Category: FamilySearch

New BYU FHL Video: Research with The Family History Guide

On Thursday, July 7 we recorded a new webinar video for the BYU Family History Library, titled Research with The Family History Guide. It covers the following important areas of research: Research Intro—How to use the collector page for research in The Family History Guide Sources—Introducing genealogy sources and their importance Research Basics—Getting organized, basic research concepts, and strategies to...

FamilySearch and The Family History Guide: Summer Activities

Summer is a great time for family activities of all kinds, and of course that includes family history activities. The Family History Guide has over 200 great activities for families, individuals, youth, and kids, with a master index and a downloadable planning sheet as well. Recently FamilySearch published several posts on family history activities that feature The Family History Guide....

RootsTech 2023 Will Include Online and In-Person Events

Note: This article appeared previously in the Genealogy’s Star blog site. We kept hearing rumors that RootsTech 2023 would be a hybrid conference with both online and in-person components and we finally got the following announcement from FamilySearch. SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH—RootsTech, the world’s largest family history gathering is back in 2023 with an in-person event in Salt Lake City...

Update: 1950 U.S. Census and FamilySearch

As you may know, volunteers have recently been busy indexing records from the 1950 U.S. Census to get them ready for posting on FamilySearch and other sites. In a new development, computer technology is now handling an increased role in the indexing efforts, so volunteers can cover more ground. Here’s the announcement from FamilySearch: “FamilySearch and Ancestry have evaluated the...

Tasks, Suggestions, Problems … and The Family History Guide

FamilySearch has several features to help you expand and maintain your part of the Family Tree: Recommended Tasks, Research Suggestions, and Data Problems. These items are summarized below, with information about how The Family History Guide can help you address each of them. Recommended Tasks Open Family Tree and click the FamilySearch logo (upper left). Your home page appears, with...

1950 U.S. Census Project Moving Rapidly Forward

Note: This article was published previously in the Genealogy’s Star blog site. If you go to the FamilySearch 1950 U.S. Census Project page at https://www.familysearch.org/getinvolved/1950 you will see that four states have been completed and that only two more are open right now (as of the date of this post). Checking handwriting recognition from Ancestry.com is a different experience from indexing. The...

FamilySearch’s Use of Artificial Intelligence and Handwriting Recognition

Note: This article was published previously on the Genealogy’s Star blog site.   https://www.familysearch.org/en/newsroom/familysearch-get-involved-online-volunteer-experience I have been involved with learning about and reporting about handwriting recognition for genealogical research for a long time. I always thought about it being something distant in the future. Well, apparently, the future is now. In the past few years, organizations such as the Brigham...

New Video: Technology – Increasing Access to Archives

We’ve added a new QRB (Quick Research Basics) video to our YouTube Channel. This one is by Miles Meyer, Education Director for The Family History Guide Association and a frequent presenter at RootsTech. It’s titled “Technology – Increasing Access to Archives” and it discusses the following key topics, among others: Purpose and limitations of archives Microfilm and digitization projects Advances...

Finding Your Way at RootsTech 2022

It’s almost here! RootsTech 2022 begins in just a few days, so you’ll want to make sure you are registered (it’s free) so you can take advantage of all that the world’s largest family history event has to offer. Visit the RootsTech home page to get started. This article in the FamilySearch blog has some great tips for finding your...

TreeFind: A Versatile Tool for FamilySearch Family Tree

The BYU Family History Technology Lab has produced some interesting and useful tools over the years for doing family history. One that should be of special note and importance is the TreeFind tool, It’s a relatively new addition that helps you find ancestors by category in your part of the FamilySearch Family Tree. Following is a brief summary of the...