Did You Know?" A New Series for The Family History Guide's Facebook Page

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Our CEO, Bob Taylor, is a constant source of information and inspiration at The Family History Guide.  He has such a vision of what we all need to get the work done in family history and genealogy.  He knows the questions we seek answers for and he diligently and regularly answers them for us in his programing and writings.  

One of his greatest talents is teaching sequentially and in a language we can all understand.  Remember the old booklet type manuals you would get on the "how to" instructions of a purchase? Were they ever easy or did they just flow for you?  They never did flow for me.  Who wrote that stuff?  People that didn't speak my language and that couldn't bring it down to a viable level for a novice about the product.  Bob is the antithesis of that.  He is a brilliant program developer with an incredible insight into what we need. He speaks the language of family history in an easy to understand and organized way. if you have program questions you can easily access a staff member or comment on your questions on social media and get a very quick response.

He writes great blog posts weekly and has recently started a few new series on Facebook.  

This is a sample of what he's doing for us now.  4 Questions with 4 Answers. These questions are about the Country Pages  https://www.thefhguide.com/countries.html

These short "Did You Know?" Posts on the Facebook page  are coming out about once a week now. Remember you need a Facebook account to access this.  If you don't have one go to facebook.com and follow the instructions.  I can add them here as I have this time, if that works for those of you that want that.  Just let me know in the comments section.

"DID YOU KNOW ... #10

Country Pages Q&A

Q1. Where can I find country pages in The Family History Guide for doing research?

A1: The most obvious place is to use the Countries menu. The "All Countries" entry at the top (https://www.thefhguide.com/countries.html) takes you to the main Countries page, while other entries in the menu take you to continents with their sets of countries.

Q2: Does the Countries page list all the countries that The Family History Guide references?

A2: No, some of the countries are in "collector" pages, such as Eastern Europe Misc., So. America Misc., etc. Countries that don't have enough Goals and Choices in The Family History Guide are listed in these collector pages. For example, So. America Misc. includes Goals (but not Projects) for Ecuador, Uruguay, and Venezuela.

Q3: What about other countries that aren't listed in the Countries page or in collector pages?

A3: In some cases you can find QUIKLinks for these countries at the end of collector pages. For example, at the bottom of So. America Misc. you'll see QUIKLinks to record collections for Bolivia and Paraguay, countries not included in the collector page. If a country has no page or QUIKLinks, it's because there aren't enough available records or research links for the country. This is the case in much of Africa and Asia, where record sources are scarce. As more information becomes available, we'll add the country to The Family History Guide as appropriate.

Q4: Where else can I find country links in The Family History Guide?

A4: Two places in the Intro menu: Topics, and Site Map. These pages list country links alphabetically, which may be helpful if you're not sure of which continent a country belongs to. Also, countries that are part of collector pages are listed individually in Topics and Site Map, for easy reference."

I love the way these four questions simplify and clarify what can be found on the Country Pages of the Family History Guide.  I hope you will too.  If you have never checked out a Country Page, they are found on the Homepage of the Family History Guide.  Click on the first link on the top of this post on the left side of  the page. Click on the United States and choose a state.  It opens with a beautiful banner photo.  Scroll down and see what you can access from the page.  After you see all of that  as you scroll down, you can also go up to the banner at the top and click on it and it will even take you to the Wikipedia page for that locality as well.  It's just amazing!  It would be a great way to plan a family history trip in advance.  

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NA   US   Can   Car   Cen   Cos   Dom   ElS    Gua    Jam   Mex   Pan    BI   Eng   Ire   Sco   UK   Wal   SC   Den   Fin   Ice   Nor   Swe   CE   Auz   Cro   Cze   Ger   Pol   Slv   Sln   Swi   WE   Bel   Fra   Gre   Ita ...

Context Switching And Family History: Foe or Friend

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This is a blog post by Bob Taylor CEO of The Family History Guide!  I think it is a very valuable reason to use The Family History Guide to keep you on track and to help you avoid the randomness of what some people call Rabbit Holing  You know the drill, you have a research plan, you get distracted by something you see as you are working and you are off and running in a different direction.  It is annoying and causes me to lose a lot of valuable time while not accomplishing much.  Here's what the expert has to say about what he calls Context Switching.

"I am proud to say that I can walk and chew gum at the same time! I’ve done it so often that I’m quite confident in my skills. When the tasks gets more complicated than that, however, I don’t always do so well.

Multi-Tasking~ Friend or Foe?

Many of us consider ourselves true multi-taskers, but there are some trade-offs there, especially when it comes to doing family history. In this article I’ll discuss some myths and facts about multi-tasking and how they relate to a potential roadblock to your progress: context switching.

“Context switching” is really a computing term that has been borrowed to describe human behavior. For example, when we multi-task with things that require planning, problem solving, and memory (see the Wikipedia article on multi-tasking), we are actually switching our context and our attention from one task to another. Depending on the tasks involved, context switching can significantly slow performance and tax our mental energy. This contradicts the notion that the more things you handle at once, the more you get done.

So is there any upside to context switching? Surprisingly, yes. Context switches, when properly managed, can be helpful to your family history experience … it will feel more like a journey of discovery rather than a series of interruptions.

Here are some ways that context switches can actually appear beneficial:

• They are perceived to be small, or they are between items that are related in nature.
• They don’t introduce new, significant learning curves.
• They appear to help you towards your objective, rather than interrupting.
• They provide a welcome change of pace.

Let’s take a look at contexts in terms of family history activities.

Family History Contexts

I believe family history is one of the richest and widely varied activities people can engage in. As you do family history work, you’ll find yourself switching between the following contexts (and many more I haven’t listed):

• Searching for records
• Learning how to use software tools and websites
• Keeping research logs
• Contacting family members and other collaborators
• Forming research strategies
• Problem-solving in research
• Learning relevant historical and geography facts
• Learning best practices for sources, notes, and conventions

Seem overwhelming? If you’re an expert genealogist, you’ve probably learned how to organize and prioritize these activities in your mind and on your computer. But for many of us, the thought or action of switching between contexts may feel more like running into a brick wall. In fact, if we flip that bullet list about context switching that we used earlier in this article, it will take on a more discouraging tone:

• The switches seem intimidating, and the items being switched to don’t seem relevant.
• They do introduce new learning curves.
• They distract you from your objective, by making you lose focus or sapping your mental energy.
• They feel like barriers instead of a change of pace.

From Foe to Friend, with The Family History Guide

The Family History Guide excels at reducing your context switches. It also helps you switch contexts more easily when you need to, so you can enjoy the many facets of your family history journey.

Here are some specific ways The Family History Guide can help you turn context switching from a foe to a friend:

1. It has a nice, sequential learning flow that minimizes context switching.
2. Its Projects, Goals, and Choices help you learn at your own pace. You can easily skip over items when needed and pick them up again later. The organization helps you see how skills and learning are related to each other.
3. Its Tracker system helps you track what you’ve learned and the skills you’ve gained on each topic. This helps you gain confidence for the learning challenges that lie ahead.
4. “Just-in-time” learning helps you easily find articles and videos to strengthen your knowledge and skills, without the need to go searching for them yourself.
5. Summaries and Exercises in The Family History Guide help you solidify learning and get ready for the next topic or skill.
6. QUIKLinks and Country pages help you find records faster and more efficiently, reducing search fatigue.
7. The Beginner’s section gets novices warmed up and ready for a great family history journey.
8. For more experienced users, the Research section provides best practices that help you avoid wasted time and effort in your genealogy tasks.

Thanks for reading, and may your context switches be pleasant ones

Bob Taylor's Webinar Is Ready To View~Pre-Rootstech Developments

My Photo-Happy Spring!

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Approaching Rootstech all the big companies prepare to launch new and exciting things to wow the crowds. That is one thing I missed this year as I was busy working in our booth for The Family History Guide.  So I am just about at the point where I can take some time to do that via the Rootstech page found at www.rootstech.org   

A lot of the announcements are made during the keynote sessions in the morning and a lot come in the individual classes. For example, I would have loved to listen to Ron Tanner share the big changes for FamilySearch, but I was teaching at the same time.  Bummer.  But I am going back to see if it got recorded so I can to watch it.  If I can't watch it then I'll check Ron's Twitter account for updates.  or Ill check the FS Blog or on Facebook I should be able to find some things too.  It is just not the same as seeing him present his message in person. 

As far as the Family History Guide goes, a lot of changes were made to enhance our features before Rootstech for the same reasons. Just the other day on March 21, 2018, Bob Taylor presented a wonderful Webinar through the BYU Family History Library's Youtube Channel.  There were 20 different enhancements he shared.  It is fun being in on the meetings and having a say in what we did.  I love the way the company is so collaborative.  It is all about doing what is best for the user.  Egos are left at the front door and everyone works as a team. It is refreshing.  


I hope you will take the time to watch this as it will amaze you! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0-CTvp1N5Jk

The Vault Has Been Revised And Updated!

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Have you ever checked out The Vault in The Family History Guide?  To keep the learning portion of the Family History Guide Projects streamlined, the Projects are designed in a way that uses the concept of (Just in Time Learning).  Each goal is very carefully selected to be exactly what you need when you need it.  The Project Goals are purposely limited to five of six choices in many cases.  That way you do not get bogged down with a lot of extra details in that phase of your learning process.  

The Vault is the place where secondary and very helpful resources are stored in case you want to further pursue a certain subject you've been learning about in a Project. I highly recommend looking in the Vault now so you get an idea of what is there.  The following (in Black) is an adaptation of Bob Taylor' Blog piece on the Vault.  Because it contains graphics that I could not just copy and paste over, you can click on the blue link to view it.  

When you view it in the Family History Guide's Official Blog, if you scroll down on the sidebar on the right, you can subscribe to the official TFHG Blog.  This blog to date has three contributors, Bob Taylor, CEO, Angelle Anderson, Manager of The Activities portion of The Family History Guide, and me, Bonnie Mattson, the Social Media Coordinator for The Family History Guide.

Bob Taylor wrote...Do you have a utility room, a food storage room, or a garage with all sorts of great stuff inside but a fair amount of clutter as well? Every so often you just need to roll up your sleeves and tidy up the space. And that’s what we have done with our favorite storage room in The Family History Guide – the Vault.

Let’s step inside and see what’s new. (Nothing scary here, even though Halloween is a coming soon!)

Navigation Links in the Header

We have replaced the vertical Index with a series of links in the header area of the page. To show them, click the Topics link near the top of the page. The links help you get to Vault topics quickly and easily. The links remain visible until you click Topics again. 

New Table Format for Vault Entries

Instead of using long, scrolling lists we now use tables to show the Vault entries. This saves space and cuts down on scrolling.  (This is really a great improvement...Bonnie)

Video links are marked with “V” and are the first entries in tables, followed by the article links (“A”).

No More “Top” Links

The old Vault page had “Top” links every so often to take you back to the top of the page. These have been removed, as it’s easier to navigate now with the header links.

***

We hope you enjoy the new Vault format. Step inside and see what treasures you might find!

What's New -Update 93 At the Family History Guide

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Tip of the Day: When using the Family History Guide along with the Blog or your family tree, view them side by side on your monitor for a great interface between the two.

Throughout the month Bob Taylor, our CEO is continuously  making updates to The Family History Guide.  To see what is new so far in October you can check here.  This is under the More section on the Homepage of the Family History Guide.  This is a wonderful way to see if what you are searching for might have just been updated.

The following is the What's New-Update 93 that he posted on Facebook this week.

"What's New at The Family History Guide - Update #93

* Added the Twitter logo and link to the bottom of each page on the site.

* Added links to over 40 new FamilySearch videos, for Scotland, Finland, Ireland, Vault, England, Wales, Poland, U.S., Switzerland, Netherlands, Belgium, France, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, and Norway.

* Added links to the Archives Portal Europe for 28 country pages.

* Added CensusLinks.com links for all Canadian provinces.

* Made additional updates to FamilySearch Projects 1 and 2 to adapt to the changes made recently by FamilySearch."

On Facebook I noticed one time that someone asked, "What are your hours of operation?"  Bob's response was truer that you know.  He replied, "Always Open!"  I really had to laugh as I am pretty sure the sun never sets on Bob Taylor's house!

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

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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.

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

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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!

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

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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.

Bob Taylor Makes Important Announcement-September 7, 2017

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bridges the gap between the old and the new!

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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!

A Well- Deserved Thank You To Everyone in This FHG Community - August 25, 2017

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Good Morning! It has been interesting for me. It started out with watching the BYU Family History Library Webinar by James Tanner from yesterday on Handling Changes in the Family Search Family Tree. <https://youtu.be/mlbvbcKB05k>

Once again he mentioned the Family History Guide <thefhguide.com> as the place to go to sort out problems you may encounter. He explains in detail why the FS/FT is a collaborative tree and why the changes are the solution and not the problem. With the changes and added sources we will eventually have a perfect worldwide tree.

As I was doing that, my husband, Jim, was in his office reading Angelle's post on Family History Fun for Children and families for today and getting all excited about it. He had me come over and told me all about it and said he was going to download one of the games. As soon as I finished the webinar I came on Facebook to read her inspiring words.

Then I noticed that all kinds of people have made suggestions and sent help to Armstrong in Nigeria who is giving a fireside and needed resources. These are genealogical kindnesses that have touched my heart. As an Area Authority I realized he is working with Family Tree Lite, an abbreviated version of FamilySearch's Family Tree. They all inspire me when I see the photos he attaches here on Facebook from time to time.

That was when I realized that today the article that I was planning to post will need to wait. Today I just want to thank Bob Taylor, Bob Ives, James Tanner, all the board and staff members of the Family History Guide. I also want to thank each of you who come to this page regularly and comment and "like" the contributes that are made. Thank you to those of you who support the Family History Guide though sharing and spreading the word about this wonderful and inspired program. What a magnificent community of like-minded people. As I pondered all that each of you do...the thought crossed my mind, I believe I have found my people at last! Make it a great day friends!

Bob Taylor's Open Letter On The New Partner Pages-August 15, 2017

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Bob Taylor
August 15, 2017

The Family History Guide Association is pleased to announce a new series of Partner pages, in Beta stage, focusing on Projects, Goals, and Choices for Ancestry, MyHeritage, and Findmypast.

These new Learning Paths will complement the existing Project pages for FamilySearch, which have helped many people around the world accelerate their family history learning.

With the addition of the new Partner pages, The Family 
History Guide takes a huge step forward in providing top-quality, free training for some of the world's foremost genealogy platforms. You can find initial Project pages here:

* Ancestry - http://www.thefhguide.com/project-1-welcome-an.html
* MyHeritage - http://www.thefhguide.com/project-1-welcome-mh.html
* Findmypast - http://www.thefhguide.com/project-1-welcome-fmp.html
The Beta period for the Partner pages started on August 11 and will continue through Nov. 15. Feedback is welcome as we continue to enhance the content.

Sincerely,

Bob Taylor
CEO, The Family History Guide Association