FamilySearch Library: Updated & Wunnerful

 

The eager researchers still queue up and stampede into the FamilySearch Library when the doors open at 9:00. Some things never change. But there have been a long list up changes to "our favorite library" since you were there last.

For openers, the entire first floor is now a Discovery Center where an army of experienced volunteers guide visitors to discover their ancestry. There is a new and expanded snack room on the first floor. 

On the second floor, ALL the cabinets of microfilm are GONE and the huge now-open area is filled with computer stations... with each station having TWO monitors! All our beloved books remain on the third floor. Down on B-1 and B-2, the International floors, the layout has completely changed too. 

There are more helpers.... from your computer station you sign up for a helper with your particular question and they will come to you! Copies are now free, as are flash drives. (Gee, first no more dimes and now no more copy cards. :-) 

Even the restrooms have been redone (at least the women's rooms). There is new carpeting, new signs and displays and no more rather obnoxious loud speaker announcements. 

The Salt Lake Airport is now almost overwhelmingly HUGE! The main corridor has this "salt waves" (what I call it) art work as a welcome display. 

Makes me eager to go back even as I type this. When shall we go? 

More FamilySearch Library & Wiki Tips

 While attending RootsTech the end of February, I sat in on two classes to learn more for myself and to share with all of you. The two presentations were on the FamilySearch Library Catalog and the FamilySearch WIKI. 

You most likely cannot read that small print, but there are currently 106,000 articles on the WIKI. . "The WIKI is your online genealogy guide which links you to all known records of the entire world." Did you catch that? "To all KNOWN records of the entire world." And new free links and websites are constantly being added. The presenter, Danielle Baston, advised us "to search by locality because that's were things happen." Some countries, she said, have pages of links and info (like Denmark) but some (like Bulgaria) don't have as much. "The FamilySearch WIKI is your Researchers' Golden Ticket," Danielle quipped. 

Becky Loveridge, another FamilySearch library employee, gave the news that as of Feb 2022 there was a whole new catalog:  libcat.familysearch.org/library . There is a new home page making it much easier to narrow down your search to specifics. Most surname books are now digitized but some are restricted to in-library use. The new catalog integrates with the WIKI. And when you click on a specific book, other books are suggested. I think we all need to take an hour or so away from TV and check out the updated FamilySearch catalog. Treasures await!

I did get to spend two days in the library and did explore something "fun." On the top bar, just to the right of SEARCH, was MEMORIES. This was fun! I went through my pedigree chart's brick wall problems to see if anybody, anywhere, had posted something new. And I did find some new leads. But let me make clear: these were items from online trees, Ancestral File, Pedigree Resource File, American Ancestors, and other similar databases. Which meant, and I recognized this, that they might or might not be correct. If you want to have some careful fun, search for your chart names under Memories....but do remember the old adage of "buyer beware." 

Things I learned during my week at RootsTech and the Library

 I purposely planned for a few library days after RootsTech and I'm so glad I did! Combining RootsTech learning with some new realizations was both wonderful and sobering.  Maybe you already realized these things............

One good talk was on "Avoiding Ancestor Theft," and how we must be SURE when we're adding new people to our family tree. We cannot rely on same-name alone; all the factors must concur: name, date and place. Consider this image; is there such a bird? Or cat?

Sure looks real, doesn't it. But is it?? This was the speaker's example of how we add 2 + 2 and get 5. His point: just as there are such images posted online, there are fictional trees posted online too. (Woohoo, there is a posted online tree that has John Smith married to Pocahontas!! Do you think??) 

Another thing one of the RootsTech presenters pointed out is this: You are looking for a Robert Smith who married Mary Wilson. But you find an almost perfect match for Robert Smith but he's married to Rebecca Thompson! Is is the right Robert Smith or not? In other words, don't get hung up on one marriage; our ancestors were survivors and death came easily so often second and third marriages did happen. 

One last Golden Point I learned. The presenter asked bluntly, "What sources do you swallow as good and add them to your tree?" She was referring to online trees, especially the older ones like Pedigree Resource File, Ancestral File, the very ancient IGI. She cautioned us to note them as exactly what they are: tidbits that might be true or not. Mostly usually not. 

Trivia:  The presentations from 2023 RootsTech are and will be available online for at least a year. Google and learn!!

News from the FamilySearch Library

 First news of all is the name change: our favorite genealogy library is now the FamilySEARCH Library and new signs on the building proclaim that. Makes sense; FamilySearch is the "umbrella" program we all use. 

Second big change is the arrangement of each floor. The first floor is a welcome-and-entry-level-help with an army of smiling volunteers. They'll give you an iPad and key to your tree on FamilySearch and you go to stations to learn things like what's the origin of your surname, info on the place you were born, etc. Fun-fun-fun!

The second floor is totally different. The microfilm cabinets are still there but gone is that "dark alley" of big hooded film readers. Now there are table-stations, each with a film reader (foreground) and two screens..... you can view and print right from your chair.

Third floor still has all the US and Canada books; most family histories are digitally available through the catalog. And there are fewer tables but bigger stations with two computer screens. 

Not quite sure about B-1 and B-2; they're still international but also have been re-arranged.

Trivia:  The Salt Lake airport is totally re-done also! It's bigger, and (of course) more spread out. The Plaza hotel is still there (thankfully!) but as of this spring, there is no in-house restaurant. They tell me they have strong nibbles for one to come soon.  Temple Square is still under construction and we'll have to walk around until 2026, I understand. The restaurants in the Joseph Smith Memorial Bldg are closed too. As you'd guess, this makes getting meals a bit more difficult but within two blocks is the Food Court and others. 

Don't be shy about going to spend time in the FamilySearch Library! They're eager to help us with any genealogical problem.