Fresno North Stake FamilySearch Center Training

Over the past couple of years FamilySearch has made several improvements to the merge experience with the goal being that the system will help us do a better job of merging duplicates and not merge non-duplicate people. This class presents a short history of merging at FamilySearch, describes the basics of merging, describes the tools FamilySearch has developed to help with merging, and finally walks you through 3 merges and one case where a bad merge needs to be reversed. This is a valuable lesson for all of us to view. Link to the Presentation  Link to PDF of Slides  

Have you ever wished there was an easier way to search through your ancestry or a descendancy to find people who need temple work or to find new people to add to the FamilySearch Family Tree?  The solution is here!This class is "Puzzilla – A Different Way to Approach Ancestral and Descendancy Research."  This class will explain the features of Puzzilla and demonstrate how to use this outstanding third-party product to help you become a more productive user of the collaborative tree at FamilySearch. Link to the Presentation Link to a Slides  

The topic is "Understanding the FHAR Report and How to Use It."  The Family History Activity Report is our primary report showing family history activity in our various units (wards/branches, stakes/districts). We will cover the history of the report, what it is and isn't, where to find it and who has access, and definitions of terms used in the report.  Then we will take it section by section and explain what is reported. We will conclude the lesson by discussing ways your unit can use the FHAR to set up family history goals. This class is especially important to leaders (both at the ward and stake levels as this report is the single most useful tool available to help wards/branches and stakes/districts know how active their unit is in temple and family history work. Link to the Recording Link to PDF of the Slides  

Get to Know Your Ancestors with Memories at FamilySearch: You can call this class "Everything You Wanted to Know About Memories" as we made this tour comprehensive.  Come join us as we discuss this wonderful feature at FamilySearch. Link to a PDF Document of the Slides Link to the video of this class  

  This class explores all the different types of topics and resources you can teach to patrons.  We will start by considering the capabilities of the patron, the devices you can teach from, some selected topics you might want to address and the wealth of programs, campaigns, third party products and apps that can be used to assist your patron in learning about their family.  This class is designed to introduce many of the available resources so consultants can see the wealth of tools that are at their disposal. Link to the presentation Link to the PDF of the slides

Celebrate America250 with FamilySearch: Are you familiar with the America250 initiative that has been formulated to help us celebrate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence this year around July 4th?  They are planning to make this a huge event this year and have asked local and national groups to join in on the fun.  FamilySearch has accepted the call and has prepared an "America250 Challenge" where the Tree at FamilySearch is the center of focus.  Watch this class and see how you, your family, neighbors, and even community can participate. This is a once in a life-time opportunity to celebrate our nation's founding and recognize our own family heroes who have made sacrifices so we might enjoy the freedoms we enjoy today. Link to the class recording Link to the PDF of the slide deck  

This topic is one of our beginner lessons: Working With Patrons and Preparing a Lesson.  We will stress the one-on-one teaching model and offer suggestions on how to best prepare to give a Discovery Lesson that will benefit your patron and meet their needs.  Two model lessons will be demonstrated - one a get to know your ancestor lesson and the other a research discovery experience.  This is a great lesson for anyone who is newly called or hasn't had much experience in actually teaching others about family history. Priesthood leaders can also benefit from seeing this presentation as it can guide them in helping consultants learn their craft. Link to Presentation Link to PDF of slides  

This class reviews FamilySearch's growth by the numbers, discuss New and Improved Services, explain Guardrails and Validation features and Tree Accuracy Tools, and, finally, introduces Manage Trees. This is a must view for any user of FamilySearch. Video Link:  https://youtu.be/u14XmG5dzrM PDF of the Slides

This class provides a short history of indexing and explains why it was stopped, then introduces Get Involved and shows where to find it.  The bulk of the lesson will cover an introduction to the different activities that can be done in Get Involved.  Then it will show how to use the Get Involved app.  Finally we will demonstrate how your activity in Indexing and Get Involved has been tracked since 2006 - as found in My Contributions and Reports Beta (for LDS members with certain callings.) Link to the Recording Link to a PDF of the Slides  

This topic defines the main online sites and apps that consultants need to become familiar with, and, then more importantly, the locations of self-education materials to assist you in the learning process of how to use them.  This can be helpful for all of us as we often encounter situations we have no answer for or patrons come to us for answers that even we don't have.  So where can we find the answers?  This class will solve that issue for you. In addition the last part of the class will explore ways to get quick answers to your questions regarding the use of the FamilySearch web site or simple research help. Link to the class video Link to the PDF of the slide deck  

"Searching Records at Family Search" is a great class for anyone who needs some help on how to find records at FamilySearch.  This class illustrates 6 different places and ways to search for those records you need to document your relatives.  A lot of a researcher's success at finding their family is determined by their understanding of where and how to search for those needed records. Stretch your understanding of this needed skill by viewing this class. It is essential to learn all these search engines if you want to access all the billions of records at FamilySearch. At the end of the presentation we even introduced a brand new search engine just released at FamilySearch. Link to the Recording Link to the PDF of the slide deck  

This class takes a look at all the different places FamilySearch has located materials to help new consultants know what their calling entails.  Because these materials are not all in one place and the materials vary in content from site to site it is important that we are aware of all the places to turn for authorized support and training. We will conclude with suggestions we have found helpful as we have worked with new consultant over the years.  This class focuses on what your calling as a Consultant entails - not on the skills you need to develop.  These skills will be addressed in future lessons.  This is an excellent class for new consultants, consultants who are asked to help train new consultants, and leaders responsible for helping consultants. Link to the video of the class Link to the PDF of the slides  

  The title of our first class in this new year is - "How to Organize Your Ward for Temple and Family History Success." Many of our wards are not fully set up to function in temple and family history work as described in the General Handbook.  This class provides them with direction and ideas to successfully organize this work of Gathering the Living and the Dead.  If your ward is one of these that needs to be jump-started, please share the link for this class with your ward leaders. Link to the class Link to the PDF of the slides   

Family Historians rely on Vital Records for many of the details that are needed to complete the research on their ancestors.  When available, Vital Records, should be your go-to records.  This presentation will explain what Vital Records are, why we seek them out, challenges in using them, what specifically can be found in them, when we can't find them - the records we can substitute for them, and a FamilySearch tool - Guided Research - that makes finding Vital Records in select areas easy for everyone. Link to the recording of the class Link to the PDF of the slides  

The class this time was "Temple Ordinances Reviewed and Explained." We covered many of the new wrinkles in the reservation process, various ways to accomplish finding a relative to take to the temple and explained some of the frequently misunderstood rules and regulations that patrons find confusing.  All in all, this is a great class to attend. It also includes some brand new programs that you probably haven't heard of.  Watch and find out something new! Link to the Video    Link to the PDF of the slides

"Finding Value in Findmypast" - Do you know why the Findmypast website was created?  This presentation will explain the history of this site, what is found at it, how to access it, why you should put a tree on it, and how to use it to find records that are needed for your research.  This site is a third-party partner with FamilySearch and as such is can be accessed by members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for free. Watch this video and find out why you need to learn how to use this site. Link to this week's presentation Link to PDF document showing the slides of this presentation  

The topic is "Understanding the Two Catalogs and Books at FamilySearch." Yes, there are currently two different catalogs used on the FamilySearch website. They have different strengths and weaknesses which we will discuss. In addition we will take a quick look at the Digital Books collection found at FamilySearch and discuss how to best use it. There will probably be something new for everyone who attends this class so please reserve the time to view this presentation. Link to the Video Link to the PDF Document of the Slides  

Have you ever questioned connections in Tree?  They just don't seem to be right or they are added with absolutely no sources. Has something been added that you have never heard of before?  Because the FamilySearch Tree is interactive it is forever changing and needs careful monitoring.  This class will demonstrate one of verifying your tree - this one using some internet resources to flesh out details on your ancestors.  We will discuss how to preserve your research and the best ways to do this process.  If you care about the accuracy of your tree come join us for an interesting class. You might not personally need this class, but your patrons will love you for having a strategy to help them when they encounter problems. Link to the presentation Link to a PDF of the Slides  

Dig Up Extra Facts Through Cemetery Research:  We discussed all the records that are available regarding burials, the kinds of cemeteries, where to find burial records online and offline.  We also discussed accurate and inaccurate tombstones and transcribed burial records. We also described several of the larger cemetery sites online and described where to look off-line. Link to the recording Link to the PDF of the Slides  

  This week's presentation "Using Puzzilla for Ancestor and Descendant Research" is an excellent presentation showing how to use Puzzilla to assist you and your patrons in finding where you can add new people to your tree in FamilySearch. This presentation will show you the various features of both the Free and Premium versions of this great program and will also demonstrate it's use in real-life situations. Link to the Presentation Link to a PDF of the slides