Family History Research Basics For Consultants

Training Video for Consultants

This morning I saw a posting by Cathy Anderegg that I thought I should share.

"Cathy Anderegg: Great little, quick video on Research Basics for Consultants. Nifty. https://familysearch.org/learningcenter/lesson/family-histor… 
Family History Research Basics For Consultants | FamilySearch.orgBrowse hundreds of online genealogy courses to help you discover your family historyon FamilySearch about a video course for Family History Consultants."


I checked the video and it is excellent and packed with information. It may need to be viewed multiple times to absorb all of the information.

The link is
http://broadcast2.lds.org/elearning/fhd/Local_Support/Consultant/Research_Basics/En/multiscreen.html

Please share this video with consultants and staff at your FHC. And with others who have responsibilities in family history.

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New FamilySearch Partners

Two new FamilySearch partners have been announced. They are:

AmericanAncestors.org - The New England Historic Genealogical Society

Started in 1847, this is the oldest genealogical society in the USA. It is perhaps the best site in the world for New England research.

Family.me - This seems to be a social media site for building your family tree. I am not sure what it has to offer that is not offered by FamilySearch Family Tree or by the other partner sites, but I hope to learn more. 

If you have an LDS Account, you can get your free partner accounts from:

https://familysearch.org/partneraccess  Hold that thought! Apparently Family.me is not currently included on that page, but American Ancestors is! 

FamilySearch Apps Gallery

At present there are 25 family history apps available to download through the Apps Gallery. Some are free, some have a modest price. Some apps are for only one operating system, other apps may be available for others. There are brief descriptions on the Apps Gallery page itself and links to the home pages of the various apps.

Check out the Apps Gallery at https://familysearch.org/apps/

Blogger Lisa Louise Cook in her Genealogy Gems newsletter refers to other apps useful for genealogy:
"While the FamilySearch App Gallery is a great resource, it isn’t a comprehensive home for ALL family history related apps. And a lot of genealogy-friendly apps aren’t categorized as such in Google Play or the App Store. Learn more about TONS of apps to further YOUR family history in Lisa’s book Turn Your iPad into a Genealogy Powerhouse. This book introduces you to the tablet/iPad way of “thinking” (it’s different than how you use a computer). It gives you an in-depth look at over 65 genealogy-friendly apps, 32 fabulous tips and tricks and links to online videos where you can watch things for yourself. Got a tablet? No problem–apps available in Google Play are included, and the tips include clues about features to look for in your brand of tablet." http://lisalouisecooke.com/2015/02/find-genealogy-apps-familysearch-app-gallery

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For more on LDS mobile apps see:
Mobile Applications  https://www.lds.org/pages/mobileapps

Some of my favorite LDS apps that are not for family history include:

LDS Gospel Library 
- Scriptures
- General Conference
- Church Magazines
- Lesson Manuals
- Other Manuals
- Music
- Videos
- Etc.
(This is the app that replaced my briefcase!)

LDS Tools
- Ward and Stake Directories
- Callings (e.g. Who is the Primary President in Yellowhead Ward?)
- Lists
- Calendar
- Meeting Houses
- Maps
(You can only see information pertaining to your own stake, which is somewhat unfortunate as I serve in a different stake's FHC. My stake doesn't have one, so I am serving as a volunteer.)


If you have favorite apps that you use for family history or other callings, I invite you to describe them the Comments.

Grandma's Pie

I just became aware of a new website from BYU called Grandma's Pie.
http://grandmas-pie.fhtl.byu.edu/

It connects to FamilySearch Family Tree and shows a pie chart of the countries your ancestors were born in. Moving the mouse pointer over a slice will your ancestor's names who were born there. There is a slider that allows you to select the generation of ancestors you want shown.

It quickly identified one of my ancestors as being born in Saint Helena. I knew that wasn't true, So I checked in FSFT and discovered that the error originated there. "Scotland" was standardized as "Scotland, Saint Helena", an obvious error, easily corrected in FSFT. Without Grandma's Pie, I might not have spotted that error. Thanks!

A bigger problem for me was that when the country of birth is missing from FSFT, Grandma's Pie failed to use the christening information. I sent feedback suggesting that this be changed.

I enjoyed their site. I think it would be of interest to some of our patrons.