FamilySearch Orientation

I created this document for a family history orientation. It has no official status, but may still be useful. 

Proposed Family History Orientation by Bill Buchanan for 24 March 2021

1. Why is it important? Family history and temple work can strengthen the family relationships and testimonies of the living, and help the dead to redeem themselves through faith in Jesus Christ.

2. Of the hundreds of family history websites, FamilySearch.org is the only one where you can reserve temple ordinances and print temple cards for your ancestors and their descendants. This can be be done in a web browser or the Family Tree mobile app from FamilySearch.

3, Ordinances Ready in the Temple menu of the website or app allows you to reserve temple ordinances and print temple cards in about 10 minutes. Where does it find related people needing ordinances?
a. Firstly, in your list of reserved ordinances, then
b. in the ordinances reserved by others and shared with the temple, then
c, related people whose ordinances have not been reserved, then
d. unrelated people whose ordinances have been shared with the temple.
For it to find related people, you need to be connected to previous generations in Family Tree.
At the worst, it will provide unrelated people, just like cards the temple would give you.
Note that these cards are intended to be used within 90 days, or they expire.

4. Research expectations: How far back can you trace your ancestry in historical records? It varies.
In Europe, records of common people rarely go back to the 1500's, Hereditary titles of nobility and royalty can sometimes go back much further, Records of Chinese nobility (jaipu) can go back into centuries BC. But in some parts of the world, written records start in the 1900s.
The FamilySearch Research Wiki (Familysearch.org > Search > Research Wiki) can tell you what records are available for the country you are interested in,

5. In RootsTech Connect 2021, Robert Kehrer, of FamilySearch, explained that Family Tree now uses Indexing data to find records of your ancestors and their families, He estimates that 70%-80% of these records will be suggested as Hints (blue icons) in Family Tree. The Search function is for the other 20%-30%, These Hints often contain records that list other family members, that you can add to Family Tree. The Hints can be found in many places, such as the Tree View, Person Details page, and the Recommended Task list on the home page. Needed temple ordinances can also be found there.

6. FamilySearch.org Memories, and the Memories mobile app are excellent places for preserving photos, documents, stories, and even short audio clips of your family. It can help your family members to connect to their ancestors on a more personal level. Stories of people's lives can be more engaging than a collection of dates and places. FamilySearch (The Genealogical Society of Utah) has been preserving family histories since 1894, so it is a safe place to store your family history treasures.

7. The Search menu:
Records: 8 billion Historical Records can be searched within Family Tree or separately from here.
Genealogies: These are individual family trees submitted by patrons, but separate from Family Tree.
Catalog: The Family History Library catalog can be searched here
Books: Many thousand historical books can be searched
Research Wiki: This lists the records available for various countries and how to access them.

8. Indexing makes historical records searchable by computer. You can help in a few minutes each day.

There is no official users manual, but see: https://www.thefhguide.com/project-1-family-tree.html

Continue to Enjoy RootsTech!

 Unlike previous years, the presentations will remain online throughout the year at www.rootstech.org

Try doing searches on things that are of special interest to you. And try looking for them on youtube.com using RootsTech as part of your search terms. Think of RootsTech, not as an event, but as a year-long process of gathering helpful information and honing your skills.

Personally, I have focused on tools, techniques, and purposes. I have enjoyed countless productive hours using the free index to British births, marriages and deaths. Freebmd.org.uk A presentation on this topic gave me better ways to use this tool. The same can be said of other tools such as a free account with Ancestry, findmypast or MyHeritage.

For a long time I have been looking for Mary Lanxton, who married my ancestor John Ing in 1747. One presentation suggested using the new Guided Research tool in the FamilySearch Wiki. I found Mary's christening in the right time and place using a different spelling, Mary Langston. This listed her parents as Thomas Langston and Ann. Then I found the marriage of Thomas Langston and Ann Levins in the right time and place.
This was wonderful!

Many of the presentations were about preserving and sharing family stories. I realize that any stories I fail to share may be lost to future generations. I discovered that by using Zoom with Chrome and Google Maps, I could create a movie of the journey of my Buchanan family from the small rural district of Binnawooda in Ireland to Canada, and then across Canada. For a shorter demo, see: https://youtu.be/U_pFgc8muLs

To create a video in Zoom, start a New Meeting for yourself, Share your Desktop and use Alt+R to record your voice and your screen, When you end the meeting, you should see a progress bar as Zoom saves your video in MP4 format. If you use Windows, the video should be found in the most recent Zoom folder in Documents. It will be called zoom_0.mp4 Move it and rename it, enjoy it and share it with your family. I love to find new uses for familiar tools!

Family history research has changed! Robert Kehrer (Senior Manager for FamilySearch Searching and Hinting) said “Hints find 70%-80% of the Indexed historical records for your ancestor. Search is for the other 20%-30%,” (see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n27-ZbQr34I ). To help the hinting system, add an estimated date and place of birth if these are missing from an ancestor, and include alternate versions of the name, where appropriate. (Hint and Search also use the alternate names.)

Starting A Family Tree

This short video from RootsTech shows the process of creating a family tree on FamilySearch. It may be useful if you are working with beginners.

Or use this link. Note that I have no control over other videos that Youtube may suggest.

Training New T&FH Leaders and Consultants

 As we were planning some Zoom training for newly called T&FH staff, these items were suggested to me and I think it is a helpful list.

1) download zoom software at ...zoom.us 

     Know how to schedule zoom meetings (I suggest turning off the "waiting room" feature, which can leave participants stranded.)

2) be familiar with screen share option, so you can do it quickly and easily. (Remember that the meeting host needs to enable it by clicking the arrow beside Share Screen, then select the option to let all participants share screens.)

3) login...resetting user name or password (The Membership Number option is best for members, as it does not depend on email or a mobile phone number.)

4) using the 'help others' tab to access a tree for someone else (You can use either the Username option or the Name and birth date option. This lets you view their tree before the training session, so that you are prepared.)

5) being able to access the hidden menu for training on your calling (You can do this from Help Others > Try the Planner or else Help/? icon > Helper Resources.)

6) being familiar with various colored icons and what to do with them in the Tree Views. (Note the Options menu on the right hand side for a Legend.)

7) accessing the recommended tasks on the title page (This can show Record Hints or Temple Opportunities, or Both. I like it as an easy way to find research information provided by Indexing work.)

8) knowing how to merge and resolve duplicates (Merging duplicates is central to the goal of one record per person. If you are unsure they are duplicates, don't merge them. Don't be surprised if duplicate people have duplicate family members, who also need to be merged.)

9) knowing how to use the partner access sites (Members can use  familysearch.org/partneraccess to sign up for FREE accounts with Ancestry, MyHeritage, findmypast and other commercial partners of FamilySearch. Be sure to keep a record of the usernames and passwords.)

10) research tools (On the righthand side of any Person Details page, you should see the ability to quickly search FamilySearch and partner sites to which you are subscribed.)

11) changing the language on familysearch.org (In some situations you may need to access FamilySearch on another of the 30 available languages. At the bottom of most pages, click ENGLISH and then select the language you want.)

12) how to print a name to take to the temple ...Ordinances Ready option (In the top menu, click Temple, then Ordinances Ready, and select the cards you want printed. You can have the cards you need in 5-10 minutes. You will have 90 days to complete the work.)

13) how to link deceased ancestors to a tree (FamilySearch protects the privacy of living people by hiding them, except to the person who created these records. As a result, you may not see your parents, spouse or children in Family Tree. If they are missing, you can create records for them for your personal use. This is most useful, if your living ancestors are missing and you want to connect yourself to their deceased ancestors. In this case, add the living ancestors as a "bridge" to connect to the deceased ancestors.)

14) how to add a memory and pix including profile pix (This can be done from the Person page by clicking Memories and selecting the photo, document, inputting a story, or uploading a 5-minute audio clip. To add a portrait photo, click the silhouette beside the name and click Add portrait. Portraits and audio recordings can be done more easily using the mobile app.)

Thanks Les,

These were excellent suggestions!