My Source Box New at FamilySearch

Family Search has activated a new feature called "My Source Box". Please click this link to read all about it. 

One Week until FHExpo in Colorado Springs

The Family History Expo in Colorado Springs, CO is just one week away. You still have time to register for $69. Registration at the door will be $99. However, if you can only attend one day, you can register for $59 for either Friday or Saturday. Consultants who only want to attend the FamilySearch Consultant classes will be admitted for free with the coupon that has previously been offered. (Contact becky.jamison5@gmail.com if you don't have one). 
The Opening Keynote will be given by Don Anderson. The Family History Expos site tells us this about Mr. Anderson: Senior Vice President for FamilySearch.In this role, he has the responsibility for the Patron Services organization including the FamilySearch Family History Library as well as the Worldwide Support organization.Don’s responsibilities include providing help to those searching for ancestors using FamilySearch, the Family History Library, Family History Centers, the FamilySearch website, CD software, and other resources. These are accessed worldwide via telephone, e-mail, and the Internet. Don’s organization provides services in more than 12 languages from more than 110 countries worldwide with an excess of 10 million interactions annually. In his role for FamilySearch, Don has traveled to more than 27 countries on five continents to ensure that services are available to those around the world searching for their ancestors. The resources of FamilySearch Patron Services are in more than eighty countries and include nearly two thousand individuals, both volunteers and employees. Don is married to the former Anne Russell and they are the parents of two boys.
Click on the picture above and go to the Family History Expos site to learn all about this year's Colorado Springs Expo. My husband Larry Jamison and I hope to see you there!

Story Chain: New Feature at FamilySearch

I just read about a new feature at FamilySearch.org called 'Story Chain". The Consultant newsletter tells us:
Our mothers, fathers, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, friends, and neighbors found in the 1940 census are known as "the greatest generation." We all have special memories of those found in this important historical collection—now it’s time to record and archive those stories. FamilySearch is providing everyone the unique opportunity to remember and share with the world just what they feel made these people great. On this new FamilySearch site you can submit photos, scrapbook pages, stories, or links to videos and Facebook pages in their honor under the Who’s In It tab. You can also post information about How It Was living where they lived, as well as stories telling Where They Were during major events in the late 1930s and early 1940s. The power of this online experience is that you can start a family and friend “Story Chain” and invite others to join in the conversation! Read what others have written and share your stories here.

New Consultant Blog Format

You may have noticed something different about the Family History Consultant and Leader Newsletter—we’re now delivering it via a blog. That means we’ve created an online community where you can get ideas, share successes, and engage with others from around the world who share your same calling.
The blog is part of familySearch.org, but because of the spicific nature of topics, it is hidden from public view. To get to this valuable new tool, visit familysearch.org/blog/consultants, or follow the links in the monthly newsletter.
One category we hope you'll participate in and find extremely valuable is the Success Story thread. This month we're sharing a wonderful example of how one family history consultant involved the entire ward--adults, youth, and children--in a successful activity.
We want to hear from you about what's working and what you're thinking--so blog away!


By Matt Wright on FamilySearch Blog: http://goo.gl/HR36U

FamilySearch Blog: Sources for our Family Tree

Family Tree Update

May 22, 2012 By Matt Wright Leave a Comment

 

 

The Family Tree team has been really busy fixing defects and preparing for the release of several new features to help you better manage the relationships between individuals. Before we can turn those features on, we’ve got to finish the non-trivial task of moving all 1.25 billion relationships into the Family Tree. Yes, that’s over a billion! We have about 130 million left.

We invite you to begin using the Family Tree feature and let us know what you think. (If you need to know how to use this feature, click here.)

On Monday we pushed out a new release of the Source Box to the Family Tree. Let me highlight the new features as well as some upcoming features.

• Folders. You can now use folders to organize the sources in your Source Box. Folders are listed alphabetically, with the number of sources in each folder shown in parentheses.
• All Sources folder. The default folder in the Source Box is the All Sources folder. The All Sources folder shows every source in your Source Box, even the ones that you moved into folders. In a few weeks, the Source Box will have a column that indicates which folder a source is in.
• Attached link. The Source Box now indicates which sources are attached to the ancestor that you are working on. If the source is attached to the ancestor, it has an icon that looks like two interlinked ovals.
• Attach. When your Source Box is open, you can attach any source in it to the ancestor that you have been working on. Simply click the title of the source that you want to attach. If the source has not been attached to the ancestor you are working on, you see an Attach link. Click it to attach it to that ancestor. We are interested in your feedback on attaching sources. Do you like this change? Opening the source before attaching it lets you see the citation and notes, which can help you decide whether to attach it.
• Remove. Many of you asked for a way to remove a source from your Source Box and leave it attached to the ancestors that you attached it to. Now you can. Click the title of any source, and you can remove it from your Source Box. Now you might ask, “If I remove a source, how do I put it back into my Source Box if I need it again?” We will soon introduce a new feature that lets you add any source, no matter who created it, to your Source Box. With this new feature, you can add a source you created back into your Source Box. You can also add anyone else’s sources to your Source Box.

In about a month, we will introduce an easy way to capture data from any website, create a source, and add it to your Source Box without using copy and paste.

Source: FamilySearch Blog: https://familysearch.org/blog/family-tree-update/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+FamilySearchBlog+%28FamilySearch+Blog%29&utm_content=Google+Feedfetcher

Dig into this Genealogy Research Toolbox

Professional genealogist Thomas MacEntee presents many genealogy webinars. In a recent one he discussed the contents of his Research Toolbox and has made it available to the public. You can find it here:
http://genealogytoolbox.weebly.com/books-and-libraries.html
It's a good idea to bookmark this site and refer to it as you're wondering where you can find research help for your family history work.

What is to Come on FamilySearch

The "First Quarter 2012 FamilySearch Newsletter" was published today. You can read it HERE. The writer of the blog post tells us that the FamilySearch staff is currently engaged in focus group testing of (1) a new main page interface that allows for easier searches, (2) location of records, and (3) an improved new user experience! We can expect to see those changes by the end of June. And they tell us that Family Tree will be rolled out to ALL users by the end of 2012!
Take a quick look at the full blog post at the above link. As Consultants we should keep up to date on what's going on at Family Search.