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The Family History Guide Blog - History

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The Family History Guide Blog

27.01.2025

FamilySearch 2024 Year in Review – The Family History Guide Blog

Note: This article appeared previously on the Genealogy's Star blog site.   FamilySearch.orgI realize we are getting well into 2025, but I am always fascinated by what happened in the past year. FamilySearch.org had a banner year and from my standpoint, more than I can quickly learn about is coming in 2025. I do, however, have a few comments about the numbers for 2024. All this comes from an email sent to me on December 30, 2024. Here is the opening quote: SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH—Join FamilySearch, the world’s largest nonprofit genealogy organization, in looking back at 2024 to recap some of its most notable highlights. FamilySearch celebrated its 130th anniversary as an organization in 2024, and the 25th anniversary of its popular website, FamilySearch.org. Millions of visitors made fun new ancestor discoveries during the year thanks to advancements in FamilySearch’s artificial intelligence, new historical records collections, and RootsTech by FamilySearch, which continued its global reach in helping individuals make new family connections. FamilySearch enjoyed more than 285 million visits from across the planet in 2024. Patrons frequented FamilySearch’s growing record collections, interactive discovery experiences like Surnames and Ancestors, and helpful articles on the FamilySearch Wiki and Blog. I am sure you are wondering how FamilySearch can claim to be 130 years old. The answer is very simple. FamilySearch is a trade name for The Genealogical Society of Utah. I have no doubt that the number of visits is accurate since I usually login to the FamilySearch.org website several times a day. The next section talks about the number of records using the measurement of searchable names. This is an interesting claim. FamilySearch currently has at least 5 different places on their website where you can search for names. The spectrum is from name searches, catalog searches, and page by page searches on digital images. If I have time, I will comment on this situation in the near future. The number of 20.5+ searchable names and images is probably a low estimate.The next subject is the FamilySearch Family Tree. The number of people in the FamilySearch Family Tree has to be adjusted for duplicates and some of us are painfully aware that there are still a huge number of duplicate names in the Family Tree. I also wonder is the number of sources is unique sources or simply a total of all the sources attached to all the people that would include multiple copies of the same source.Here is another quote. The world’s largest online family tree grew by more than 150 million people in 2024, totaling 1.67 billion searchable people. Contributors also added 530 million sources to their ancestors in the tree—which helps increase accuracy and collaboration. In addition, three new user features were added to the FamilySearch Family Tree: Merge Analysis Feature simplifies the ability to review and correct merges, and you can better understand the “before and after” of each merge. Portrait Pedigree View Update allows you to view siblings, a single-family line, and multiple family lines at the same time; add relatives quickly without leaving the page; and distinguish living individuals more easily. 3 Star Record Hints introduce a broader range of record considerations for experienced researchers to explore. There is a lot more to talk about but I will leave the rest for other posts on other days.

The Family History Guide Blog

20.01.2025

Matin Luther King Day and Family History – The Family History Guide Blog

Today, January 20, celebrates the legacy of Martin Luther King, a pioneer Black leader and activist who promoted civil rights in the United States and gave his life for the cause. You can read about his life ana accomplishments in many books and websites, including Wikipedia. Part of the awareness he helped to raise is the connection between generations in America. The Family History Guide has a helpful section on tracing family roots for those who are of African descent. You can find it in the Ethnic section at the bottom of the Countries menu. Here's a brief summary of some of the useful resources you will find in those pages: Learn the basics of African American research. Use effective tips and techniques in African American research. Learn how find record sources for African American ancestors. Explore vital and census records. Explore newspaper records for African Americans. Explore other record types for African Americans. Learn about resources in various libraries and archives. Learn about other resources for research. Learn about the basic records that document slaves. Learn about the Freedmen's Bank and Freedmen's Bureau. Learn about the National Underground Railroad. Learn about African American research challenges and breakthroughs. Trace your slave ancestors before the Civil War. Use Facebook pages and other sources to get answers to your questions. In addition to these topics, there is also a Vault section in The Family History Guide, where you can find links to addtional videos and articles about African American genealogy research, and more topics and links on many of the individual U.S. state pages. We hope you enjoy these resources!   [caption id=attachment_10543 align=aligncenter width=900] Attractive young man sitting on floor with laptop computer over map of US States.[/caption]

The Family History Guide Blog

13.01.2025

What’s New in The Family History Guide – The Family History Guide Blog

From time to time we add new features and items to The Family History Guide website, and when we do, they usually end up in a blog post like this. So here goes, with several things that have been added in the last few weeks ... 1.  70+ Tasks to Do with FamilySearch and The Family History Guide—This is a PDF you can download, and it describes over 70 meaningful tasks you can do using FamilySearch Family Tree and The Family History Guide. The tasks are divided into approximate skill levels, so there are plenty of things to do, for both beginners and more experienced users. The PDF has links that take you to instructions in The Family Hisory Guide for how to complete the tasks. You can also find the PDF in the Goal Tiles page of Project 1: FamilySearch. In the example below, B stands for Beginner Level and E stands for Experienced. 2.  QUIKLinks and Practice Exercises—We have added over 100 new QUIKLinks to record collections from around the world in The Family History Guide, as well as about 10 new Record Search Practice Exercises. 3.  2-Minute Demos document—In the Trainers menu, there is an entry called 2-Minute Demos that helps you hit the highlights of The Family History Guide as you give brief website demos to others. The information is available on the page in hide / show links, and now we have added a standalone document you can download that has all the tips in one handy Google doc. Our booth workers for The Family History Guide will be using this document to prpare for giving website demos at RootsTech 2025. We hope you enjoy the latest additions to The Family History Guide. Be sure to stay tuned for the latest developments in our website, and thanks for your ongoing support!

The Family History Guide Blog

06.01.2025

New: Weekly Family History Activities for 2025 – The Family History Guide Blog

When the Come, Follow Me program for Latter-day Saint scripture study came out in 2019, I remember a conversation I had with Angelle Anderson, our Marketing Director: Should we provide a weekly companion for it—one that focuses on family history? We jumped in, a bit nervous but excited, and here we are introducing the seventh yearly installment: Weekly Family History Activities for Come, Follow Me 2025: Doctrine and Covenants. Aside from a couple of years where Debbie Brady (Marketing Specialist) helped out, Angelle has shouldered the content burden for 52 lessons times 7, for a total of over 350 lessons. Now that we have completed the cycle of the four standard works we can borrow from previous content, as Come, Follow Me does; but it's still quite an undertaking. If you're not familiar with the Weekly Family History Activities, there are links at the top of that page that include a Schedule for the current year (all 52 lessons), plus links to previous years, the Weekly Family History Activities Facebook Group, and the Activities Index. Each lesson mirrors the theme of the current Come, Follow Me lesson, with activities, quotes, videos, pictures, and references that provide a rich temple and family history learning experience to complement the regular lesson. We hope you enjoy the new Weekly Family History Activities for 2005: Doctrine and Covenants. Here is a brief video from the Hi Five Live Facebook series, narrated by Scott Anderson, that introduces the upcoming lessons: https://www.facebook.com/watch/live?ref=watch_permalink&v=1106844707775723

The Family History Guide Blog

29.12.2024

Year in Review: The Top 20 for 2024 – The Family History Guide Blog

This past year was a memorable one for The Family History Guide. Here's a look back at 20 of the events and website features that made 2024 a special year: 20. AI Goal added—With artificial intelligence being applied to genealogy in new ways, this new Goal in The Family History Guide helps you get up to speed on ChatGPT, handwriting recognition, language translation, and other AI tools. 19. New England FH Fair—This event in May would have had a much broader impact were it not for the untimely snowstorms that made local travel to the Fair difficult. Still, the attendees had a great time, with excellent speakers and fabulous scenery in upstate Vermont. 18. TFHG Intro video in Spanish—The English version of this video is on our list, below. This version offers Spanish-speaking guests a first look at The Family History Guide, with screenshots in Spanish and an emphasis on research in Latin American countries. 17. Video: Why I Love TFHG—This video gives a great youth perspective on family history and The Family History Guide, and it's narrated by a teen family history enthusiast. 16. Inside the Guide—This is a new playlist of videos on our YouTube Channel that highlights useful and interesting sites and databases mentioned in country pages of The Family History Guide. The first three videos are for Canada, Ireland, and Germany, with England and other countries to follow after. 15. Country Quizzes—We've had quizzes in the Trainers menu for quite a while, but recently we added 30 new quizzes for country pages, based on our QRB (Quick Research Basics) videos. Each quiz has 5 questions, with a passing score of at least 4 correct responses. 14. 2-Minute Demos—There's a new entry in the Trainers menu for 2-Minute Demos. It includes quick and easy quotes you can use when introducing others to The Family History Guide, arranged by these categories: Website Overview, More Features, Country Pages, United States Research, Activities, and Trainers. 13. TFHG on Paper—While there's no printed book for The Family History Guide, there's a two-page summary of features that can easily be used as a handout when giving a presentation about the website. 12. 70+ Tasks for FamilySearch and The Family History Guide—Looking for traction with FamilySearch tasks? This PDF outlines over 70 things you can do on FamilySearch, assisted by The Family History Guide. Links are included to TFHG topics that help you complete the tasks. 11. Enhanced Countries menu—We've added regional entries for the Caribbean, Central America, and Africa, while removing North America (it's covered in the other entries). More country links have also been added in several of the regions. 10. NGS Virtual Conference—This conference for the National Genealogical Society was all-virtual in 2024, and it was very successful. It used the Whova online platform to link up presenters, exhibitors, keynotes and members, and The Family History Guide Association had a good presence at the conference. 9. 5-Minute Features videos—On our YouTube Channel we created a 5-Minute Features playlist. It includes a number of brief videos that introduce you to key features in The Family History Guide and provide tips on using them effectively. 8. Online Tracker Sheets—Need an alternative to the Online Tracker database for tracking your learning progress? Try the new Online Tracker Sheets. They are Google Sheets you can download and edit, with the ability to add and customize entries, get more typing space, etc. 7. New Practice Exercises—There are now over 800 Record Search Practice Exercises in The Family History Guide, spanning most countries in the world as well as U.S. states. These help you get practical experience using a wide variety of records to solve sample research problems. 6. TFHG Intro video, 2024—We updated the 20-minute Intro video for The Family History Guide on the Home Page, to provide a website overview and highlight new features. This video can be especially useful for organizations that present The Family History Guide and would like a handy review online. 5. Brent Bunker, Content Specialist—This year we welcomed Brent Bunker, from Newport, Oregon, to our Management Team as a Content Specialist. Brent has already created hundreds of new Practice Exercises and updated QUIKLinks for record collections around the world. 4. Weekly FH Activities, updated—Our Marketing Director, Angelle Anderson, devoted a tremendous amount of time in updating the Weekly Family History Activities that serve as a family history companion to the Come, Follow Me lessons. We are now working on completing the series for 2025. 3. RootsTech 2024—The Family History Guide Association had a terrific year at RootsTech 2024, with a large exhibitor booth near FamilySearch and plenty of classes delivered by Management Team members such as James Tanner, Miles Meyer, Scott and Angelle Anderson, and Bob Taylor. Preparations are underway for the RootsTech 2025 experience. 1. (Tie) Partnership: NGS and TFHG—In February the National Genealogical Society (NGS) announced an educational partnership with The Family History Guide Association, who will provide NGS member organizations with training on using The Family History Guide to accelerate the learning and research progress of members and teams. 1. Viewpoint Project—Viewpoint with Dennis Quaid is a popular educational series that is broadcast on PBS and its affiliates across the U.S. Early in 2025 The Family History Guide will be featured in videos that will reach an estimated 60 to 80 million Americans, helping to introduce many to genealogy as a pastime or a lifelong pursuit.

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