This is presentation I gave at the 2013 BYU Conference on Family History and Genealogy. It gives a high-level overview of available resources on familysearch.org. A corresponding document with URL links to the pages shown in the presentation has also been uploaded to SlideShare.

1. © 2013 by Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved.
A Whirlwind Tour of
FamilySearch Resources
BYU Conference on
Family History and Genealogy
July 30, 2013
Ben Baker
bakerb@familysearch.org

2. Background
• 3½ years as Software Engineer at FamilySearch
• Currently work primarily on Family Tree
• A lot of work around merging persons in Family Tree (later
presentation on this topic)
• Experts in specific areas also presenting here
• Previous experience at FamilySearch with digital image
processing of historical documents
• Try to do my own genealogy and help others
• I’m here to learn from real users of our services
• Click here for a copy of the syllabus which includes URL
links to reach all screens in this presentation

3. FamilySearch
Family Tree
• Replacing https://new.familysearch.org
• Some key new features include:
• Public access (not just LDS church members)
• A single wiki-like tree that can be edited by any user
• Linking to sources
• Change history with justification reasons
• Not a match declarations to prevent bad merges
• Interactive fan chart
• Integration with photos/stories
• Temple Opportunities
• Lots more

11. Photos and
Stories
• Upload photos and stories about your ancestors to
bring them more to life
• Supports sharing on Facebook, Twitter, Google+,
Pinterest and via E-mail
• Connect to ancestors in Family Tree

18. Search
• This is the place to go to search for historical records
and user-uploaded genealogies
• This page is the most like the previous home page
• About 1 million images are being added each day,
many not indexed, so don’t forget to search un-
indexed record collections

21. Example Using Facets to
Narrow Down Collections
Show me all collections that
contain birth, marriage or death
records in Illinois between 1800
and 1849

24. Process to Submit Tree
1. Upload GEDCOM to FamilySearch
2. Compare each person with those in
Family Tree
3. Add persons not already in Family Tree

29. Temple
• Shows information and status about LDS
temple ordinances
• Only available to LDS church members
• More features around sharing reserved cards
with family and friends are coming soon

33. Volunteer
Volunteer to give of your time, knowledge,
money or insight

38. Get Help
• Supports phone calls, live chat and sending a
message to get help
• Don’t forget to login to see LDS-specific
helps.

44. LDS Church
Websites
There are many pages on lds.org that have
family history related content

48. Profile
• Control user profile settings such as password,
contact information and notification e-mails

50. Indexing
Help index historical records to produce
searchable indexes

52. Celebrating One Billion Records Indexed!
Volunteers have indexed
one billion records since
FamilySearch online
indexing began in 2006.
Join the US Immigration and Naturalization
Community Project to help make the next billion
records free and searchable online!

55. What’s New
Learn about the latest features in FamilySearch
products and services

57. Locations
• In-person help at Family History Centers and
Libraries worldwide
• Some offer on-site courses, microfilm
ordering and other services

59. About
Learn more about the FamilySearch
organization, affiliated products and more

66. Blog
• See the latest announcements and features
• Can subscribe via an RSS news reader

68. Feedback
Provide feedback on FamilySearch
products and services

71. Languages
• English
• Spanish
• Portuguese
• German
• French
• Italian
• Russian
• Japanese
• Korean
• Chinese
Website currently supports 10 languages

73. Other Useful
Related Sites

81. Learn about serving in family history:
Call: 1-855-346-4774
Email: mission@familysearch.org
Online: familysearch.org/mission

88. Q & A
Thank you for attending today’s presentation
Do you know of any other great pages I missed?