Organize Your Family History

Stay focused and happy while exploring your roots

FamilySearch has finished digitizing its microfilm holdings!

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Rows and rows of microfilm storage at the Family History Library

FamilySearch announced today that it has completed its massive project to digitize its microfilm holdings. A staggering 2.4 million rolls of microfilm have been digitized.  The project, which began in 1998, was anticipated to take 50 years. Thanks to the development of faster technology, the timeline was shortened by 27 years. Amazing.

FamilySearch’s archive is freely available to anyone with an internet connection and a free account. This digital archive contains information 11.5 billion individuals in over 200 countries.

According to this informative FamilySearch press release about the achievement, “To explore FamilySearch’s free collections of indexed records and images, go to FamilySearch.org and search both ‘Records’ and ‘Images’. The Images feature enables users to peruse digitized images from the microfilm collection and more. A free FamilySearch account will be required to access the service.” I’ll add that I find a lot of digitized images by searching the Catalog by location.

FamilySearch began microfilming documents in 1938. In the past, duplicates of the microfilms were lent to researchers through local Family History Centers, which was much more convenient than having to travel to see them at the Family History Library. In 2017, FamilySearch ended that program when it began to transition to all-online access. It couldn’t be more convenient. (The microfilm collection will be preserved.)

Today’s freely available archive has been in the works for 83 years now. Modern genealogists are the beneficiaries!

Check out this video describing the achievement:

It’s not too late to sign up for Amy Johnson Crow’s excellent FamilySearch workshop!

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Just a couple of weeks ago I posted about a workshop, Getting Savvy with FamilySearch, being offered by my friend, Amy Johnson Crow. The $99 workshop has four 90-minute sessions, September 14, 16, 21, and 23. All sessions start at 7 pm eastern time.

The first session was last night. It was so good that I wanted to post again to urge you to consider signing up. All four sessions will be recorded, so if you sign up today, you can watch last night’s session, which Amy posted today. The recordings are available for an unlimited amount of time.

Last night’s session was about searching historical records and collections in FamilySearch. I’ve been using the site for a long time but I picked up some tips and tricks about searching that I can’t wait to put into regular use. During the Zoom session, participants are able to practice what they’re learning with their own research. And they can ask questions in the chat that Amy answers in real time.

I’ve been a big fan of Amy’s presenting skills from the first time I heard her speak at a conference years ago. She’s a clear and thorough communicator. I always leave her talks with new, valuable knowledge.

This is a great opportunity if you feel you could be more effective in tapping into FamilySearch’s 5 billion images. Amy told me she’ll be closing registration on Thursday (tomorrow). So now’s the time to sign up, if you’re so inclined!

Quick Tip #25: Take another look at handwritten documents

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Here’s the next in my occasional series of bite-size Quick Tips. Click on the Quick Tips tag for my other Quick Tips. Because I tend to write longer posts, I wanted to provide a quick-to-read (and quick-to-write) post every couple of weeks on a small topic that pops into my head. I have to remind myself of this one with more frequency than I’d like to admit.

Take another look at handwritten documents

We’ve all encountered names that have been poorly indexed. That’s because handwriting can be hard to transcribe. I find that I sometimes misinterpret handwritten words or numbers and enter them incorrectly into my Reunion software. That can lead to wrong assumptions and wild goose chases.

If you find you have conflicting evidence, take another look at the original document to make sure you recorded the evidence accurately. (It happened to me just yesterday, where I discovered that I’d written down that a woman had three living children, when in fact the number written on the census was five.) You may find a transcription error on your part that clears things up.

Photo by Sam Dan Truong on Unsplash

Amy Johnson Crow offering workshop on using FamilySearch

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I love using FamilySearch. But I almost always use it the same way. (I search the card catalog for documents based on location.)

When I heard that my friend Amy Johnson Crow was offering a four-part interactive workshop called Get Savvy Using FamilySearch, I jumped at the chance to take it. It runs September 14, 16, 21 and 23, 2021 starting at 7 pm eastern. It will be recorded for later access as well.

I’ve heard Amy speak many times at conferences and know what an genealogy expert (and expert communicator) she is. I’m pretty confident I’m missing out by not using FamilySearch more thoroughly so I my interest was piqued when I received her email. I reached out to her to make sure it wouldn’t be too beginner-focused for me and learned that it’s appropriate for all levels of genealogy researchers. (Scroll down on the sales page to the FAQ for more info on that.)

The workshop costs $99, which seems like a bargain. (Full disclosure: Amy comped my fee but I was willing to pay it!)

I’m excited to take the workshop so I wanted to let you all know about it!