Review: Genealogy at a Glance: FamilySearch.org Research

The Genealogical Publishing Company in Baltimore has published another in its series of "Genealogy at a Glance" laminated research guides - this time for FamilySearch.org Research by George G. Morgan.  

This "Genealogy at a Glance" booklet has four laminated pages on one 11" x 17" paper (folded). It is designed to give the user the basic elements of genealogy research in the allotted space. They provide an overview of the facts a researcher needs to know in order to begin and proceed successfully with research in the subject.

The description of the FamilySearch.org Research booklet includes:

FamilySearch is the family history arm of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the largest genealogy organization in the world. The Church began microfilming genealogical records as far back as 1938, with digitization following in 1998. Since then one of its chief goals has been to digitize as many records as possible and place them online.

FamilySearch.org is available to the public free of charge and offers search and browse access to all of its materials. At the present time the site contains more than 3.5 billion records, tens of thousands of genealogies and family trees, and thousands of digitized books. Among other things

• You can use the site to upload your family tree, family photos, stories, and document images.
• You can produce a pedigree chart or fan chart of your family tree.
• You can search or browse the contents of FamilySearch’s enormous collection of genealogical records and user-submitted genealogies.
• You can use the FamilySearch Wiki to help you research more than 75,000 articles.
• You can use the Learning Center’s online courses and video tutorials free of charge.

The website has many sophisticated tools, and the purpose of this Genealogy at a Glance (GAAG) piece is to provide an outline of its most useful features. At the heart of this effort, George G. Morgan, also the author of GAAG Ancestry.com Research, describes the functions available through the primary navigation tools--Family Tree, Memories, and Search. Incredibly, the key to understanding and using these tools is provided here in a mere four pages, in a laminated folder designed for heavy use in the traditional GAAG manner. Without fuss or confusion it cuts through a formidable body of genealogical materials to guide you straight to your goal, helping you to set research strategies at a glance. Given the breathtaking scope of FamilySearch.org and its many pathways, the experience should be rewarding.

The booklet has these subjects:

*  Contents

*  Quick Facts 

*  Overview

*  Create a Login

*  Primary Organization of Site

**  Family Tree

**  Memories

**  Search

*  Searching and Browsing Records

**  Searching Historical Records

**  Search Results

**  Browsing Record Collections

** Browsing Un-indexed Images

*  Get Help and Learn

*  FamilySearch Blog

* Volunteering

This booklet is designed primarily for the person who is not an expert, or has little experience, in finding and using the FamilySearch.org website.  It provides guidance and excellent ideas to understand the scope and breadth of the website, and describes research processes to effectively use the website to find ancestral records.

For someone like me that teaches and talks about genealogy a bit, it is invaluable because I can pull it out and provide some guidance to my student or colleague interested in the subject.

The beauty of these "Genealogy at a Glance" booklets is that they are very light and portable in a briefcase or laptop case. They are fixtures in my research case.

This four-page laminated booklet costs $8.95,  plus postage and handling. You can order it through the Genealogical Store, or use the link for the FamilySearch.org Research booklet and click on the "Add to Cart" link.  I recommend buying these at seminars and conferences where they are offered in order to avoid the shipping costs.

I have reviewed several similar works in recent years:

*  Genealogy at a Glance: Old Southwest Genealogy Research

*  Genealogy at a Glance: Cherokee Genealogy Research
*  Review: Genealogy at a Glance:  Civil War Genealogy Research
*  Review:  Genealogy at a Glance: Polish Genealogy Research
*  Review: Genealogy At a Glance: Finding Female Ancestors
*  Book Review: Genealogy at a Glance: "How-To" Series (French-Canadian, Scottish and Irish),
*  Book Review: Genealogy at a Glance: German Genealogy Research
*  Review: Genealogy at a Glance: English Genealogy Research 
*  Review - Genealogy at a Glance: French Genealogy Research,
*  Review: Genealogy at a Glance: Immigration Research
*  Review: Genealogy at a Glance - American Cemetery Research,
*  Book Review: Genealogy at a Glance - U.S. Federal Census Records,
*  Book Review: Genealogy at a Glance - Pennsylvania Genealogy Research.

*  Book Review:  Genealogy at a Glance - Family History Library Research

The URL for this post is:   http://www.geneamusings.com/2014/07/review-genealogy-at-glance.html
Copyright (c) Randall J. Seaver, 2014.

Disclosure: Genealogical.com contacted me recently and asked me to provide a review of this booklet. They mailed me a review copy for my personal use as remuneration for this review.

Breaking Up is Easy To Do -- Deleting a Relationship in WikiTree

I receive emails from WikiTree every time someone tries to Merge a profile or make a public comment on any of the person profiles for which I am a Profile Manager on WikiTree.

I received one via email recently that said, on the profile for George Soule, the Mayflower passenger:

"If his parents have not yet been discovered, then why does he have parents linked to here?"

Here is the top of George Soule's profile, which shows his parents as Robert Soule and Elizabeth Tylson:

And further down, you can see the comment, and my own response:

My response was:

"I think one of the contributors did it during a merge. It was the same person but there is no check in a merge that the parents are correct.

"In my opinion, he should be disconnected from the parents noted until there is some authoritative evidence of his parents."

Rather than wait for someone else to get a round tuit, I decided to learn how to do it myself.

The "Deletion FAQ" in the Help section says this about deleting a relationship:

"Relationships can be edited on WikiTree. Go to the profile's edit page and look in the right column. You can remove or replace any or all of their family members"

That sounded easy, so back on George Soule's profile, I clicked on the "Edit" tab:

Over on the right side of the page are the Relationships.  The page above shows the father, mother, siblings, spouses and children of the person.

I want to click on the "Edit" link and remove the relationship.  sounds like a piece of cake.  Here is the "Edit Family of George Soule" page:

And near the bottom of the page above is the big green button to "Remove Robert as Father of George Soule."

That worked, and I was back to the Profile for George Soule.  I had to do the same thing and Remove the supposed mother of George Soule also.

The top of the profile for George Soule now has no parents listed:

Further down, I added another public comment noting what I had done:

The last comment says:

"I removed Robert Soule and Elizabeth Tylson as parents of this George Soule. There is no evidence of this relationship other than unsourced family trees.

"If other researchers have a parish register entry or a will of a parent that names George as a son, please provide it."

That was really easy to do once I used the Help section to learn how to do it!  See - Breaking Up is Easy To Do!  At least on WikiTree.

I hope I did this right!  If it isn't Chris or the WikiChicks will tell me, I'm sure.

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2014/07/breaking-up-is-easy-to-do-deleting.html

Copyright (c) 2014, Randall J. Seaver

Seavers in the News - James T. Seaver, Master of a Civil War Vessel - Post 1

While searching for interesting tidbits in Mocavo.com databases about Seaver persons, I ran across an article concerning James T. Seaver, Acting Master of the U.S. Steamer Philippi in the Civil War.

Here are screen shots of two pages from Mocavo of the loss of the U.S. Steamer Philippi in Mobile Bay in 1864:

There are two reports - the first is the letter to the Secretary of War by Rear Admiral D.G. Farragut, which is transcribed as:

LOSS OF THE U. S. STEAMER PHILIPPI.
REPORT OF REAR-ADMIRAL D. G. FARRAGUT.
Flag-Ship Hartford, Mobile Bay, Aug. 8, 1S64.

Sir : I regret to inform the Department, that after I had passed the forts some time, I saw a steamer on lire inside the bay. I soon perceived that it was the Philippi, and I could not imagine how she came to be set on fire.

I have since received the report of her commanding officer, Acting Master J. T. Seaver, which is herewith inclosed :

The facts appear to be, that Acting Master Seaver, on the evening before the action, asked Fleet-Captain Drayton if he should not follow the squadron into the bay. Captain Drayton told him that that would be a folly, and ordered him to go and deliver the ammunition he had brought from
Pensacola, on board the Tennessee, and then report to Lieutenant Commander Grafton, senior
officer for duty outside. Instead of doing this, he followed the fleet in, and was struck with a shot from the Fort, when he put his helm a-port and ran her on the bank. After having had two men killed and two wounded, he deserted the vessel, leaving his signal-book (boat code,) on the quarter-deck, where it was found by the enemy, who subsequently boarded the vessel. 

The rebels set the vessel on fire, and we have thus lost one of the most efficient vessels in the  squadron for all kinds of express duty, and we are sadly in want of just such vessels. 

Very respectfully, } your obedient servant,
D. G. Farragut,
Rear-Admiral Commanding W. G. B. Squadron.

Hon. Gideon Welles,
Secretary of the Navy, Washington.

I will post the report of Acting Master James T. Seaver on Friday.  

The source citation for this book found on Mocavo.com is:

Frank Moore, editor, The Rebellion Record: A Diary of American Greats, with Documents, Narratives Illustrative Incidents, Poetry, Etc. (New York: D. Van Nostrand, Publisher, 1865), Volume 8, pages 143-144; digital images, Mocavo (http://www.mocavo.com : accessed 10 July 2014); Report on sinking of U.S. Steamer Philippi, James T. Seaver Acting Master, 1864.

I thought that this book that I found was fascinating.  This volume includes a set of reports from Admiral Farragut to the Secretary of the Navy concerning the Attack on the Defences of Mobile Bay during the Civil War.  The Philippi incident is only one of many reports.

After finding the book on Mocavo, I did a Google search and found the same report in several other resources, including the Congressional Serial Set and several other government publications, and the incident is described in several books.  I didn't find a picture of the Philippi online.  There is some information about the Philippi at http://www.navsource.org/archives/09/86/86334.htm.

This is fascinating military and family history for an impartial observer, like myself.  For a family member, this information might be very disheartening and embarrassing.

Naturally, I got to wondering "Who is James T. Seaver?  Who were his parents, where was he born, did he have a family, what happened to him?"  I will follow this rabbit trail in the next week or two.

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2014/07/seavers-in-news-james-t-seaver-master.html

Copyright (c), Randall J. Seaver

Treasure Chest Thursday - Post 222: 1871 Census of Canada for Alexander Sovereen Household

It's Treasure Chest Thursday - time to look in my digital image files to see what treasures I can find for my family history and genealogy musings.

The treasure today is the 1871 Canada Census record for my 3rd great-grandparents, Alexander and Elizabeth (Putman) Sovereen in Windham township, Norfolk County, Canada West:

The Alexander Sovereen household:

The information extracted for the Alexander Sovereen household (dwelling #174, family #178) is:

*  Alexander Sovereen -- male, age 56, born O[ntario], Baptist religion, German origin, a farmer, M[arried]

*  Eliza Sovereen - female, age 49, born U.S., Baptist religion, German origin, M[arried]

*  Sarah Sovereen - female, age 18, born O[ntario], Baptist religion, German origin

*  Nancy A. Sovereen - female, age 16, born O[ntario], Baptist religion, German origin, going to school

*  Valzora Sovereen - female, age 14, born O[ntario], Baptist religion, German origin, going to school

*  Hettie Sovereen - female, age 12, born O[ntario], Baptist religion, German origin, going to school

*  Alexander A. Sovereen - male, age 8, born O[ntario], Baptist religion, German origin

*  Wilber Sovereen - male, age 3, born O[ntario], Baptist religion, German origin

*  Peter Putman - male, age 58, born U.S., W[esleyan] Meth[odist] religion, German origin, a laborer, W[idower]

The source citation for this record is:

Census of Canada, 1871, Norfolk County, Ontario, Schedule #1, district 12, North Norfolk, subdistrict b, Township of Windham, Page 49, Dwelling 174, Family #178, Alexander Sovereen household; digital image, Library and Archives Canada (http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/databases/census-1871/index-e.html : accessed 10 March 2013); citing Library and Archives Canada Microfilm C-9909.

Alexander and Eliza (Putman) Sovereen are my third great-grandparents.  Their oldest child was Mary Jane Sovereen, born in 1840, who married James Abraham Kemp (1831-1902) in 1861, and had five children, including my great-grandmother, Georgianna Kemp (1868-1952).

Peter Putman, the last entry in the family, is a brother of Eliza (Putman) Sovereen.  They were children of John Putman (1785-1863) and Sarah (Martin) Putman (1792-1860), who died in Norfolk County, Ontario.

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2014/07/treasure-chest-thursday-post-222-1871.html

Copyright (c) 2014, Randall J. Seaver

Comments About GEDCOM Files, Family Tree Maker, and Ancestry Member Trees

On my blog post How to Put a Family Tree on Ancestry Member Tree With Media Items (posted 6 July 2014), there were several comments that many of my readers may be interested in and deserve a response:

1)  Diane Hall noted:  "I have FTM 2012. Will it work with that version? I'd love to get all my media items onto Ancestry. I currently have a private tree with hundreds of items I've added manually. But, it's not even close to the same number in my Legacy database."

My comment:  FTM 2012 can import a GEDCOM file that includes Media links.  And FTM 2012 is able to sync with an Ancestry Member Tree.  If your Legacy database includes all of those that you've added manually to your private Ancestry Member Tree, then you could import a GEDCOM into FTM 2012, then Sync it to a new Ancestry Member Tree and have your updated tree on Ancestry.  You probably should delete the older Ancestry tree after you've determined that your new tree includes everything you want.  

2)  Sandy Scott asked:  "Randy, what about using FTM 2009? I bought that because I had a GEDCOM done in FTM and couldn't get to the info. I prefer to use my RootsMagic so I want to do what you did."

My comment:  You cannot use FTM 2009 to sync to an Ancestry Member Tree.  To do what I did, you will have to purchase FTM 2014 so that you have Sync capability to an Ancestry Member Tree.  Then you could create a GEDCOM in RootsMagic (including Medial inks), import it to FTM 2014, and sync that to a new Ancestry Member Tree.  If you don't buy FTM 2014, then you could import your GEDCOM file nto a new Ancestry Member Tree, but the Media items would not be included in the new AMT.

3)  Jeff commented:  "... Although I don't yet have an Ancestry tree, I've just recently tried the process you've outlined. I run into a glitch. When I export my RootsMagic 6 into FTM via GEDCOM, the Media workspace in FTM shows multiple thumbnails of the same media. Most of my media are attached to citations. I wondered if you saw a similar problem. And/or perhaps it didn't matter once you sync'd to your Ancestry tree. "

My response:   You probably have Media items in RootsMagic that are tagged to more than one Person and/or Events.  When you create the GEDCOM, the Media link points at a file on your computer.  When you import the GEDCOM file into FTM 2014, the program doesn't know that some are the same, so it adds a Media item for each specific link given.  As an example, I have 887 Multimedia links in my RootsMagic database, and 2449 links to the multimedia items.  I've added some since I created the GEDCOM.  There were 2395 Media items in my Media Workspace in FTM 2014, and in the Ancestry Member Tree, after my GEDCOM import.

So what you astutely noticed is the usual practice.  There are multiple copies of the same media file in the FTM 2014 database and the Ancestry Member Tree.

4)  Kim Mills offered:  "I update my Ancestry tree in the same way. I try to keep it fairly updated so when I add new info to a family group I export a GEDCOM from RootsMagic and import it into FTM. I merge the people on import, then sync it to Ancestry. It works pretty good."

My response:  I haven't done that - create a GEDCOM, import it to an existing and synced FTM 2014 file, and then sync the merged file to Ancestry. Clever! That's a great idea, and I'm guessing that others have done it too.  The benefit is that any files attached to the Ancestry Member Tree are included in the synced and merged file.  

I'm always hesitant to Merge files.  Do you do an automatic Merge?  Do you make a copy of the FTM database before you do a Merge?  Do you ever end up with duplicate persons?  Or duplicate media items?  Put your answers (if you read this!) in comments and I'll add them below.

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2014/07/comments-about-gedcom-files-family-tree.html

Copyright (c) 2014, Randall J. Seaver

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San Diego Genealogical Society Meeting on Saturday, 12 July - Ice Cream Social and Randy Seaver

The next meeting of the San Diego Genealogical Society (SDGS) is Saturday, July 12th at 10 a.m. at St. Andrews Lutheran Church (8350 Lake Murray Blvd., just south of Jackson Drive) in San Diego.

This is the annual ice cream social event, with yummy ice cream in three flavors served in bowls or cones, plus a variety of toppings, served by strong-armed and generous SDGS members for a small price per scoop and topping.

The speaker this month is SDGS member Randy Seaver.

His two presentations are:

1)  "FamilySearch Family Tree - A Unified Source-Centric, Open Family Tree"

FamilySearch has created and populated the FamilySearch Family Tree and designed it to be collaborative so all researchers can work on one tree, based on records and sources.  Are you in it yet?  You should be!  There are wonderful research tools in it, including searching online record collections, finding descendants of an ancestor, and more. This talk will demonstrate how to add persons, event data, document images, sources, discussions, photos, stories, and life sketches to the Family Tree.

2)  “Overview of New England Research”

New England has a rich trove of genealogical and family history records, starting with the founding of each town, county or colony in the six present states. In this presentation, Randy will describe the resources for vital records, land records, probate records, town records, family history books and periodical articles for Connecticut, New Hampshire, Maine, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Vermont, including significant brick-and-mortar repositories and online research opportunities.

Randy's Biography:

Randy Seaver is a native San Diegan. His ancestry is mainly colonial New England and Upper Atlantic, with some colonial German, French and Dutch forebears, and several 19th-century English immigrants. He has been pursuing his elusive ancestors since 1988, and has been online since 1992.

Randy is a former President of the Chula Vista Genealogical Society, and is currently the Newsletter Editor and Research Chair. He speaks to Southern California societies, libraries and groups, and teaches "Beginning Computer Genealogy" adult classes at OASIS.  He is a member of NGS, NEHGS, SCGS, SDGS, CGSSD and CVGS. Randy blogs daily about genealogy subjects at Genea-Musings (www.geneamusings.com) and the Chula Vista Genealogy Cafe (http://CVGenCafe.blogspot.com).

I hope to see you all there, and please raise your hand when I ask if you read Genea-Musings on a daily basis (you do, don't you?).  This is my favorite SDGS program meeting every year...at least the ice cream is always good!

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2014/07/san-diego-genealogical-society-meeting.html

copyright (c) 2014, Randall J. Seaver

Randy in the Greenhouse -- Post 315 for (Not So) Wordless Wednesday

I am posting family photographs from my collection on Wednesdays, but they aren't "Wordless" - I am incapable of having a wordless post!

Here is a photograph from the Seaver/Carringer family photograph collection provided by my mother from 1988 to 2002:

This photograph was taken in about 1945, probably by my grandfather, Lyle L. Carringer. It was taken in the backyard garden area, probably in the greenhouse, of 2130 Fern Street in San Diego, where my grandparents lived. My grandmother, Emily (Auble) Carringer, was an accomplished horticulturalist and flower arranger during her lifetime.

Who is the little boy with a very cool looking chapeau? Well, that's little Randy Seaver toddling around smelling flowers and looking for bugs to catch. Isn't that a really great hat? Is it a sailor's hat?  My father was in the U.S. Navy at the time.  I wonder where the hat went?

The backyard and greenhouse was a wonderful place for a little boy to play. It was safe and enclosed (the block I grew up on was between two busy streets), had a variety of things to watch and do (several ponds and bird baths, lots of plants and bushes to check out, plenty of bugs to catch, torture and release, birds to watch, and several cats to chase and pet.

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2014/07/randy-in-greenhouse-post-315-for-not-so.html

Copyright (c) 2014, Randall J. Seaver

Top 10 Family History Online International Resources Survey Results

Last week, geneablogger John D. Reid, who writes the indispensable Canada's Anglo-Celtic Connections blog, created a survey to identify the Top 10 Family History Online International Resources.  The results were posted today - see Survey Results: Top 10 Family History Online International Resources.

To no one's surprise, Ancestry.com and FamilySearch came in numbers one and two.

I was surprised a bit about the placement of email and Facebook.  FindMyPast's #9 ranking was not a surprise to me because John's readership is, I think, primarily Canadian with British Isles roots.  The one that surprised me was Find A Grave - it was not on the Top 10.  Perhaps that is because John's readers don't use it as much as United States researchers do.

John  posted numbers 11 through 20 on Wednesday - see http://anglo-celtic-connections.blogspot.com/2014/07/survey-results-family-history-online.html.

When I voted, I checked everything that I use at least once in awhile.  That included the top 10 listed on the image, plus a number of others like Find A Grave, USGenWeb, GenealogyBank, MyHeritage, Mocavo, AmericanAncestors, etc.

I will provide my updated list of the most used online resources in a blog post later this month.

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2014/07/top-10-family-history-online.html

Copyright (c) 2014, Randall J. Seaver

Searching for Ranslow Smith Information on Mocavo.com

I try to stay updated on the 1000 or so databases added by Mocavo.com every day, but it's hard!  So I have a list of ancestors and keywords to search every several months.

Today was the turn of Ranslow Smith (1805-1873), born in New York, migrated to Dodge County, Wisconsin in about 1844, moved in 1867 to Taylor County, Iowa, and died in Andrew County, Missouri in 1873.

When I searched on Mocavo.com for First Name = ranslow, Last Name = smith, and Keywords = dodge wisconsin, I had 105 matches from all of the databases available on Mocavo.com:

The top two matches were from the Dodge County, Wisconsin history book, but I don't think I had seen it before.  The second one looks like this:

The keywords are highlighted in yellow on the page above, and below the page image is a transcription of the page:

I really like the transcription - in this case, because the page image had really small type (although I could zoom in with the controls above the image).  I can also copy the text and paste it into my database or blog post if I want.  The paragraph with Ranslow Smith's name says:

"A l g o n a , Iowa, November 8 , 1879.
H. C. H a n s b r o u g h , E s q . —Dear Sir : Yours of October 29 is received. My time is very much occupied at present, but feeling a lively interest in the work in which you are now engaged, I will endeavor to call up some reminiscences of the past, and hope the substance thereof may find a place in your valuable work, so as to live in the future. As I was not the first settler in the county, and my MS. record of the early days is lost, I can speak posi­tively only of such matters as came under my own observation. Of matters pertaining to the settlement previous to May, 1845, you will be obliged to seek information from others. Not having visited Dodge County for many years past, I know not who, among the old pioneers, may now be living, or, if living, where now located. I will name a few who, if living, could give you much valuable information : Hon. Hiram Barber, A. H . Atwater, Ethan Owen, Waldo and Durkie Lyon, George and Ranslow Smith, Morris Grout, E . C. Lewis, Silas Grover, Silas Hemstreet, Garry Taylor, James Rogers, Dr. Stoddard Judd, Alvin and William Foster, Amasa Hyland, Chester May, Solomon, Narcisse and Paul Juneau, Lucas S. Van Orden, H . D. Patch, Robert W hittaker, Lathrop Horton, Martin Rich, Sr., Alfred Wheelock, and many others whose names I do not now recall. Those above named are such as I call to mind, irrespective of locality, as being among the old pioneers."

I had not seen this book before today, although it is surely on the shelf of many libraries and is on Google Books.  

Further down the list of matches, was a link to Proceedings of the Historical Society of Wisconsin published in 1914:

The next page provides more information:

This article discussed the Old Inns and Taverns of Wisconsin, and in Dodge County is the Inn of Ranslow Smith.  The paragraph concerning Ranslow says:

"Town of Burnett: Smith’s Inn, on the S. W. 1/4 S. E., S. 32, the favorite on the line, was conducted by Ranslow Smith who arrived in 1844. At the southwest comer of the town Isaac Noyes kept tavern. George Smith, a brother of Ranslow, ran the house at the intersection of the roads, N. W. 1/4 of N. E. 1/4, S. 32. A mile and a quarter north, on N. W. 1/4 of S. E. 1/4, S. 20, Lyman Smith, another brother, kept tavern. His daughter married Sherman S. Booth the Abolitionist editor."

I cleaned up the fractions, the transcription did not render them correctly.

The location of Smith's Inn, later called the Four-Mile Inn, was known to me from my visit and my work with land plat maps, but this would have been very useful information if I had not known it.  I also knew that George and Lyman were his brothers.  This provides an arrival date in Dodge County of 1844.

In one of the other matches, I learned that Ranslow Smith had been a Supervisor in 1860 and a Justice of the Peace in 1862 for the Town of Oak Grove.

As you can see, Mocavo.com has hundreds of thousands of databases, some small, some large, and they are adding about 1,000 per day.

Now on to the next name and place on my list -- Ranslow Smith and Taylor County, Iowa.  I found nothing new - two matches to the Wisconsin data above and 56 matches to my own blog posts and message board posts.

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2014/07/searchg-for-ranslow-smith-information.html

Copyright (c) 2014, Randall J. Seaver

Tuesday's Tip: FamilySearch Family Tree Curriculum

This week's Tuesday's Tip is:  Use the FamilySearch Family Tree Curriculum pages to help you learn how to use the FamilySearch Family Tree.

One of the educational tools available for FamilySearch Family Tree is a set of documents and videos called the FamilySearch Family Tree Curriculum.  On the home page, there are five links (click on the green circles on the left-hand side of the page:

The five links on the screen above are for:

*  Mouse Skills - practicing mouse skills.

*  Level One (Beginning) - has 6 individualized lessons that anyone can do to learn all of the basic functions of Family Tree. There are written lessons and videos when used together give the best learning experience. However, many individuals prefer to watch the videos or just do the written material.

*  Level Two (Intermediate) - has 7 individualized lessons that anyone can do to learn all of the intermediate functions of Family Tree. These lessons assume that you know the skills from level one. There are written lessons and videos when used together give the best experience. However, many individuals prefer to watch the videos or to do the written material.

*  Level Three (Advanced) - has 3 individualized lessons that give more practice in the skills used in the beginning and intermediate levels. These lessons assume that you know the skills from level one and level two. These lessons are designed as problem solving activities. Please do not look at the videos that have the solution to the answer until you have struggled with the problem that is presented.

*  Espanol - the Spanish version of the page.

Here is the top of the Level One Family Tree Curriculum:

Each activity has either a text description ("Hands On Activities") or a short video ("Short Movies") or both for each topic and sub-topic.  The user can download the video and save it to their computer.

Here is the top of the Level Two Curriculum:

Here is the top of the Level Three Curriculum:

As an example, one of the topics in Level Two is "12. Sandbox Activity - Correcting Henry's Family."  Here is the top of the "Hands On Activities" text description for this item:

The "Short Movie" video for the same activity is shown below:

The texts and videos provide excellent examples of real life issues in the Family Tree and how to deal with them.

If you are struggling with using FamilySearch Family Tree, you should check out the Family Tree Curriculum texts and videos - they may help you solve those problems.

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2014/07/tuesdays-tip-familysearch-family-tree.html

Copyright (c) 2014, Randall J. Seaver