At our local genealogy society, I get to teach a four-week beginner's course on using Legacy. At the beginning of each class I present some kind of technology tip. This week I demonstrated how to add a citation to a digital image.

In the video below (a partial recording of yesterday's class), I demonstrated first how to create the perfect citation (using Legacy's SourceWriter and the Source Clipboard) and then how to paste it into the digital image.

Watch the video here.

We previously wrote about this here with step-by-step instructions.

After viewing the video, does anyone else have other suggestions on how to preserve the source of a digital image? Comment below....

We have a great new update for you to download. Our development team has been working hard at enhancing Legacy's features and correcting minor issues you have reported. Many of the additions/changes are the direct result of your suggestions - thanks everyone!

Since our last major update (version 7.4 released on January 30) there have been three minor updates. Installing the latest update (see instructions below if needed) will keep you current. Below is a list of enhancements and corrections since January 30.

What's been fixed

There's a good number of minor issues that have been recently resolved. For a list of what has been fixed, click here.

What's New

• FamilySearch tools (only effects those with a new.familysearch.org account)
• • Added FamilySearch status icons to Family and Pedigree views (this option can be enabled/disabled at Options > Customize > General tab > FamilySearch > Integrate with FamilySearch
  • You can now manually add or change a FamilySearch ID (Person identifier) in the Individual's Information screen.
  • The yield temple icon now means that ordinance work is reserved or in progress
  • Added an Advanced Search button to the Possible Matches tab
  • New temple icon - the temple icon with a red X indicates that more information is required for ordinance work. There is also a new filter for "ordinances needing more information"
  • Added a Reload button in the main toolbar with three options: 1) Reload Legacy database. 2) Reload current person (use this if you've made changes to a person and want to "refresh" their information in LegacyFS. 3) Refresh FamilySearch information (this will check the refresh ordinance status for all linked persons to get the most up-to-date status.
  • BIC is now correctly showing on Ordinance Status tab
  • Added "Suppress Living" option to the list of names
  • Added a Legend tab in the lower left giving illustrated explanations of what the various icons represent

Changed Items

• DNA - added the DYS635 and Y-GATA-A10 markers for Ancestry's Advanced Paternal Lineage Test (Y-Chromosome 46).
• File Maintenance - added a few more checks for locations and temples relating to some of the newer LDS fields (like initiatory and confirmation)
• LDS - added Oquirrh Mountain temple to the master temple list

How to Update

For our Deluxe Edition users, all you have to do is connect to the Internet, start Legacy 7, and click on the "Install and Download Now" link on the Legacy Home tab. (If you're reading this from within the Legacy Home tab inside of Legacy 7.0, you'll first need to click on the Home button in the top left of the Legacy Home tab which looks like the following picture:

If you are a Standard Edition Legacy user, you will need to visit our website. Go to http://www.legacyfamilytree.com/DownloadUpdate.asp and follow the instructions.

Question from Tim:

"Can I use Legacy to trace more than one set of parents without creating two different family files?"

Our answer:

Yes Tim. Here's how...

First, notice in the image below (click to enlarge), that John Brown's parents are Charles and Sally Carter Brown. Let's assume that these are his biological parents.

To add a second set of parents (such as adding his adoptive parents) follow these steps:

 1) Click on John's "Parents" icon.

The "Parents of John Brown" screen appears. In the "Relationship to Father" and "Relationship to Mother" fields, you should enter how John is related to each parent.

2) Click on the "Add New Parents" button.

This adds the second set of parents (displayed as "Unknown & Unknown):

3) Click on "Unknown & Unknown", and then click on the "Add Father" button.
 
 

Add the information for the father and click Save. Do the same with the "Add Mother" button. Add her information and click Save.

4) Enter how John is related to the second set of parents in the "Relationship to Father/Mother" fields.

Done!

When you click on the Select button to return to the Family View, you'll notice that John's second set of parents appear above him, and John's Parents icon now has the number 2 next to it, indicating that he has two sets of parents. When you want to navigate between the parents, just click on this icon and select the other set of parents.

I think this should answer your question Tim. Do others have experience in researching/recording two sets of parents? Do you have other suggestions?
 

Those of you with access to "New FamilySearch" will want to view a seminar we presented last week in Mesa, Arizona. We recorded the seminar and published it online for you to view. The syllabus pages are also available for you to download.

The seminar, entitled "An Overview of Legacy Family Tree and its New FamilySearch Tools" was taught by Legacy's Geoff Rasmussen (that's me...) and was presented as a training session for LDS Family History Center consultants. It contains both an overview of working with Legacy and working with Legacy's new FamilySearch features.

We've also made the seminar's handouts available to download. The handouts are entitled:

• Legacy and New FamilySearch: an Overview
• Improving Your Use of FamilySearch: Data Cleanup Strategies

The seminar and handouts can be used for personal training or as a teaching tool for your next Family History Center training meeting.

To view the seminar, visit our Legacy-FamilySearch web page at http://www.LegacyFamilyTree.com/fs.asp and click on the 4th video in the "Video Tutorials" section.

By the way...this weekend we released an update to Legacy which added several Legacy-FS features and corrected various bugs that you've reported to us. We haven't made the "official" announcement yet though. Visit http://www.legacyfamilytree.com/RevisionHistory7.asp for the revision history or http://www.legacyfamilytree.com/DownloadUpdate.asp to download the update.

This is great news from FamilySearch. Classes in the following topics are now available online at no charge:

• England Beginning Research
• Germany Research
• Ireland Research
• Italy Research
• Principios básicos para la investigación genealógica en Hispanoamérica (México)
• Research Principles and Tools
• Russia Research
• U.S. Research

Here's today's press release:

SALT LAKE CITY–It is rare that Marcia Covington can make the trip from her home in State College, Pennsylvania, to the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah. Now, however, people like Covington can take classes from the world-famous library without ever leaving home.

The FamilySearch Family History Library is now making its popular classes available at FamilySearch.org, where anyone anywhere in the world can access them for free at a time that is convenient for them. The classes have been offered on-site in Salt Lake City for years. Until now, attendance has been limited to those patrons who are fortunate to live in the surrounding community or happen to be visiting the library as part of a research trip. Making the classes available online allows access to many more patrons.

“Most people do family history whenever they can fit it in their busy lives, on evenings, holidays, weekends, and so forth. Whether you are a beginner or experienced researcher, you can choose subjects of interest to you from the available classes and watch them anytime and anywhere,” said FamilySearch Community Services Manager Diane Loosle.

The online classes are a great complement to the free personal research assistance the Family History Library offers to its patrons in Utah and through its family history centers worldwide. According to Loosle, the free online classes are one part of the growing number of tools FamilySearch is building for its online patrons. That is great news to people like Covington.

“Very few people have the opportunity to come to Salt Lake City, but these classes give me the same access at home as I can get in Utah,” Covington said. “Our distances here are pretty long, and for some people it is a 40-minute drive to the nearest family history center. These classes make it possible to get training in your home whenever you want, and it is so nice that it is free.”

There are currently 23 Family History Library classes available online, with subjects ranging from European research to United States military records. The most popular offerings are the Beginning Research Series for Ireland and England and a class on descendancy research.
 
The classes vary in length from 6 to 58 minutes, with most lasting about 25 minutes. The format of the class varies, depending on the content being presented. One type of class shows a video that alternates between the teacher and the PowerPoint slides. Another kind of class integrates video of the presenter, the accompanying PowerPoint slides, and links to supplemental materials all in one screen.

Several of the classes are interactive, such as a course on reading German handwriting. In these classes, the teacher is represented with still photographs and audio narration, and the student can actively participate in learning activities, such as matching English and German characters or transcribing selected words from a document. As a student types, the correct text appears in green and incorrect answers appear in red, providing immediate feedback.

FamilySearch is continually adding new online offerings; classes on how to read English handwritten records are currently in development. All of the classes can be accessed on www.familysearch.org by clicking on Free Online Classes on the home page.

If I were in charge of changing genealogical history, I'd make sure that all census enumerators, doctors, court recorders, witnesses, informants, priests, and others each consulted with each other before recording a person's information. They'd all agree on the spelling of a name, the accuracy of a date, and they would certainly record the person's parents, and even their grandparents. Maybe even attach a photograph too.

Since I'm not in charge of changing genealogical history, I will continue to find conflicting information. Take a look at Maria Teter's Individual's Information screen below (click to enlarge). Different sources provided different dates and places for her birth:

• Pennsylvania (from her son's marriage record)
• abt 1840 in New York (from her son's 1920 census record and from her own 1880 census record and from another son's death certificate)
• 1 January 1841 (from her obituary)
• 17 January 1841 in Pennsylvania (from her death certificate)
• abt 1842 in New York (umm...I don't know where this came from...)
• calculated 1843 in New York (from her 1895 state census and 1910 census)
• January 1845 in New York (from her 1900 census)

Good research requires the researcher to record each of these conflicting dates/places and its source for further analysis. Of course, different records have varying degrees of reliability, but whichever date/place you decide is the "most accurate", record it in the main birth field (the top half of this screen). Record all others as "Alt. Birth" events by clicking on the Add button.

If/when you are able to disprove one of the alternate birth events, change its event name to "Disproven Birth" and in its notes, explain why the event is disproven. Now you will always have a record of the conflicting information and the reasons for which they are disproven. This comes in handy when collaborating with other researchers.

If you decide that one of your "Alt. Birth" events is the correct one and you want it and its accompanying documentation to be the "main" birth event, just click on the Options button and select "Swap with Birth Information".

If you want the ability to not include these "Alt. Birth" events in a report, like a book, just mark the event as "private" by placing a checkmark in the "Private" box in the lower right of the Event screen. Then, in the Report Options' Privacy tab, select to either include or not include "events marked private".

Maybe it's just me, but do you find conflicting information in your ancestors' records too?

These next two months will be two of our busiest months ever teaching classes and visiting with our Legacy users. If you're in Arizona, British Columbia, Iowa, Quebec, Utah, or Washington we hope you'll stop by and say hi.

If you live in Arizona, Australia, Alberta, British Columbia, Denmark, New Zealand, California, Florida, Indiana, Massachusetts, Oklahoma, Oregon, Texas, Utah, or Washington, we hope you'll attend your local Legacy User Group meeting.

March 2010

USA | Utah | Bountiful - March 6, 2010. South Davis Regional Family History Fair. This has always been Utah's largest genealogy seminar. Please visit our Legacy booth for the latest software and special seminar pricing. Legacy's Geoff Rasmussen will be speaking on 1) Mapping Your Ancestors, Using the Latest Software and the Best Web Sites; 2) Research Guidence: FamilySearch, FamilySearch Wiki, GenSmarts and Legacy; 3) Legacy: Organize, Plan, Share, and publish with Legacy; 4) Legacy 7.4 and New FamilySearch. Click here for more information.

USA | Arizona | Mesa - March 11, 2010. Mesa Regional Family History Center. 3:00-4:30pm. Legacy's Geoff Rasmussen will teach about using Legacy and its new FamilySearch software. Recommended for all levels of expertise, and especially for LDS Family History Center consultants. Held at the Olive building chapel located across the street south of the Mesa Temple (525 E. 2nd Ave in Mesa). We recommend that interested individuals call 480-964-1200 (FHC number) and register to attend so the Family History Center has advance indication of the number of attendees.

USA | Utah | St. George - March 17/18/19, 2010. St. George Regional Family History Training Center located across the street from the St. George LDS temple. This is a 3-session Legacy class of two hours each day. 10:00am-12:00pm. In addition to the demonstration of how to use Legacy, students will also have hands-on practice along with assignments and handouts to best learn the software. Registration is limited, but is open to anyone. Contact David Midgley for more information.

USA | Utah | Salt Lake City - March 18, 2010. Immigration Family History Expo. Visit with Legacy vice-president and developer, Ken McGinnis in booths 6 and 7. Share ideas, see our new FamilySearch software, and get great seminar-special pricing on our Legacy products. We're also giving away a free netbook computer as a grand prize. For more information, please click here.

USA | Arizona | Youngtown - March 23/30, April 6/13. West Valley Genealogical Society. This is a four-week Beginning Legacy course taught by Legacy's Geoff Rasmussen. Pre-registration is required, and seating is limited. Visit http://www.azwvgs.org/Classes.htm for more information.

USA | Washington | Burlington - March 23. Skagit Valley Genealogical Society. Legacy's Jim Terry will teach a class on using Legacy. 7:00-9:00pm at the Burlington Seniro Center, 1011 Greenleaf Avenue in Burlington. Contact Barbara Johnson (360-856-0870) for more information.

USA | Utah | St. George - March 23/24/25, 2010. St. George Regional Family History Training Center located across the street from the St. George LDS temple. This is a 3-session Legacy class of two hours each day. 6:00-8:00pm. In addition to the demonstration of how to use Legacy, students will also have hands-on practice along with assignments and handouts to best learn the software. Registration is limited, but is open to anyone. Contact David Midgley for more information.

April 2010

USA | Arizona | Sun City Grand - April 1. Sun City Grand Computers Club. Legacy's Geoff Rasmussen will teach a class about Legacy. Visit http://www.grandcomputers.org/ or contact Leon Chapman for more information.

USA | Iowa | Des Moines - April 17. Iowa Genealogical Society presents a Genealogy Technology seminar by Legacy's Geoff Rasmussen. Visit http://www.iowagenealogy.org/events_activities/index.htm for more information.

Canada | British Columbia | Nanaimo - April 17. Nanaimo Family History Society Genealogy Fair. The fair will be held at the Beban Park Social Centre on Saturday, April 17, 2010 from 9:00am to 6:00pm. Stop by the Legacy Family Tree table and see what's new in Legacy and visit with Jim Terry of Millennia Corporation. Contact Sid Norman for details.

Canada | Quebec | Pointe Claire - April 17. Quebec Family History Society will demonstrate how Legacy works. Held at the Quebec Family History Society Library (173 Cartier Ave. in Pointe Claire) from 1:00-3:00pm. "Compare some of its features to those of Family Tree Maker or your current program. This program has been highly rated by several sources and is worth considering, especially if you are planning to buy or upgrade in the future. Note that the course will also include tips on how to download your family tree from your current program to Legacy, even if you just want to try it out. Thanks to the generosity of the Millennia Company, owners of Legacy Family Tree, EACH PARTICIPANT WILL RECEIVE A FREE CD OF THE STANDARD VERSION OF LEGACY 7 and A FREE BROCHURE. IN ADDITION, THERE WILL BE A DOOR PRIZE OF LEGACY 7 DELUXE ! QFHS WILL ALSO RECEIVE A COPY OF VOLUME 1 OF THE TRAINING VIDEOS, WHICH MEMBERS MAY CONSULT." For more information, please visit http://www.qfhs.ca/hap.shtml#seminars.

USA | Arizona | Oro Valley - April 21. Sun City Vistoso Genealogy Club's Legacy SIG will have a half-day seminar by Legacy's Geoff Rasmussen. Contact Barb Krecklow for more information.

USA | Utah | St. George - April 21/22/23, 2010. St. George Regional Family History Training Center located across the street from the St. George LDS temple. This is a 3-session Legacy class of two hours each day. 10:00am-12:00pm. In addition to the demonstration of how to use Legacy, students will also have hands-on practice along with assignments and handouts to best learn the software. Registration is limited, but is open to anyone. Contact David Midgley for more information.

USA | Utah | Salt Lake City - April 26-27. BYU Conference on Computerized Family History and Genealogy. Click here for more information.

USA | Utah | Salt Lake City - April 28-May 1. 2010 NGS Family History Conference will be held at the Salt Palace Convention Center. Visit us in booths 617 and 619. Geoff Rasmussen will teach Organize, Plan, and Share Your Genealogy with Legacy Family Tree on May 1 at 8:00am. Visit http://www.ngsgenealogy.org/cs/conference_info for more information.

Question from Marcio:

"How can I show the age of the persons in the starting display?"

Our answer:

Viewing the age of the main persons in the Family View is simple with these instructions.

1) First, in the Family View, click once on any of the blue labels next to the main persons. The labels, by default, display "Born, Chr, Died, Buried, DthCau". Just click once on any of them.

2) On the resulting Customize Display screen, decide which of the five fields you want to replace by clicking on the small button with the three dots.

3)  Click on "Age At Death" and click Select, then Close.

The Family View now displays the Age at Death for the main person and their spouse:

Here's another trick. Go to View > Ages and you'll get a lot of other interesting information about the couple's ages.

Finally, here's a trick to add the "Age at Death" to the Index View.

1) Click on the Index tab, then the Options button, then Customize Columns. Using the same button with the three dots, select Age at Death for one of the fields.

Now look at the Index View. In this example, the first column is the Age at Death. You could also place this column next to the Death Date column if it makes more sense.

Well, Marcio, this answer was way more than you asked for, but I got on a roll...Hope this helps.