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Tuesday, September 26, 2017

Rootstech Keynote Speaker-LeVar Burton 2017






You'll probably be hearing a lot of buzz about Rootstech in the next few months. As the genealogy worldwide community begins to think about it and prepare to come and gather together in Salt Lake City, I noticed that all the social media platforms are talking about it. Facebook, Twitter, bloggers...it's everywhere. There is something so electrifying about being together and sharing a common interest with others that can't be duplicated. The staff of The Family History Guide is so excited to meet you there in the Expo Hall!

One of the things that is really great is that each day begins with a keynote session. This will be my 5th year and I have heard some totally amazing speakers, from all walks of life, talk about their stories. One stands out for me beyond them all. Le Var Burton's presentation this year.

Le Var Burton, was the young man who played Kunte Kinte in the adaptation of Alex Haley's book, "Roots" published in 1976. The grass did not grow under the feet of television producers as the mini-series was released in 1977. The book and then the series have been credited by some to have been the catalysts that awakened the desire in many people to pursue their own roots for the first time.

During Rootstech last year this talk was put up on the Internet immediately but removed within hours. People have wanted to see it again and share it, but were unable to until now. It is back so enjoy it. It will touch your heart and I don't think there was a dry eye in the room when this was enjoyed live.

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Monday, September 25, 2017

What's New At The Family History Guide by Bob Taylor




What's New at The Family History Guide - Update #91
* Added county maps for each U.S. state page, at the bottom next to the county QUIKLinks.
* Added Summaries for Choices in the Partner Pages.
* Added language translation links for many additional FamilySearch articles.
* In Partner page screenshots, added red rectangles to highlight important areas.
* Included arrow markers in the drop-down menus for FS, AN, MH, and FMP, to indicate the current menu option selected.

Friday, September 22, 2017

Train, Encourage And Help Others Learn Family History





The following is a copy of the post I did on Facebook this morning.  


This morning I read this comment by one of our newest members of this group. Glen T. Roberts wrote, " I'm looking forward to learning how to train, encourage, and help my consultants."
This is a common desire of people in charge of training Family History Consultants and of Family History Centers workers all over the world. When we visited Wales we found a Family History Center. We talked with a Director struggling to get training and help for herself, her one volunteer helper and her patrons. We found the same exact need in a small Family History Center in eastern Washington. I have seen the same thing right here in our own town as well. These needs are the rule rather than the exception.

Most people would have a greater desire to do this work if they only had an idea that help is available right on the Family History Guide. The people that know about the Family History Guide and use it as a teaching tool for their groups and patrons will see a big change. Success for those people who thought they couldn't do their family history! The trainers do not have to reinvent the wheel over and over again individually anymore. That is why we work so hard to get this word out to everyone. It reminds me of the instructions when boarding an airplane. First put your oxygen mask on yourself, then help others.

The Family History Guide gives us the tools we need to make that possible. I am so happy that Glen has found The Family History Guide. Thank you, Glen, for commenting and sharing your thoughts. Comments really help us moving forward as a group. That is how we can help each other help others!

We want this for everyone who wants to learn and teach. That is why we'd like to encourage you all to VOTE for the Family History Guide in the 2018 Rootstech Innovation Showcase. The DEADLINE to cast your vote is October 15, 2017.
Bob has created a new page for nominating and voting that I am including, just incase you missed it. I am going to go over and vote for The Family History Guide right now. The recognition that the Family History Guide will get from our votes will push the work forward more rapidly worldwide.

Wednesday, September 20, 2017

Your Big Chance To Give The Family History Guide A Shout Out!

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The Blog

This article is written by Bob Taylor, CEO of The Family History Guide.

"In case you haven’t heard, RootsTech 2018 is changing the landscape for their popular Innovators program. This time, instead of a contest for cash prizes, it will be a Showcase to spotlight the best and brightest technology companies in family history. You can read more about it here.
So the first order of business is voting for the favorite, and this time the votes are cast by the public. (See “Voting” below for details on how to participate.)

In case you haven’t heard, RootsTech 2018 is changing the landscape for their popular Innovators program. This time, instead of a contest for cash prizes, it will be a Showcase to spotlight the best and brightest technology companies in family history. You can read more about it here.
So the first order of business is voting for the favorite, and this time the votes are cast by the public. (See “Voting” below for details on how to participate.)
This brings back an interesting memory! Let’s flash back to Feb. 2016, when I presented The Family History Guide at the RootsTech Innovator Showdown. We were vying to reach the finals round of the competition, and things were going along smoothly until the panel of judges asked me how The Family History Guide would make money. When I responded that we wanted to keep the site free of ads and fees, and that the main source of income would be through donations, that did not go over well – the Showdown competition needed to find a strong money-maker in the market. (The bright spot, however, was the fact that this presentation opened the doors to a continuing, working partnership with FamilySearch … not a bad prize at all!)
Now we flash forward to RootsTech 2018, where it will be a showcase instead of a showdown, and RootsTech will be looking for the companies that are changing the family history landscape. On that basis, it’s seems to be a brand new day.." 
So if you are a fan of The Family History Guide, now’s your chance to let your voice be heard. Visit the new Innovation web page on our site for quick instructions on how to vote. We’ll keep you in the loop on the latest happenings – thanks for your support!"


Voting:  Please Vote For The Family History Guide At Rootstech Innovators Show Case before the Deadline of November 15, 2017.  Thank you!

See Bob Taylor's post in the context of The Family History Guide's new company blog here.

I include any of his posts from the company blog with Bob's permission!

Leaning More About Mobile Devices and Apps in the Family History





Mobile devices are used quite extensively for genealogy and family history now and it is projected, it will be even more so going forward.  If you'd like to know more about doing family history "on the go", check out The Homepage on the Family History Guide: FS (Family Search) : Technology: Choice 2 Smart Phones and Tablets.  

There you will find a great deal of general and specific information about how to work on your family history when you are away from your desktop or laptop computer.

Of course all the big genealogy websites like Ancestry, My Heritage, Find My Past, etc., have mobile apps and many companies like Find A Grave, Billion Grave Ancestral Quest, etc., have apps too. This is the place on the Family History Guide where you will find the information about mobile apps.  FS is the only drop-down on the homepage now featuring Technology.  It includes lots of general information and is not just Family Search specific.

The Family Search website also has more that 124 apps you can use if you have gotten a free account.   You can access them from the bottom of the homepage.  Click Apps.  I saw this great little video this morning about FS apps on your smart phone. 

I recently watched a BYU Library YouTube video by James Tanner speaking about Google Docs and how it can be used as a tool to eliminate the long lines of people waiting outside the Salt Lake Family History Library in the mornings. He said he wonders what others must think, as they see all these people toting their suitcases. To those unfamiliar with genealogists, it must look like they are moving into the Library.  (Some just might like too!) 

How nice to unburden ourselves of all the paper with these wonderful mobile devices and apps. With so much mobility and many ways to store what we need electronically, maybe someday we won't have to worry about tripping over rolling suitcases full of paper at places like Rootstech anymore!

Tuesday, September 19, 2017

Guest Blogger Bob Taylor's Post "Exploring The World With The Family History Guide"



The FHG Blog

From time to time I'm going to include a guest blog post from Bob Taylor and perhaps other bloggers on the new FamilyHistory Guide blog.  This is the blog seen by the world and has a very corporate look and feel.  It has taken me some time to get used to the more formal aspects of it but I love working on it now.  Still I love this old blogger platform that I have been using since 2008.  It is like the difference between comfy pair of slippers and stilettos.  But change in inevitable and it is good. The learning curve period is a little bewildering at times, but the outcome is good. I do love learning new things and it has been fun to convert for the sake of the Family History Guide.  But I also like to come home to my comfort zone and so I'll be posting a lot of things here just for you!

As you know Bob Taylor, CEO is the mastermind behind the Family History Guide Website and is the Co-founder with Bob Ives, COO of The Family History Guide Association, a non-profit organization.  I so appreciate these people and the other staff and bored members and consider it to be a very humbling experience.

So I am hoping that you will take a look at the new corporate blog and check it out, maybe even subscribe to it.  (The Subscribe Widget in under construction right now.I'll let you know when it is ready.) That way you can see what the others are posting.  Here you will see my posts.  If you are interested in them you can subscribe here at the top of the sidebar by just adding your email address.  I write five posts per week on all the social media platforms.

Here is a sneak peek from Bob Taylor's post.

"Finding international resources for your family history research is quick, easy, and powerful with The Family History Guide. Instead of spending time navigating through a maze of menus, you can get to your destination in a matter of seconds, using the countries page. Let’s take a look at what it has to offer..."  To continue reading, here is Bob's post from September 16th.

Monday, September 18, 2017

The Family History Guide and Just In Time Teaching and Learning



Being a California girl, I love the redwood trees along our coastline.  I love how small they make me feel as we walk next to them.  There is something so awesome and reverent about them. I've noticed people often whisper in places like Muir Woods if they talk at all.

Sometimes I feel exactly like that when I realize how much I do not know about Family History and Genealogy.  Sometimes I feel that same way when I am surrounded by brilliant people that are like those tall redwoods.  It seems that no matter how hard I try, there is always something that stops me in my tracks and I have to go searching for that missing piece to the current puzzle.  There is often that big void in my knowledge that stops me from going forward.  If you have read my posts before, you know I call it My Swiss Cheese brain. 

Today I learned something exciting about this from one of the training videos by, Bob Taylor, called Introduction to the Family History Guide 2. It is found in the Training Link on the Homepage. I had watched that video before but this time it clicked when he mentioned "Just In Time Learning."  Just in time learning is accomplished but placing something right into the teaching plan strategically, right where the student will need it.  Just In Time Teaching, often referred to as (JiTT) was developed in the 1990 for universities teaching physics.  You can read about it in Wikipedia if you are interested. 

This is exactly how The Family History Guide teaches us.   Keeping a person engaged in learning is disrupted if they have to stop, leave the site and go research something before they can proceed.  With The Family History Guide this is not an issue. Step-by-step sequential teaching has what we need when we need it. It is so convenient as compared to hopping all over the Internet for what we need.  I'm seeing lots of applications for this in all kinds of teaching.  I totally love those "aha" moments, don't you?

Sunday, September 17, 2017

The Family History Guide and Boy Scouts of America



www.thefhguide.com

Some of you may have read the title of this post and said, "What does The Family History Guide have to do with BSA?" Well, the answer is a lot actually.

The Boy Scouts of America have a Merit Badge for Genealogy.  Shortly after we began working at the Family Search Library in 2011, my husband, Jim, was asked to teach Scouts and their families, in our area, how to fulfill the requirements for the boys to earn this badge. There are several things to do to receive the badge and one of them requires they visit and learn about a library where family records can be found.

The Family History Guide is our go to place for genealogy, including the Genealogy Merit Badge.  Go to the Home page of the Family History Guide. <www.thefhguide.com>  Click on the Misc. The drop-down menu includes the BSA option:  It opens to the page where the requirements are shared with steps for Scouts do to to achieve this Badge. http://thefhguide.com/bsa.html 

 *There is also so much more in this BSA option in the way of choices and learning about the Scout program in  general.  
http://meritbadge.org/wiki/index.php/Main_Page   

Before the Family History Guide was available, it was a lot of work for Jim as we got this plan together to help families coming into the library.  We would spend about two hours on Saturdays once month when we had troops interested in bringing in a group.  My job was just to be there to assist Jim when it was time for them to go onto the computers.  Jim, however, spent a lot of time preparing and communicating with the leaders of the troops on exactly what they needed to do in advance. Now being able to just refer parents or Scout leaders to the Family History Guide is invaluable.

Jim has had extensive experience with Scouting for 34 years now.  He jumped in with both feet when our son was a Cub Scout.  He's been a Scout Master and gone on more Scout outings than I can even count and he is currently the Scout Committee Advancement Chair for our troop.  Tonight he is involved in a Court of Honor where the boys receive some of their patches for Merit Badges they have earned lately. Last night I was helping Jim sort through the badges that each boy will receive tonight.  There are 136 possible Merit Badge choices for the boys to earn, so the table was full of various badges.



This morning I took a really good look at the Family History Guide's BSA section.  I discovered that, as usual, The Family History Guide is very comprehensive regarding all aspects of Scouting through the inclusion of many links to the official BSA directives.  From Cub Scouts all the way to Eagle Scout and Palm Awards and beyond you can find what you need right there.  As I read through a lot of the official Boy Scouts of America leadership materials and guidelines included, I gained a whole new respect for Boy Scouts, their leaders and parents. 


Everyone having anything to do with BSA should have the Family History Guide reference page at their fingertips, including parents and grandparents.  BSA is so much more than an activity for the kids.  This program builds a very good man in the process. He can become a man who knows how to set goals and achieve them, a man of integrity, a man skilled in many important things including leadership.  He can become a man with vision and plan for a good future. 

I think everyone would benefit by taking a look at this section of The Family History Guide!  I am going to get this out via email to friends and family.  The value of seeing this all in one place is very impressive.  Thank you, Bob Taylor, for seeing a need and filling it! 

Wednesday, September 13, 2017

Family History Requires More Than The Click Of A Button

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Yesterday I had a very interesting experience working with a patron in the Family Search Library.  He had never been on Family Search before and was eager to see what we had for him on Family Tree.   He had been on other big sites for a couple of free days in the past and wanted to further his search for his great grandparents.  He is a 71 year-old, African American man named Frank. (Not his real name.)  He is interested in finding more information on his ancestors that were slaves in Arkansas. 

He started his Family Search Family Tree by adding his information.  When we went to view his pedigree he was extremely disappointed and even agitated that his tree did not begin to populate across the page. I explained that we needed to do a little research to find the next person or two in his family.  He was resistant to that whole idea.  

I took him to The Family History Guide and showed him where we could look for possible records that might help him by going to the Family Search (FS) menu and looking at Countries in the drop-down menu.  We clicked on Arkansas and I showed him The African American page, as well, under the Ethnic selection on the same page beneath the Countries. 

We looked at one set of records in Arkansas that could possibly help, but he got frustrated when the years he was looking for were not available online with one click of a button.  In about 15 minutes from his first look at the pedigree he was completely done.  He was thinking that he had given his information to Family Search and gotten nothing in return so he started packing up to leave.  

He was an intelligent man, quite computer savvy, very nice and apologetic about his impatience. I realized that the problem was he had watched too many commercials on TV and too many one hour TV programs that showed simple solutions to complex genealogical challenges.  He did not expect to have to work for his answers or to spend much time at it.  What a shame.  He left with the Family History Guide link, and my contact information. 

As he stood to leave we talked a little longer about how he just wanted his great grandchildren to know about who they are, because he loves them.  I realized then that Frank needs to be a builder right now and not a seeker of his ancestors.  He is not ready to research, but he is ready to share his story, record his voice telling stories about himself and his parents and grandparents.  

He is a great grandfather who could leave stories and vital information for his little great granddaughters.  He knew their 2nd and 3rd great grandparents and knows their parents and others that will be important to those little girls as they grow up. 

Frank's attitude about family history changed in just a few minute by the time he reached the doors.  He will come back, he will proceed with his family history as a builder for now.  I am pretty sure once he does that he will be fully invested in seeking his ancestors.  The best part is he will have the Family History Guide to help him with all of it. Right on the website www.thefhguide.com he can learn what to do and how to do it. The Family History Guide is surely a game changer for people.


Tuesday, September 12, 2017

Finding A Balance With The Family History Guide

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One thing I know for sure about genealogy and family history is that there is a never ending list of things to learn and to be accomplished.  It often feels overwhelming and impossible.  It can get very frustrating sometimes.  If you love this work as I do, I am sure you've felt that also.  Once in a while, our daily life disrupts our best laid plans. 

I think The Family History Guide is a perfect reminder that we have to take it one step at a time.  Learning and becoming is a process.  We have to take it in a systematic way, keeping the Project, Goal, Choice, and Steps in mind.  When climbing a mountain we keep the summit in sight, but we also have to focus on each step of the journey.  We have to be patient with ourselves and know that every expert was once a beginner.  No one knows everything about genealogy or family history.  We are all learning.  We have to find our own balance to make it a happy experience moving forward.  

I am reminded of a Newsletter that Amy Johnson Crow wrote during the time that Hurricane Irma was doing her damage after landfall. She told a story of a family in Houston. They had just returned to their home and were wading through four feet of water, to gather what remained of their possessions. The father, over-ladened with an arm load of things, noticed that his teenager was frantically trying to gather up photos and mementos of her life.  He said, "We can't carry it all!"  

Amy's point in relaying the story was that we need to prepare for those unforeseen times when we cannot carry it all. In this instance, Amy referred to the photos and memories that could have been lost forever.  Amy urged her readers to just do one thing. Scan a photo or write a story and put it online to preserve it.  Doing something small, as your circumstances allow, is better than procrastinating.    

The father was right, none of us can carry it all.  But we can do something each day to realize our goals.  The Family History Guide is a great reminder and the best way to make it happen.  One focused step at a time makes it more relaxing and fun and moves us forward incrementally.


Monday, September 11, 2017

Fostering Independent Learning with The Family History Guide

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One of the things I love the most about The Family History Guide is how it allows a person to grow and learn independently.  Of course everyone needs help when they are getting started with family history, but how long can a person realistically sit at another person's elbow as they go forward in their learning?  If we don't foster that independent learning and their confidence that comes from it, we are doing them a disservice by creating a co-dependency. 

What am not saying is that we can only help them so long and then they are on their own.  Everyone is an individual with specific needs.  We should always be available to answer any questions that people have.  But if we don't allow them to try on their own after a training period, they will not progress as they could and should. 

The Family History Guide provides so much of what we all need.  Instructions on how to do many things and resources of all kinds.  I like that the resources are together under one roof and that we can browse through so many of them. By browsing through them we can actually see what is available in the first place.  It is hard to Google a resource you have never heard of before. With the Projects, Topics and Vault, the Newsletters, you can learn and move forward in a very unique way.  The Family History Guide...actually guides you!  What a perfect name!  

Last week in the staff training at our library we had a great discussion about this.  When we went to the Countries in the Family Search drop-down menu we recognized that for each country listed in the program we can now just sit with our patrons and learn with them with the Family History Guide. We have a lot of diversity here in the Bay Area.  At least 21 different languages are spoken here.  We also have lots of ethnicities. Countries and Ethic sections solve a big problem for us.

We have a board with names of individuals that specialize in various languages and ethnicities. Of course those specialists are not always there when they are needed.  We realized that now we can all help anyone get started with the Family History Guide.  No one will have a wasted trip coming in because we don't know how to help them.  This is huge in my book.  No one needs to be an expert in everything, we just have to know where to look and where to point our patrons.  Even if they never return again they have what they need.  We can help a lot more people with this one amazing tool called The Family History Guide.  

All of this applies equally to people that are learning on their own.  If you become an expert on The Family History Guide website you can help yourself and also get help in any of the 5000 free Family Search Family History libraries. Of course you can always get help and guidance here too.

Friday, September 8, 2017

Learning and Teaching With The Family History Guide-September 8, 2017




I hope you all received the new announcement for The Family History Guide yesterday.  For a recap you can go directly to the additions by looking at the More drop-down menu on the Home page.  Go to What's New to see that the current update is already posted there for September.


"2017—September

Added a new Family Activities section in the Misc. menu. Now you can find fun and educational family history activities for Family, Singles, Youth, and Children, all in one convenient place. See http://www.thefhguide.com/act-family.html to get started.


Updated the top menus on each page, replacing the Projects menu with individual Partner menus: FS=FamilySearch, AN=Ancestry, MH=MyHeritage, and FMP=Findmypast. Now you can find Projects for any Partner directly from its menu, without having to switch contexts at the bottom of the menus." Bob Taylor


I am enjoying seeing all the great ideas that Angelle is sharing regarding more engagement in fun activities for everyone with our family history.  It is going to be great to learn more about things for families, singles, youth and children.  What a wonderful vehicle this is for teaching the importance of our family, past, present and future.

The changes in the menu for The Family History Guide are really nicely done and self-explanatory.  Change is inevitable with a dynamic website and fosters growth in going forward. I love it when I see changes in the Family History Guide because I have never seen one that doesn't make it better. 

I wish every change we encounter in other places was as well thought through and beneficial.  Each one is articulated so well there is little chance of it presenting confusion.  In the event there is a question, Bob is on social media every day to clarify.  Because I use The Family History Guide everyday I am so grateful for it and appreciate Bob's vision of how it will evolve step-by-step. It helps me so much as a student and trainer.  Win/Win!  It's a great time to be onboard with The Family History Guide!  I loved my husband's comment on this post on Facebook! "Change is inevitable...Change that improve something is appreciated!"  James Mattson 

Thursday, September 7, 2017

Bob Taylor Makes Important Announcement-September 7, 2017


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The Family History Guide 
bridges the gap between the old and the new!



www.thefhguide.com

This morning I am happy to share Bob Taylor's words regarding the update that has happened this morning on The Family History Guide.

"Inside the New Menus 

With the development of the new Partner pages for The Family History Guide, we found it necessary to makes some minor changes to the menus at the top of each screen. As of 9/7/2017, the menu options on most pages will look like this:


Notice that the middle section is new: it includes drop-down menus for each of the four main Partner sections. "FS" = FamilySearch; "AN" = Ancestry; "MH" = MyHeritage; and "FMP" = Findmypast. Previously, there was a single "Projects" menu that had options at the bottom to switch between partners. Now there is a separate drop-down menu for each Partner (FS, AN, MH, and FMP).

Below is an example of the old Projects menu, followed by examples of what you see when you hover over each new partner menu:

(OLD)


(NEW)

             

So instead of "switching Partners" at the bottom of a Projects menu, you can now easily "dance" with the Partner of your choice by selecting it from one of the drop-down menus at the top of the screen. This gives all Partners equal space, and it makes switching easier when you need to.

A few more changes:
  • "Project 9" at the bottom of these menus now reads as simply "Countries". Because the number of Projects per Partner now varies between 6 and 8, the "9" could be confusing.
  • SPOILER ALERT: The Misc. menu now looks like this:

What's different? The new section with family history activities for Family, Singles, Youth, and Children. Previously, there was only a Children's page: now there are activities for all categories. Be sure to check out the new post by Angelle Anderson here:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/137013286814727/permalink/274639286385459/  on Family Activities in The Family History Guide for the details.

Enjoy the new menus and the new Activities section, and let us know if you have any questions. Have a great week!"

Thank you for these changes and improvements, Bob!

Wednesday, September 6, 2017

The BYU Family History Library in Provo, Utah-September 6, 2017




Lately I have been thinking about the BYU Family History Library in Provo, Utah.  We have mentioned it several times on The Family History Guide regarding webinars.  The FH Library at BYU has more than 300 videos and webinars on a myriad of family history topics available on their Youtube channel for free.  If you go to Youtube and search for the BYU Family History Library you will find the channel.  You should subscribe to it for all their announcements of new webinars and videos. 


Google Images 

Not all of the videos can be listed individually on the Family History Guide.  Since most of us use Family Search/Family Tree often in our own work or when helping others I wanted to add a video today for your benefit.  It is slated to be added soon to the Family History Guide.  

 You'd probably agree with me that if you do not know how to use The Person Details Page on the Family Search/Family Tree you will run into some difficulty going forward.  All the additions and editing happens in conjunction with this page. 

Project 1 is where we learn all about Family Tree on The Family History Guide.  Go to the Family History Guide  <wwwthefhguide.com> Home:  Projects: Project 1, Family Tree.  In addition, if needed, check out this video!

Kathryn Grant presented a powerful webinar on this entitled Deep-Dive The Person Page on Family Search/Family Tree.  Enjoy!


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