FamilySearch Forums

FamilySearch invites you to become a member of the FamilySearch online community. The community resources will become invaluable as you do your own family history work. One of these resources is FamilySearch Forums. On this site, you can find answers to any question that you may have. Here you can ask about:

• Specific ancestors that you're trying to find
• Which records are best for a particular time period
• Locations of resources
• Features of new.familysearch.org
• Any other FamilySearch product or web site, such as the indexing site.

To access the FamilySearch Forums, click here: http://forums.familysearch.org/

If you register on the site, you will need to set up a user name and password because the Forums site has not yet converted to the LDS Account system. Hint: It is recommended that when you register for Forums, you choose the same user name and password that you use for your LDS Account so that you will not have to change your user information later.

Join the community and find the answers you need, and contribute what you know to help others!

Public Archives

The Idaho State Historical Society serves as the state archives and holds a variety of public records created by state and local governments, such as state agencies, counties and cities. The collection includes territorial records; papers from most governors; selected vital, financial and court records; and a variety of other materials. The library is located at 2205 Old Penitentiary Road, Boise, Idaho. The library holds a substantial collection of Idaho newspapers on microfilm, including both daily and weekly titles, and a variety of irregularly published materials. Also available are a limited number of early titles from other western states, such as California, Oregon, Utah, and Washington. Newspapers contain a variety of information that could be very useful in your searches. For example, you may find information on marriage, birth and death notices, local "gossip" columns, legal notices, announcements, etc. To see an index of newspaper holdings and the years available see the PARL site: http://www.idahohistory.net/library_collections.html#anchor565675 Search by city names (also search in nearby cities for information as well.) For other records available at the library, visit online at www.idahohistory.net

Mark Your Calendars!

The Boise Area Spring Family History Conference will be held at the Nampa North Stake Center on Saturday, April 17, 2010, from 9 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. This conference includes a choice of lecture style classes geared to the beginning, intermediate and advanced family historian. Classes include instruction in New FamilySearch, PAF, Family Insight, Sourcing, Ancestry.com, Digital Photography, and many others! If you would like a copy of the complete schedule, I can makes copies for you. To register, go to the following website: www.byui.edu/ce/familyhistory/registration.htm Registration fee is $9 online by April 13. At-the-door fee will be $12.

LDS User Accounts

In a past lesson, we discussed briefly about the new LDS User Account, which enables members to use a single registration to gain access to FamilySearch and all other church websites. Enjoy the convenience of just one user name and password for each of these sites. For those of you who have not yet created this account, you may do so by visiting https://ident.familysearch.org/cis-web Feel free to use the same user name and password that you used when you registered for the new FamilySearch.

Family History Conferences April 28-May 1, 2010

There will be four major family history conferences all in one week this spring in Salt Lake City:

• National Genealogical Society 2010 Family History Conference
• BYU 2010 Conference on Computerized Family History and Genealogy
• BYU 10th Annual Family History Technology Workshop
• FamilySearch's 2010 Developers Conference

The premier event of the week is the National Genealogical Society's annual conference. The theme for the conference is "Follow Your Ancestral Trail." It will be held at the Salt Palace Convention Center, Salt Lake City, Utah, on April 28 - May 1, 2010.

Price and registration information can be found at http://www.ngsgenealogy.org/cs/attendee_registration. There is an early-bird discount until March 8, 2010.

Over 200 classes will be presented by industry leaders and experts from the local and national genealogical community as well as staff from FamilySearch. Products and services from genealogy companies will be showcased in an exhibit hall. There you can also meet with specialists for free personal consultations on research questions or problems.

NGS Conference details and the class schedule are available online at:

http://www.ngsgenealogy.org/cs/conference_info.

Additionally:

• Hours at the Family History Library have been extended until 11 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday during the conference
• The BYU 2010 Conference on Computerized Family History and Genealogy will be held at the same venue on April 26 - 27.
• The BYU 10th Annual Family History Technology Workshop will be on April 28, also in the same venue.

This promises to be a full week of family history learning and activities!!

Web Sites with Census Records

• Ancestry.com -- This is a paid subscription site. Ancestry has the most complete census records on the web.
• usgenweb.com -- Has various census records; these collections will continue to grow as volunteers update the records.
• pilot.familysearch.org -- Has various census records throughout the world. Some are indexes or images only. This site is continually growing and changing, so keep checking back to view the additions.
• Free sites at the Family History Centers include:

1911 UK Census...........1911 census for United Kingdom

The Genealogist.........United Kingdom census records

Godfrey Library.........Various census records worldwide

Heritage Quest...........Has US Federal census records

World Vital Records......Various census records worldwide

Synchronizing Information

Last week we reviewed the steps to add missing individuals into the new FamilySearch. Another way to add individuals is to use one of the family history computer programs that have been certified to synchronize information with FamilySearch. You can use these programs to:

• Add information from your database (PAF) to the new FamilySearch Web site.
• Add information from the new FamilySearch Web site to your database
• Correct or delete information
• Mark information as incorrect
• Reserve names for ordinance work

Two certified PAF add-ins are Ancestral Quest and Family Insight. These programs allow users to access, print, update and sync with online information in new.familysearch.org. They are intended for use with PAF 5 to read and write PAF files and Gedcom files in conjunction with the online family tree at new. familysearch.org. For a complete list of third party computer programs that synchronize information, see:

http://www.familysearch.org/eng/affiliates/index.html