
and how it can help in your research and genealogy goals.
Plus some of the new features in newFamilySearch
available to everyone.
Join With Us in Celebrating Family History Month
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Up-coming events for October 2010
Friday - October 15th: Kathy Blake, who was our presenter for our September class, will be at the St. George East Stake Center at 9:30 a.m. Over the years Kathy has put together 'Christmas Family History' gifts and will be showing those gifts to all of us. A great group of gift ideas for our up-coming holiday season. Everyone is welcome.
Saturday, October 16th: Our regular monthly Saturday meeting. 10:00 a.m. to Noon. 9th and River Road at the Morningside Stake Center. Park in the back parking lot and enter at the back door. Julie Hammons will be our presenter. More info to follow on this meeting.
Saturday, October 23rd: The St. George Large Multi-Stake Family History Center (across from the Temple) will be participating in a gathering at Worthen Park. This annual event will have community groups from around the area and their service. The event is free and all are welcome. Come and see what services are available in our community.
Saturday, October 30th: The St. George Large Mulit-Stake Family History Center (across from the Temple) is holding an Open House. 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Everyone is welcome to come and take a look at the recently remodeled center along, information on the over 50 classes that are held, the research room, archive room and training room(s). Please stop by for a visit.
Saturday, October 16th: Our regular monthly Saturday meeting. 10:00 a.m. to Noon. 9th and River Road at the Morningside Stake Center. Park in the back parking lot and enter at the back door. Julie Hammons will be our presenter. More info to follow on this meeting.
Saturday, October 23rd: The St. George Large Multi-Stake Family History Center (across from the Temple) will be participating in a gathering at Worthen Park. This annual event will have community groups from around the area and their service. The event is free and all are welcome. Come and see what services are available in our community.
Saturday, October 30th: The St. George Large Mulit-Stake Family History Center (across from the Temple) is holding an Open House. 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Everyone is welcome to come and take a look at the recently remodeled center along, information on the over 50 classes that are held, the research room, archive room and training room(s). Please stop by for a visit.
Thursday, September 9, 2010
Next meeting - Saturday, Sept. 18, 2010
FAMILY HISTORY & GENEALOGY USERS GROUP
WASHINGTON COUNTY PAF USERS GROUP
We are much more than a PAF Users Group!
Meeting Notice Saturday, September 18, 2010
10:00 am – 12:00 noon
Morningside LDS Church – Relief Society Room
9th South and River Road, St. George
PRESENTER: KATHY BLAKE
Kathy's presentation is entitled …
Family History on the Magical Road
Join Us and see the MAGIC
that awaits you in unseen corners of the globe.
Find the MAGIC in visiting your family history locations.
Come and learn of the possibilities that await you
on this great adventure, called Family History.
Learn some of the secrets of this MAGICAL trip,
where to go and what to do.
WASHINGTON COUNTY PAF USERS GROUP
We are much more than a PAF Users Group!
Meeting Notice Saturday, September 18, 2010
10:00 am – 12:00 noon
Morningside LDS Church – Relief Society Room
9th South and River Road, St. George
PRESENTER: KATHY BLAKE
Kathy's presentation is entitled …
Family History on the Magical Road
Join Us and see the MAGIC
that awaits you in unseen corners of the globe.
Find the MAGIC in visiting your family history locations.
Come and learn of the possibilities that await you
on this great adventure, called Family History.
Learn some of the secrets of this MAGICAL trip,
where to go and what to do.
Friday, July 30, 2010
Handout - Saturday, July 17, 2010
DEAR ANCESTOR
Your tombstone stands among the rest;
Neglected and alone.
The name and date are chiseled out
On polished, marbled stone.
It reaches out to all who care
It is too late to mourn.
You did not know that I exist
You died and I was born.
Yet each of us are cells of you
In flesh, in blood, in bone.
Our blood contracts and beats a pulse
Entirely not our own.
Dear Ancestor, the place you filled
One hundred years ago
Spreads out among the ones you left
Who would have loved you so.
I wonder if you lived and loved,
I wonder if you knew
That someday I would find this spot,
And come to visit you.
Author Unknown
Source: " Genealogy Poetry and Prose
Hung Up on the Tree
Unknown
They think that I should cook and clean, and be a model wife.
I tell them it's more interesting to study Grandpa's life.
They simply do not understand why I hate to go to bed.
I'd rather do two hundred years of research work instead.
Why waste the time we have on earth just snoring and asleep?
When we can learn of ancestors that sailed upon the deep?
We have Priests, Rabbis, lawmen, soldiers, more than just a few.
And yes, there's many scoundrels, and a bootlegger or two.
How can a person find this life an awful drudge or bore?
When we can live the lives of all those folks who came before?
A hundred years from now of course, no one will ever know
Whether I did laundry, but they'll see our Tree and glow.
Cause their dear old granny left for them, for all posterity,
Not clean hankies and the like, but a finished family tree.
My home may be untidy, cause I've better things to do.
I'm checking all the records to provide us with a clue.
Old great granny's pulling roots and branches out with glee.
Her clothes ain't hanging out to dry, She's hung up on the Tree.
Helpful Hints
Online Research Classes -
The following classes are provided online by the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah and other sponsors. Learn the basic methods and key resources to start your family history.
England Beginning Research
Ireland Research
Italy Research
Principios básicos para la investigación genealógica en Hispanoamérica (México)
Reading Handwritten Records Series - New!
Research Principles and Tools - New!
Russia Research
U.S. Research - New!
Before you visit a library, visit it online. This can help you save time in three ways:
Check the basic information about the facility, including its location and hours. You don't want to plan a trip for the wrong time.
If the Web site contains an overview of the collection, it may help you determine if the library is one you actually wish to visit.
You may be able to access the library's card catalog through their Web site.
Searching the catalog from home before your trip may save significant amounts of on-site research time, allowing you to spend more time with the materials you came to see.
Source: "Time- Saving Tips for Genealogists", by Michael John Neill, Genealogy.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Print one bibliographic page for each book or source you plan to use.
Documenting your research is extremely important. However, it frequently slows down on-site research. To allow you to spend more time with the materials when you go to a library or archive, create one sheet for each book or record you plan to search. If you've used the online card catalog, copy and paste the bibliographic information into a word processor, using one sheet for each book. Make research notes on the sheet for use at the library or archives. Then when at the facility, you can make additional notes regarding the success (or failure) of your search. If you make copies from the source, attach them to the sheet for ease in tracking sources and entering data when you return home.
Source: "Time-Saving Tips for Genealogists", by Michael John Neill, Genealogy.com
To Google or Not to Google
We are all familiar with the many large genealogical databases that we can join to search their resources, but what if we want to find resources on our own without joining a website?
Many of the resources we can get through genealogy databases can be found for free if we know how and where to search. A search engine such as Google will help your search be a productive one. I personally like to use a search engine that has an "advanced search" screen. The advanced option makes filtering your search results easier. You are given fields such as "All these words", "Exact phrases", "Any of these words", or "None of these words". Sometimes this is not important but if you are searching for Jeffery Mason Massachusetts, you may get every stone mason in Massachusetts named Jeffery and these are added results that can make finding the correct information more tedious. I searched for Jeffery Mason Massachusetts with a regular search box with no extra tools and found 280,000 search results. I could see that most of these did not have anything to do with Jeffery Mason. I added "Genealogy" to that search box and trimmed the results down to 35900. Still too many to find what I need. I then went to the advanced search option in Google. And moved "Jeffery Mason" to the field that said "this exact wording or phrase" and searched. This returned 174 results. Much better. I then added "stone brick mortar" to the field "But don't show pages that have any of these unwanted words:" Now the results were 10. You can change the combination any way that you like.
You might reverse the name phrase to "Mason, Jeffery" and this would bring different results. If the person lived in various towns, you might enter "Boston, Worcester, Salem" in the field "one or more of these words:". This would give your search a variety of words to include. As you can see, using a search engine to search is only limited by your imagination for entering search combinations...
Source: Paula Vilburn, Ogden Regional Family History Center Newsletter, April 2010
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Question: Are there some good mailing lists to help family history consultants with questions?
Answer: You may try the following. Click the link, which will open your email program. Simple add the word "subscribe" (without the quotes) in the subject and message boxes, then click Send.
LDS WARD CONSULTANTS LDS FHC CONSULTANTS ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Looking for Married Names - Know a woman's maiden name but not her married name? Try these strategies:
. Search legal documents, wills and probate records for her parents-a daughter may be named in them.
Seek out obituaries for siblings. Most will list brothers and sisters among those "survived by."
Check census records for her twilight years, when she may have been living with a sibling.
Ask, ask and ask. Even your near and dear family members remember things differently.
Source: Family Tree Magazine Newsletter, July 2010.
Family History websites for Beginners, - Many websites can help beginners with family history research. This article lists several and how to use them.
https://wiki.familysearch.org/en/Websites_for_Family_History_Beginners
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Write it down, neatly - Time spent writing something on paper and filing it is time well spent. Do not trust your memory, or you will find yourself back at the library again. Do not write sloppily or you will misinterpret what you have written. Do not use scraps of paper that are easily lost. Do not use a crayon or lipstick that will be impossible to read next year.
Source: "Time-Saving Tips for Genealogists", by Michael John Neill, Genealogy.com
http://www.genealogy.com/66_neill.html
Research Questions - Ask personal questions about your ancestors other than birth, death and marriage. Make a chart for your ancestor with their name, birth, death, marriage, spouse, etc. You might have a list of questions for example, Immigration, Occupation, Religion, Adoption, Military Service, Spoke Foreign Language, Family Stories about this Person. These questions could also add some color into your gathering of materials on your family as time goes by. After all genealogy is not just about birth, death and marriage. We want to know about the history of our family. You might just find some interesting facts on your family lines.
Source: "Tips on Gathering your Family Information, 'Research Guidelines'". Genealogical Journeys in Time http://springviewreliefsociety.blogspot.com/2010/04/geneology-tip.html
Q and A
Question: I understand "state", "county", and "city", but what is a "ward" in the U.S. census?
Answer: In the United States census, a ward is an optional division of a city or town, especially an electoral district, for administrative and representative purposes. The Library of Congress has detailed ward maps of major cities. These show the census districts and political divisions of large cities. Valuable finding aids for City Ward maps is on microfilm found at the Family History Library.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Question: My son needs to interview one of his grandparents for a scout activity. What are some good questions to get the interview moving quickly and put both interviewee and interviewer at ease?
Answer: The internet is overflowing with great ideas. Following are just a few:
"Tips for Kids on Interviewing Grandparents"
"50 Family History Interview Questions"
"50 Questions for Family History Interviews"
"20 Questions for Interviewing Relatives"
"Oral History Interviewing"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Question: My Dad recently died. Will his death certificate be posted on the website where the Utah death certificates are listed? If so, when can we expect it to happen?
Answer: Utah death certificates are available online at
http://pilot.familysearch.org/recordsearch/start.html#p=collectionDetails&c=fs%3A1747615
and contain certificates from 1904-1956.
http://www.archives.state.ut.us/research/indexes/20842.htm
Utah State Archives contains certificates from 1904-1958. Access restrictions on the Archive site says "The Inspection of Vital Records Act (HB 84), which passed in May 1998, made historic death records available to the public fifty years after the date of death." Both sites indicate they were updated March 2010.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Question: If you suspect you have Swiss ancestors, one of the first places you should check is the Familiennameenbuch, or Swiss Surname Book. This book lists the family names of all Swiss citizens in Switzerland in 1962 and indicates the place of origin, the year in which citizenship was originally granted for that surname in that place of origin, and the ancestry (previous place or country of citizenship). The book does not list individuals, only family names. It is extremely useful for tracing a family name to a region (place of origin). Is there a local copy available?
Answer: We have the "Familiennamenbuch" or "Swiss Surname Book" on microfiche #6053507 at our Center, but not in book format. The book is available at the Salt Lake Family History Library, Call No. 949.4 D4f.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Question: In NewFamilySearch, if a child appears in a family and he doesn't belong to that family, is there anyway to remove him from the family?
Answer: If you were the one who put the child in the wrong family by mistake, you can remove him. If not, you should contact the submitter, explain why you think it is a mistake and ask them to remove him. If there is no contact information for the submitter, you'll need to wait for the submitter to register for nFS or for nFS to provide a new solution.
To determine who entered him in the family, click "View relationship details", (spouses and children view) then "edit" .
To remove him from the family, select the options icon (arrow left of name in spouses and children view). Select delete/dispute relationship from Mother and/or Father.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Question: Nowadays there seems to be much discussion about which genealogical program one should use, but there seems to be no concensus or standard of comparison. Is there a chart or would it be possible to have a chart (or sheet) comparing the virtues, benefits, costs, etc. of the various genealogical programs such as PAF, Legacy, Roots Magic, All my Ancestors, etc.?
Answer: I'm not familiar with "All my Ancestors", but there are comparison charts available for PAF, Legacy, RootsMagic and Ancestral Quest. Try one of the following:
http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~utcfhc/Software_Comparison_Chart.pdf
http://www.inclinesoftware.net/files/CompareFS/MostComprehensiveSyncComparison.pdf
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Question: I have had a few people ask me how to combine info from PAF that are on floppy discs with NFS. They have spent days, months, putting info onto floppy discs but it was not submitted and they do not want to have to redo it all on NFS. Any ideas on how to combine?
Answer: You can upload a GEDCOM to NFS from PAF if the individuals are NOT in NFS. If it is new or updated information for existing individuals, they would need to use an additional program such as Family Insight or Ancestral Quest to sync their PAF data with NFS.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Question: In NewFamilySearch, I entered a child in the wrong family. Is there anyway to remove him from the family? I see the arrow to the left of his name which gives the option of deleting or disputing. Would "delete" just remove him from the family or remove him forever?
Answer: "Delete the individual" removes him permanently from the database. Instead, choose the "Delete Relationship to father/mother" options to remove him from the family so you can then connect him to the correct family.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Question: Why can I no longer sign in to "old family Search" where I could view all the choices for temple ordinances for an individual as opposed to NewFamilySearch which allows me to see only one choice for each ordinance?
Answer: You can still sign in to "old FamilySearch" and search the IGI for temple ordinances. The message simply warns you that it is not being updated. For new ordinances, you would need to search thenew.familysearch.org. To search the IGI specifically, go to FamilySearch.org, click the Search Records tab, select Advanced Search, then select IGI from the list on the left.
FAVORITE WEBSITES
Failte Romhat - The personal Web site of John Hayes might not be the first place you'd expect to visit, but his site actually offers a surprising number of online Irish databases and transcribed documents, including Land Owners in Ireland 1876, Irish Flax Growers List 1796, Pigot & Co's Provincial Directory of Ireland 1824, cemetery transcriptions and photographs, and much more. Best of all, it is all free! http://www.failteromhat.com/
Fianna Guide to Irish Genealogy - In addition to excellent tutorials and guides for researching ancestry in Ireland, Fianna also offers transcriptions from a variety of primary documents and records. Free. http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~fianna/
Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War - National Graves Registration (Union & Confederate). A searchable database of Union and Confederate soldiers who served in the Civil War. Information includes enlistment data and burial locations.
http://www.suvcwdb.org/home/
Submitted by Barbara DeHart
Mormon Migration - This website, designed and hosted by the Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah, provides a place for historical and genealogical research into the world-wide migration records and history about the 19th and 20th century movement of thousands of immigrants from many nations who are part of the membership of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. lib.byu.edu/mormonmigration
Wyoming Newspapers - I just discovered a new website for Wyoming research. It is called the "Wyoming Newspaper Project." http://www.wyonewspapers.org/ These are digitized newspapers covering 1849-1922 (over 900,000 pgs.).
Submitted by Ruth Castleton
Pilgrim Ship Lists Early 1600's - Over 7100 families and 250 ships. Find ships by name as well as complete passenger lists.
http://www.packrat-pro.com/ships/shiplist.htm
Immigrant Servants Database - The Immigrant Servants Database is a project designed to help Americans trace the European origins of their colonial ancestors. http://immigrantservants.com/
Ancestry.com Wiki - The free beta version of Ancestry.com Wiki includes online versions of "The Source: A Guidebook to American Genealogy" and "Red Book: American State, County and Town Sources" as well as other resources. They are every word searchable.
German Roots - Anyone with immigrant ancestors should check out the "Emigration & Immigration Records" section. You'll find lists of ports and their records with links to online sources and instructions on how to access offline sources. Other sections of the website have information specific to German research.
Ellis Island Passenger Arrival Lists - If you have ancestors arriving in the U.S. between 1892 and 1924, check this site for passenger arrival lists. http://www.ellisisland.org
Castle Garden Passenger Arrival Lists - Before Ellis Island, immigrants came to Castle Garden. This site includes transcribed lists from 1830 to 1892, although Castle Garden didn't actually open until 1855. http://www.castlegarden.org
Census of Ireland 1901/1911 - All 32 counties for 1901 and 1911, searchable by all information categories, are now available at http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/
New Irish Church Records Online - FREE! Irish Genealogy, hosted by the Ireland Department of Tourism, Culture and Sport, has added a large number of new church records of baptism, marriage and death to their free Web site, bringing the total to over 2 million church records from Dublin City and counties Kerry and Carlow, plus a subset from Roman Catholic parishes in the Diocese of Cork & Ross. Check it out
Pioneers and Prominent Men - The book Pioneers and Prominent Men of Utah is now available online. http://www.archive.org/stream/pioneersprominen00esshrich#page/n5/mode/2up
Australian Gold Rush Immigrants - Was your Australian ancestor a digger? If he/she arrived in Australia during the 1850s or in Western Australia during the 1890s, it is certainly a possibility! You might try searching search arrival manifests in Australia.
Unassisted Immigrants to NSW, 1842-1855 - an index of unassisted (or free) passengers who came to Australia at their own expense, including ships' crew.
Unassisted Passenger and Crew Arrivals, 1854-1900 - The Mariners and Ships in Australian Waters Web site offers transcribed passenger lists and links to digital scans of the original lists for "Shipping Inward" lists from the Shipping Master's Office.
Victoria Passenger Lists - Immigration records for Victoria 1852-1899 are online from the Public Record Office Victoria, including the Index to Unassisted Inward Passenger Lists to Victoria 1852-1923 and the Index to Assisted British Immigration 1839-1871.
National Archives Wiki - The National Archives has started a wiki "for researchers, educators, genealogists, and Archives staff to share information and knowledge about the records of the National Archives and about their research." Their wiki is located at: http://www.ourarchives.wikispaces.net
London Lives - This free website has posted 240,000 manuscripts and 3.35 million names of "non-elite" 18th-century Londoners. Sources include criminal and court records, parish registers, workhouse records and more. Registration isn't necessary to search, but you can register to create a personal workspace and link documents together into biographies. http://www.londonlives.org
Your tombstone stands among the rest;
Neglected and alone.
The name and date are chiseled out
On polished, marbled stone.
It reaches out to all who care
It is too late to mourn.
You did not know that I exist
You died and I was born.
Yet each of us are cells of you
In flesh, in blood, in bone.
Our blood contracts and beats a pulse
Entirely not our own.
Dear Ancestor, the place you filled
One hundred years ago
Spreads out among the ones you left
Who would have loved you so.
I wonder if you lived and loved,
I wonder if you knew
That someday I would find this spot,
And come to visit you.
Author Unknown
Source: " Genealogy Poetry and Prose
Hung Up on the Tree
Unknown
They think that I should cook and clean, and be a model wife.
I tell them it's more interesting to study Grandpa's life.
They simply do not understand why I hate to go to bed.
I'd rather do two hundred years of research work instead.
Why waste the time we have on earth just snoring and asleep?
When we can learn of ancestors that sailed upon the deep?
We have Priests, Rabbis, lawmen, soldiers, more than just a few.
And yes, there's many scoundrels, and a bootlegger or two.
How can a person find this life an awful drudge or bore?
When we can live the lives of all those folks who came before?
A hundred years from now of course, no one will ever know
Whether I did laundry, but they'll see our Tree and glow.
Cause their dear old granny left for them, for all posterity,
Not clean hankies and the like, but a finished family tree.
My home may be untidy, cause I've better things to do.
I'm checking all the records to provide us with a clue.
Old great granny's pulling roots and branches out with glee.
Her clothes ain't hanging out to dry, She's hung up on the Tree.
Helpful Hints
Online Research Classes -
The following classes are provided online by the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah and other sponsors. Learn the basic methods and key resources to start your family history.
England Beginning Research
Ireland Research
Italy Research
Principios básicos para la investigación genealógica en Hispanoamérica (México)
Reading Handwritten Records Series - New!
Research Principles and Tools - New!
Russia Research
U.S. Research - New!
Before you visit a library, visit it online. This can help you save time in three ways:
Check the basic information about the facility, including its location and hours. You don't want to plan a trip for the wrong time.
If the Web site contains an overview of the collection, it may help you determine if the library is one you actually wish to visit.
You may be able to access the library's card catalog through their Web site.
Searching the catalog from home before your trip may save significant amounts of on-site research time, allowing you to spend more time with the materials you came to see.
Source: "Time- Saving Tips for Genealogists", by Michael John Neill, Genealogy.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Print one bibliographic page for each book or source you plan to use.
Documenting your research is extremely important. However, it frequently slows down on-site research. To allow you to spend more time with the materials when you go to a library or archive, create one sheet for each book or record you plan to search. If you've used the online card catalog, copy and paste the bibliographic information into a word processor, using one sheet for each book. Make research notes on the sheet for use at the library or archives. Then when at the facility, you can make additional notes regarding the success (or failure) of your search. If you make copies from the source, attach them to the sheet for ease in tracking sources and entering data when you return home.
Source: "Time-Saving Tips for Genealogists", by Michael John Neill, Genealogy.com
To Google or Not to Google
We are all familiar with the many large genealogical databases that we can join to search their resources, but what if we want to find resources on our own without joining a website?
Many of the resources we can get through genealogy databases can be found for free if we know how and where to search. A search engine such as Google will help your search be a productive one. I personally like to use a search engine that has an "advanced search" screen. The advanced option makes filtering your search results easier. You are given fields such as "All these words", "Exact phrases", "Any of these words", or "None of these words". Sometimes this is not important but if you are searching for Jeffery Mason Massachusetts, you may get every stone mason in Massachusetts named Jeffery and these are added results that can make finding the correct information more tedious. I searched for Jeffery Mason Massachusetts with a regular search box with no extra tools and found 280,000 search results. I could see that most of these did not have anything to do with Jeffery Mason. I added "Genealogy" to that search box and trimmed the results down to 35900. Still too many to find what I need. I then went to the advanced search option in Google. And moved "Jeffery Mason" to the field that said "this exact wording or phrase" and searched. This returned 174 results. Much better. I then added "stone brick mortar" to the field "But don't show pages that have any of these unwanted words:" Now the results were 10. You can change the combination any way that you like.
You might reverse the name phrase to "Mason, Jeffery" and this would bring different results. If the person lived in various towns, you might enter "Boston, Worcester, Salem" in the field "one or more of these words:". This would give your search a variety of words to include. As you can see, using a search engine to search is only limited by your imagination for entering search combinations...
Source: Paula Vilburn, Ogden Regional Family History Center Newsletter, April 2010
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Question: Are there some good mailing lists to help family history consultants with questions?
Answer: You may try the following. Click the link, which will open your email program. Simple add the word "subscribe" (without the quotes) in the subject and message boxes, then click Send.
LDS WARD CONSULTANTS LDS FHC CONSULTANTS ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Looking for Married Names - Know a woman's maiden name but not her married name? Try these strategies:
. Search legal documents, wills and probate records for her parents-a daughter may be named in them.
Seek out obituaries for siblings. Most will list brothers and sisters among those "survived by."
Check census records for her twilight years, when she may have been living with a sibling.
Ask, ask and ask. Even your near and dear family members remember things differently.
Source: Family Tree Magazine Newsletter, July 2010.
Family History websites for Beginners, - Many websites can help beginners with family history research. This article lists several and how to use them.
https://wiki.familysearch.org/en/Websites_for_Family_History_Beginners
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Write it down, neatly - Time spent writing something on paper and filing it is time well spent. Do not trust your memory, or you will find yourself back at the library again. Do not write sloppily or you will misinterpret what you have written. Do not use scraps of paper that are easily lost. Do not use a crayon or lipstick that will be impossible to read next year.
Source: "Time-Saving Tips for Genealogists", by Michael John Neill, Genealogy.com
http://www.genealogy.com/66_neill.html
Research Questions - Ask personal questions about your ancestors other than birth, death and marriage. Make a chart for your ancestor with their name, birth, death, marriage, spouse, etc. You might have a list of questions for example, Immigration, Occupation, Religion, Adoption, Military Service, Spoke Foreign Language, Family Stories about this Person. These questions could also add some color into your gathering of materials on your family as time goes by. After all genealogy is not just about birth, death and marriage. We want to know about the history of our family. You might just find some interesting facts on your family lines.
Source: "Tips on Gathering your Family Information, 'Research Guidelines'". Genealogical Journeys in Time http://springviewreliefsociety.blogspot.com/2010/04/geneology-tip.html
Q and A
Question: I understand "state", "county", and "city", but what is a "ward" in the U.S. census?
Answer: In the United States census, a ward is an optional division of a city or town, especially an electoral district, for administrative and representative purposes. The Library of Congress has detailed ward maps of major cities. These show the census districts and political divisions of large cities. Valuable finding aids for City Ward maps is on microfilm found at the Family History Library.
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Question: My son needs to interview one of his grandparents for a scout activity. What are some good questions to get the interview moving quickly and put both interviewee and interviewer at ease?
Answer: The internet is overflowing with great ideas. Following are just a few:
"Tips for Kids on Interviewing Grandparents"
"50 Family History Interview Questions"
"50 Questions for Family History Interviews"
"20 Questions for Interviewing Relatives"
"Oral History Interviewing"
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Question: My Dad recently died. Will his death certificate be posted on the website where the Utah death certificates are listed? If so, when can we expect it to happen?
Answer: Utah death certificates are available online at
http://pilot.familysearch.org/recordsearch/start.html#p=collectionDetails&c=fs%3A1747615
and contain certificates from 1904-1956.
http://www.archives.state.ut.us/research/indexes/20842.htm
Utah State Archives contains certificates from 1904-1958. Access restrictions on the Archive site says "The Inspection of Vital Records Act (HB 84), which passed in May 1998, made historic death records available to the public fifty years after the date of death." Both sites indicate they were updated March 2010.
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Question: If you suspect you have Swiss ancestors, one of the first places you should check is the Familiennameenbuch, or Swiss Surname Book. This book lists the family names of all Swiss citizens in Switzerland in 1962 and indicates the place of origin, the year in which citizenship was originally granted for that surname in that place of origin, and the ancestry (previous place or country of citizenship). The book does not list individuals, only family names. It is extremely useful for tracing a family name to a region (place of origin). Is there a local copy available?
Answer: We have the "Familiennamenbuch" or "Swiss Surname Book" on microfiche #6053507 at our Center, but not in book format. The book is available at the Salt Lake Family History Library, Call No. 949.4 D4f.
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Question: In NewFamilySearch, if a child appears in a family and he doesn't belong to that family, is there anyway to remove him from the family?
Answer: If you were the one who put the child in the wrong family by mistake, you can remove him. If not, you should contact the submitter, explain why you think it is a mistake and ask them to remove him. If there is no contact information for the submitter, you'll need to wait for the submitter to register for nFS or for nFS to provide a new solution.
To determine who entered him in the family, click "View relationship details", (spouses and children view) then "edit" .
To remove him from the family, select the options icon (arrow left of name in spouses and children view). Select delete/dispute relationship from Mother and/or Father.
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Question: Nowadays there seems to be much discussion about which genealogical program one should use, but there seems to be no concensus or standard of comparison. Is there a chart or would it be possible to have a chart (or sheet) comparing the virtues, benefits, costs, etc. of the various genealogical programs such as PAF, Legacy, Roots Magic, All my Ancestors, etc.?
Answer: I'm not familiar with "All my Ancestors", but there are comparison charts available for PAF, Legacy, RootsMagic and Ancestral Quest. Try one of the following:
http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~utcfhc/Software_Comparison_Chart.pdf
http://www.inclinesoftware.net/files/CompareFS/MostComprehensiveSyncComparison.pdf
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Question: I have had a few people ask me how to combine info from PAF that are on floppy discs with NFS. They have spent days, months, putting info onto floppy discs but it was not submitted and they do not want to have to redo it all on NFS. Any ideas on how to combine?
Answer: You can upload a GEDCOM to NFS from PAF if the individuals are NOT in NFS. If it is new or updated information for existing individuals, they would need to use an additional program such as Family Insight or Ancestral Quest to sync their PAF data with NFS.
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Question: In NewFamilySearch, I entered a child in the wrong family. Is there anyway to remove him from the family? I see the arrow to the left of his name which gives the option of deleting or disputing. Would "delete" just remove him from the family or remove him forever?
Answer: "Delete the individual" removes him permanently from the database. Instead, choose the "Delete Relationship to father/mother" options to remove him from the family so you can then connect him to the correct family.
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Question: Why can I no longer sign in to "old family Search" where I could view all the choices for temple ordinances for an individual as opposed to NewFamilySearch which allows me to see only one choice for each ordinance?
Answer: You can still sign in to "old FamilySearch" and search the IGI for temple ordinances. The message simply warns you that it is not being updated. For new ordinances, you would need to search thenew.familysearch.org. To search the IGI specifically, go to FamilySearch.org, click the Search Records tab, select Advanced Search, then select IGI from the list on the left.
FAVORITE WEBSITES
Failte Romhat - The personal Web site of John Hayes might not be the first place you'd expect to visit, but his site actually offers a surprising number of online Irish databases and transcribed documents, including Land Owners in Ireland 1876, Irish Flax Growers List 1796, Pigot & Co's Provincial Directory of Ireland 1824, cemetery transcriptions and photographs, and much more. Best of all, it is all free! http://www.failteromhat.com/
Fianna Guide to Irish Genealogy - In addition to excellent tutorials and guides for researching ancestry in Ireland, Fianna also offers transcriptions from a variety of primary documents and records. Free. http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~fianna/
Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War - National Graves Registration (Union & Confederate). A searchable database of Union and Confederate soldiers who served in the Civil War. Information includes enlistment data and burial locations.
http://www.suvcwdb.org/home/
Submitted by Barbara DeHart
Mormon Migration - This website, designed and hosted by the Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah, provides a place for historical and genealogical research into the world-wide migration records and history about the 19th and 20th century movement of thousands of immigrants from many nations who are part of the membership of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. lib.byu.edu/mormonmigration
Wyoming Newspapers - I just discovered a new website for Wyoming research. It is called the "Wyoming Newspaper Project." http://www.wyonewspapers.org/ These are digitized newspapers covering 1849-1922 (over 900,000 pgs.).
Submitted by Ruth Castleton
Pilgrim Ship Lists Early 1600's - Over 7100 families and 250 ships. Find ships by name as well as complete passenger lists.
http://www.packrat-pro.com/ships/shiplist.htm
Immigrant Servants Database - The Immigrant Servants Database is a project designed to help Americans trace the European origins of their colonial ancestors. http://immigrantservants.com/
Ancestry.com Wiki - The free beta version of Ancestry.com Wiki includes online versions of "The Source: A Guidebook to American Genealogy" and "Red Book: American State, County and Town Sources" as well as other resources. They are every word searchable.
German Roots - Anyone with immigrant ancestors should check out the "Emigration & Immigration Records" section. You'll find lists of ports and their records with links to online sources and instructions on how to access offline sources. Other sections of the website have information specific to German research.
Ellis Island Passenger Arrival Lists - If you have ancestors arriving in the U.S. between 1892 and 1924, check this site for passenger arrival lists. http://www.ellisisland.org
Castle Garden Passenger Arrival Lists - Before Ellis Island, immigrants came to Castle Garden. This site includes transcribed lists from 1830 to 1892, although Castle Garden didn't actually open until 1855. http://www.castlegarden.org
Census of Ireland 1901/1911 - All 32 counties for 1901 and 1911, searchable by all information categories, are now available at http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/
New Irish Church Records Online - FREE! Irish Genealogy, hosted by the Ireland Department of Tourism, Culture and Sport, has added a large number of new church records of baptism, marriage and death to their free Web site, bringing the total to over 2 million church records from Dublin City and counties Kerry and Carlow, plus a subset from Roman Catholic parishes in the Diocese of Cork & Ross. Check it out
Pioneers and Prominent Men - The book Pioneers and Prominent Men of Utah is now available online. http://www.archive.org/stream/pioneersprominen00esshrich#page/n5/mode/2up
Australian Gold Rush Immigrants - Was your Australian ancestor a digger? If he/she arrived in Australia during the 1850s or in Western Australia during the 1890s, it is certainly a possibility! You might try searching search arrival manifests in Australia.
Unassisted Immigrants to NSW, 1842-1855 - an index of unassisted (or free) passengers who came to Australia at their own expense, including ships' crew.
Unassisted Passenger and Crew Arrivals, 1854-1900 - The Mariners and Ships in Australian Waters Web site offers transcribed passenger lists and links to digital scans of the original lists for "Shipping Inward" lists from the Shipping Master's Office.
Victoria Passenger Lists - Immigration records for Victoria 1852-1899 are online from the Public Record Office Victoria, including the Index to Unassisted Inward Passenger Lists to Victoria 1852-1923 and the Index to Assisted British Immigration 1839-1871.
National Archives Wiki - The National Archives has started a wiki "for researchers, educators, genealogists, and Archives staff to share information and knowledge about the records of the National Archives and about their research." Their wiki is located at: http://www.ourarchives.wikispaces.net
London Lives - This free website has posted 240,000 manuscripts and 3.35 million names of "non-elite" 18th-century Londoners. Sources include criminal and court records, parish registers, workhouse records and more. Registration isn't necessary to search, but you can register to create a personal workspace and link documents together into biographies. http://www.londonlives.org
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