Author: Bob Taylor

FamilySearch to Digitize Ottoman Empire Family Histories

According to a recent article in the Church News, FamilySearch will be digitizing records of peoples whose history was entwined with the Ottoman Empire. The announcement was made at the International Congress on Archives, an event that takes place every four years and is organized by the International Council on Archives, which is celebrating its 75th anniversary in 2023 (Oct....

New in The Family History Guide: Practice Exercises Index

As we noted in an earlier blog post, there are currently 333 Practice Exercises in The Family History Guide, from beginning to advanced levels in quite a few states and countries. What has been missing up until now is a way to find the exercises, other than just opening up various country pages and looking for them. We now have...

New BYU FHL Webinar to Feature The Family History Guide

This week the BYU Family History Library will feature a new webinar, titled “New Training and Learning Tools in The Family History Guide.” The webinar is scheduled for Thursday November 9 at 5 p.m. Mountain time. You can register for the webinar here – https://fh.lib.byu.edu/classes-and-webinars/online-webinars/ – and the recording will be posted on the BYU FHL YouTube Channel about a week...

Update on Class Outlines

In a blog post dated September 25, we announced Eight New Class Outlines for The Family History Guide. That brought the total to 36 outlines, with Spanish versions also included. Each Class Outline offers a quick and effective way to deliver essential family history training presentations. You can find the complete list of Class Outlines in the Trainers menu of...

What Would You Like to Do?

We recently made a subtle change to the home page of The Family History Guide, adding a new “What would you like to do?” link. This link is primarily designed for users who are new to the website. When you click the link, you’ll see an assortment of seven links which represent tasks that many first-time users of The Family...

Exploring the New FamilySearch Chat Feature

The Messaging feature has been a fixture on the FamilySearch website for years, but it has now been replaced by the new Chat function. The Chat window opens as a pop-up in the main FamilySearch screen so you don’t have to switch between tabs. It includes a chat directory where other FamilySearch users can find you, and you can send...

New QRB Video, for Absolute Beginners in Genealogy

James Tanner has a way of breaking down seemingly difficult or overwhelming concepts into easy-to-understand topics. That is certainly the case in his video series titled “Genealogy for the Absolute Beginner.” Part One of the series is now available on our YouTube Channel in the QRB (Quick Research Basics) playlist. It defines genealogy, outlines the opportunities and challenges for newcomers,...