I received this information from FamilySearch today:
==========================================
FamilySearch 2021 Genealogy Highlights
Major milestones include completion of massive microfilm digitization project and unparalleled RootsTech attendance
SALT LAKE CITY, UT—In 2021, FamilySearch completed the digitization of its massive microfilm collection—2.4 million rolls to be exact—and welcomed over 1 million people to its first all-virtual RootsTech Connect online event. FamilySearch International noted these and other 2021 achievements among its efforts to help create fun, free, family discoveries for individuals worldwide, and create the family tree of humankind.
FamilySearch Family Tree
Imagine billions of people making new family connections by sharing what they know about their family history to a free online family tree that ultimately constitutes the family tree of humankind. That is one long term goal of the FamilySearch Family Tree.
Crowdsourcing contributors worldwide added information about millions of deceased relatives to the FamilySearch Family Tree in 2021, making a total of 1.38 billion people now searchable in the world’s largest collaborative—and free—family tree!
Users also added hundreds of millions of sources—supporting facts—to their ancestors’ personal pages in the Family Tree. Sources can come from personal family records or hints generated by FamilySearch’s growing historical record collections. As the family tree of humankind grows, the number of ancestors that users have in common will also expand. Sources are important because they help strengthen the genealogical accuracy of ancestor pages—particularly for common, shared ancestors.
See what discoveries are waiting in the FamilySearch Family Tree for you. It’s free.
FamilySearch Searchable Records
To expand the branches of your family tree, you typically need access to genealogical records—documenting birth, marriage, death, census, military service, etc. FamilySearch now offers more than 14.3 billion searchable names and images from historical records from your ancestral homelands all over the globe. FamilySearch’s predecessors began gathering records in 1893 and started making these available on microfilm in 1938.
A major FamilySearch milestone in 2021 was the completion of the monumental task of digitizing its 2.4 million rolls of microfilm (See FamilySearch Completes Digitization of Massive Microfilm Collection). The initiative makes billions of ancestors from over 200 countries and principalities more readily discoverable online. FamilySearch’s Explore Historical Images feature enables users to effectively peruse digitized images from most of the microfilm collection online and more with a free FamilySearch account.
FamilySearch also added hundreds of millions of new, searchable, historical records in 2021. The top expansions included collections for Scandinavian countries (Norway, Denmark, Sweden, and Finland), the Netherlands, Spain, the Caribbean and Pacific Island countries, the United Kingdom, Canada, the United States, Mexico, Uruguay, Venezuela, Peru, and more.
Search these free collections to see what was added for your ancestral homelands in 2021 now using the enhanced search feature at FamilySearch.org.
FamilySearch Discovery Experiences
Global interest in personal family connections continues to grow. FamilySearch experienced over 200 million visits in 2021, with visitors combing through online ancestor records to extend their family tree and add family memories.
2021 enhancements that visitors can now enjoy include new discovery pages for ancestors in the family tree. These pages are an easy way to see your relative’s life story at a glance, view photos and stories, and understand the historical events they may have lived through.
It’s also easier than ever to see what FamilySearch can tell you about your relatives with the discovery search feature. This search allows you to see results from the Family Tree, historical records, memories and a surname search, all at the same time.
Finding Help with Family History
Need help with your family history? FamilySearch made wonderful enhancements to its menu of helpful services in 2021. You can now simply type in a topic or challenge, and suggested results will appear. The new FamilySearch Community forum enables you to easily find family history solutions and ask questions from—or even join—a helpful community of conscientious volunteers worldwide who are quick to respond—for free.
For those just getting started, FamilySearch also has a new page to guide you through your family history journey. From personal discoveries, to searching records, to creating a family tree or having family history fun, this page can get you started with simple steps.
Get started on your family history journey.
RootsTech Connect 2021 Highlights
RootsTech Connect welcomes millions of people worldwide to celebrate family and make family connections at the world’s largest family history conference and year-long learning platform. It offers thousands of classes, inspiring speakers, and meaningful activities that lead to fun family discoveries and foster new connections. Undaunted by the uncertainties surrounding COVID-19 and related travel restrictions, the 2021 event was held entirely online for the first time. The results were amazing and far reaching. The all-virtual RootsTech Connect 2021 attracted more than 1 million participants from 242 countries and territories (see RootsTech Attracts Over One Million Participants).
A key learning is attendees are as intensely interested in connecting with their living relatives as they are in discovering their ancestors. The stunning demand for the online event led Steve Rockwood, FamilySearch CEO, to declare online learning a new core FamilySearch priority. He said FamilySearch would continue to explore ways to effectively globalize and localize learning and discovery experiences.
Register now for RootsTech Connect 2022 (March 3–5, 2022). It’s free!
QUICK ROOTSTECH CONNECT 2021 LINKS
Family History Library Reopening
People from all over the world flock to Salt Lake City, Utah, every year to take advantage of the abundant genealogical resources of FamilySearch’s Family History Library. The library serves beginner and professional family history patrons from all over the world and is a popular tourist attraction for the state of Utah.
The library was happy to begin a phased reopening starting in July 2021 (See FamilySearch Family History Library Reopening), following its closure on March 13, 2020, due to the global COVID-19 pandemic. The Library took advantage of the prolonged closure to make needed renovations that will significantly improve patron discovery and research experiences. Enhancements include the addition of state-of-the-art patron workstations with dual monitors and adjustable height desks to accommodate sitting or standing preferences, enhanced workflow throughout the facility, a new patron dining area, and the addition of nearly 40,000 books from new acquisition and long-term storage.
The library also added or upgraded free patron services (Visit the new Family History Library web page). Guests can sign up for free, one-on-one virtual consultations with a research specialist (available in multiple languages). If you can’t come to the Library, a staff member can retrieve a book from its shelves or help you find what you’re seeking through the new record lookup service. In FamilySearch Communities online, guests can receive assistance from volunteers worldwide, including locating or interpreting ancestor records, asking questions, or sharing their expertise with others. The library also continued to expand its popular free online classes and webinars.
Find and share this announcement and additional images online in the FamilySearch Newsroom.
FamilySearch Family Tree
Imagine billions of people making new family connections by sharing what they know about their family history to a free online family tree that ultimately constitutes the family tree of humankind. That is one long term goal of the FamilySearch Family Tree.
Crowdsourcing contributors worldwide added information about millions of deceased relatives to the FamilySearch Family Tree in 2021, making a total of 1.38 billion people now searchable in the world’s largest collaborative—and free—family tree!
Users also added hundreds of millions of sources—supporting facts—to their ancestors’ personal pages in the Family Tree. Sources can come from personal family records or hints generated by FamilySearch’s growing historical record collections. As the family tree of humankind grows, the number of ancestors that users have in common will also expand. Sources are important because they help strengthen the genealogical accuracy of ancestor pages—particularly for common, shared ancestors.
See what discoveries are waiting in the FamilySearch Family Tree for you. It’s free.
FamilySearch Searchable Records
To expand the branches of your family tree, you typically need access to genealogical records—documenting birth, marriage, death, census, military service, etc. FamilySearch now offers more than 14.3 billion searchable names and images from historical records from your ancestral homelands all over the globe. FamilySearch’s predecessors began gathering records in 1893 and started making these available on microfilm in 1938.
A major FamilySearch milestone in 2021 was the completion of the monumental task of digitizing its 2.4 million rolls of microfilm (See FamilySearch Completes Digitization of Massive Microfilm Collection). The initiative makes billions of ancestors from over 200 countries and principalities more readily discoverable online. FamilySearch’s Explore Historical Images feature enables users to effectively peruse digitized images from most of the microfilm collection online and more with a free FamilySearch account.
FamilySearch also added hundreds of millions of new, searchable, historical records in 2021. The top expansions included collections for Scandinavian countries (Norway, Denmark, Sweden, and Finland), the Netherlands, Spain, the Caribbean and Pacific Island countries, the United Kingdom, Canada, the United States, Mexico, Uruguay, Venezuela, Peru, and more.
Search these free collections to see what was added for your ancestral homelands in 2021 now using the enhanced search feature at FamilySearch.org.
FamilySearch Discovery Experiences
Global interest in personal family connections continues to grow. FamilySearch experienced over 200 million visits in 2021, with visitors combing through online ancestor records to extend their family tree and add family memories.
2021 enhancements that visitors can now enjoy include new discovery pages for ancestors in the family tree. These pages are an easy way to see your relative’s life story at a glance, view photos and stories, and understand the historical events they may have lived through.
It’s also easier than ever to see what FamilySearch can tell you about your relatives with the discovery search feature. This search allows you to see results from the Family Tree, historical records, memories and a surname search, all at the same time.
Finding Help with Family History
Need help with your family history? FamilySearch made wonderful enhancements to its menu of helpful services in 2021. You can now simply type in a topic or challenge, and suggested results will appear. The new FamilySearch Community forum enables you to easily find family history solutions and ask questions from—or even join—a helpful community of conscientious volunteers worldwide who are quick to respond—for free.
For those just getting started, FamilySearch also has a new page to guide you through your family history journey. From personal discoveries, to searching records, to creating a family tree or having family history fun, this page can get you started with simple steps.
Get started on your family history journey.
RootsTech Connect 2021 Highlights
RootsTech Connect welcomes millions of people worldwide to celebrate family and make family connections at the world’s largest family history conference and year-long learning platform. It offers thousands of classes, inspiring speakers, and meaningful activities that lead to fun family discoveries and foster new connections. Undaunted by the uncertainties surrounding COVID-19 and related travel restrictions, the 2021 event was held entirely online for the first time. The results were amazing and far reaching. The all-virtual RootsTech Connect 2021 attracted more than 1 million participants from 242 countries and territories (see RootsTech Attracts Over One Million Participants).
A key learning is attendees are as intensely interested in connecting with their living relatives as they are in discovering their ancestors. The stunning demand for the online event led Steve Rockwood, FamilySearch CEO, to declare online learning a new core FamilySearch priority. He said FamilySearch would continue to explore ways to effectively globalize and localize learning and discovery experiences.
Register now for RootsTech Connect 2022 (March 3–5, 2022). It’s free!
QUICK ROOTSTECH CONNECT 2021 LINKS
Family History Library Reopening
People from all over the world flock to Salt Lake City, Utah, every year to take advantage of the abundant genealogical resources of FamilySearch’s Family History Library. The library serves beginner and professional family history patrons from all over the world and is a popular tourist attraction for the state of Utah.
The library was happy to begin a phased reopening starting in July 2021 (See FamilySearch Family History Library Reopening), following its closure on March 13, 2020, due to the global COVID-19 pandemic. The Library took advantage of the prolonged closure to make needed renovations that will significantly improve patron discovery and research experiences. Enhancements include the addition of state-of-the-art patron workstations with dual monitors and adjustable height desks to accommodate sitting or standing preferences, enhanced workflow throughout the facility, a new patron dining area, and the addition of nearly 40,000 books from new acquisition and long-term storage.
The library also added or upgraded free patron services (Visit the new Family History Library web page). Guests can sign up for free, one-on-one virtual consultations with a research specialist (available in multiple languages). If you can’t come to the Library, a staff member can retrieve a book from its shelves or help you find what you’re seeking through the new record lookup service. In FamilySearch Communities online, guests can receive assistance from volunteers worldwide, including locating or interpreting ancestor records, asking questions, or sharing their expertise with others. The library also continued to expand its popular free online classes and webinars.
Find and share this announcement and additional images online in the FamilySearch Newsroom.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
The URL for this post is: https://www.geneamusings.com/2021/12/familysearch-2021-genealogy-highlights.html
Copyright (c) 2021, Randall J. Seaver
Please comment on this post on the website by clicking the URL above and then the "Comments" link at the bottom of each post. Share it on Twitter, Facebook, or Pinterest using the icons below. Or contact me by email at randy.seaver@gmail.com.
Please comment on this post on the website by clicking the URL above and then the "Comments" link at the bottom of each post. Share it on Twitter, Facebook, or Pinterest using the icons below. Or contact me by email at randy.seaver@gmail.com.
No comments:
Post a Comment