31 May 2011
Journalists, please run this as a news item and/or in your calendar of events. Ward newsletter editors, please include parts of the first two paragraphs, and mention that there are classes for everyone. Email me, if you need further information. Thanks.
Don Snow
UTAH VALLEY TECHNOLOGY AND GENEALOGY GROUP MEETING (UVTAGG)
The next regular, second-Saturday-of-the-month meeting of the Utah Valley Technology and Genealogy Group - UVTAGG (Formerly the Utah Valley PAF Users Group - UVPAFUG) will be on Saturday, 11 Jun 2011, from 9 am to noon in the LDS "Red Chapel", 4050 North Timpview Drive (650 East), Provo. Information about the Users Group, main presentations, classes, and class notes are available on the Group's website http://uvpafug.org and the press releases are at http://blog.uvpafug.org/ . With the organization's name change these URL's will also be changed eventually.
The main presentation for this meeting will be by Donald R. and Diane M. Snow on FORMING AND ANALYZING A DATABASE OF LETTERS USING THE ERASTUS SNOW FAMILY TO ILLUSTRATE. The Snows will describe procedures and freeware programs they have used to transcribe and form a searchable database of the nearly 300 personal letters they have of the Erastus Snow family. The tools and ideas include help in transcribing the handwritten letters, ways to name the files for ease in searching and forming a spreadsheet to analyze and draw charts, ways to identify and edit the names and places, programs that can be used to search the entire collection for names, words, and phrases, and keeping track of interesting items in the letters. The Snows gave a presentation on their database at the Mormon History Association meeting in St. George two weeks ago where the emphasis was on the text of the letters themselves. Here the emphasis will be on the technical aspects of forming and analyzing the database, but they will illustrate with the text, as well. The Snows have been involved with family history for many years and both are retired faculty members from BYU where Don taught Mathematics and Diane taught Humanities. Don is a great grandson of Erastus Snow and they have been on four family history missions for the LDS Church, including being the Directors of the New York Family History Center in Manhattan, serving in Nauvoo, and serving at the London Family History Center in the Hyde Park Chapel in England. They have 6 children, 30 grandchildren, 4 great grand children, and now are "snowbirds" splitting their time between Provo and St. George. They are speakers at many family history venues.
Following the main presentation there will be several classes about family history and technology with something for everyone at any level of expertise. The teachers and classes presently scheduled for this meeting are as follows: (1) Getting the Most Out of Family Tree Maker (PC and MAC), by Duff Wilson; (2) Get Help From Strangers by Publishing on the Internet, by Merlin Kitchen; (3) Increasing Productivity on the new FamilySearch Website, by Andrea Schnakenburg; (4) Personalized Help, by Don Engstrom & Finn Hansen; (5) Q&A: Forming and Analyzing a Database of Letters Using the Erastus Snow Family To Illustrate, by Don & Diane Snow; (6) Video of last month's main presentation: Resources Available at the Riverton FamilySearch Library, by Suzanne Curley; (7) Ancestral Quest, by Gaylon Findlay; (8) Legacy 7.5, by Joel Graham; and (9) Roots Magic 4, by Sue Maxwell.
All meetings of the Users Group are open to the public whether members of the Group or not. The Users Group has the goal of helping individuals use technology to further their family history and there are usually 100-125 attending the monthly meetings on the second Saturdays. The officers are Gerhard Ruf, President; Laurie Castillo, 1st VP; Don Snow, 2nd VP; Liz Kennington, Newsletter Editor; Kay Baker, Gerry Eliason, and Don Engstrom working with finances and membership; and Bruce Merrill and Marie Andersen, working with the DVD Library. Several of these will be there to help with membership, answer questions, distribute the current issue of the monthly newsletter, and check out DVDs of past presentations and classes to members of the group. Information about the Users Group, presentations, classes, and class notes can be found at the websites mentioned above. For further information contact President Gerhard Ruf at pres@uvpafug.org (801-225-6106) or 1st VP Laurie Castillo at laurie@everythingisrelative.net or 2nd VP Don Snow at snowd@math.byu.edu.
Don Snow, 2nd VP of Utah Valley Technology and Genealogy Group (UVTAGG)
Dr. Donald R. Snow, Retired Professor of Mathematics, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah - snowd@math.byu.edu
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