newFamilySearch Lesson Videos ...

The following link will take you to a set of videos that will acquaint you with newFamilySearch:

http://www.masteringfamilyhistory.com/newFamilySearchLessons/tabid/59/Default.aspx

Once at the site, create a bookmark or favorite so you can easily access the lessons anytime.

Social Security Death Index ...

GenealogyBank now offers a free search of the Social Security Death Index from 1937 to the present. There are over 82 million death records online and new content is added weekly. GenealogyBank advertises this database as the most comprehensive SSDI site online! Check it out HERE.

The SSDI can tell you when and where your ancestor died, and their Social Security number (SSN). You can use the SSN and death information to request a copy of their SS-5, the application record for a Social Security card.

Other places with the SSDI free include FamilySearch, FamilyTreeLegends, World Vital Records, NewEnglandAncestors.org and RootsWeb. Each site adds new death information from the SSA on a different schedule.

You can search several sites' SSDI databases simultaneously through Stephen P. Morse's One-Step search.

An Inspiring Example of Helping a Member ...

Reprinted From a FamilySearch Newsletter

The following experience is a wonderful example of how a Family History Consultant assisted a member who wanted to do family history but needed help. Through the dedicated service provided by this consultant, the member was able to do much of her family history and feel the spirit of family history and temple work. The consultant relates:

I have had the privilege of helping many people with their family history for many years. I know some of my associates in family history are of the mind that they will teach someone else how to do it, but then they are on their own. I agree that we shouldn't be expected to do someone else's family history for them. However, many people in my area who show an interest in doing family history have never touched a computer and never intend to. After one family history class that we had in our ward a few years ago, a lady friend of mine came up to me and told me she wanted to continue with the family history but didn't type, let alone use the computer. I made a bargain with her that if she would come to our family history center and work side-by-side with me, I would do the computer work and help her do research as long as she would sit with me and work with me. We had a standing appointment every week for only 2 hours. This lasted more than two years. We put together hers as well as her husband's family history. We found many ancestors who needed temple work. She involved her whole family in doing the temple work together, including her grandchildren. It was my joy that she said to me, with tears in her eyes, "I truly have the Spirit of Elijah."

Isn't that what we family history consultants are all about?  I love serving in this capacity and wish I could have the opportunity to share with more.

New FamilySearch Overview ...

Thanks to Ben Nilsen for this link:

 http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~renee/pdf/1-introtonewfschpt1usersguide.pdf

This is a sixteen page introduction to New FamilySearch which gives a good overview of the program's main features.

New FamilySearch Roll-out ...

The Ancestry Insider, a popular Family History Blog, updates a list daily with news about the roll-out of New FamilySearch. Click HERE to see the latest information.

Temple Slideshow ...

Take a few minutes to enjoy this wonderful set of photographs. Just click HERE.

Genealogy Without Sources is Mythology ...

How can you tell if the information posted by individuals on Internet genealogy sites is valid? Some sites have sources, others don't. How do you know what, and when, to believe something you find online?

A good rule of thumb is ... Don't trust anything you find on the 'net (or elsewhere) if it doesn't have sources.

Without sources you can't verify it, and you don't know whether the information came from a reliable source or whether it came from Great Aunt Martha who may have some of it right, but may have mixed up a lot too. Or, maybe the info came from a book written by someone 100 years ago who didn't have access to sources we have now, or who just plain got it wrong.

Perhaps the information was transcribed for a web page from a book source. That book source was transcribed from a microfilm record which was itself transcribed from the original. The chance of human error is greatly increased with each succeeding transcription. Even if the information has a source, you should double-check it personally, either from the original source or from an independent source. VERIFY, VERIFY, VERIFY!

When in doubt, remember ... Genealogy Without Sources is Mythology.

(Reprinted from Olive Tree Genealogy Blog)

14th Article of Faith ...

"We believe in meetings, all that have been scheduled, all that are now scheduled, and we believe that there will yet be many great and important meetings scheduled. We have endured many meetings and hope to be able to endure all meetings. Indeed, we may say that if there is a meeting or anything that resembles a meeting or anything that we may possibly turn into a meeting, we seek after these things."

Rick Moore, NorthTemple

New and Improved Chapel Locator ...

Have you ever wanted to find a chapel when you didn't have an address? One of the mapping web sites is great if you have an exact address, but sometimes, say when you are on vacation, you just don't have enough information. Take a few minutes and give this new locator a try: maps.lds.org. Try to find your own chapel ... note that you can use the satellite view plus get the Bishop's name and phone number, plus go immediately to the Ward's web site. Oh, technology is wonderful!

Fall Classes Begin September 3, 2008 ...

Family History classes resume at 7:00 pm on September 3, 2008, in the Family History Teaching Center located at the Butler Hill Chapel, 2700 East 7000 South. To sign-up, send an email to the Center Directors at dofamilyhistory@comcast.net.

Here is the September schedule:

• Wednesday, September 3 - How to Organize Your Paper Files
• Wednesday, September 10 - Open Night (see note below)
  
• Wednesday, September 17 - Getting Started in Personal Ancestral File 5.2 (PAF 5.2)
• Wednesday, September 24 - Open Night

NOTE: Family History Consultants are available on Open Nights to help attendees with personal research or answer questions about any Family History subject. You do NOT have to attend the classes to attend the Open Nights.

Classes are held on the 1st and 3rd Wednesday and Open Nights are on the 2nd and 4th Wednesday from September through May. Classes and Open Nights begin at 7:00 pm. The Center closes at 9:00 pm.

Three Broughs in Australia ...

Many who follow this blog might be interested in also following the family history adventures of Marshall, Janet, and Tracey Brough in Australia ... www.mjbrough.blogspot.com. Note that there is also a link in the right column. I am sure they would enjoy a comment or two from their Utah friends!

Alltop Genealogy Links ...

If you want an "easy" way to keep up with popular genealogy sites, take a look at Alltop. Alltop is an aggregator site that pulls together web sites, including blogs, dealing with particular subjects. The Alltop genealogy category is new ... take a look and let us know what you think: www.genealogy.alltop.com.

Welcome!

This is the inaugural post to my new Blog, Only Family History. As the name implies, only Family History topics will be discussed. In particular, the Blog is intended for two primary audiences:

• My Family
• Family History Consultants

Hopefully there will be something, sometime that will help or even inspire someone to be more actively involved with Family History work. I like this statement by Wilford Woodruff:

"I wish many times that the veil were lifted off the face of the Latter-day Saints. I wish we could see and know the things of God as they do who are laboring for the salvation of the human family who are in the spirit world; for if this were so, this whole people, with very few, if any, exceptions, would lose all interest in the riches of the world, and instead thereof their whole desires and labors would be directed to redeem their dead."

As posts appear in the next few days and weeks, let me know your thoughts. Thanks!