Thursday, April 3, 2014

[UVTAGG] Press Release for meeting Saturday morning 12 Apr 2014

2014-04-03
Journalists and ward newsletter editors, please run this as a news item and/or in your calendar of events.  For a shorter version please show the main speaker and topic, give the UVTAGG websites, and say there are classes at all levels of genealogy.  If you need further information, please email me. Thanks.

Don Snow -- snowd@math.byu.edu




[UVTAGG] Press Release for meeting Saturday morning 12 Apr 2014 

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, 12 Apr 2014, from 9 am to noon in the LDS "Red Chapel", 4050 North Timpview Drive (650 East), Provo.  Information about the Group, meeting location,  main presentations, classes, and class notes are available on their website  http://uvtagg.org  and the press releases are at  http://blog.uvtagg.org .  On the blog you can subscribe to receive an email of the press releases when they are posted a week before the meeting. 

The main presentation this month at UVTAGG will be by Luana Darby on USING STATE ARCHIVES AND LOCAL LIBRARIES ONLINE.  With many state archives and local libraries posting one-of-a-kind information that many times has never been seen outside of that institution, the wealth of information now available to genealogists and family historians is astounding.  Vital records, journals, obituaries, city directories, maps, photographs and more are accessible, if you know where to look. Learn how to search and where to find these elusive, but vital resources. These digital collections will enrich your genealogical experience and may offer that family breakthrough you are looking for!  Luana Darby is a professional genealogist and lecturer.  She graduated from BYU with a degree in Family History and received her master’s degree in Library and Information Science from San Jose State University.  She is the owner of Lineages by Luana, a genealogical research company which focuses on US/Canada and Western European research and consultations and is co-owner of American Patriots and Pioneers Research Services, lineage application specialists.  She has lectured at various regional and national genealogical conferences including NGS. FGS, RootsTech, UGA, BYU and ICAPGen.  She has  served as treasurer, vice president and president of the Utah Genealogical Association and is working on her accreditation in Midwest research.  Her love for genealogy came from listening to her grandmother tell her stories of growing up on the Kansas prairies at the turn of the century.  These stories created a desire to learn more about her ancestors and their stories.  She has spent the last 35 years reconstructing these accounts and looks for every opportunity to connect with "cousins," some of the most recent coming from genealogical DNA breakthroughs.  It is her goal to instill this passion and desire in everyone that she meets.  More information and contact information for her is on her Association of Professional Genealogists page at  http://www.apgen.org/directory/search_detail.html?mbr_id=3068 .


After the main presentation the following classes are scheduled.  Check the meetings page at http://uvtagg.org/ for last minute changes or additions.   (1)  Can You Hear Me Now?  Voice Recognition, by Luana Darby;  (2)  FamilySearch Subscription Site Access Preview, by Beth Ann Wiseman;  (3)  Software and Genealogy Ask An Expert (Personal Help), by Don Engstrom and Finn Hansen;  (4)  Video of last month's main presentation: Family History with Heart: Digging Info Out of Distant Relatives, by Suzanne Hansen;  (5)  Help With The MAC Software "Reunion", by Ron Snowden;  (6)  Ancestral Quest, by Gaylon Findlay;  (7)  RootsMagic, by Sue Maxwell; and  (8)  Legacy, by Dean Bennett.

All meetings of UVTAGG 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 about 100 attending the monthly meetings on the second Saturdays, most of whom are Family History Consultants. The officers are Gerhard Ruf, President; Laurie Castillo, 1st VP; Don Snow, 2nd VP; Liz Kennington, Newsletter Editor; Renee Zamora, Secretary; Kay Baker, Don Engstrom, and Rayanne Melick working with membership and finances, Bruce Merrill and Marie Andersen working with the DVD Library, and Chris Stevenson as the Webmaster.  Some of these will be there to answer questions, help with membership, distribute the current issue of the monthly newsletter TAGGology, and check out and sell DVDs of past presentations and classes to members of the group.  Many members don't live close enough to participate in the monthly meetings, but belong by paying the $10 per year dues to receive the monthly newsletter via email and purchase DVDs of the presentations and classes.  Gift memberships are wonderful presents for family history-minded relatives, friends, and Family History Consultants.  See more information on the websites above about the presentations, classes, and class notes, or to join the Group.  You can also 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),  snowd@math.byu.edu