St. Johns Stake Family History Fair

Today I had the wonderful opportunity to attend the St. Johns Stake Family History Fair (and to teach a class at it!).  The organizers did an AMAZING job!  My hat goes off to all of them for the many HOURS spent in planning, preparation and organizing this event!  Most of the classes were recorded sessions from the recent ROOTSTECH conference in Salt Lake City.


https://rootstech.org/about/videos/

A pleasing selection of sessions/classes to choose from.  It was a great opportunity to gather with a terrific group of people who are all interested in learning more about Family History Research and all of the amazing tools that are now available to us through modern technology!   What a blessing to be born in this day and age and have all of these powerful tools at our fingertips!!



I love using "Social Media" to extend my reach and become more "visible" to possible relatives out there who may be researching the same lines or in the same areas that I am.  My favorite session today was by Lisa Alzo (The Accidental Genealogist) - on how to use social networking sites to extend your research, connect with other genealogists, and use as many possible resources as possible!  You can find information in the most unlikely locations!   Did YOU ever use or even THINK to use "YOUTUBE" for family history research!!?  Well I hadn't until today!   So many great ideas!  THANK YOU Lisa!!  You can watch her presentation here:  "Tweets, Links, Pins & Posts: Breakdown Genealogy Brick Walls with Social Media". 

Another site she told us about I can't wait to explore:  "What Was There"

The WhatWasThere project was inspired by the realization that we could leverage technology and the connections it facilitates to provide a new human experience of time and space – a virtual time machine of sorts that allows users to navigate familiar streets as they appeared in the past.

The premise is simple: provide a platform where anyone can easily upload a photograph with two straightforward tags to provide context: Location and Year. If enough people upload enough photographs in enough places, together we will weave together a photographic history of the world (or at least any place covered by Google Maps). So wherever you are in the world, take a moment to upload a photograph and contribute to history!

So many tools out there and so many creative ways to use them to help us further our family history research, find living relatives, and HELP others by sharing OUR information!

Thanks again to all who made this wonderful event possible!





Lovin Technology

Theodore & Sarah "Lulu" Phillips with 3 of their boys

Every day I am more and more thankful for modern technology and the ways that it has expedited Genealogical Research, Digitization of information, sharing of information and putting long lost relatives in touch with one another!

I remember back to when I first began my Family History journey in the early 1990s (not so long ago) using DOS based computers, going to the local Family History Center and ordering microfilms that I had to wait a week or so on to show up & then spending HOURS looking through Census records on microfilm just hoping to find my ancestor!  Using 'snail mail' to try to contact other relatives who might be working on the same lines or have information that I was lacking, and so on.

Every time I get on Ancestry or Family Search or other websites that offer digitized, INDEXED records to search I am SO THANKFUL for these advances in just a few short years!  It never ceases to amaze me that from the comfort of my own home I can do a Census search by typing in an ancestor's name, and then print a copy, save a copy to my computer, and have that information right there at my fingertips!

I am so thankful for the opportunities I have had of connecting with 'long-lost' cousins by finding each other on Ancestry or other Social Media websites.  The photo I have posted with this blog is a treasure that was recently sent to me by a cousin that I found on Ancestry.  In the past year I have connected with numerous cousins that I didn't even know about & we have been able to share some awesome family history treasures with one another!  (Love my newly found cousins, Debi, Valerie, and Dan!  ♥)

I am so thankful to the countless volunteers who have spent hours digitizing and INDEXING these records that enables the ease of my searches!  There are so many indexing and other volunteer opportunities out there - I hope we are all taking advantage of them.  I try to spend at least a little time indexing hoping that maybe I can help someone else find their ancestor - the way other indexers have helped me find mine!

I know I've posted these before, but once again, here are some links to Indexing/Volunteer opportunities:

ANCESTRY - WORLD ARCHIVES PROJECT

FAMILY SEARCH - INDEXING

WORLD MEMORY PROJECT
(partnership between Ancestry and the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum)