DoddemaGen

Legacy has released some interesting news/tidbits.  My favorite is recording obituaries.  I’m not the brightest bulb in the bunch but I’m no dummy.  If someone gives me advice, I take it.  Legacy has given some cool hints on how to record obituaries.  I’m taking this one to the bank!  It’s a keeper!  Read it here.

The Washington State Index from 1907-1960 is now available online.  Read the story here.

37 million French-Canadian names have recently become available online spanning 346 years.  Wow!  Unfortunately, it comes with a pricetag.  If you’re a subscriber to Ancestry.ca, you’re in luck!  Check here if interested.

New FamilySearch (commonly NFS) has had its ups and downs.  If you’ve been following its progress, you know that it has potential and future application.  It definitely takes genealogy to the next level for Latter-day Saints.  Right now, preparing names for temple work is painstakingly slow and inaccurate.  I use Legacy to prepare my records which even allows me to check Church records to see if work has been completed.  I then have to take it to the FHC (family history center) for the Windows application TempleReady which again checks to see if the work has been completed.  Unfortunately this check is at least 6 months outdated…and I did say at least!

The new version, which can’t even be called a new version but a total new way of doing things is all online.  Upload your family Gedcom, check against real-time work and pick the individuals that work needs to be done for.  You then print out a bar-coded paper and take it to the Temple.  Once scanned, temple workers are able to see what work is to be done at that time.  Simplicity at its finest.

Unfortunately, it’s hit a few snags.  It’s a big job and lots of temples to bring into play….over 100.  Rollout had stopped due to some technical issues but according to Renee Zamora’s blog…has begun again.  She even has a sheet with rollout dates which she keeps track pretty regularly.

I’m impatiently waiting for our nearest temple, Spokane, WA, to be added to the list.  At this time it’s undetermined when it will become available.  Until then, I’m stuck in the past.

Given that Kara’s surgery was to take place in Salt Lake City, I decided to contact a good friend of mine and to the LDS genealogy world, Renee Zamora.  We’ve been emailing each other on and off during the past few years and I figured it would be an good time to finally meet face to face.  There are always questions that I have regarding genealogy and I knew that Renee would be the one to help.

After making sure Kara was ok at the hospital, I had my father-in-law drop me off at the Family History Library with laptop in tow.  The meeting was fantastic.  While I though it would be a mainly one-way conversation with her sharing her insight into the workings of genealogy, I was fortunate enough to share information with her regarding my website, web hosting, the awesome genealogy collaboration software I use on the site called TNG and trying to implement into CMS’s such as Joomla, WordPress, etc.

On the flip side, she taught me how to use censuses.  Yes, I know.  I should know how but I’ve never really used them as a genealogy tool before.  By doing so, I was able to find my wife’s grandfather’s family.  Although I had some information regarding that family, I didn’t know that they had boarders.  When her family was told about it, they mentioned that they remember Grandpa telling them how their parents opened their doors up for anybody.  This must have been one of those times.

All in all, everything worked out.  It might not have been an opportune time but it was the best we could do under the situation.

My good friend and friend to all genealogists, Renee, wrote a post about the newest addition to the upcoming release of Legacy 7.  I suggest reading her article but the basic gist of the message was that they are incorporating Microsoft Virtual Earth into the program.  This will allow users to associate locations with a map to track the events of an individual’s life.  Pretty cool.  I know TNG, the software that I use to display genealogy on this site, uses Google Maps.  If it looks half as good….I’d be happy.

Unfortunately it appears that web creation will not be given a makeover.  That’s too bad.  While TNG is a great piece for software, it doesn’t exactly integrate nicely with the rest of the site but that can be a post for another day.  Most know that I’m not a big fan of Microsoft which begs the question…why Microsoft Virtual Earth when there’s Google Maps and/or Google Earth?  It would be interesting to find out.

For those that want to read the article, please check the following: Legacy 7 secret is out