RootsTech 2019 - Thursday - 28 February

Are these your ancestors?

Hi there, day two of RootsTech is now over. It was another busy day and I am going on only 4 hours sleep (time change problem). So, what happened today? I spent more time in the Expo Hall today talking to vendors and seeing what new things were available. I also ran into these guys in the picture. I wonder if they are related to me?

My first class was New FamilySearch Record Innovations. This class discussed how records will be changing over the coming years. One thing they discussed was indexing. Last year there were 260 million records indexed by 327,696 indexers. In 2019, researchers will be able to thank the indexers for the records they worked on. Each indexed record will be linked to the indexers and arbitrator that worked on that record and there will be a Thank You button which the researcher can click to send a message to the indexers and arbitrator. This will probably be released sometime around July/August. Also, later this year, indexers will be able to take advantage of automatic name and place lookups. Names and place names will automatically be filled in as the indexer types the information for the record. This is currently in final testing. Additionally, there will be new ways to volunteer so that more indexers will be available to handle the increased number of digitized records. If you remember from my post yesterday, we are currently 40 years behind in indexing and each year enough new records are digitized to add another decade to the backlog. That means by the end of 2020 we will have a 60 year backlog of digitized images needing to be indexed. Another new item is that users will be able to edit records in the record details screen of the search results. This will start with being able to correct errors in names but will eventually expand to include places and other fields.

And what about all those unindexed records? There are currently 3.65 billion images available on FamilySearch. 1.36 billion of those images are browse only while 915.4 million of them are in the Family History Catalog. Only about 20% of the total number of images are indexed and that percentage is decreasing every year as new records are added. Currently it takes an average of 249 days for an image to go from digitization to being published on the FamilySearch website. Soon that time lag will be decreased to only 24 hours. Imagine that the images are scanned one day and available online the next day.

Explore Historical Images beta site

FamilySearch is now beta testing the Explore Historical Images function. This page allows you to search by place, date, event or film number and will provide a list of images not yet searchable or browseable through the regular FamilySearch website. As an example, I took the screenshot of the results for Auglaize County, Ohio. There ended up being 93 record sets for this area that are not yet available on FamilySearch but I can see them here and search through the tens of thousands of new images.

Additionally, FamilySearch again reiterated their work with computer aided indexing. The computers aren't as accurate as human indexers but they can more quickly index large numbers of typed records. The example of the GenealogyBank Obituary Collection only taking 3 weeks to provide 50 million indexed records was discussed and they also announced plans to add another 38 million more records very soon.

Ancestry Labs beta projects

The General Session featured Ancestry.com and some of their big news. Ancestry announced that they currently have more than 15 million people in their DNA network and they announced the release of DNA ThruLines in beta this week. This is another way to look at your DNA results and see connections between people. They also announced MyTreeTags which allows users to tag information to highlight details or tag for future research. These products can be accessed at https://www.ancestry.com/beta. Ancestry also announced several new expansion areas including 12 new state vital record collections, expanded US immigration/naturalization collections, expanded US WW II draft card collection, the world's largest obituary collection (newspapers.com), global expansion by adding more records for Denmark, France, Finland, Mexico and Norway, and 94 new African American DNA Communities.

Patricia Heaton, from Everybody Loves Raymond, finished off the General Session by talking about her family and the stories around them.

Henry Louis Gates, Jr.

I attended the Ancestry sponsored lunch where Henry Louis Gates, Jr. spoke about a short film project called Railroad Ties. Railroad Ties was based on the story of the underground railroad and more specifically the escape of Mary Weems from slavery. The story revolved around 6 strangers and how genealogy research was able to connect them all to this event. If you want to see the story you can go to https://www.ancestry.com/cs/railroadties.

I thought Henry Louis Gates, Jr. made some very profound statements during this discussion.  He said "One of the biggest misconceptions today is the idea of racial purity." The average African American is 25% European. He himself is 50% European based on his DNA. Even European Americans are mixed ethnicity, having portions of their DNA represented in several different countries. He also said "We are all united in our amnesia of our ancestors." At one time he thought the lack of knowledge of ones ancestors was specific to African Americans. He believed that they didn't know about their ancestors because of the impact of slavery but after researching the genealogies of various people for his TV shows, he realized that we all have a lack of knowledge that basically begins with our great grandparents lives. We have very little concept of who our ancestors were beginning only 3 generations ago. He believes that "Genealogy can revolutionize how we teach American and World History." If we realized how our ancestors were involved in history or affected by it, we would have a greater appreciation for the history that we study in schools.

As always, there was so much to learn today that I can't provide everything in just one blog. If you want to see some of the talks that were given this week, you can visit the RootsTech YouTube page at https://www.youtube.com/user/FamilySearch/videos. I hope this information is helpful to you. Now, it is time for me to get some sleep because tomorrow is another packed day.  Goodnight!

Updates for FamilySearch and LDS.org Websites

Yeah, I know, you all must be asking "What has he been up to now and why does he take such long breaks between blogs?" I have been busy again, or still, and  I only seem to be able to write when I get that urge to tell you about something that I find very interesting. I'll let the other bloggers keep you up to date on all the other stuff.

So, here is what I find interesting lately - The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is continuing to update and add to their genealogy related websites. First, let's discuss what is happening at FamilySearch.org. I am sure many of you have been using the free records search that is up on the site. I just read that they now have 2.34 billion indexed names and an additional 312 million records imaged but not yet indexed (browse only) on the site from all over the world. Even though this seems like a lot of records, there are still many more records that have not yet been indexed or digitized. If you would like to help add more records to this collection you can volunteer at https://www.familysearch.org/volunteer/indexing. If the records you are looking for are not yet online you can now order them online and have the microfilm delivered to your local Family History Center (FHC). It is extremely easy to place these orders. First go to http://www.familysearch.org and look above the search area under the heading Discover Your Family History. Then click on Catalog to begin searching for the record that you need. Alternatively you can skip the first step and go directly to https://www.familysearch.org/#form=catalog to begin your search. Make sure you check the record to see if it is already in digital format or if it is already in your local FHC collection before ordering. Once you find the film number go to https://www.familysearch.org/films/ to begin ordering the film. Payment options include credit card or PayPal. Then you just have to wait for it to be delivered to the FHC.

That is just one of the new things on FamilySearch.org. Another is the linking of some (not all) indexed records to the new.familysearch.org trees. This is applicable for some records that were used for extractions. The general public won't see this on their search pages but for those member of the LDS church, look to the right of the indexed record for a PID number. When you click on the PID# you will be taken right to the record on nFS. Is this a sign of things to come? I don't know for sure but imagine what will happen if we are able to tie the indexed record directly to a record in nFS. I was previously testing a project from BYU where we were linking people mentioned in journals to the people in nFS. Just wait until we can do that with every record currently on microfilm.

The FamilySearch Wiki (https://wiki.familysearch.org) has now been integrated into the FamilySearch format. The wiki is there to help you learn where to search for various records and to give advice. It is being added to daily so even if you don't find what you are looking for today, check back often for updates. One of the updates I just ran across was the posting for FamilySearch Research Help Communities. These communities are located on Facebook, Skype and FamilySearch Forums. The Skype Groups let you chat with others researching the same areas (https://wiki.familysearch.org/en/Join_a_Skype_Research_Community). There are many groups already formed, including Mexico, Denmark, England, Finland, Germany, Poland, Ireland, Sweden, Wales, and Thailand, as well as many states in the US. Those same basic groups are also on Facebook (https://wiki.familysearch.org/en/Join_a_Facebook_Research_Community). Figure out which community is best for you an try it out.

There is also a new page at LDS.org directed towards getting the youth involved in family history research. You can find the site at https://lds.org/youth/family-history. This site has a couple introductory videos related to using new.familysearch.org and FamilySearch.org. These videos are include information on why members of the LDS church do family history and some of the programs that are available for members of the church. However, anyone who is interested in learning how to use the sites will find some information and may be inspired to continue their research.

Happy New Years!

1-1-2009 - It seems like just a few weeks ago we were celebrating the beginning of 2008. As we get older the years seem to get shorter and we never seem to be able to keep all of our resolutions we make each year. So, knowing this, what have I resolved to do?

This year I resolve to do better on FamilySearch Indexing. I have been slacking on this in the past and have only completed 3350 records since it first started. I read the news about Alta Mesa Stake in Mesa, Arizona completing over 4 million records last year. That is a huge accomplishment. We need to make sure everyone we know is doing something to help the cause of indexing. It doesn't take much time to complete one set of records each week. If we all did just one set of records (approximately 25-50 names) each week, each one of us would complete 1300-2600 records each year.  Those of us who have more time can easily double this number.

This year I resolve to do better keeping my journal. Journals are an important record of our times and will help our descendents understand what our lives were like. Just think how useful it would be to you to have a copy of a journal written by your great grandparents. I do try to keep up with mine but it is hit and miss. Sometimes I go for a week writing every day. Other times it is 3 or 4 weeks between entries. I have only been keeping my journal since July 9, 2006 and it is currently only 72 typed pages.

This year I resolve to exercise regularly. While doing my family medical history (see my blog for December 22, 2008 for ideas) I discovered that the cause of death of many of my ancestors is listed as of cerebral hemorrhages, diabetes, heart disease and various cancers. Many of these diseases can be prevented by being more physically fit. We bought a treadmill for Christmas and I have been using it several times each week. I have already noticed that my belts fit a notch or two smaller.

Sometimes the worst thing to do is be over ambitious in your resolutions. I took a look at my suggested resolutions for last year. The following are what I put in my January 2008 Family History Newsletter as examples of what we can do in the new year - http://milesmeyer.googlepages.com/January12008.pdf

1) To organize and label all your photographs.

• For the techies—scan all of your photographs, label them and create backup copies stored in a safe location.

2) Rededicate yourself to writing in your journal.

• Techies, why don’t you use that new video camera that you got for Christmas to begin creating a video journal.

3) To keep up with the new genealogy resources and attend a genealogy class. It is not enough now to just know all of the research techniques to find records in the court house. The internet is bringing us new ways to research on a daily basis. Learn how to effectively use these new websites.

4) Find sources for everyone in at least one direct line of ancestors.

5) Dedicate a few hours per week or a whole day each month to work on my family research.

6) Keep track of correspondence.

• Techies, make sure you have replied to all of the e-mails and file them away in folders for future reference.

7) Get organized. Look through that pile of papers and see what you may have forgotten about.

8) Genealogy is more than names and dates. Find out about the lives of your ancestors.

9) Put your research to good use. Share it with others.

10) Volunteer to help others. Make your time in the Family History Center a productive time. Help others by joining with sites such as Random Acts of Genealogical Kindness (http://www.raogk.org/)

I hope everyone had a good 2008 and wish everyone a great 2009! Only 364 more days until 2010.