Monday, February 26, 2024

Technology, our frennemy

Yesterday I visited a friend and showed him how to use the FamilySearch Memories app to easily record short stories for his grandchildren, They love his stories. He is a Metis elder and knows lots of stories. 

Then I suggested that he create a folder, perhaps calling it Grandpa's Stories, and add his recordings to that album. Then he can share the URL/web address of the album with family members. Then they can click the link to access the album. They do not need a FamilySearch account, just a device with internet access and a web browser. I think he was impressed by my technical expertise. 


After I returned home, we had a phone call from a niece that we have rarely been in touch with. 

She talked about family, one of our favorite topics. She said she had some family photos to share with us. 

Then we ran into a technology snag. We found that we use different technologies to communicate.


After the phone call, our landline phone kept ringing and trying to read confused text messages to us.

Then our niece phoned again and asked if we had received the photos.   

I explained that this phone is voice-only and has no text function.

She then offered to post them on Facebook, which we don't normally use, but where I would try to connect. She sent a friend request, which I accepted and I was able to see the photos and download them,

Then I figured out how to send a message to let her know that we had received the photos, and that if she would send me an email, I would send her a link to an album containing my photos on that family line. 

We quickly become comfortable with the technologies that we use regularly, but there is a whole world of other technologies.. .

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 Free "partner subscriptions" for Church members to commercial sites
https://www.familysearch.org/access/member-subscriptions 


Monday, February 5, 2024

Do I Have Relatives in the Church?`

 This is a common question from converts. As a convert of 52 years, it still interests me.

I recently had this question from a distant cousin. After listing a few relatives, I made the following suggestion:

On Feb 29 - March 2 we have RootsTech (www.familysearch.org/en/rootstech/) which we can watch at home for free, and one of their special features is Relatives at Rootstech, where you can see a map of your relatives who have registered for RootsTech (and have given permission for some of their contact info to be displayed,)  It is a lot of fun. As the world's largest family history event, many of these relatives are not members of the Church, but members who are actively involved in family history will also be there. Check it out on Feb 29th. You may be very pleasantly surprised.



Wednesday, November 22, 2023

Using the FamilySearch Mobile Apps on a Smart Phone or Tablet

The Church has two family history apps, available for free from the Apple and Google app stores. (Some features work best if you are connected to lots of ancestors.)

FamilySearch Memories is used for photos, recordings or stories on the FamilySearch Family Tree.

Tap the + sign in the circle to take a picture, or write a story or record a 5 minute audio.


FamilySearch Family Tree allows you to use these menus:

Tree: View your ancestors and their families (by clicking the Up arrows or vertical dots)

Tasks: Reserve temple ordinances or attach sources to document people's lives.

Temple: Tap Ordinances Ready to ask for cards that allow you to do temple ordinances.

If you cannot print the cards, write the 16-digit numbers on a piece of paper and ask the temple office to print the matching cards. (Or they may scan it from your phone.)
You can also view your existing temple reservations, ordinances you have shared, etc,
To book an appointment > More (vertical dots) > My Temple > Sign-in and choose time.

Search Historical Records: This is part of researching an ancestor's life.

Find a Person: To search for a deceased person in the Family Tree.

Relatives Around Me: This is s fun group activity, to find if and how you are related.

Map My Ancestors: See where your ancestors came from. Successive taps reveal more details.

Improve Place Names: Help computers to identify place names for better searches, hints, etc.

My Contributions: What contributions have you made to FamilySearch?

Contacts: Who have you added as contacts?

Family Groups: To create and manage FamilySearch Groups for research and ordinances.

Family History Activities: from the website. There are dozens of possibilities. Results will be best if you have connected yourself to lots of ancestors.

Where am I from: shows a map of your ancestors origins.

All about me: What was happening the year you were born? (etc) What does your name mean? How popular is your name? Where in the world does your name come from? What were the top news stories and tech break-throughs when you were born?
What famous people are you related to, and how? Record your story. Picture yourself dressed for different time periods. etc, etc.

To help other people > Get involved > 3 lines > Opportunities > Name Review

Chat: Send a message to someone who is researching your family or chat in real time.

Notifications: See your notifications from FamilySearch

Memories: You can access the Memories app from here

Screens: I have not found a use for this screen.

Settings: Use the App menu to turn on all the features, especially Show Temple Ordinances

Permissions: This may need to be turned on for Relatives Around Me to work.

Help: Access FamilySearch Support, a FamilySearch Center, Frequently Asked Questions, etc.

Sign Out: I normally stay signed in, but this is an option.


If you see very few ancestors, ask your parents to check their view of the Family Tree. If they see people that you do not see, ask them to help you add the missing people to your view of the family tree. Your ward Temple and Family History Consultants can also help you.

This Youtube video can also help: FamilySearch: When Your Family Tree Is Empty
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XDTXfIXvxtM


- Bill Buchanan - November 2023



Saturday, November 11, 2023

Enjoying family history in the digital age

The "digital age" opens up possibilities that never existed before.

Recently I came across a youtube video of a drone flight over the little village or Dumquin in Northern Ireland. This included multiple views of Lower Langfield church, where my great grand uncle William Buchanan married Ann Thompson on 24 March 1846, about a year before the family emigrated to Canada. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V-J67ToqtnE   (Lower Langfield is about 3 minutes into the video.)

This church and surrounding farming districts are also referred to in the song "The Hills above Drumquin"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=64nwdhuUKEo 

FamilySearch Memories does not currently support videos, but links to external videos have worked.

The digital age can breathe new life into family history and make it easier to share. Maybe give it a try.

Monday, October 9, 2023

Easy family history slide show

 For our (Canadian) Thanksgiving dinner, we were expecting 30 family members.

I wanted something that would turn the hearts of family members to special experiences we have enjoyed over the years, Some family members are not members of the Church and others are currently less active. I wanted to remind them them of earlier times without appearing to "preach" to them.

I had the impression that a slide show running silently on the TV would be a good option. People could choose to watch it or not. And it might invite the spirit,

I considered various ways of doing this, Some of them seemed rather labor intensive at short notice. Then I remembered that FamilySearch Memories Albums have a Slideshow option and checked to see if I had an album that would be suitable. After a few false starts, I found exactly what I was looking for. 

Is there a way to cast it to the living room TV from my computer?

Yes. In the Chrome browser, I right-clicked, selected "Cast", and chose "Living Room TV."

I put the slideshow on a continuous loop and chose half speed.

It worked beautifully, Family members would point out to their children or grandchildren "That was me when I was small.."

It was a great family history activity, and once I had figured it out, it only took 5 minutes to set it up because I had already created a suitable album. 

Albums are also a handy way to send hundreds of photos in an email. (Clue: send the URL of the album.)



Saturday, September 30, 2023

Easy Sourcing

 Easy Sourcing Is Back

RecordSeek is working again. This is the free utility app that I find so handy for creating sources for FamilySearch from other websites. It works slightly differently than before, but it works. https://recordseek.com/

While I strongly endorse sourcing, I have a few personal reservations about the saying "Sources prove your pedigree." life is not always that simple. (My great aunt Maggie's parents, as listed on her marriage record, never existed, but she was marrying a cousin and didn't want too many questions asked.) 

A more common problem is sources being attached to the wrong people, But usually this is easily determined. Of course,, if you have seven brothers who settle in the same area, and who name their sons after their brothers, it does get a little complicated. (e.g. "Old Andy's Young Andy's Wee Andy" and other Buchanans in Donegal, Ontario, after 1847)

Still, I spend a lot of very rewarding time sourcing my genealogy. I try to be extra careful when I know that there are other people in the community with the same names.

I try to live up to the standard required to make the saying true: "Sources prove your pedigree."

I wish you success in using sources.

- Bill Buchanan


Tuesday, September 19, 2023

My ancestors have disappeared from Familysearch, what can I do?

This question came up in our Temple and Family History workshop at our stake's Mid-Singles Conference last week, where I was helping as a stake consultant.

The member asking this question knew that his ancestors had been researched for several generations, but when he looked in Family Tree he could not see them. 

We discovered that the ancestors were still there, and when we helped him connect to them, all was well. If you encounter this problem, take 3 minutes to watch this video that explains the process of how to connect to deceased ancestors. (Please click "Like" so Youtube realizes that this video is still relevant.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XDTXfIXvxtM&t=92s

I know that I have suggested this video before, but it answers so many questions so nicely that I try to make it part of every training session. I don't think we need to choose between "Add" and "Find" (a parent) but otherwise it remains excellent training.

Family History Workshops

My ward had a "drop-in" family history workshop in a large classroom of the chapel on the evening of September 6th and I was invited to help. 

The response was excellent, including a recent convert and a young man planning to be baptized. We found ancestors for both of these, and helped others as well. I was impressed that a counsellor in the Ward Relief Society presidency proved to be an excellent researcher, and a big help. 

The current plan is to have these workshops twice a month, while the need continues. 

Your ward might want to consider doing this as well. Or maybe arrange with a FamilySearch Center to help them. 

Thursday, August 17, 2023

Memories Restoration Tool:

 Memories Restoration Tool:  

About a year ago, some photos, documents, and stories were lost during a failed backup of FamilySearch Memories. I contacted FamilySearch when I discovered that some of my photos were no longer accessible, and was basically told, "Please be patient, the engineers are working on it." Last night I had a phone call from one of the engineers. He apologized, and told me that they now have a tool available now that allows us to restore these items (or delete the otherwise un-deletable memory pages.) He also apologized that the tool cannot automatically find the missing files.

Fortunately, I have almost all of my photos backed-up to the same folder, which means that I did very little searching for files. The tool is at https://www.familysearch.org/memories/restore and it requires you to be signed in to your FamilySearch account. 

The tool brings up a list of the lost files and their names and keeps a running tally of my progress. Once I had the tool pointing in the correct directory things went quite smoothly. I quickly got into the rhythm: Click the file name of the photo to copy it to the clipboard > Paste it into the search form > Press Enter > Click the Upload File button, then select the next file to upload, and continue.

Things did not go so smoothly for the lost stories, many of which I had composed in FamilySearch Memories and existed nowhere else in that form. But at least I have a tool to help me identify which ones need my attention.



Saturday, April 15, 2023

Why are indexing numbers so low?

This is an interesting question. I try to spend 1 or 2 hours a day indexing. 

I adopted this as a personal project when my last FamilySearch mission ended 3 years ago.
But my circumstances are not typical. Most people do not have the available time that I have.
And I enjoy puzzles, and I am interested in other languages, and I can read most cursive handwriting.

Why is indexing low?
1. It has become much harder, as the easier projects are now done by artificial intelligence software. 
This leaves only the harder projects, which makes learning to index much harder and less motivating.
2, Cursive writing is no longer taught in many schools. Indexing is mostly cursive writing.
3, Indexing is no longer being emphasized. The larger emphasis is now being placed on attending the temple for our deceased relatives..
4, I don't believe that some of the newer "indexing-like" activities (such as verifying names identified by AI computers 
and improving place names) appear in the "Indexing" statistics. Yet these new projects are easier and more fun.
5. Indexing-like activities sometimes require a basic knowledge of other languages. (For the past year I have been indexing records in Afrikaans.)
6. Indexing ignores our own ancestral families. It is a service to strangers.
7. Indexing requires mastering complex software and interpreting handwriting that would challenge a pharmacist.
8. Indexing cannot be done on a phone. The mobile app does not support indexing.

In short. Indexing is REALLY HARD and not very rewarding. And the best training software I have found is out of date.
I do a lot of indexing and I think I have a good vision of its place in the larger picture.
Even so, I have to push myself to keep doing it. 

When I trained the youth in a nearby ward. They enjoyed the activities in Get Involved > Overview
They thought it was fun to verify the accuracy of the AI computers. 

To increase indexing, I would emphasize its role in helping us to love and serve others. The Good Samaritan was helping a stranger.
And I would suggest that members try a variety of indexing projects, looking for one that they can do successfully, 
Then stick with that one project until it is completed, usually months in the future.
And if that is too hard, to try some of the activities in Get Involved > Overview

(As a seasoned veteran of Extraction/Indexing, when I need to find a new project, I sometimes need to check many different projects to find one I can do.)

I wish you success,

Bill Buchanan
Stake Temple and Family History Consultant