Mountain of free historic records online keeps growing weekly

FamilySearch added 2.8 million new, free records online this past week for Canada, England, Hungary, Italy, Russia, and the U.S. Got Hungarian roots? Check out the new 900,000 Hungary Reformed Church Christenings records. You might be surprised to know that FamilySearch now has over 2.5 billion free searchable records online now in its historic record collections. Find your ancestors now for free at FamilySearch.org.

Searchable historic records on FamilySearch.org are made possible by thousands of volunteers from around the world who transcribe (index) the information from digital copies of handwritten records to make them easily searchable online. More volunteers are needed (particularly those who can read foreign languages) to keep pace with the amount of digital images being published online at FamilySearch.org. Learn more about how to personally help provide free access to the world’s historic genealogical records as a volunteer indexer at FamilySearch.org.

FamilySearch International is the largest genealogy organization in the world. FamilySearch is a nonprofit, volunteer-driven organization sponsored by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Millions of people use FamilySearch records, resources, and services to learn more about their family history. To help in this great pursuit, FamilySearch has been actively gathering, preserving, and sharing genealogical records worldwide for over 100 years. Patrons may access FamilySearch services and resources free online at FamilySearch.org or through over 4,600 family history centers in 132 countries, including the main Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah.

I've taught a lot of genealogy classes over the years, but I've never been interrupted quite like I was interrupted in a class I gave Saturday in St. George, Utah. I loved every second of it!

Hallelujah

In my class entitled "Legacy Family Tree: Tips and Tricks" I was giving some tricks on adding sources. I had just shown Legacy's Source Clipboard and said to the class, "Isn't this fun!" I heard a few 'yeses' and a couple of soft claps, and then I heard something I never ever expected to hear as a response. In the middle of the room (there were about 200 in attendance) I heard a lady start singing "Hal-le-lu-jah." I was speechless. She actually had a beautiful voice. I no longer had any idea what I was talking about, and when I tried to begin speaking again, I couldn't stop laughing. I took it as a compliment as to how the class was going. Two days later it still puts a big smile on my face when I think of the experience. Don't take this as an opportunity to brainstorm on creative ways of answering or interrupting the speaker, but it was fun to be a part of.

A Legacy Quilt

This was another first. While talking with people at our Legacy booth, Elizabeth Herzfeld, a conference attendee, brought me a picture of a wall chart she made with Legacy's Charting tool. In addition to the 12 generations of color-coded ancestors the chart was adorned with photographs, flags, and other embellishments. But it wasn't your every-day chart on paper. She turned it into a quilt! Amazing! She explained that she printed the chart onto some kind of quilting paper and lined everything up just right. With her permission I've shared it here. Way to go Elizabeth!

My New Tablet

The hottest topic at genealogy conferences these days is the use of tablets and smartphones for genealogy. I recently wrote about the Families app here and how it lets you use Legacy on your mobile devices. I've loved using Families on my Droid X phone, but by the end of the week (if it arrives by then), I'll be able to use it, and do lots of other cool stuff on my new tablet - the ASUS Transformer Prime:

I'm certain I'll be more productive at work too!

So my genealogy week has started off on a fantastic note! On Wednesday I'm looking forward to presenting Organizing and Sharing Digital Images to our webinar audience (over 2,000 registrants already), and then I'm off to the South Davis Family History Fair in Bountiful, Utah this weekend. I love my job!

Cutting-Edge Tools and Gadgets to Make Your Family History Research Easier, Faster, and More Fun

Here's a great new eBook by Paul Larsen, author of Using Google Power to Connect to Your Ancestors and Crash Course in Family History. 140 pages | Published Feb 2012 | PDF (download-only) edition

Click here to purchase for $17.95 (savings of $2).

The technology revolution has taken family history by storm. The new cutting-edge tech tools and gadgets will help you not only reach back through history, but greatly enhance your opportunity for family history research by enabling new, easier, and faster ways of searching and organizing your information. And collaborating with others. This book provides the easy-to-understand features and benefits of each tool and service.

This is a simplified, fully-illustrated, easy-to-read eBook to learn about all of the latest new tools and gadgets for family history - and how they can help you plant, nourish, and grow your family tree, and connect to your ancestors.

It takes good tools to do good work, and this new eBook helps you discover missing information on your family tree, and add richness to your family story with ease and in record-breaking time.

Includes

• Live (hyperlinked) websites
• Linked YouTube tutorial videos
• Much more in a user-friendly style

Preview

Click here to preview the Table of Contents and a few selections from the book.

About the Author

Paul Larsen is the author and publisher of cutting-edge family history books and e-books, and president of EasyFamilyHistory.com, a St George, Utah based family history web site.

Purchase

Click here to purchase for $17.95 (savings of $2).

Learn how to organize and share your digital images!

If you are unable to quickly locate any digital image or document, you need the techniques that Legacy Family Tree's Geoff Rasmussen (that's me!) will teach in this free webinar. You will learn how Google's Picasa and Adobe's Photoshop Elements can help you sort, tag, and quickly locate your pictures. You will also learn how to securely access your photos in the "cloud" (from any internet-connected computer) and share them with others. Finally, Geoff will give suggestions on how to organize your digitized genealogy documents (wills, census, etc.) and add them to your Legacy Family Tree file.

On a personal note, I'm converting my most-popular genealogy conference class, Digital Images for Genealogists and Technologists, into two separate webinars - this sharing/organizing webinar on February 29 and the scanning/digitizing/editing/preserving webinar on June 27. I'm excited to share these ideas with our world-wide audience for the first time!

Remember - although registration is free, space is limited to the first 1,000 people to join on the day of the event. These two webinars already have over 1,000 registrants so if you want to participate in the live session, try to join at least 15-20 minutes early. If you're unable to get in, the recording should be available in our webinar archives within a few hours afterwards. And to make sure that your computer is ready for it, make sure you have already installed the latest version of Java from http://www.java.com.

How to register

Click here to register for Organizing and Sharing Digital Images (broadcast on February 29).

Click here to register for Digital Images: Scanning, digitizing, editing, and preserving your photos (broadcast on June 27).

About the presenter

Geoffrey D. Rasmussen is the father of four budding genealogists. He graduated with a degree in Genealogy and Family History from Brigham Young University and has served as director and vice-president of the Utah Genealogical Association. He is a dynamic genealogy speaker on all forms of genealogy technology, and as host of the Legacy Family Tree webinar series, has spoken virtually to nearly 100 different countries. He recently received the Distinguished Presenter Award at the prestigious RootsTech conference in Salt Lake City (2011). He has authored books, videos, articles, and websites, and develops the Legacy Family Tree software program. On a personal note, Geoff enjoys playing the piano, organ, cello and basketball. His favorite places are cemeteries, the ocean, and hanging out with other genealogists. He met and proposed to his wife in a Family History Center.

Geoff is the author of:

• The Official Unofficial Guide to Using Legacy Family Tree: PLUS Research Advice, News, Views, and Technology Tips
• Legacy Family Tree Video Training CDs - Volume 1
• Legacy Family Tree Video Training CDs - Volume 2
• Sharing Genealogy Electronically webinar-on-CD
• Mapping Software for Genealogists webinar-on-CD
• Watch Geoff Live series
• East Tennessee Tax Records Index, volumes 1, 2, and 3 (a fascinating read...)
• The Rasmussen Legacy

Add it to your Google Calendar

With our Google Calendar button, you will never forget our upcoming webinars. Simply click the button to add it to your calendar. You can then optionally embed the webinar events (and even turn them on and off) into your own personal calendar. If you have already added the calendar, you do not have to do it again - the new webinar events will automatically appear.

Webinar time

The webinar will be live on Wednesday, February 29, 2012 at:

• 2pm Eastern (U.S.)
• 1pm Central
• 12pm Mountain/Arizona
• 11am Pacific
• 7pm GMT

Or use this Time Zone Converter.

Here's how to attend:

1. Register at www.LegacyFamilyTree.com/webinars.asp today. It's free!
2. You will receive a confirmation email containing a link to the webinar.
3. You will receive a reminder email during the week prior to the webinar.
4. Calculate your time zone by clicking here.
5. Make sure your computer is up-to-date with the latest version of Java.
6. Click on the webinar link (found in confirmation and reminder emails) prior to the start of the webinar. Arrive early as the room size is limited to the first 1,000 arrivals that day.
7. Listen via headset (USB headsets work best), your computer speakers, or by phone.

We look forward to seeing you all there!

Millions of new records added to England, Italy, and U.S. Collections

This week FamilySearch added 12 million new, free records online (6.5 million indexed names and 5.6 million browsable images) for Canada, England, Germany, Italy, Korea, Netherlands, Spain, and the U.S. The Florida Death Index 1877-1998, received 5 million searchable records and another million records each for Oklahoma and Wisconsin. Find your ancestors now at FamilySearch.org.

Searchable records on FamilySearch.org are made possible by thousands of volunteers from around the world who transcribe (index) the information from handwritten records to make them easily searchable by computer. More volunteers are needed (particularly those who can read foreign languages) to keep pace with the amount of digital images being published online at FamilySearch.org. Learn more about how to personally help provide free access to the world’s historic genealogical records as an indexer at FamilySearch.org.

FamilySearch International is the largest genealogy organization in the world. FamilySearch is a nonprofit, volunteer-driven organization sponsored by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Millions of people use FamilySearch records, resources, and services to learn more about their family history. To help in this great pursuit, FamilySearch has been actively gathering, preserving, and sharing genealogical records worldwide for over 100 years. Patrons may access FamilySearch services and resources free online at FamilySearch.org or through over 4,600 family history centers in 132 countries, including the main Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah.

More great news for the soon-to-be-released 1940 U.S. census. Today Archives.com announced the website where the census images will be available. In the video below, Connie Potter, Archivist, tells us to "please use this URL and no other because this one will direct you to the 1940 census. No other will."

1940census.archives.gov

Read their press release below:

Today Archives.com and the National Archives are revealing the website that will host the 1940 Census beginning April 2, 2012: 1940census.archives.gov. We encourage you to bookmark the website, and watch the video providing a behind-the-scenes look at the preparations made to publish the 1940 Census.

Please share this website and video with others!

There are only 40 days until April 2nd, a day eagerly anticipated by genealogists, historians, and academics alike. Archives.com and the National Archives are working diligently to bring you a website that makes it easy to explore the 1940 Census images. This will be the only website hosting the 1940 Census images on April 2nd.

To learn more about the 1940 Census and how you can prepare, visit Archives.com/1940census.

Legacy User groups meet around the world to educate and share ideas with others about the use of Legacy Family Tree. Interest to form a group in Nashville, Tennessee has been brought to my attention, and if you are interested in participating, please contact Marionetta Johns.

To see if there is a local Legacy User Group in your part of the world, visit http://www.legacyfamilytree.com/UsersGroups.asp.

I just got a note from our Legacy cruise coordinator - this is the last week to sign up for the British Isles and Norwegian genealogy cruises before the prices go up. So if you've been on the fence, give Christy a call (1-888-505-6997) or send her an email. Or watch the webinar to learn all about it.

In case you missed the announcement, Ireland specialist, Judy Wight, will be our featured speaker. Click here to read more.

See you in Oslo in May!

We have a fantastic new update for you (free!) which adds the 1940 U.S. census transcription form, new FamilySearch capabilities (auto-matching!), plus several smaller additions and enhancements.

See the download instructions below for step-by-step instructions on installing this update.

What's New

1940 Census Forms - with the upcoming release of the 1940 U.S. census (available April 2, 2012) we wanted our users to see what information will be available. Brand new to Legacy's Forms Center are two new forms - the regular form and the supplementary questions. Small examples are below. Here's how to view and print them in Legacy:

In Legacy, click on the Reports button > Books/other tab > Forms Center > Census Forms > US Federal > 1940 and click Preview.

Here's what page 1 looks like:

And page 2:

New FamilySearch enhancements

 New AutoMatch feature! Now, instead of manually linking/matching your Legacy individuals to FamilySearch, use the new AutoMatch button.

We also added the ability to start LegacyFamilySearch with just the current person - no more loading the entire database first. On the FamilySearch button in the main toolbar of Legacy, click on the new option "Open Legacy FamilySearch to the current person."

Added the AutoMatch icon to the legend.

Added a new person information bar about the tabs

Added filter actions to manage your filtered list

Added gender coloring in the individual list

Added the ability to copy marriage events back and forth

Export - added a Check All button to the Privacy tab to make it easier to include all privacy settings.

What's been changed/enhanced

Geo Location Database - it will now return "United States" instead of "USA" when selecting a location.

Descendant View - Direct line ancestors are now bolded like they are on other lists.

Web page creation - added a new option on the Misc. tab to include custom HTML or Script to the section of each document.

Individual's Information Screen - rearranged toolbar icons to match the Family View order.

What's Been Fixed

View the February 15 and January 31, 2012 release notes here.

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, 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.

Whether you are a beginning researcher or have been at it for decades, if you have a brick wall ancestor you need to watch the recording of today's webinar, Ten Brick Wall Tips for Beginners, by Marian Pierre-Louis. Do I dare say that it was one of the best - if not the best webinar - we've ever had! I guess I feel that way after each one, but she was that fantastic.

View the recording

If you could not make it to the live event or just want to watch it again, the 1 hour 31 minute recording of Ten Brick Wall Tips for Beginners is now available to view in our webinar archives. Visit www.LegacyFamilyTree.com/webinars.asp to watch. It is available for free until February 27, 2012.

Pre-order the webinar-on-CD

Own your own copy of Ten Brick Wall Tips for Beginners by purchasing the webinar-on-CD for just $9.95. It includes the 1 hour 31 minute recording of the class, the complete Q/A session, and 4 pages of handouts. Click here for more information or to purchase.

Marian is also the author of:

• Brick Walls: Cracking the Case of Nathan Brown's Parents
• Researching Your Connecticut Ancestors
• Discovering Your Massachusetts Ancestors

Special discount coupon

The special discount coupon of brick that was announced during the webinar is valid for 10% off anything in our online store through Monday, February 20, 2012.

Register for our upcoming webinars (free)

• Organizing and Sharing Digital Images with Geoff Rasmussen, February 29.
• Are You Ready for the 1940 U.S. Census Images with Thomas MacEntee, March 7.
• DNA Research for Genealogists: Beyond the Basics with Ugo Perego. March 21.
• Obituaries: Clues to Look For. Tips for making sure you get the full benefit from an obituary notice with Tom Kemp, March 28.
• Digital Writing Tools for Genealogists with Lisa Alzo, March 30.
• The Pursuit from Genealogy Hobbyist to Professional with John Kitzmiller and Claire Brison-Banks, April 4.
• Genealogy on the Go - the Families app for your Android, iPhone, iPod Touch, or iPad with Malcolm Green, April 11.
• Using Legacy Family Tree to Support Family Groups/Organizations with Geoff Rasmussen and Ken McGinnis, April 14.
• Researching Your Scottish Ancestors with Marie Dougan, April 18.
• Reverse Genealogy: Finding the Living with Megan Smolenyak, April 25.
• Researching Your Pennsylvania Ancestors with Lisa Alzo, May 2.
• Researching Your New York Ancestors with Thomas MacEntee, May 30.
• Putting Flesh on the Bones with Ron Arons, June 13.
• Marriages and Anniversaries. Mining newspapers for engagements, marriages, anniversaries, and divorce records with Tom Kemp, June 20.
• Digital Images for Genealogists and Technologists: scanning, digitizing, editing, and preserving your photos with Geoff Rasmussen. June 27.
• The Quest for your English Ancestors with Claire V. Brisson-Banks. July 11.
• Plan Your Way to Research Success with Marian Pierre-Louis, July 18.
• Wikis for Genealogists with Thomas MacEntee. August 8.
• The 5 C's for Success in Genealogy Today with Barbara Renick. August 22.
• Beyond the Arrival Date: Extracting More from Passenger Lists with Lisa Alzo. September 5.
• What is a 'Reasonably Exhaustive Search'? with Michael Hait. September 12.
• Use Your Digital Camera to Copy Records with Mary Hill. September 19.
• Digital Research Guidance, Research Logs, and To Do Lists: FamilySearch, Research Wiki, and Legacy Family Tree with Geoff Rasmussen. September 26.
• Privacy and our Ancestors with Thomas MacEntee. October 3.
• Researching Your Irish Ancestors: Beyond the Basics with Judy Wight. October 10.
• Ten Brick Wall Tips for Intermediate Researchers with Marian Pierre-Louis, October 17.
• Your Civil War Ancestors: Beginning Your Research with Michael Hait. October 24.
• Breaking Down Your Irish Brick Wall with Judy Wight. October 31.
• Genealogy for Novices: Where Do We Begin with Linda Geiger. November 14.
• The Big 4 U.S. Record Sources with Mary Hill. November 28.

Click here to register.

See you online!