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Inside the Guide: Ireland – The Family History Guide Blog
Here's another addition to our Inside the Guide playlist: Ireland Sites and Databases. Each Inside the Guide video will highlight websites and databases featured in country pages of The Family History Guide. The videos do not have live links to the sites and databases, but they are easy to find in the Goals and Choices of The Family History Guide. The video is also included below for your convenience - enjoy! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PIPX7TGT71I Stay tuned for more Inside the Guide videos highlighting the great sites and databases for research in your favorite countries!
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays from The Family History Guide Association – The Family History Guide Blog
The Management Team of The Family History Guide would like to take this opportunity to wish you and your family and friends a safe and happy holiday season. We are grateful for your ongoing support for and interest in family history, and the work you do connect generations together. There is much today that may be worrisome to many of us, including political divides, ongoing wars, and human suffering. Remembering our families and ancestors and the sacrifices they made for us can help us find greater meaning in our lives and more willingness to work together as a human family. This year I visited Thanksgiving Point Gardens in Utah. I saw beautiful bronze statues of a woman seated on a bench in grief from her trials, and an angel - perhaps an ancestor - offering her comfort. As I watched, a three-year-old boy sat down on the bench next to the statue-woman and talked with her for several minutes in an effort to cheer her up. His mother shared with me that he often takes opportunites to help others feel better. The fact that she was a statue did not deter him in the least. May your homes and hearts be filled with joy and peace this holiday, and may we find occasions to lift others and share our good will and love! Sincerely, The Family History Guide Association
5-Minute Family History Activities for Everyone – The Family History Guide Blog
You have to admit - activities can be a fun and meaningful way for anyone to get involved in family history, from seniors to kids. One of the challenges that sometimes comes up is time: preparation time for activities, and a shorter duration. Many of the over 200 family history activities in The Family History Guide need little preparation, and now we have added a great collection of 5-Minute Activities to the site. You can find these new activities in the header area of each activities page. For example: Below is a small sample of what you'll find with these new activities: We hope you enjoy the new 5-Minute Activities for Everyone in The Family History Guide!
New: Inside the Guide Video Series – The Family History Guide Blog
Our YouTube Channel currently has over 250 videos on a wide variety of family history topics. We are now adding a new playlist with a series of upcoming videos: Inside the Guide. Each Inside the Guide video will highlight websites and databases featured in country pages of The Family History Guide. The videos do not have live links to the sites and databases, but they are easy to find in the Goals and Choices of The Family History Guide. We are excited to share the first video in the series: Inside the Guide - Canada. It's part of the playlist, and it's included below for your convenience. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Te8lGVm_vw Stay tuned for more Inside the Guide videos highlighting the great sites and databases for research in your favorite countries!
70+ Family History Tasks, with FamilySearch & The Family History Guide – The Family History Guide Blog
When we think about what an individual's part of FamilySearch Family Tree may look like, there's a wide range of possibilities. Some people are just starting to build their tree information, while others have extensive pedigrees that go back many generations on many lines. And of course, there are lots of variations in between for countless other users. So if you are wondering what to do next on FamilySearch, or you'd like some suggestions for someone you're helping with FamilySearch, 70+ Family History Tasks You Can Do with FamilySearch & The Family History Guide is for you. This handy PDF document has tasks recommended for beginners or more experienced users, to help people spend meaningful and productive time in FamilySarch. It also as well as links to places in The Family History Guide where you can get help with learning how to do the recommended tasks. Here's a brief glimpse at the beginning of the list: Other secions include Memories, Indexing, Research, Getting Help, and Helping Others. There is also a section at the end for tasks that Latter-day Saints will find useful. We hope you enjoy the new 70+ Family History Tasks You Can Do with FamilySearch & The Family History Guide PDF. There is also a link to it in The Family History Guide, on the Goals page for FamilySearch Project 1.
The RootsTech Booth 2025 for The Family History Guide Association – The Family History Guide Blog
RootsTech 2025 is shaping up to be a super event next March, and The Family History Guide Association will be back again in the Exhibit Hall of the Salt Palace. Our booth space this year is our largest ever, and we'll have website demos, classes, giveaways and games through the course of RootsTech. The map below shows our location in the Exhibit Hall. Last year we were in the back part of #613, next to FamilySearch, but this year we have moved to the central aisle with booth #1413 (in red). This is a great spot for hall traffic, and we are next to BYU Pathways on the left and the National Genealogical Society across the aisle. Our booth layout will likely be demo stations on the left side and the tower and class area on the right side. Note: the map is a preliminary view of the Exhibit Hall and is subject to change, as new vendors come and participate. If you're at RootsTech in Salt Lake City, be sure to stop by our booth, say hello, and grab some flyers and pass-along cards to take with you.
Salt Lake City HQ Mission Training Zone and The Family History Guide – The Family History Guide Blog
On December 11 Bob Ives and Bob Taylor will present an hour-long training session on The Family History Guide for the Missionary Development Team (Utah Salt Lake City Headquarters Mission), for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. This team is comprised of family history missionaries who serve for a year, helping others with their family history and doing assignments such as the following: Assisting patrons in person, by email, by telephone, or on the internet to do family history and Church history research. Acquiring and preserving family history records. Indexing names for temple ordinances. Resolving ordinance record issues. Working with oral histories. Providing training on how to do family history research. Processing digital records. Providing related documents to off-site patrons. Working with Church historical records and journals. The training session will cover new activities with The Family History Guide Assocation and recent updates and new features in The Family History Guide website. Bob and Bob have presented several times to their team, and it is always a interesting and engaging experience. You can learn more about the Utah Salt Lake City Headquarters Mission here: https://www.familysearch.org/en/info/family-history-mission/utah-headquarters
How to Analyze Genealogical Sources: Part Six – The Family History Guide Blog
Editor's Note: This article by was previously published in the Genealogy's Star blog site . After you have reviewed a few thousand documents, you will work out your own method for analyzing the document or record and the information contained in the document or record. But meanwhile, it is a good idea to think about the process and make sure that you ask a series of questions before blindly copying the information and sticking it into someone on your family tree. Here is an example of a document suggested by FamilySearch.org as a Record Hint for the Reverend Alonzo Torrey (b. 1813, d. 1892). https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/9768108 This is a FindAGrave.com entry. This entry is in my part of the Family Tree because one of my relatives married Torrey when he was 78 years old and she was 41 years old. He only lived one year after the marriage date. Why this all occurred after my relative had been married previously and had two children is not yet explained. But let's look at the FindAGrave entry. First of all, It is obviously the right person. The entry makes no mention of the late-in-life marriage but that might be expected. In this particular case, the birth and death dates on the grave marker match the ones in FamilySearch. Now we need to ask the standard questions about the information contained in the FindAGrave memorial. Where did the event occur? What are the levels of jurisdiction What was the date of the event? Who recorded the event? When was the event recorded? How was the report preserved? Is this a copy of the original report? There can be more or fewer questions but this list is sufficient for the present post series. FindAGrave.com is basically a website that has a database of cemeteries and graves. There seems to be no controversy over the location of the burial (the event) in Flint, Genesee, Michigan, United States. The jurisdictional question is partially answered by the location. There is a death date but no burial year. We don't know who recorded the event because there is no indication as to who paid for and erected the grave marker. We also do not know when the dates were recorded. The grave marker could have been placed contemporaneously with the burial but usually, the marker is placed sometime after the burial. The events were recorded on the grave marker itself but it may or may not be the original marker. Are any of these dates original?' No. All of the information on the website, including the images, are user-submitted. While grave markers are usually accurate about the death or burial date, they are not necessarily accurate about the birth date. On the other hand, these might be the most accurate dates available at all. This is one reason that the dichotomy created by the legalistic terms such as primary vs. secondary lose their usefulness. Arguably, someone who knew the deceased person paid for and placed the grave marker. They probably knew first hand the person's birth, death, and burial dates. The only reason that a researcher would seriously doubt the accuracy of these dates on the grave marker is if there were other documents and records with conflicting information. What if there were no image of the grave marker. Then the information loses its veracity and becomes no better or worse than an unsupported entry in an online family tree. Can we tell from the FindAGrave.com entry who supplied the information? Yes, usually there is a contact name and this may be a way to verify the information supplied. For the previous parts of this series see the following: Part One: https://genealogysstar.blogspot.com/2020/04/how-to-analyze-genealogical-sources.html Part Two: https://genealogysstar.blogspot.com/2020/04/how-to-analyze-genealogical-sources_17.html Part Three: https://genealogysstar.blogspot.com/2020/04/how-to-analyze-genealogical-sources_20.html Part Four: https://genealogysstar.blogspot.com/2020/04/how-to-analyze-genealogical-sources_29.html Part Five: https://genealogysstar.blogspot.com/2020/05/how-to-analyze-genealogical-sources.html
Gratitude: What Matters Most – The Family History Guide Blog
A few days ago I received an email from Aimee Cross, a friend and fellow genealogist (The Family History Guide has quite a few links to videos on her popular YouTube channel). Aimee lives in my home town—Camarillo, California—and part of that city had been devastated by the recent Mountain Fire, which burned over 50,000 acres and destroyed over 100 homes. I had been wondering about her and if she and her home and family were okay. I was just about to reach out to her when I got her email. She had been out of town at the time of the fire, and fortunately her home was not affected. My childhood home is less than a mile away from the extent of the fire, and I found out that five families in the Latter-day Saint ward of my youth were lost, although there were no injuries. The firefighters and emergency personnel did an amazing job considering the steep terrain of the hills and gale-force Santa Ana winds. Aimee shared a poignant video of the fire-affected area, along with reminders that family memories such as photos and documents need to be backed up digitally, as disasters can occur swiftly and without warning. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f74KPXWYADo As we prepare for Thanksgiving in the United States this coming Thursday, what's truly important to us? I think most of us would answer that family, including our ancestors and their memories, would certainly be prominent on that list. Let's all take some time at this wonderful holiday season and reflect on our blessings and the service and sacrifice our ancestors made for us. Happy Thanksgiving, and thanks for your support of The Family History Guide!
Update to “The Inside Story” video – The Family History Guide Blog
A few years ago we produced a YouTube video that outlined the story of The Family History Guide, including its beginnings and progress through 2022. We have recently updated the video, changing some slides for personnel and adding exciting new updates to the content. The sections of the video are: A Simple Idea The Idea Evolves Opening Doors People Power What's Next You can view the newly updated video on YouTube here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j9uz02krCoI We hope you enjoy TFHG - The Inside Story, 2025!
Getting Ready for RootsTech – The Family History Guide Blog
Although RootsTech 2025 is still over three months away, preparations have already begun for the big event. Registration has been open since September of this year, and speakers and exhibitors are preparing their materials in advance. The Family History Guide Association will have a spacious 30x30-foot booth close to the FamilySearch booth in the Exhibit Hall, with a seating area for on-demand classes and a number of workstations for demos for visitors. As Bronze-level Sponsors, we have quite a to-do list for both the live and the virtual components of the event. Here's a summary of the some of the tasks we will be working on in preparation for the RootsTech 2025: Social media, blog posts, and promotional messaging for RootsTech Videos for product demos, tips and tricks, and company introduction Downloadable PDF files for product information Summary for the Introduction to The Family History Guide) class offered at RootsTech in Salt Lake City On-Demand Virtual Library video 60-minute online webinar If you come to RootsTech 2025 in Salt Lake, be sure to stop by our booth and say hello. If you are attending online, stay tuned for details in the coming weeks about how to find our virtual booth and take advantage of its features.
Check Out the RootsTech 2025 Speakers – The Family History Guide Blog
One of the great perks of RootsTech each year is getting to hear - or even meet - world class genealogists. RootsTech 2025 is no exception, with over 100 industry expert speakers set to enlighten us on a side variety of family history topics. Below is a quick list of the RootsTech speakers, and you can view the full list here. Steve Rockwood - President and CEO of FamilySearch International. Dr Nick Barratt - an author, broadcaster and historian best known for his work on BBC’s Who Do You Think You Are. Crista Cowan - the popular voice of Ancestry.com since 2004 and a renowned speaker and video presenter. Brian Donovan - the Strategic Initiatives Manager at Findmypast and an Irish records expert. Diana Elder and Nicole Dyer - the mother/daughter team of genealogists and podcasters from the popular Family Locket website. Kathryn Grant - a noted family history teacher, writer, and technologist with FamilySearch. Debbie Gurtler - Assistant Director of the FamilySearch Library in Salt Lake City. Amy Harris - Family History Program coordinator at Brigham Young University. Daniel Horowitz - the MyHeritage liason with genealogy societies, bloggers, and media. David Allen Lambert - Chief Genealogist for American Ancestors / New England Historical Genealogical Society. Diahan Southard - founder of Your DNA Guide, a website focused on DNA research education. James Tanner - noted blogger, lecturer and trainer, and Chairman of the BOard of The Family History Guide Association. Maureen Taylor - the nation's foremost historical photo detective according to The Wall Street Journal. More speakers are being added to RootsTech 2025, so be sure to check out the link above for new additions as we get closer to the event.
Discovering Random Acts of Genealogical Kindness – The Family History Guide Blog
Random Acts of Genealogical Kindness sounds like a good idea—and it is. It's actually a free website at RAOGK.org. As the name implies, it's all about offering services to those doing genealogy research. Let's take a look at what this amazing website has to offer, using the tabs at the top of the home page: Volunteer Directory: You can enter a location or type of record you're interested in, and a list appears with names of volunteers who will do free genealogy lookups for you. These are mostly U.S.-based (1120 results), but other countries and continents are represented. Record Guides: There are 11 categories of guides, each with helpful tips and resources for research by record type. The Family History Guide like to a number of these record guides. U.S. State Guides: There is an extensive guide available for each U.S. state. Additionally, there are separate guides for counties in each state, which provides a useful base for research throughout the United States. DNA Research Guide: This guide has an extensive table of contents that covers such topics as finding genetic cousins, testing for yDNA, mtDNA, and autosomal, what DNA tests can and cannot tell you, etc. We hope you enjoy the Random Acts of Genealogical Kindness website!
Remembering Our Military Ancestors – The Family History Guide Blog
On Veterans Day we remember those who have served in the United States armed forces, and many of us have ancestors who served in some capacity in the military. The Family History Guide has a wealth of resources to help you trace your ancestry in the military, including links to records, articles, videos, and databases. Here's a quick summary of what you can find in the United States pages for military research: Goal E1: Learn about military records - This has an intro video and three Choices with extensive resources to help you with your research. Goal E2: Explore military records by conflict - This covers research and records for these wars involving the U.S.: Revolutionary War, War of 1812, Civil War, World War I, World War II, and Korean War, plus additional conflicts. Military Goals in U.S. State pages - Each state has a Goal 6 for military records and resources in that state, including QUIKLins to a wide variety of military record collections. The Vault - This super-page in The Family History Guide has hundreds of additional links for articles and videos about tracing ancestors who served in the U.S. military. Class Outlines - In the Trainers menu, the Class Outlines page has a United States section with six class outlines for teaching and learning about U.S. military records and resources. Many country pages in The Family History Guide also have Goals for military research. For example, there is Goal 9 in the England page and an extensive list of military records in the United Kingdom collector page. You might also enjoy this new RootsTech Reel about military records and artificial intelligence, produced by James Tanner: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/fV1Rjv93ekc
David Rencher: Lifetime Genealogy Achievement Award – The Family History Guide Blog
Just six weeks ago, David Rencher led off our series of live interviews for the Viewpoint with Dennis Quaid project. Two weeks ago he was in the news, receiving a Lifetime Genealogy Achievement Award from the International Congress of Genealogical and Heraldic Sciences (ICGHS). As noted in a recent FamilySearch blog article, the ICGHS 36th annual congress was held in Boston, Massachusetts, USA—the first time the event has been held on United States soil—thanks to Rencher’s collaboration with the congress. You can read the full article here: https://www.familysearch.org/en/blog/familysearch-cgo-david-rencher-receives-lifetime-genealogy-achievement-award Stay tuned for the latest news on the Viewpoint project, including an update on the broadcast dates, times, and channels for the three video segments featuring The Family History Guide.
What’s In a Name? – The Family History Guide Blog
How much do you know about your name, first or last? The Family History Guide has a wealth of information that can help you understand the origins and meanings of names, whether for you or for your ancestors. Here's a quick list of resources and links found in The Family History Guide that can help you get started with understanding the names that are important to you: FamilySearch Surname Origin - https://www.familysearch.org/en/surname Type a surname and click Find Now to see the meaning of the name, where in the world it's most commonly found, and links to stories and records featuring that surname. Linkpendium Surname Search - https://linkpendium.com/ Check out the right panel for Jump to a surname and then type the name and click Go. This points you to a wide variety of records for the surname, including cemeteries, census, family trees, and group sheets. Project 4: Discover, Goal 3 - https://www.thefhguide.com/project-4-discover03.html#e Choice E in Goal 4 connects you with helpful articles and videos that explore the use and meanings of first names and surnames in your genealogy research. Surname Distribution Maps - Many country pages have a Choice in Goal 1 that provides a link to a surname distribution map, which shows where surnames are concentrated in the country. Example for Belgium - https://www.familienaam.be/ (try using the Bol surname). In countries that have names based on patronymics (derived from a father's first name) or where multiple surnames are often used, such tracing surnames can be less useful or more complicated. Still, the study of names can provide genealogy clues, context, and interesting backgrounds.
Free Genealogy Websites – and The Family History Guide – The Family History Guide Blog
We like to spread the word that The Family History Guide is an industry-leading website for research—and it's free. But it's even better when others help us get our message out, and that's certainly the case with this recent FamilySearch blog article by genealogy experts Kathryn Grant and Sally Odekirk: Free Genealogy Websites to Elevate Your Research. The article begins with a Gateway category, which is defined as a gateway or hub for research resources on the internet. The four gateway sites mentioned are Conference Keeper, a hub for genealogy conferences, jobs, cruises, etc. Cyndi's List, a huge collection of over 300,000 links on many genealogy topics FamilySearch Wiki, specializing in record collections and research strategies The Family History Guide, a site with research training, learning projects, and many video and tutorial resources We're honored to be included in this short list of global leaders in family history research. The Family History Guide also has two knowledgebases and hundreds of practice exercises for research. But there's more ... FamilyHistory Activities We are also mentioned in the article sections for family history activities, alongside FamilySearch Activities, and Relative Finder from the BYU Technology Labs. The Family History Guide has the largest collection of free activities, with well over 200. Also included are an activities index for quick reference, and activities for Latter-day Saints, such as a family history companion for Come, Follow Me. Training and Education The Training and Education section of the article has this to say: As mentioned above, The Family History Guide offers free self-guided learning on a variety of topics, such as general research, country-specific research, and using family history websites such as FamilySearch.org and Ancestry.com. Also of note are over 200 Class Outlines that can be used for quick and easy training on a wide variety of genealogy subjects, and over 50 quizzes. The Online Tracker tools help you assess your learning progress quickly and efficiently.
Some Common Steps to Online Security – The Family History Guide Blog
Note: This article was published previously on the Genealogy's Star blog site. Security is one of the major concerns of the day. You can regularly read about huge websites and databases being hacked and the information stored compromised. Security on your computer or your smartphone should be as automatic as locking your door at night (or during the day depending on where you live) and routinely locking your car unless you live in San Francisco and leave it unlocked and empty to avoid a broken window. Even genealogists need to be aware of the security of our data. The first and most common issue is logins and passwords. Basic security mandates logins and passwords that have enough characters (letters, numbers, and other symbols) to be harder to sign in (weak vs. strong). In addition, each password should be unique. It is not a good idea to reuse a password. Most of us have a place we keep our passwords. That place should be secure and subject to password protection also. If you have them on a piece of paper, make sure the location of the list is secure. One way to create a strong password is to use a combination of words, numbers and symbols. For example: this is a strong password ElephantMachineDoctor34!! assuming it does not exceed the number of characters mandated by the website or program you are entering. Random letter, number, and symbol passwords are extremely hard to remember and difficult to type correctly. Although the password generated by the websites or programs are strong, they are also random and arbitrary. The next level of security concern is when you are using a computer in a library, FamilySearch Center, or some other publicly accessible place. Depending on the facility where the computer is located, unless you log out of any programs you use, the computer may remember the login and password and allow any random person who uses the computer have access after you leave. For example here in the BYU Library Family History Center, if you login to websites and programs, some of the websites and programs will keep you logged in even if you log out of the main BYU access program. In the case of the university, all the computers are supposed to be wiped clean every night but we still find absent people signed in on a regular basis. Email addresses are not intended to be secure. One obvious reason is that your email address will likely be used as your login although sometimes the website will send you an email to verify that it is your email address. It is a good idea to have one email address for day-to-day use and another used for signing into secure websites. You can have several different email logins but using more than one or two for routine email become complicated. The multiple emails can cause problems when they are used as the login for a website and then forgotten. You may have to log into the website and the website will send a key for logging in to your old email address and if this happens to be the one you have forgotten or closed, you may go through a complex issue with the website before being admitted. If you forgotten your login or password, most websites and programs have a way to restore the password or have create a new one. Always remember to immediately write down the new password. If you are like me, I would forget what I used almost as soon as I was through logging in. An unrelated issue is maintaining the security of your computer, smartphone, or other device. Pinning your passwords on a stick it note is not a good idea unless you take another step and encode all your pass words. Your code could be quite simple: 3456Missippi23!!! could be shown on your password list as 34M2!!! and you could then have created a system that only you know about that lets you know that 34 is 3456, M is Mississippi, and 2!!! is really 23!!!. There are many more security concerns. Phishing is one issue that is becoming endemic. Phishing involves send a legitimate looking email requesting some personal information. Phishing is not limited to email, it is also becoming common with text messages and phone calls. If you get an unfamiliar email, text, or phone call make sure that you do not open the email or text and do not answer the phone call even to tell the person on the line to hang up. You should have a working voice mail if you are concerned about having phone calls from a sizable group of people. Let the phone call go to voice mail and if it turns out to be a legitimate phone call, text or email, you can either call the person back or contact them in some other way. Legitimate contacts will leave a voice mail or call you more directly so you know who is calling. Genealogical information is usually not private and since it found in available historical records, the information is not something that people who are trying to gather personal information to sell or use for criminal purposes. One exception is the common banking secure question that is the maiden name of your grandmother or some other relative. People like me have multiple family trees on various websites and almost all my family trees are open to the public and contain the maiden name of my grandmother (or some other person). Apparently banks do not know about online family trees. Another issue happens when a website you are using is hacked. You might get a notice to change your login and/or password. Do it the minute the procedure is available. On the other hand, if you are not really using the website it is a good idea to sign out, if you can, and take the program off your computer or stop using the website. But don't use the old password. This subject could go on for volumes with examples of dangerous behaviors. But the basic idea here is to be aware of the need for security and learn about the ways your security can be increased.
New Practice Exercises Are Here – The Family History Guide Blog
Recently we have added more Record Search Practice Exercises to The Family History Guide, mostly for U.S. states. You can see the entire list of exercises here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1G8YRrJXc1ofmzF2YGu1FL1plt0qzTG4o-rW4RBvS5lc The tab for U.S. States at the bottom of the spreadsheet gives you a handy look at the states and record types that have practice exercises available (links are noted in blue). Here's a sample look: This brings the total number of Practice Exercises in The Family History Guide to over 750, with more on the way. Enjoy!
Training for the National Genealogical Society – The Family History Guide Blog
This past week I met online with 50 leaders from the National Genealogical Society, through their OrgConnects! program. OrgConnects is a new venture that enables their leadership to meet and discuss important topics across organizations. Thursday evening was a presentation on how training tools in The Family Histgory Guide can help leaders and members accelerate their training and learning efforts in genealogy. The partnership with The Family History Guide Association and the National Genealogical Socety provides for free presentations about The Family Histgory Guide and its learning tools. This presentation focused on Practice Exercises, Class Outlines, Quizzes, and the new Online Tracker Sheets. and it was well-received. Below is an outline of the topics that were covered in the training session: Website review (10 min.) Home page – how to access Top menus – how to use Search bar – how to use Intro Video – resource for a more complete review Project 4, Research Goals – basic to expert skills in research Countries menu – how to use Practice Exercises (5 min.) – Web page – explain purpose of Practice Exercises Samples – walk through several examples online Index – how to find Practice Exercises on the site Class Outlines (15 min.) – Web page - explain purpose of Class Outlines Prep – how to study and customize a Class Outline Demo – showing the Class Outline in Presenter mode Quizzes (5 min.) Web page – how to find quizzes Demo – walk through a quiz Online Tracker Sheets (10 min.) – Web page – explain Online Tracker database vs. Google Sheets Platforms sheet – show the features and how to customize Countries sheets – walk through one or two sheets
Update: More Countries Quizzes – The Family History Guide Blog
Last week we introduced eight Countries Quizzes, alphabetically from Argentina to England. Since then we have added 16 additional quizzes as follows: England Part 2: Civil Registration Iceland Part 1: Research Iceland Part 2: Researching Records Ireland Part 1: Research and Records Ireland Part 2: Researching Irish Records Italy Part 1: Starting Your Research Italy Part 2: Researching Records Mexico: Starting Your Research Mexico: Researching Records Netherlands: Starting Your Research Netherlands: Researching Records New Zealand: Starting Your Research New Zealand: Researching Records Scotland: Starting Your Research Scotland: Researching Records, A Scotland: Researching Records, B All of these quizzes are available on the Quizzes page in the Trainers menu, and all are based on the QRB (Quick Research Basics) videos on our YouTube Channel and in the individual country pages. Coming soon: country quizzes for South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and Wales.
Becoming a Patient Genealogist – The Family History Guide Blog
As the well-known saying goes, Patience is a virtue—and that is certainly true in genealogy research. But is patience in genealogy only about enduring pain? If so, that would explain why a lot of people decide not to test the family history waters. Indeed, the Merriam-Webster dictionary definitions of patient seem to prominently highlight the pain concept: bearing pains or trials calmly or without complaint manifesting forbearance under provocation or strain not hasty or impetuous steadfast despite opposition, difficulty, or adversity What if we could develop more selective patience—in other words, focus our efforts so that our patience is not worn thin so easily? Here are 7 suggestions that might be helpful to achieve that goal: Get to know the people in your tree. How much do you know about your ancestors and their complete families? They are more than just names, dates, and places—they have stories to tell and lessons to learn from. Building personal connections to these people can help you pursue good genealogy questions and energize your research. Sharpen your tools. How much cutting time would you save by using a sharp saw instead of a dull one? Similarly, learning how to develop effective research plans and online search strategies will help you spend your time more productively and eliminate some patience pain. Find more resources. New record collections are coming online each week, as well as many helpful blog articles and how-to videos for research. The Family History Guide can help you find and use an amazing number of resources, quickly and easily. Learn new skills. It's amazing how many disciplines genealogy embraces: cultures, languages, history, geography, ethnicity, and genetics to name a few. For example, check out tips for reading old handwriting, how to use Google Translate and Google Lens, how to think out of the box when solving problems, etc. Use wisdom and order. Item #3 in the dictionary list above says, not hasty or impetuous. We can save a lot of time and effort when we proceed carefully from the known to the unknown in our research, avoid jumping to conclusions, and document our sources well so we don't wander in circles with information. When you hit a wall, don't bang your head. Stuck on a line? Maybe the answers are in different places or record collections than you have been searching, or maybe new collections will become available to provide clues. Even the best genealogists have their own brick walls in research. Fortunately, family trees are large enough that there's still plenty to do among the many branches. Collaborate. We are not doing genealogy in a vacuum. You'd be amazed at how many others are willing to help you with genealogical discoveries, including Facebook groups, genealogical societies, volunteers at FamilySearch Centers, DNA and special interest groups online—the list goes on. And consider sharing your discoveries, photos, and stories with others as a way to pay it forward. This is a great and marvelous work we are involved in, to connect generations and preserve the history and memories of our ancestors. May your patience never fail you in your research, and may you find new and creative ways to avoid stretching your patience thin! [caption id=attachment_10389 align=aligncenter width=903] Beautiful sunrise over the green field in Lithuania[/caption]
Introducing Quizzes for Countries – The Family History Guide Blog
For several years we have had a number of interactive quizzes in The Family History Guide, collected on the Quizzes page of the Trainers menu. These also include a number of quizzes for United States research topics, based on articles in the Choices. We are now adding quizzes for country pages, based on the QRB (Quick Research Basics) videos by James Tanner. You can find these at the bottom of the Quizzes page as well as in the individual Online Tracker Sheets for the countries. Here are the vountry page quizzes we have completed so far, with more to come: Argentina Part 1: Starting Your Research Argentina Part 2: Research and Records Australia Part 1: Beginning Research Australia Part 2: Research and Records Austria: Starting Your Research Canada Part 1: Beginning Your Research Canada Part 2: Records and Research We hope you enjoy the new country page quizzes! [caption id=attachment_8988 align=aligncenter width=1000] An open book in a field with a doorway in the pages[/caption]
Miles Ahead: Catching Up with Miles Meyer – The Family History Guide Blog
Miles Meyer, our Education Director for The Family History Guide Association, is not one to let the grass grow under his feet—even in the Florida Everglades. Here's a brief look at what he has going on, taken from recent blog post on his genealogy blog site: 1) I am finishing up my first set of classes at the International Institute of Genealogical Studies. The Methodology course has been great. There were a total of 14 classes including Transcribing, Abstracting, and Extracting; Effective Searching and Recording; Paleography; Genealogy and Copyright Guidelines; and Genetics and Family Medical History. There are also three in-depth Analysis and Skills classes which help you put the information you learn into practice. Once I complete this course I will start on my focus classes for American and German research. My wife will focus on English and DNA research. 2) We have been very busy with our new genealogy research company, OurAncestories Genealogy. We are completing our first year in business and have had some incredible clients with challenging projects. Several of the projects involved extensive DNA research while looking for birth families. One client had two consecutive generations where non-parental events occurred, making the search even more difficult. Ancestry's Pro Tools and BanyanDNA came along at just the right time to help us with these complex cases. Our projects have included research into 18th century German church records, New Jersey medical school yearbooks, and a variety of other record sets in the midwestern and southern United States. I am also preparing an historical atlas for a tour group that will be visiting their family homes in Germany at the end of next year. So far I have over 50 towns documented for this tour group. 3) My speaking schedule has been pretty active. I have been speaking across Florida and have also done several virtual presentations for groups in England this year. I had two presentations at RootsTech 2024 and will be doing two more presentations at RootsTech 2025. You can see some of my archived RootsTech presentations here. A list of my current presentation topics can be found here. What is in the future? I plan on continuing my genealogy work and will be able to focus more time on that once I retire. Yes, I am planning on retiring from my full time job as a Supervisory Biologist for the US Fish & Wildlife Service's Everglades Restoration Program at the end of 2025 - a little more than a year from now. I will have spent over 32 years in various environmental protection positions in Florida and it is time to hang up that part of my life and focus on the next phase. I will be posting more over the next couple months as we approach RootsTech since I am one of the official RootsTech Media representatives again this year.
ViewPoint with Dennis Quaid: Filming Update – The Family History Guide Blog
This week we completed the video filming for our partnership project with ViewPoint and The Family History Guide Association. The next step will be video editing, a process that will take about five to six weeks. Then the PBS video, documentary video, and 30-second commercial will be released nationwide sometime between the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays. Those who were interviewed on camera for the project include: David Rencher, FamilySearch Chief Genealogical Officer and President of the Board of Directors of the National Genealogical Society Bob Ives, Executive Director of The Family History Guide Association Bob Taylor, Development Director and creator of The Family History Guide website Angelle Anderson, Marketing Director Scott Anderson, Public Relations Director Maribel Medina, Training Representative Olivia Jewell, Family History Activities Specialist Ella Jewell, Youth Family History Ambassador It was a busy and exciting day of filming in Utah. Below are some pictures we captured of the proceedings; we hope you enjoy them! We will provide an update when the finished videos are ready for broadcast, which should be some time after Thanksgiving. David Rencher, President of the National Genealogical Society Board of Directors Bob Ives, Executive Director of The Family History Guide Association Bob Taylor, Development Director and creator of The Family History Guide website Maribel Medina, Training Representative from the San Diego area Olivia Jewell, Family History Activities Specialist Ella Jewell, Youth Family History Ambassador L-R: Bob Ives, Bob Taylor, Maribel Medina, Ella Jewell, Olivia Jewell's parents, Olivia Jewell, Angelle Anderson, Scott Anderson Family tree charades activity Family photo album activity Capturing a family history interview on a phone Camera crew captures a children's family history activity
New Online Tracker Sheets for Country Pages – The Family History Guide Blog
As of this week we have added the following Online Tracker Sheets to The Family History Guide: U.S. States (plus Puerto Rico and Washington D.C.) England Counties Canada Provinces Australia States These have been added to the Online Tracker Sheets web page.
Update: New Online Tracker Sheets – The Family History Guide Blog
Work on the new Online Tracker Sheets continued this past week, and we now have a number of new Google sheets for countries research, as well as an update to the previously finished Platforms sheet. Here's are the new Countries sheets, each with links to Class Outlines, Choices, Practice Exercises, and more: US, Canada, and Mexico British Isles Scandinavia Europe Central Europe West Europe East Asia, Pacific, Africa Americas The Platform Sheet was updated to include a Research Basics tab with links to Class Outlines, plus a DNA Research tab. Also, a new entry is being added to the Tools menu for Online Tracker Sheets, so you can find and download all these sheets from one convenient location.
Date with Dad – The Family History Guide Blog
Note: This article was published previously on the Granite FamilySearch Center blog site. My dad got his first 8 mm movie camera as a teenager in about 1937. He loved it and used it a lot to document his life. When he passed away in 2010, he left a large container of his movies and slides that ended up in my brother’s basement. As a FamilySearch consultant, I have easy access to all the scanning equipment at the center. I decided that as long as I was there for my shift each week, I should scan my dad’s collection of home movies. At some point my dad had consolidated all the little reels into at least 20 large 8-inch reels of film that were no longer labeled. Each time I came to the FamilySearch center, I would grab one random reel and put it on the scanner machine. As I looked at the tiny screen on the scanner to see what was on the film, I could almost hear my dad speaking to me. He was saying, “Today Beth Ann, we’re going to look at…….” What a treasure it was to find the movie from Easter and Christmas 1938. I was able to see my great grandparents that I had never met, as well as see my grandparents as young parents. One day he said, “Beth Ann, today you’re going to see what it was like to be in the army at the end of WWII in France.” I saw Paris with its Eiffel Tower, young children scrounging in the garbage for food, other soldiers and the planes he helped service. My special treat was seeing a picture of his fiancé – my mother – on his cot. I was also able to experience his mission in Hawaii and see the beautiful people and places he loved. As the oldest child, I was in all the family movies (I was the “star” in all the early ones). It was a blessing to feel the love he had for me and my other siblings as he chronicled our lives. I have memories of building an igloo with my dad when I was about 10 and I was thrilled to see it appear in our movies – and it really was a big igloo, taller than me and could hold several of us kids standing up in it. On the same reel were the memories of us connecting several of our sleds together and careening down our front hill and then down the street. What a great date with dad laughing and loving those fun memories together. There were memories to see of the many Christmases at our grandparents with the cousins, all of us squinting because of the blinding spotlight he used when filming indoors. As well as Christmas mornings at home with my siblings rushing in to see what Santa had left for us. Obviously, my dad was a devoted U of U fan because there was an entire reel devoted to a U of U Football game in about 1940. Pregame, game, halftime, etc., with the marching band and a live Indian Chief on a horse. That love for the U was passed down to me and our family. One of the last dates with my dad was scanning the film of my wedding day. How wonderful to see us and our families at the Salt Lake Temple as we began our own family together. I could feel my dad’s joy and love for me on my wedding day. What a blessing it has been for me to spend this time on dates with my dad and to experience what he filmed. It was easy to see and feel his love for me and my siblings. Now that I’ve digitalized these movies, I will be sharing them with my siblings and my children so they can have dates with dad too. Hopefully, they will learn about him, be touched by the memories he shared and feel his love for us. I hope that we can all feel a connection to our ancestors as we scan and digitalize memories to share with others. Invest your time and connections with your family by visiting The Granite FamilySearch Center. Enhance your blessings by utilizing the center’s multitude of media equipment and services that allow for digital conversion. The center includes high speed photo scanners, flatbed scanners up to 11″ x 17″, slide scanners, and a book scanner for digitization of photographs, photo albums, documents, scrapbook pages, etc. They have VHS/8mm Video Tape converters, 8mm/Super 8 film converters, and Standard Audio Cassette converters. In addition, there are trained consultants available to assist in your learning process of digitalizing audios/film, slides, and photos. – Beth Ann Hammer, consultant, Granite FamilySearch Center Editor's Note: There are quite a few FamilySearch centers that offer free digitizing services, from photos to audio cassettes to movie reels and more.
RootsTech 2025 Registration Is Almost Here! – The Family History Guide Blog
It's hard to believe how the time has flown by, but on September 25 you can register for RootsTech 2025! Here's a link to a FamilySearch blog post with the details: https://www.familysearch.org/en/blog/save-the-date-rootstech-2025 Here's a fun trivia fact: The first person on the left in the blog post photo is none other than Maribel Medina, a great supporter of The Family History Guide, who has been doing some groundbreaking family history training in the San Diego area. She will be featured in our Viewpoint with Dennis Quaid video series coming out later this year on Public Television.
New: Online Tracker Sheets – The Family History Guide Blog
If you have used The Family History Guide for a while, you're probably familiar with the Online Tracker. It's a secure database where you create a free account and enter notes and progress as you work on Goals and Choices in The Family History Guide. Now we are introducing a new option: Online Tracker Sheets. Here's a quick summary ... Q&A 1. What are the Online Tracker Sheets? They are a series of Google Sheets that you can use as an alternative to the Online Tracker database. 2. Do the Online Tracker Sheets require a username and password? No, you simply access the Google link to open the sheet. The master copies online are read-only, so you can download your copy to make changes. 3. What Sheets are available now? Currently there is a Platforms sheet that includes Goals and Choices for FamilySearch, Ancestry, MyHeritage, FIndmypast, and research skills. Coming soon are Online Tracker Sheets for country pages. 4. How do I customize the Online Tracker Sheets? First, you need your own copy of the sheet. You can click File > Make a Copy in Google Sheets and then save it to your Google Drive space. Or, you can click File > Download and save it as an Excel or .ODS file. Then you can add or remove columns and rows, types notes, etc. in the sheet. The Notes area is also quite a bit larger in the sheet than in the Online Tracker database, making it easier to record more information. 5. Are there slider bars in the Online Tracker Sheets? No, but there are selection buttons that accomplish the same thing in the Platforms Sheet. 6. What about other Online Tracker features, such as stars, and group reports? These features are not currently available in the Online Tracker Sheets, but we are looking to add similar ones in the future. Group collaboration can be done in any Online Tracker Sheet by sharing the sheet with selected people. 7. What other features are included in the Online Tracker Sheets? The Platform Sheet contains columns for recording Quiz scores, and the research skills sub-sheet has kinks to corresponding Class Outlines. 8. What about my current data in the Online Tracker database? Any data you have in the Online Tracker database will remain intact. If you need that data in the Online Tracker Sheets you will need to manually copy it over (although we are working on a migration feature). What's Next? Here's what to look for in the next week or two: Online Tracker Sheets will be added to the Misc. menu in The Family History Guide (just below the main Online Tracker entry). Online Tracker Sheets for Countries: These will include sheets arranged by area and will include a column for noting progress with Practice Exercises. We hope you enjoy the new Online Tracker Sheet for Platforms! Here is a sample screen shot of the FamilySearch tab in the Platforms sheet (the links are not active in these pictures):
What’s New in The Family History Guide – The Family History Guide Blog
We have been busy—no surprise there—updating content and features in The Famiy History Guide website. Here's a roundup of some of the updates you'll find on the site, as well as a brief look at what's coming in future months. Practice Exercises: There are now over 700 Practices Exercises, each with research problems to solve, hints for record searches, and answers. Latest additions include exercises for U.S. states from Montana to South Dakota, alphabetically. QUIKLinks: We added about 50 new QUIKLinks from Ancestry, FamilySearch, and MyHeritage, bringing the total number to almost 5,000 across the country pages. Class Outlines: The newest Class Outlines include Austria, Belgium (2), Brazil (2), Canada (2), Chile (2), and Colombia. You can see QUIKLink coverage at a glance in this spreadsheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1G8YRrJXc1ofmzF2YGu1FL1plt0qzTG4o-rW4RBvS5lc/ Consolidating Goals: We recently removed Goals in country pages and states for Search Records and Websites. These Goals were limited in scope, and most of their content is available in the first Goal of each country and state page. Weekly Family History Activities: Although the schedule for 2024 is complete, we continue to update each Weekly Lesson with improved content and additional links to enahce the Come, Follow Me experience for family history. What's Next ... The Viewpoint with Dennis Quaid video series about The Family History Guide will air on PBS television this winter, and we will include versions on our website and in social media. We will be doing a huge expansion in the number of available Class Outlines, with up to 150 new outlines available by RootsTech 2025. We will begin adding Show Me slides for Ancestry, MyHeritage, and Findmypast, to provide step-by-step instructions for learning those platforms with a visual approach. [caption id=attachment_10307 align=aligncenter width=900] man' s silhouette with her hands raised in the sunset[/caption]
The Candy Store – The Family History Guide Blog
Recently, several of our long-time users remarked that visiting The Family History Guide was like being a kid in a candy store. Now that's a delicious comparison! While each person may have his or her preferred sweet treat, let's take a look at 10 features of The Family History Guide that could qualify as candy store items for genealogists ... QUIKLinks - These links are included in country and state pages, right where you need them. They take you directly to collections with 50K+ records each, from FamilySearch, Ancestry, MyHeritage, and Findmypast. The Vault - Looking for a deep dive into just about any area of family history? Check out the Vault, a collection of over 2,000 additional articles and videos that are arranged by category for easy lookup. U.S. County Resources - For each county in the United States—and there are many of them—we include links to as many as six helpful websites for county research: FamilySearch, Ancestry, Linkpendium, Genealogy Inc, US GenWeb, and Genealogy Trails. The Search Bar - It's the blue magnifying glass you'll see near the top of each page, and it helps you find practically anything you need in The Family History Guide, quickly and easily. Country Pages - There are over 60 major country pages in All Countries, with an additional collection of over 140 smaller countries (those with fewer genealogical resources). You'll find links to articles, videos, and databases to help you in your genealogy journey. Knowledgebases - In the Research Knowledgebase you can grab tidbits of information about a wide variety of general and U,S. research topics, arranged by category with links to source articles. The Countries Knowledgebase is a great way to get introduced to new countries where you'd like to do research. Family History Activities - Put the fun in family history with over 200 cool activities for families, individuals, youth, and kids. YouTube Channel - Check out hundreds of helpful videos produced by The Family History Guide Association, including activities, inspirational, research, and more. Class Outlines - These handy training tools help you teach family history classes right from The Family History Guide, without building slide decks and handouts. Currently there are about 225 Class Outlines, with more to come. Online Tracker - This is a secure online database that lets you track your learning progress in any aspect of The Family History Guide. We wish you sweet success as you explore the features of The Family History Guide!
Update: “Show Me” Slides – The Family History Guide Blog
In the Trainers menu for The Family History Guide is an entry for Show Me slides. These Google slides are a step-by-step visual reference that helps you learn the basic features of FamilySearch, such as navigation skills, adding sources for records, managing photographs and documents in Memories, etc. They show screen shots, diagrams, and notes to make learning a breeze. As FamilySearch has made quite a few updates to their screens and features, we recently completed updates to each of the Show Me slide collections as well. What's Next? Soon we will be creating additional Show Me Slides for learning skills on the Ancestry, MyHeritage, and Findmypast platforms. Stay tuned!
Maribel’s Story – The Family History Guide Blog
Maribel Medina is a popular family history trainer and consultant in the San Diego area. As we mentioned in a previous blog article, she will participate with other representatives from The Family History Guide Association in the upcoming Viewpoint with Dennis Quaid project about family history in the United States, for broadcast nationwide. Recently Maribel was featured in a blog article published by FamilySearch. The article focuses on how she was able to reach out to a significant number of elderly and isolated people in her church congregation to help them connect with their ancestors. Her efforts included helping them find and share family photographs and documents, conducting oral inteviews to capture information, and more. This led to many other family members gaining an increased interest and involvement with family history. You can read the full story about Maribel on the FamilySearch blog site: https://www.familysearch.org/en/blog/maribel-story-consultant-elderly-99-1 Maribel conducting a training session in San Diego, on learning FamilySearch basics
New: The Family History Guide for Latinos – The Family History Guide Blog
Several months ago we produced a Spanish translation of our popular Introduction to The Family History Guide video. You can watch it on the Home page or on our YouTube Channel. We're excited to announce a new video available on the BYU Family History Library YouTube channel: The Family History Guide for Latinos. This video is presented by Ada Nelson and Maribel Medina. Ada is one of the foremost Hispanic genealogy experts, having produced webinars, scholarly papers, and aids for doing research in Latin America. Maribel is a well-known family history history trainer in the San Diego area, assisting hundreds of native Spanish speakers in learning FamilySearch and The Family History Guide. Together they created an insightful video that helps Latinos discover and use many features of The Family History Guide. They are also involved with efforts to enhance language usability on the website. You can watch the video on the BYU channel, and it is also included below for your convenience. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I7OgnfcnZMM&t=1s
Update on the Viewpoint with Dennis Quaid Project – The Family History Guide Blog
A while back we announced a groundbreaking opportunity with the Viewpoint with Dennis Quaid project. You can read about the announcement here. Here are some items that will bring you up-to-date on the latest developments with the project: Filming Date and Location—The primary video footage will be shot in Utah on September 19. Additional footage may be provided by the Viewpoint team. Interviewees—We have added the following people to the list of those to be interviewed during the filming: Bob Ives, Executive Director of The Family History Guide Association; Bob Taylor, Director of Development; Scott and Angelle Anderson, PR and Marketing Directors; Olivia Jewell, youth family history and activities expert; and Maribel Medina, training specialist and advocate for Hispanic family history Schedule—After the September 19 filming, it will take about six weeks for the editing process and several more weeks to schedule video production and nationwide broadcasts. We are currently looking at broadcasts around the end of November or early December of 2024, which will coincide nicely with the upcoming holiday season.
New: Researching Records in South Africa – The Family History Guide Blog
We recently published a new QRB (Quick Research Basics) titled Researching Genealogical Records in South Africa. This video by James Tanner provides an in-depth look at the records and resources you will need to effectively research your ancestors and relatives in South Africa. You can find the video in the South Africa country page or on the QRB playlist for our YouTube channel. It's also included below for your convenience. https://youtu.be/Mtgj_3dua_4
Exploring Family History Activities with The Family History Guide – The Family History Guide Blog
Scott and Angelle Anderson, the Public Relations and Marketing Directors for The Family History Guide Association, recently presented a webinar for the BYU Family History Library. The presentation is titled Exploring The Family History Guide’s Activities for All Ages and Stages and it provides a great overview of the wide variety of family history activities available on The Family History Guide website. Scott and Angelle have presented together at RootsTech and BYU Education Week, as well as for many family history fairs and conferences. We hope you enjoy the video, which is available on the BYU Family History Library YouTube channel and is included below for your convenience. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=COPI2zokRUc