Family History Library in Salt Lake City

You are encouraged to go to the Family History Library which is located just west of the tabernacle on Temple Square.  You are welcome to use their facilities and do your family history research there.  They have numerous FH Missionaries assigned to assist you.  You may take your documents like Birth and death certificates and obituaries etc and they will assist you in scanning what you have.  If you are taking photographs to scan, I recommend that you organize them by size before you go.  It is much easier and faster to do all the same size at one time.  If you have the long Book of Remembrance sheets they can help you scan them as well. Their scanners can scan both front and back at the same time at about 600 dpi all in jpg format.  Remember to take a good thumb drive with you so you can scan your things onto you thumb drive and bring it home when you leave.  I recommend about a 16 GB thumb drive if you have a lot of scanning to do.

If you are going with just 2 or 3 people you rarely need to call for an appointment.  If you are going with a larger group of say 5 to 10 people or more I would call ahead and give them a week or two notice so they will be expecting your group.  The number to call is 801-240-6815.

Why Keep A Journal?

Wilford Woodruff, the fourth president of the Church, was described as the “best chronicler of events in all the history of the Church.” Starting in 1835, President Woodruff wrote in his journal every day for the next 63 years. Of this extraordinary effort, President Woodruff remarked:

“It may be considered by some not important to write or keep a record of our work or the work of God, but I believe it is. Otherwise the prophets would not have been moved upon to exhort us to faithfulness upon this subject. The Lord has told us that what we seal on earth shall be sealed in heaven and what we record on earth shall be recorded in heaven, and what is not sealed or recorded on earth is not sealed or recorded in heaven. Therefore it appears to be very important that we do keep a true and faithful record in all things.

Some may say [journal keeping] is a great deal of trouble. But we should not call anything trouble which brings to pass good. I consider that portion of my life which has been spent in keeping journals and writing history to have been very profitably spent.

If there was no other motive in view [except] to have the privilege of reading over our journals and for our children to read, it would pay for the time spent in writing it.”

There are a lot of things that can be recorded in a journal, from the day to day moments to big events in our lives. But more than a log of each day, we have been counseled to write down things of a spiritual nature. Consider these quotes:

“We often leave the most precious personal direction of the Spirit unheard because we do not record and respond to the first promptings that come to us when the Lord chooses to direct us.” -Richard G. Scott

“Get a notebook, my young folks, a journal that will last through all time, and maybe the angels may quote from it for eternity.” -Spencer W. Kimball

“When it is for the Lord’s purposes, He can bring anything to our remembrance. That should not weaken our determination to record impressions of the Spirit. Inspiration carefully recorded shows God that His communications are sacred to us. Recording will also enhance our ability to recall revelation. Such recording of direction of the Spirit should be protected from loss or intrusion by others.” – Richard G. Scott

Keeping a journal helps us preserve memories of seeing the Lord's hand in our lives.

President Eyring:  Video link:  (Watch this video):

https://www.lds.org/media-library/video/2014-01-106-maybe-im-not-so-different?lang=eng

Portable Storage for Scanning and Sharing

Before you begin scanning and sharing your Family History photographs and documents you may need to get a thumb drive.  The prices have gone way down and so I recommend you get at least a 16 GB thumb drive for your sharing needs. It will hold hundreds and even thousands of files, according to your scanning size.  I also recommend you set your scanner to no less than 300 dpi and 400 is even better.  If you are scanning very small pictures about 1 inch square you should scan it at 1200 dpi.  Here is a thumb drive I bought at Best Buy last week for less than $7.  This is a good time of the year to get good deals.

Be sure to bring your thumb drive to our workshops.  It is also a good idea to back up your Family History file as a GED com file on your thumb drive.

Preserving Your Pictures

A picture tells a thousand words!  Handle them carefully, gently put the names of individuals on the backs of each picture.  Get organized and be consistent.  For example:  always list the people from left to right.  Put their full names, First, Middle and Last names.  Include nick names if you know them in (parenthesis).  Give the location and the date or approximate date. Then comes the big moment... get them scanned so they can be organized and shared.  Writing a personal history is so much better if you can include pictures.  Don't forget to take pictures of their homes whenever possible.  We will have a scanning social toward the beginning of December so get your pictures and documents ready!

This is me standing in front of one of the many scanners available for

free in the SLC Family History Library.

Family History Research

This Family History Research blog was created to give those who are actively doing research a place to learn and share helpful research techniques and to give them a place to ask and answer each others questions.  Please put in you email address in the "FOLLOW BY EMAIL" so you can stay up-to-date with new posts and information, click on "Submit"..  You can go directly to my Pinterest page with many Helpful Hints by clicking on this link or cut and paste it into your browser:   http://www.pinterest.com/richardjackson/family-history-research-helps-hints/