[UVTAGG] Press release for meeting on Saturday 11 Feb 2012

[UVTAGG] Press release for meeting on Saturday 11 Feb 2012

31 Jan 2012
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 Feb 2012, from 9 am to noon in the LDS "Red Chapel", 4050 North Timpview Drive (650 East), Provo.  Information about the Group, main presentations, classes, and class notes are available on their website http://uvtagg.org and the press releases are at http://blog.uvtagg.org .

The main presentation for this meeting will be by Randy Bryson on FAMILYSEARCH SCANNING - THE STORY OF OPENING THE GRANITE MOUNTAIN RECORDS VAULT.  Since 1938 the Genealogical Society of Utah, which is now part of FamilySearch, has been capturing on film the records of the world and storing that film in the Granite Mountain Records Vault.  In the past decade, modern technology and dedicated engineers have developed a means to convert those images on film to images on the Internet.  This presentation will provide insight into how the images are being converted, some of the incredible challenges that have been overcome, and how today we experience one of the most prolific efforts in the world to make the records of our ancestors available to a world-wide population.  Randy Bryson is currently an Area Family History Advisor in the Utah South Area of the LDS Church and is a past Family History Center Director, as well as formerly serving as 1st Counselor in the Lehi Utah Stake Presidency with assignment over Temple and Family History work.  Also, professionally working for the Family History Department, he has had experience in the development and use of FamilySearch.org, newFamilySearch, Scanning, Indexing, and older products such as Personal Ancestral File (PAF), the Pedigree Resource File (PRF), and other systems.  He now works to use the Church's technology to provide FamilySearch to the homes of members and nonmembers alike.  Brother Bryson lives in Lehi, Utah with his beautiful wife, Madge, also an Area Family History Adviser.  They have two married daughters and three married sons with twelve grandchildren in Utah, Idaho and Alabama.

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)  Using the U.S. Census, by Marilyn Thomsen;  (2)  Using Ancestry's Family Trees, by Kathy Magleby;  (3)  Q&A on Scanning Records in the Granite Vault;  (4)  Video of last month's main presentation:  The Changing Face of Family History Research, by Karen Clifford;  (5)  Personalized Help, by Don Engstrom & Finn Hansen;  (6)  RootsMagic, by Bruce Buzbee;  (7)  Ancestral Quest, by Gaylon Findlay; and  (8)  Legacy, by Dean Bennett.

All meetings of the Group are open to the public whether members of the Group or not. The 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; Renee Zamora, Secretary; 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 answer questions, help with membership, distribute the current issue of the monthly newsletter TAGGology, and check out DVDs of past presentations and classes to members of the group.  Information about the Group, presentations, classes, and class notes can be found at the websites mentioned above.  For further information contact President Gerhard Ruf at pres@uvtagg.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)

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Dr. Donald R. Snow, Retired Professor of Mathematics, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah - snowd@math.byu.edu