Tuesday, February 24, 2015

RootsTech 2015 - Friday Recap and Photos

I spent the day on Friday, Feb 13, 2015 at RootsTech attending several FamilySearch classes. I have finally written up my notes on two of the classes I attended. Following them is a video of Ron Tanner's class "FamilySearch Family Tree 2014 and beyond. Since it was recorded I decided to not write up my notes for it. At the end of this post you will find a slide show of the photos I took throughout the day.

Class: Q&A with Dennis Brimhall, CEO of FamilySearch Notes:

IOUS - Individuals of Unusual Size - FamilySearch engineers love to use things from Princess Bride, it comes from Rodents of Unusual Size.
When New.FamilySearch.org was created they had the computer combine records, and it did more than they had anticipated.
Some records were so large they couldn't be loaded, (it caused the lights to dim in Salt Lake when they did so), so they were broken up into large groups. You could not recombine then. They found out they built the wrong system. That is where FamilySearch Family Tree came from.
They still need to change the jet engines to FSFT in order to allow merging of IOUS. They have to change those engines while it continues to fly at 600 mph. It will be a 1 to 1.5 years before IOUS can be merged. Just leave them alone for now.

Integration with Ancestry and FamilySearch.
Have a list of the most desired functionality to begin with, and a road map that gets to the rest of them.
One goal is to submit a name to the temple from Ancestry and not have to go back into FamilySearch.
Sources are really important. They are working on being able to move the sources back and forth. It will be coming in the next 2-3 months.
The system is changed 3-4 times a day. They solve problems every day. You need to just get used to changes. You will see incremental changes with Ancestry and our other partners all the time.

Question on adding married names to women on Quick Searches. They said it is on the to-do list a little ways but it is coming.

Some of the systems were designed on older architecture that served us for a long time. They are in the process of converting to some new internal systems which by multiples will increase how things happen. There is a lot of energy going into that. Its like say they don't have good water pressure. Getting a new faucet doesn't work if you need to get bigger pipes. They are in the process of replacing a lot of pipes right now so things will move faster.

Question on free subscription to Ancestry for members of the LDS Church and what about people who are not members. Brimhall went over how the arrangement was made. Basically, FamilySearch went to Ancestry and offered to open the records in the vault to them if they shared their records with us. The records in the vault were paid by the members of the LDS Church through their tithing and devotion. In return the expectation was that their members get free on Ancestry, because they have already paid for it. That is the reason why it was put together. Brimhall said he couldn't speak for Ancestry but he could never imply they would give up their revenue as they did for the LDS members to others. There are many records that Ancestry will give to LDS members and have available to their subscribers. After a number of years there will be an embargo period where anyone can get them.

Right now you can only import records from Ancestry into FamilySearch if you have an LDS Account. It is a big discussion on Ancestry to let others also do an import. You would need to talk to Ancestry about that.

Digitizing records - there is currently 2.4 millions rolls of microfilm in the vault. They have digitized and published over 900,000. There is 1.6 million rolls to go. The projection is it will take another 4 years to complete the digitizing of all the microfilm. That does not include the indexing. They are prioritized based on the perceived needs of patrons on the FamilySearch site. They started with those that get the most use. There are microfilm that no one has ever looked at, and they will be last. They are not setup to ingest microfilm that people have personally digitized into the system. Once they are digitized the process goes very quickly to have them way-pointed and added to the website.

The original estimate for getting all the microfilms digitized was 50 years. Then it was down to 15 then 10 and now it is under 4 years. They are improving the technology and ability to get this done.

Question asked if there was a way to have remote volunteers assist with the digitization efforts. The vault records digitization has to be done at the granite mountain vault where they have the equipment. For the creation of the meta-data they are using some 200 remote volunteers now for way-pointing. They are limited by their tools on how many volunteers they can have.

There are 286 camera crews and there are hundred of thousands of opportunities out there for records. They will be experimenting with a concept of adopting an archive. An LDS Stake will adopt an archive and do the imaging locally. They may have some governmental records in Samoa, where the church will give the Stake camera equipment to get the images locally. This is something that otherwise we may never be able to do. Amazingly in a couple of weeks Elder Packer and Dennis Brimhall will be meeting with the Governor of Samoa to strike a deal to get some records in Samoa.

If FamilySearch is already doing filming in an area they use a lot of volunteers to run the cameras. They provide training. You can be a regular volunteer, church service missionary, or full time missionary. Question on temple reservation lists and time limits Currently there are 14 million ordinances reserved About 3 weeks ago they turned on a feature where you can share your reservations with a family member or others. You take your reservation and click on the box to share, put their name in, it sends it to them, and they have 2 weeks to accept the reservation. If they accept it moves it to their reservation list. You transfer the quilt from us to them [chuckle]. They just turned this feature on but they are seeing wonder responses.

In the next period of time (weeks to months) they will be doing the following. -Everyone in North America that has a name thats been on the reservation list for more than 2 years will get an email. They will have the following options You can re-reserve the name You can share it with someone If you do neither it will be unreserved and made available to other descendants that can do it

When anyone reserves a name a little window will come up making them aware that if they haven't taken action on this within 2 years the options that will then happen. Testing has shown it will have a dramatic impact on this reservation issue. They will not do this outside of North America because some of them just don't get to the temple every two years.

When a user is deceased FamilySearch does not always know they have passed away. So those reservations being held will be automatically released, since they can't reply to the email being sent. Regardless if you get the email or not if its on the list longer than 2 years its time is up and it will be released. The policy for a 2 year limit has already been approved by the twelve.

Question on being able to contact people that change your data and have no contact information. Due to some church policy on email they have not been in a position to require people to submit an email address to be on FamilySearch. That has created some problems. Then they have people that have submitted fake emails because they don't want their emails out there. Then they have people that never respond to an email even though they get them. They have a solution to all that.

They are working on an internal messaging system. Hopefully within the next 3-4 months we will have the ability to send a message to anyone in the system, inside and not using email. Regardless if they have email or not they will get a message. They can still chose to ignore it. You can't force people to respond to email. There will be an internal messaging system to send messages to them.

The second thing is just go into the History and undo any changes people make to the people you are Watching. Write in the Reason Statement the sources that you have. If they have better sources have them enter them in and then you can have a discussion. Development has found that exactly zero times has anyone without a better source changed it back. The secret is to do really good research and put the source information in. It cuts out almost 99% of the changes. They ask Family History Consultants to help people put in great sources with good reason statements so we can collaborate on our research and get the job done.

People that abuse the system get their privileges to use the system turned off. They need a letter from their Bishop to get it turned back on. It is rather a disciplined thing to get your privileges back. Sometimes you have to hold people accountable that make changes. (Not to the extent of turning off their privileges though.) Just mention in the reason statement that someone changed things and isn't getting back to you and you have documentation on why things are wrong. We don't need to be rude or offensive but firm about changes made and why they are not correct. They are finding if people will do that they have generally solved the problem they are having with other people.

About a year ago it took about 7 years to get the first 100,000 sources attached to the tree. We add 1.4 million sources week today. They have a lot of ways to check data quality. They check duplicate ordinances - which down from 30% to under 10%. In every area the data quality is improving, much is due to sourcing. Today if you get a hint any that you bring into the tree comes with a source. We are starting to get a handle on this.

Question on who is related and authorized to do ordinances.
The First Presidency has given no authorization for members to do work for non-family members, regardless if they were told by the person before they died to do their work. We need to turn our hearts to our fathers. The definition is:
Do work for your ancestors - going up the tree
Do work for your ancestors descendants - going down the tree
Do work for the spouses of your ancestors descendants
You cannot do the ancestors of the descendants spouse
The biggest violation is during the 110 year rule
Need the permission of the closest relative: spouse, child or parent
This will get firmer in the next few weeks
You will need to be a direct relative to submit a name within the 110 year rule. People that break this rule are an embarrassment to the church.

My notes got a little cryptic at this point. These may have come from another FamilySearch class
Some of the most important issues
Reservations - 2 year limit in North America
Wayfinding
Hinting - going from 24 hrs for hints to appear to 1 hr, then to 30 seconds
Performance of the website is changing
From 2013-2014 members submitting names increased 30% higher
Top 10 Stakes submitting ordinances 4 are from the Ivory Coast
Need a way to identify your own line

Class: Town Hall with the FamilySearch Executive Team Notes:

What they are working on
Store and preserve separate trees - coming soon
Removing hints that are for the wrong person
New Indexing platform with more flexibility in projects
More partnering
New companies and app are showing the most growth in the FamilySearch app gallery. Family.me is one of them.
Syncing with MyHeritage trees in 6 months
Goal is for FamilySearch Family Tree to be a global tree for the world
More Hinting
Ability to show how you are related to someone
Ability to Unmerge coming in 1.5 yrs. Need to fix plumbing issues first.
Non-members need email address to sign up for a FamilySearch Account
Will have an internal messaging system
Question on Legacy Family Tree sources - everyone is in the FT API but Memories. Legacy should support sources so you need to ask they why they don't.
Records that are locked: IOUS, Famous Individuals, LDS Church Leaders, Medieval Person

Speed of getting records has increased
450 million records a year
345 contracts signed last year
Jun 17, 2015 hinting launched and the world changed
500 million records added last week
Hinting has a 98% accuracy rate.
Couple of weeks ago a half billion hints were added
10% of the individuals never had a hint before
1 out of 10 hints extend the lines

Performance on the website is worst from 9:00 am Saturday morning to 10:00 pm Sunday night. By 6:00 am Monday the system works.

Contract with Ancestry, MyHeritage and FindMyPast are multi-year contracts. New partnership with NEHGS - AmericanAncestor.org was announced.
There is a dire need for camera crews.

Ron Tanner's presentation "FamilySearch Family Tree 2014 and beyond"
He provided just the right combination of entertainment, education and comedy to end a long day of classes. My best friend Laura had never attended a Ron Tanner class so we had a great time chuckling together.



The slide show goes through the keynote address with D. Joshua Taylor, Laura Bush and Jenna Bush Hager. Next is the Innovator Challenge Showdown. The FamilySearch Classes I attended with a sprinkling of random prizes I gave away to attendees wearing the RootsMagic ribbon "I Trust My Tree to RootsMagic". I ended the day in the Exhibit Hall for "Celebrate Your Heritage (Cultural Night)". It was a great day.


See ya tomorrow, for tomorrow is always another genealogy day!

Monday, February 23, 2015

NERGC Early Bird Registration Ending 28 Feb 2015

Navigating the Past: Sailing into the Future

15-18 April 2015
The Rhode Island Convention Center
Providence, RI


Join us in Providence, Rhode Island for another great conference!

Registration for NERGC 2015 is now open.

Early Bird registration ($120) ends 28 February 2015.
Registration after 28 February 2015 is $150.
Single day registration increases from $90 to $100 after 28 February 2015

Download the Program Brochure here.


Register online here for the conference, Librarians and Teachers Day, Technology Day and associated luncheons and banquets and an Explore Providence tour.
A Mobile Event Guide is available here.  There is no app to install! The link will also be provided in confirmation and reminder emails.

Sunday, February 22, 2015

FamilySearch Adds More Than 1.1 Million Records

The following is from FamilySearch.

FamilySearch Adds More Than 1.1 Million Indexed Records and Images to Brazil, Japan, Russia, and the United States

FamilySearch adds more than 1.1 million indexed records and images to Brazil, Japan, Russia, and the United States. Notable collection updates include the 744,919 indexed records from the US, New York, Naturalization Index (Soundex), 1792–1906 collection; the 144,735 indexed records from the US, Illinois, Soldier burial places, 1774–1974 collection; and the 85,387 indexed records from the Russia, Lutheran Church Book Duplicates, 1833–1885 collection. See the table below for the full list of updates. Search these diverse collections and more than 3.5 billion other records for free at FamilySearch.org.

Searchable historic records are made available on FamilySearch.org through the help of thousands of volunteers from around the world. These volunteers transcribe (index) information from digital copies of handwritten records to make them easily searchable online. More volunteers are needed (particularly those who can read foreign languages) to keep pace with the large number of digital images being published online at FamilySearch.org. Learn more about volunteering to help provide free access to the world’s historical genealogical records online at FamilySearch.org .

FamilySearch is the largest genealogy organization in the world. FamilySearch is a nonprofit, volunteer-driven organization sponsored by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Millions of people use FamilySearch records, resources, and services to learn more about their family history. To help in this great pursuit, FamilySearch and its predecessors have been actively gathering, preserving, and sharing genealogical records worldwide for over 100 years. Patrons may access FamilySearch services and resources for free at FamilySearch.org or through more than 4,600 family history centers in 132 countries, including the main Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Collection
Indexed Records
Digital Images
Comments
0
19,068
Added images to an existing collection.
0
1,676
Added images to an existing collection.
85,387
0
Added indexed records and images to an existing collection.
0
15,120
New browsable image collection.
144,735
0
Added indexed records and images to an existing collection.
0
4,816
New browsable image collection.
0
34,522
New browsable image collection.
744,919
0
New indexed record collection.
0
19,613
New browsable image collection.
0
916
New browsable image collection.
0
5,041
New browsable image collection.
71,886
0
New browsable image collection.

Family History Expo 2015 Calendar



The following is from Family History Expos.

February Retreat


UPCOMING EVENTS:
Research FUNdamentals: Wills, Inventories, and Probate Records Retreat
Mar 16-21, 2015
FHL & Crystal Inn Hotel
230 W. 500 S.
Salt Lake City, Utah 84101

Proving Family Relationships
US Land & Tax Records Retreat
Apr 13-18, 2015
FHL & Crystal Inn Hotel
230 W. 500 S.
Salt Lake City, Utah 84101

Genealogy Research Retreat Using Deductive Reasoning & Logic
May 1-2, 2015
City Limits Convention Center
2227 South Range Ave
Colby, Kansas 67701

England, Wales, Scotland & Ireland Research Retreat
May 18-23, 2015
FHL & Crystal Inn Hotel
230 W. 500 S.
Salt Lake City, Utah 84101

Virginia Research Retreat Bypassing the Burned Counties
Jun 15-20, 2015
FHL & Crystal Inn Hotel
230 W. 500 S.
Salt Lake City, Utah 84101

Southern States Research Retreat
Jul 13-18, 2015
FHL & Crystal Inn Hotel
230 W. 500 S.
Salt Lake City, Utah 84101

New England Research Retreat
Aug 17-22, 2015
FHL & Crystal Inn Hotel
230 W. 500 S.
Salt Lake City, Utah 84101

Midwest Family History Expo
Sep 18-19, 2015
Holiday Inn Convention Center
110 South Second Ave
Kearney, Nebraska 68848

German Research Retreat
Sep 21-26, 2015
FHL & Crystal Inn Hotel
230 W. 500 S.
Salt Lake City, Utah 84101

Research Retreat Using DNA & Resources at the FHL
Oct 19-24, 2015
FHL & Crystal Inn Hotel
230 W. 500 S.
Salt Lake City, Utah 84101

Basic Sources for Military Research Retreat
Nov 9-14, 2015
FHL & Crystal Inn Hotel
230 W. 500 S.
Salt Lake City, Utah 84101

Emigration, Immigration, Migration Research Retreat
Nov 30 - Dec 5, 2015
FHL & Crystal Inn Hotel
230 W. 500 S.
Salt Lake City, Utah 84101

Image

Saturday, February 21, 2015

Call for Papers - Midwest Family History Expo September 2015



The following is from Family History Expos.


February RetreatCall for Papers

Midwest Family History Expo - 
September 18-19, 2015

Now accepting proposals for presenting at our 4th annual Midwest Family History Expo to be held at the Holiday Inn in Kearney, Nebraska September 18-19, 2015.

Submission emphasis should focus on principles, strategies, and sources used in family history and genealogical research.

Desired topics include:
*How to classes
*Local repositories and their value for family history
*Using online database websites
*Using marriage, census, land and tax, probate, vital records, cemetery records, and other types
*US research classes
*Scandinavian research classes
*German research classes
*Cool tools

Upon acceptance of a proposal you will receive notification and a template to use when creating your handouts.

Email your proposals toholly@fhexpos.com

or

Ancestry YouTube Channel: Five-Minute Find

The following is from Ancestry.

TIPS AND TOOLS - Channel Surfing

Join Juliana Szucs for some serious channel surfing as she introduces you to the Ancestry YouTube channel, home to hundreds of videos on everything from genealogy basics to becoming an Ancestry power searcher.  ALL in 5 MINUTE blocks of time!


Ancestry free U.S. State Research Guides

The following is from Ancestry.


INSIDE SCOOP
State Research at Your Fingertips
Sure, federal census records are nice, but they’ll only take you so far.

Getting down to the real nitty gritty of your ancestors’ lives usually means getting local. That’s where you find birth, marriage, and death records; land deeds and court cases; newspaper stories and yearbooks. And that’s where our collection of U.S. state research guides comes in handy.

Our in-house experts spent 2014 putting together a research guide for each state. Each guide gives you historical background, a chronology, helpful information on census and vital record availability, highlighted collections on Ancestry, and links to important resources beyond Ancestry. You’ll find them all in our Learning Center.
View now

New England Historic Genealogical Society (NEHGS) Annouces a Multi-Year Collaboration with FamilySearch

The following is from NEHGS.



New England Historic Genealogical Society (NEHGS) 
Announces a Multi-Year Collaboration with FamilySearch

The Two Leading Nonprofits in the Family History Industry Announce
 a Sharing of Online Resources for the Benefit of Millions of Constituents

A New, Redesigned Website by NEHGS at AmericanAncestors.org
 Offers Millions of New Records and New Names - 
Giving NEHGS Members Access to More Records than Ever Before

February 17, 2015—Boston, Massachusetts—New England Historic Genealogical Society (NEHGS) and FamilySearch, the family history arm of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, today announced a multi-year collaboration between the two nonprofit organizations and a sharing of online genealogical resources, establishing a milestone in the growing international family history industry. In a database exchange program, the two leading nonprofits in the global genealogy business will now make available millions of new records containing billions of new searchable names to their many constituents.

Under a multi-year agreement, FamilySearch will provide NEHGS with more than 2 billion records from its global historic record collections and its online Family Tree. These records will be added to the newly upgraded website of NEHGS—at AmericanAncestors.org—and a forthcoming online family tree experience. The searchable and browsable records to be added to the NEHGS website include U.S. federal census transcripts (1790–1930); civil registrations for Italy, Germany, Scotland, and the Netherlands; English birth, christening, marriage, and death record transcripts dating from the fifteenth century through the twentieth century; and a panoply of census records, birth records, marriage records, and death records for states across the U.S.

In turn, members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints will have access to hundreds of millions of records on AmericanAncestors.org through online affiliate accounts. In addition, NEHGS will provide millions of new records to FamilySearch from its holdings, including unique cemetery records from around the U.S. and Canada, historic tax records, early American military records, early New England marriage records, historic newspapers, and original scholarship from NEHGS published books.

“FamilySearch and New England Historic Genealogical Society keenly understand the importance of collaboration in family history,” said D. Brenton Simons, President and CEO of NEHGS and AmericanAncestors.org. “That is why our two organizations are teaming together to help provide high-quality solutions and experiences for the family history community.”

Founded in 1845, New England Historic Genealogical Society is America’s oldest and most respected resource for family history research and the largest genealogical society in America today. Although the institution’s name says “New England,” the organization is national in scope and provides expertise and research materials through AmericanAncestors.org in nearly all aspects of family history, from seventeenth-century colonial New England, New York, Pennsylvania, and Virginia through twenty-first century immigration research.

“Our founders recognized 170 years ago that family history would become important to all Americans,” added Simons. “For that reason, AmericanAncestors.org is a hub and treasure trove for family historians. We really do have something for everyone.”

Dennis Brimhall, FamilySearch CEO, said the collaboration will provide indispensable assistance to Latter-day Saint family historians by consolidating resources and providing a breadth of information unavailable elsewhere.

“By partnering with AmericanAncestors.org, we’re making an unprecedented scope of data available and accessible to some very eager consumers of historical materials,” said Brimhall. “We expect the ease of access to New England records will prove very encouraging to novice genealogists, and downright exciting to more seasoned enthusiasts.”

The NEHGS website, AmericanAncestors.org, is one of the world’s most visited family history websites and it is the most visited genealogical society website in the country—serving more than a million visitors a year. In addition to billions of searchable names, the site offers an online learning center with courses available for genealogists of all levels. The site features historical content from the vast library and archives of NEHGS and an online store offering the award-winning publications of NEHGS.

About American Ancestors and New England Historic Genealogical Society 

The founding genealogical society in America, New England Historic Genealogical Society (NEHGS) was established in 1845. Today it has a national collecting scope and serves more than 75,000 constituents through an award-winning website, www.AmericanAncestors.org. Since 1845, NEHGS has been the country’s leading comprehensive resource for genealogists and family historians of every skill level. Today NEHGS provides constituents with worldwide access to some of the most important and valuable research tools anywhere.

American Ancestors is the public brand and user experience of NEHGS, representing the expertise and resources available for family historians of all levels when researching their origins across the country and around the world. NEHGS’s resources, expertise, and service are unmatched in the field and their leading staff of on-site and online genealogists includes experts in early American, Irish, English, Scottish, Italian, Atlantic and French Canadian, African American, Native American, Chinese, and Jewish research. Expert assistance is available to members and nonmembers in a variety of ways. The NEHGS library and archive, located at 99 - 101 Newbury Street in downtown Boston, is home to more than 28 million items, including artifacts, documents, records, journals, letters, books, manuscripts, and other items dating back hundreds of years.

About FamilySearch

FamilySearch International is the largest genealogy organization in the world. FamilySearch is a nonprofit, volunteer-driven organization sponsored by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Millions of people use FamilySearch records, resources, and services to learn more about their family history. To help in this great pursuit, FamilySearch and its predecessors have been actively gathering, preserving, and sharing genealogical records worldwide for over 100 years. Patrons may access FamilySearch services and resources free online at FamilySearch.org or through over 4,600 family history centers in 130 countries, including the main Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Millions of Scandinavian records online at MyHeritage SuperSearch

The following is from MyHeritage. 

We’re delighted to announce that we have started making good on our promise to digitize and bring online millions of exclusive historical records from Scandinavia. The majority of these records have never been indexed online before.
The records are searchable on MyHeritage SuperSearch and MyHeritage users will now automatically receive matches to those records relevant to their family tree.
Anyone with Scandinavian roots will be able to explore their family history and learn more about the lives of their ancestors with this robust searchable index of records published online for the first time.
The new collections include:
Danish Records:
As we announced in December, MyHeritage has entered into an agreement with the National Archives of Denmark to digitize and index over 120 million records, including all available Danish census records from 1787-1930 and Parish records from 1646 to 1915. As of today the entire 1930 Danish census (3.5 million records) is available online! The remaining censuses and Parish records will be released during 2015 and 2016.
The 1930 Danish census  is a treasure trove of historical information, for anyone whose families originated in the region. It covers Denmark as well as Greenland and the Faroe Islands.
The household examination rolls are the primary register of the Swedish church, listing the residents of each parish, their families, and important life events such as births, marriages and deaths. The collection includes 54 million records with 5 million color images of which 22 million records are already available online. The remaining records are scheduled to go online before the end of June 2015.
Below is a map of Sweden showing those counties in bold orange whose records have been added today. Here's some notes about the map:
  • Västra Götaland:  In 1997 this county was formed by merging the three counties of Göteborg och Bohus, Älvsborg, and Skaraborg.
  • Dalarna: In 1997 this county was renamed from Kopparberg.
  • SkÃ¥ne: In 1997 this county was formed by merging the two counties of Kristianstad and Malmöhus.
Swedish counties
Pssst... We are working on more content that will go live soon, from additional Nordic countries!
Do you have Scandinavian roots? Start searching our new collections and let us know what you discover!

StoryWorth Sweeps RootsTech Innovator Summit!

The following is from FamilySearch and RootsTech. This announcement is a little late, but StoryWorth deserves to be recognized for their achievement.

FamilySearch

StoryWorth
SALT LAKE CITY (February 13, 2015) – StoryWorth a San Francisco start up company that offers an email-based storytelling service, today swept the RootsTechInnovator Showdown, winning both first prize and the People’s Choice award, and claiming a purse of $15,000. RootsTech is a global conference hosted byFamilySearch

The Innovator Showdown is the first-annual event where entrepreneurs from around the globe presented their web or mobile app on stage in front of a live audience, vying for a total of $25,000 in sponsor-contributed prize money. Each of four finalists presented their ideas in five minutes and responded to questions from a panel of renowned judges. Judges and audience members voted on their favorite product in a Shark Tank-like setting. Darin Adams, former KSL Studio 5 host, served as emcee.

StoryWorth vied for the winning title alongside LucidPress, an intuitive design and layout provider of sleek digital scrapbooking; GenMarketplace, a web app that links those with family history roadblocks to those who can solve them; and ArgusSearch, handwriting recognition technology useful in searching un-indexed digital images of records.

Panel judges included AJ Jacobs, founder of The Global Family Reunion and a New York Times bestselling author; Amy Rees Anderson, managing partner of REES Capital; Curt Witcher, senior manager of The Genealogy Center, Allen County Public Library; Dan Mano, vice president of business development, MyHeritage; and Jay Verkler, advisor and corporate consultant, The Verkler Group.

StoryWorth brings memories to life and facilitates the preservation of memories and personal histories through simple question prompts, emailed directly to users each week. Questions such as “What is some of the best advice your mom ever gave you?” or “Did you ever pull any pranks?” or “How did you meet your wife?” are emailed to users weekly. Users respond via email, and StoryWorth automatically lays out the stories and privately saves them on the site. In time, with minimal effort and using only technology that’s already familiar, users create their personal histories, one story at a time.

“One of the most important things we can do for both the future and the past is to record our memories,” said Nick Baum, founder of StoryWorth. “When we write our stories, and share them with our families, it brings families closer together in the present.”

StoryWorth is highly customizable. There are over 600 engaging questions to choose from, and users can write their own questions. Storytellers can choose to either keep their stories private or invite other family members to receive them by email. There’s a phone option for storytellers who prefer to answer the questions by phone. Stories can be downloaded anytime, as well as printed and bound as books.

“Family history, at its heart, is about stories and connection. It’s about learning to love your ancestors by getting to know them,” said Don Anderson, FamilySearch senior vice president, FamilySearch Partners. “StoryWorth hits all the right notes, helping users ask questions they would otherwise never think to ask, and get answers they’d never expect.”

Innovator Showdown sponsors were MyHeritage, Grow Utah, Hero Partners, Sprint, IPOP Foundation, Utah Technology Council, and STG.

Findmypast partners with StoryPress to bring family history to life through the power of storytelling

The following is from FindMyPast.



Findmypast partners with StoryPress to bring family history to life through the power of storytelling
Genealogists can now record & share their family’s story easily and for free, using Findmypast Story Guides on StoryPress

Salt Lake City, Utah: February 13, 2015. Findmypast has today announced a partnership with Austin, Texas based StoryPress Inc, to make their market-leading storytelling platform available to Findmypast’s global audience of family historians. StoryPress’ dedicated technology makes it simple for anybody to create rich and powerful stories to enjoy themselves, or to share with the world.
Under the terms of the partnership, Findmypast and StoryPress have been working together to create Story Guides specifically aimed at helping genealogists to bring their family history to life using audio, images and video.
Service launched at FamilySearch’s RootsTech, with conference-themed story guides
The partnership is being announced at Rootstech, the world’s largest genealogy conference, where both companies will be supporting the launch of the partnership with a range of demonstrations, talks and panel discussions.
Additionally, two Story Guides have been created specifically for attendees of the event. The first lets them tell the story of their visit to RootsTech and the second lets them share their experience of visiting FamilySearch’s iconic Family History Library in Salt Lake City, the largest of its kind in the world.
Supporting Findmypast’s vision of bringing family history to life through storytelling
Findmypast has long been a pioneer in the genealogy market and has been exploring new ways for its customers to bring to life and share the amazing historical discoveries they make every week.
In 2014, they launched Who Do You Think You Are? Story with Shed Media, creators of the iconic TV series, a free service allowing people to create an online episode of the show, centred on their own family.
Ben Bennett, EVP of International Operations at Findmypast, said: “We were very impressed by the product that StoryPress has created. It makes it simple for anyone to create a rich & exciting story and share that with their families and the wider community. This is a perfect way for genealogists to move beyond collecting data in a family tree and really bring their family’s story to life.”
Mike Davis, CEO and Founder of StoryPress, said: "My team and I couldn't be happier about this partnership with Findmypast.  We believe with our storytelling platform and their global reach and world class family history research tools that together we can build the world's largest repository of digital stories and memories and truly change the way people think of family history".
The service, which can be found at https://storypress.com/findmypast is completely free to use and can also be used on smartphones and tablets via StoryPress’ dedicated iOS app, available free through Apple’s App Store.

About FindmypastFindmypast is an international leader in online family history and genealogy research with customers and operations in the United States, United Kingdom, Ireland and Australia. Its searchable online archive includes over two billion family history records, from parish records and censuses to migration records, military collections, historical newspapers, the Periodical Source Index (PERSI) and lots more. For members around the world, the site is a crucial resource for building family trees and making family connections.
 Findmypast has an unrivalled record of innovation in the field of family history, and works closely with the genealogy community, including local libraries, archives, societies, and other organizations from around the world, to preserve, digitize, and provide access to historical records. Findmypast’s historical records, advanced search tools and accurate data work together to help both professional and budding genealogists discover, explore and share their family stories.

About StoryPress
Based in Austin, Texas, StoryPress is changing the world of storytelling by making it fun and easy to create, save, and share personal memories and stories.
StoryPress focuses on the power of spoken word and the authenticity this brings to every story in a way unlike any other application. While telling your story, you are free to add pictures and videos along the way.
The finished product is a visually stunning, media-rich story including your audio narration. StoryPress stories live on our cloud and can be listened to and enjoyed on any internet connection in the world.


Findmypast releases over 101 million US, UK and Australian records

The following is from FindMyPast.




Findmypast releases over 101 million US, UK and Australian records


Findmypast is thrilled to be adding over 101 million UK, US and Australian records as part of this week’s Findmypast Friday.

Every Friday, thousands of new records are released on our dedicated Findmypast Friday page to explore over the weekend. This week’s new additions include Australian Will Books from New South Wales, English Parish Record Indexes from the county of Gloucestershire and substantial updates to the PERiodical Source Index.

Over 100 million new records have also been added to Findmypast’s collection of US records. Extensive additions have been made to our US Military, Census & Substitutes, Life Events and Immigration & Travel collections. Visit the Findmypast Friday page to find out more about our new US records and how to search them.

New South Wales Will Books
The New South Wales Will Books, 1800-1952, contain over 415,000 wills containing beautiful images of the original handwritten documents only available online at Findmypast. The records are copies of original Will Books held by the State Records Authority of New South Wales and include the wills of a number of individuals from other states and countries, typically in cases where the individual was a resident of New South Wales but their last place of residence was outside the state, or where they had originated from overseas and left legacies to family members back home.
The Will books can be used to discover more about your family tree or simply investigate how the rich and famous lived. Famous figures that can be found within the Will books include the first Prime Minister of Australia and Justice of the High Court, Edmund Barton; legendary soldier, engineer and administrator, Sir John Monash; and Ludwig Leichhardt, the Prussian explorer, who famously vanished during an expedition in 1848.
Gloucestershire Parish Record Indexes
Over 861,000 Baptism, Marriage and Burial records from the English county of Gloucestershire have been added to our collection of UK Parish records. The Gloucestershire, Bristol baptism index 1660-1914 contains over 411,000 records, the Gloucestershire, Bristol marriage index 1644-1939 contains over 273,000 records and Gloucestershire, Bristol burial index 1625-1950 contains over 176,000 records. Each record consists of a transcription of the original document.
PERSI update
The PERiodical Source Index (PERSI) has once again been updated with the addition of over 12,000 images. This update includes images from publications around the United States and beyond, including historical society yearbooks, genealogy magazines, State-specific collections and county registers to name but a few. New Images, only available to view at Findmypast, have been added to 32 existing titles that span 200 years of American history (1827-2012). Searching PERSI has never been easier as Findmypast’s powerful search tools allow you to find exactly what you’re looking for quickly and easily. You can filter your PERSI searches by name, location, subject, periodical title, publisher, year of publication and keywords.
US Records
Visit our dedicated Findmypast Friday page to see full lists of and learn more about the 100 million plus records that have just been added to our US collections.


Findmypast and BillionGraves announce partnership to make rich historical content accessible to everyone for free

The following is from FindMyPast.



Findmypast and BillionGraves announce partnership to make rich historical content accessible to everyone for free
Industry leaders are working together to make more than 12 million grave markers available to everyone, making it easier for families to discover their unique story for free.
Salt Lake City, Utah, 13 February 2015.  Findmpast and BillionGraves announced today that they will partner to add more than 12 million grave marker indexes to family history websites mocavo.com andfindmypast.com. With the shared goal of making family history more accessible to everyone, this unique content will be available on all three websites for free.
New records: 12 million grave marker indexes available for free
The partnership will offer all Findmypast and Mocavo subscribers free access to more than 12 million headstone records including GPS tagged headstone indexes and images that will link back to BillionGraves.com.
BillionGraves preserves precious records found in cemeteries throughout the world, using modern technology to capture images of headstones with their GPS locations so users from across the world can access those records anywhere. 
Findmypast is making it easier for everybody to discover their family history. The BillionGraves mission complements that goal, and along with Findmypast’s commitment to offer more free data and innovative search tools, the BillionGraves partnership will make it easier for everybody to explore their family’s story and bring their past to life.
The two organizations will also work together to provide other initiatives that will help make family history and preservation efforts more accessible to the entire community.
Findmypast Executive Vice President Ben Bennett said, “This new partnership will help our customers to make new connections in their research.  It marks another step in Findmypast’s journey to make more data accessible for more people who want to connect with their family.” 
Hudson Gunn, President of BillionGraves said, “We are delighted to work with Findmypast to make the BillionGraves collection accessible to their growing user base world-wide. At BillionGraves we are working to provide a comprehensive family history database for records and images of the world’s cemeteries-but it’s not something we can do alone. Collaborating with Findmypast in this and other initiatives in the future will provide incredible value for millions of families and preserve this valuable data for generations to come”.

About FindmypastFindmypast is an international leader in online family history and genealogy research with customers and operations in the United States, United Kingdom, Ireland and Australia. Its searchable online archive includes over two billion family history records, from parish records and censuses to migration records, military collections, historical newspapers, the Periodical Source Index (PERSI) and lots more. For members around the world, the site is a crucial resource for building family trees and making family connections.
 Findmypast has an unrivalled record of innovation in the field of family history, and works closely with the genealogy community, including local libraries, archives, societies, and other organizations from around the world, to preserve, digitize, and provide access to historical records. Findmypast’s historical records, advanced search tools and accurate data work together to help both professional and budding genealogists discover, explore and share their family stories.

About BillionGraves
With more than 12 million GPS headstone records created by more than 140,000 volunteers in just 3 short years, BIllionGraves is the largest resource for GPS gravestone and burial record data on the web.  BillionGraves collection reaches every country and supports 25 languages for desktop, iOS, Android, and now Windows phones making it the most versatile application for genealogists all over the world. BillionGraves' mobile GPS tracking technology in its mobile applications perpetuates this progress, bringing a wealth of genealogical information right to your fingertips.
For more information please contact press@findmypast.com or info@billiongraves.com