UVTAGG - Press Release: Online Mtg, 13 Jul 2024, 10-12 Noon MDT, DALLAN QUASS on USING AI TO TRANSCRIBE, SUMMARIZE, AND EXTRACT INFORMATION FROM HANDWRITTEN DOCUMENTS followed by OPEN DISCUSSION ON FAMILY HISTORY AND TECHNOLOGY

UVTAGG - 2024-07-10 - Press Release: Online Mtg, 13 Jul 2024, 10-12 Noon MDT, DALLAN QUASS on USING AI TO TRANSCRIBE, SUMMARIZE, AND EXTRACT INFORMATION FROM HANDWRITTEN DOCUMENTS followed by OPEN DISCUSSION ON FAMILY HISTORY AND TECHNOLOGY

2024-07-10

 

Journalists and newsletter editors, please post this where you can.    If you need more information, please see our website --  https://uvtagg.org  and Press Release Blog   https://blog.uvtagg.org/ .   If you have questions, please contact me.   Thanks. 

Don

Donald R. Snow -- snowd@math.byu.edu  

 

[Short Version]======================.

UVTAGG MEETING, Saturday Morning, 13 Jul 2024 on Zoom and Facebook

10 am - 11 am MDT:  DALLAN QUASS on USING AI TO TRANSCRIBE, SUMMARIZE, AND EXTRACT INFORMATION FROM HANDWRITTEN GENEALOGICAL DOCUMENTS

11:10 - 12 Noon MDT:  OPEN DISCUSSION ON FAMILY HISTORY AND TECHNOLOGY

Details on UVTAGG.org and on the UVTAGG blog.

====================================.

 

[Long version]======================. 

UVTAGG MEETING, Saturday Morning, 13 Jul 2024 on Zoom and Facebook

Details and links to watch are on  https://uvtagg.org   and on the UVTAGG Facebook page.

10 am - 11 am MDT:  DALLAN QUASS on USING AI TO TRANSCRIBE, SUMMARIZE, AND EXTRACT INFORMATION FROM HANDWRITTEN GENEALOGICAL DOCUMENTS

11:10 - 12 Noon MDT: CAROL HILL, RAYANNE MELICK, GERHARD RUF, AND OTHERS on OPEN DISCUSSION ON FAMILY HISTORY AND TECHNOLOGY

 

ABOUT THE MAIN PRESENTATION;

USING AI TO TRANSCRIBE, SUMMARIZE, AND EXTRACT INFORMATION FROM HANDWRITTEN GENEALOGICAL DOCUMENTS

This presentation will explain how to use multi-modal large language models (LLMs) to transcribe handwritten genealogical documents and how to summarize the documents, including names, dates, and places. It will compare the cost and performance of several LLMs so you can decide which one is best for you.

ABOUT DALLAN QUASS:

Dallan Quass has a PhD in Computer Science from Stanford University and Bachelors and Masters degrees in computer science from BYU. He has extensive software development experience, especially extracting information from the Web and creating leading-edge search engines. He has served as the CTO of FamilySearch and has co-founded several software startups: RootsFinder, acquired by Findmypast, WhizBang! Labs, acquired by Inxight Software, FlipDog, acquired by Monster.com, and Junglee, acquired by Amazon.com. His interest in family history prompted him to develop two other family history websites:  gengophers.com  and  werelate.org, both of which have been listed among the top 101 family history websites according to Family Tree Magazine. Finally, he has written over a dozen academic publications which have been cited over 6,000 times according to  academic.research.microsoft.com.

 

ABOUT THE CLASS:

OPEN DISCUSSION ON FAMILY HISTORY AND TECHNOLOGY

This will present an opportunity for any participant in the live broadcast to share their positive experiences, frustrations or ask questions or provide answers for other's questions related to family history and using technology.

All meetings of the UVTAGG group are open to the public and have the goal of helping people use technology to further their family and personal history.  The Group is in its 34th year and previously was called the Utah Valley PAF Users Group.  On the blog is a way for anyone  to receive the press releases via email.  Members of the group ($15/year), besides being able to interact with presenters on ZOOM, receive the monthly email newsletter, TAGGology, and have access to the more than 650 videos of past presentations and classes.  TAGGology contains a wealth of information about genealogy, including information for Temple and Family History Consultants.  Free sample copies of the Newsletter can be requested by emailing  uvtagginfo@gmail.com . 

 

Officers of UVTAGG are Gerhard Ruf, President; Laurie Castillo, 1st VP; Don Snow, 2nd VP; Beccy Martin, Secretary ; Jerry Castillo, Membership Officer, Marilyn Thomsen, TAGGology Newsletter Editor; Rayanne Melick, Treasurer; Librarian (Vacant); Carol Hill, Social Media Publicist; James Anderson, FamilySearch Coordinator; Chris Stevenson, Brent Nelson, Jerry Castillo, and Dawn Brimhall, Broadcast and Website Specialists.  For further information contact President Gerhard Ruf at  uvtagginfo@gmail.com  (801-602-5048), or 1st VP Laurie Castillo at  gengal@comcast.net, or 2nd VP Don Snow at  snowd@math.byu.edu.

 

Donald R. Snow, 2nd VP, snowd@math.byu.edu .

==================================.

 

UVTAGG - Press Release: Online Mtg, 08 Jun 2024, 10-12 Noon MDT, BONNIE DIMOND and CAROL HILL on YOUTH AND FAMILY HISTORY and FAMILYSEARCH SUPPORT

UVTAGG - 2024-06-04 - Press Release: Online Mtg, 08 Jun 2024, 10-12 Noon MDT, BONNIE DIMOND and CAROL HILL on YOUTH AND FAMILY HISTORY and FAMILYSEARCH SUPPORT

2024-06-04

Journalists and newsletter editors, please post this where you can.    If you need more information, please see our website --  https://uvtagg.org  and Press Release Blog  https://blog.uvtagg.org/ .   If you have questions, please contact me.   Thanks. 

Don

Donald R. Snow -- snowd@math.byu.edu  

[Short Version]======================.

UVTAGG MEETING, Saturday Morning, 08 Jun 2024 on Zoom and Facebook

10 am - 11 am MDT:  BONNIE DIMOND on INVOLVING YOUTH IN FAMILY HISTORY

11:10 - 12 Noon MDT:  CAROL HILL on FAMILYSEARCH SUPPORT REVEALED

Details on UVTAGG.org and on the UVTAGG blog.

====================================.

[Long version]======================. 

UVTAGG MEETING, Saturday Morning, 08 Jun 2024 on Zoom and Facebook

Details and links to watch are on  https://uvtagg.org   and on the UVTAGG Facebook page.

10 am - 11 am MDT:  BONNIE DIMOND on INVOLVING YOUTH IN FAMILY HISTORY

11:10 - 12 Noon MDT: CAROL HILL on FAMILYSEARCH SUPPORT REVEALED

ABOUT THE MAIN PRESENTATION; INVOLVING YOUTH IN FAMILY HISTORY

How to host a youth family history camp using a FamilySearch Center to train the youth in your area. Ideas for youth temple and family history consultants.

ABOUT BONNIE DIMOND:

Bonnie Dimond has a Master’s Degree in Business Administration from BYU.   She and her husband, Mike Dimond, have served as Stake Temple and Family History Consultants and Associate Directors of the Alpine FamilySearch Center since 2021. During this time, the Dimonds have focused on teaching the youth in their area how to do family history.  They have taught multiple youth summer camps as well as numerous activities and training for the youth in multiple stakes in their area.

ABOUT THE CLASS: FAMILYSEARCH SUPPORT REVEALED

Carol Hill, who is currently serving a Service Mission for FamilySearch Support, will be sharing FamilySearch Support Contact Options, what it is like to Serve a Support mission, what skills we develop, what resources we use to answer questions, etc. After listening to this presentation, she hopes you will want to join the team!!

ABOUT CAROL HILL:

Carol Hill received her Bachelor’s Degree in Family History from BYU in 2003, and has been helping others with their family history since then. She is currently serving a FamilySearch Support Mission and serving as a YSA stake family history consultant. She creates Family History YouTube videos to help others understand different features of FamilySearch, and other genealogy sites, as well. She loves her 6 children, 31 grandchildren, and wonderful husband.

All meetings of the UVTAGG group are open to the public and have the goal of helping people use technology to further their family and personal history.  The Group is in its 34th year and previously was called the Utah Valley PAF Users Group.  On the blog is a way for anyone  to receive the press releases via email.  Members of the group ($15/year), besides being able to interact with presenters on ZOOM, receive the monthly email newsletter, TAGGology, and have access to the more than 650 videos of past presentations and classes.  TAGGology contains a wealth of information about genealogy, including information for Temple and Family History Consultants.  Free sample copies of the Newsletter can be requested by emailing uvtagginfo@gmail.com . 

Officers of UVTAGG are Gerhard Ruf, President; Laurie Castillo, 1st VP; Don Snow, 2nd VP; Beccy Martin, Secretary ; Jerry Castillo, Membership Officer, Marilyn Thomsen, TAGGology Newsletter Editor; Rayanne Melick, Treasurer; Librarian (Vacant); Carol Hill, Social Media Publicist; James Anderson, FamilySearch Coordinator; Chris Stevenson, Brent Nelson, Jerry Castillo, and Dawn Brimhall, Broadcast and Website Specialists.  For further information contact President Gerhard Ruf at uvtagginfo@gmail.com (801-602-5048), or 1st VP Laurie Castillo at gengal@comcast.net, or 2nd VP Don Snow at snowd@math.byu.edu.

Donald R. Snow, 2nd VP, snowd@math.byu.edu .

==================================.

UVTAGG - 2025-05-08 - Press Release: Online Mtg, 11 May 2024, 10-12 Noon MDT, BETH ANN WISEMAN on METADATA OF PHOTOS

UVTAGG - 2025-05-08 - Press Release: Online Mtg, 11 May 2024, 10-12 Noon MDT, BETH ANN WISEMAN on METADATA OF PHOTOS

2024-05-08

Journalists and newsletter editors, please post this where you can.    If you need more information, please see our website --  https://uvtagg.org  and Press Release Blog  https://blog.uvtagg.org/ .   If you have questions, please contact me.   Thanks. 

Don

Donald R. Snow -- snowd@math.byu.edu  

[Short Version]======================.

UVTAGG MEETING, Saturday Morning, 11 May 2024 on Zoom and Facebook

10 am - 11 AM MDT:  BETH ANN WISEMAN on Metadata Magic:  Preserving the Writing On the Back Of the Photo (Metadata) In Digital Photos

11:10-12 Noon MDT:  BETH ANN WISEMAN on Metadata Magic: How Do I Embed Metadata In My Digital Photos?

Details on UVTAGG.org and on the UVTAGG blog.

====================================.

[Long version]======================. 

UVTAGG MEETING, Saturday Morning, 11 May 2024 on Zoom and Facebook

Details and links to watch are on  https://uvtagg.org   and on the UVTAGG Facebook page.

10 am - 11 AM MDT:  BETH ANN WISEMAN on Metadata Magic:  Preserving the Writing On the Back Of the Photo (Metadata) In Digital Photos

11:10-12 Noon MDT:  BETH ANN WISEMAN on Metadata Magic: How Do I Embed Metadata In My Digital Photos?

ABOUT BETH ANN WISEMAN:

Beth Ann Wiseman's passion is preserving family photos, both personally and professionally.  As a teenager in the 1970s, she received xeroxed copies of copies of family stories whose blubs and blurs were barely readable.  Since she was not able to source photos and stories, she pondered how she could preserve her rich family heritage for her children and grandchildren.  She has a B. A. in History and a Masters degree in Computer Science, initially working as a software developer, which included the scanning of digital images - the perfect solution for preserving and sharing family stories. At that time it was difficult to share scanned images. The rest of the story needed to go along with the images. She tried file system strategies, static html files on a CD, and even creating a database on CD.  Nothing seemed to work really well.

Beth Ann was one of the original members of the engineering team at FamilySearch that implemented Memories and she still works on that team - her dream job.  Memories addresses many of the sticking points for sharing family photos and stories.  She is also involved with an organization created by Gordon Clarke at FamilySearch to standardize how the family history industry uses metadata properties and she has been testing and validating the standards proposed by the Family History Metadata Working Group (FHMWG).

ABOUT THE MAIN PRESENTATION;

Embedding the writing on the back of the photo so that it travels with the photo as embedded metadata creates magic in finding and sharing your photos and their stories.  Once you know why, you will want to know how. This main presentation discusses why you would want to go to the effort of embedding the writing on the back of the photo into your digital photos. And what do FamilySearch and others do with metadata in a photo?

ABOUT THE CLASS:

OK, I'm convinced. I really want the magic of metadata in my digital photos. How can I do that?  What tools can I use?

All meetings of the UVTAGG group are open to the public and have the goal of helping people use technology to further their family and personal history.  The Group is in its 34th year and previously was called the Utah Valley PAF Users Group.  On the blog is a way for anyone  to receive the press releases via email.  Members of the group ($15/year), besides being able to interact with presenters on ZOOM, receive the  monthly email newsletter, TAGGology, and have access to the more than 650 videos of past presentations and classes.  TAGGology contains a wealth of information about genealogy, including information for Temple and Family History Consultants.  Free sample copies of the Newsletter can be requested by emailing uvtagginfo@gmail.com  . 

Officers of UVTAGG are Gerhard Ruf, President; Laurie Castillo, 1st VP; Don Snow, 2nd VP; Secretary (Vacant); Jerry Castillo, Membership Officer, Marilyn Thomsen, TAGGology Newsletter Editor; Rayanne Melick, Treasurer; Librarian (Vacant); Carol Hill, Social Media Publicist; James Anderson, FamilySearch Coordinator; Chris Stevenson, Brent Nelson, Jerry Castillo, and Dawn Brimhall, Broadcast and Website Specialists.  For further information contact President Gerhard Ruf at uvtagginfo@gmail.com (801-602-5048), or 1st VP Laurie Castillo at gengal@comcast.net, or 2nd VP Don Snow at snowd@math.byu.edu.

Donald R. Snow, 2nd VP, snowd@math.byu.edu .

==================================.

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

UVTAGG - Press Release: Online Mtg, 13 Apr 2024, 10-12 Noon MDT, ROBERT GIVENS ON NEW FEATURES IN FAMILYSEARCH

UVTAGG - Press Release: Online Mtg, 13 Apr 2024, 10-12 Noon MDT, ROBERT GIVENS ON NEW FEATURES IN FAMILYSEARCH

2024-04-04

Journalists and newsletter editors, please post this where you can.    If you need more information, please see our website --  https://uvtagg.org  and Press Release Blog  https://blog.uvtagg.org/ .   If you have questions, please contact me.   Thanks. 

Don

Donald R. Snow -- snowd@math.byu.edu  

[Short Version]======================.

UVTAGG MEETING, Saturday Morning, 13 Apr 2024 on Zoom and Facebook

10 am - 11 AM MDT:  ROBERT GIVENS on FAMILYSEARCH LABS: FAMILY GROUP TREES AND THE TOGETHER APP

11:10-12 Noon MDT:  ROBERT GIVENS on FIVE LESSER USED FEATURES OF FAMILYSEARCH

More details on UVTAGG.org and on the UVTAGG blog.

====================================.

[Long version]======================. 

UVTAGG MEETING, Saturday Morning, 13 Apr 2024 on Zoom and Facebook

Details and links to watch are on  https://uvtagg.org   and on the UVTAGG Facebook page.

10 am - 11 AM MDT:  ROBERT GIVENS on FAMILYSEARCH LABS: FAMILY GROUP TREES AND THE TOGETHER APP

11:10-12 Noon MDT:  ROBERT GIVENS on FIVE LESSER USED FEATURES OF FAMILYSEARCH

ABOUT ROBERT GIVENS:

Robert Givens has received advanced degrees from Fresno State College and California State University, Fresno. His career in education spanned 39 years in that area. He started researching in family history during his high school years and has been even more actively involved since his retirement in 2008. This included 8 years directing the Fresno North Stake Family History Center and currently with his wife is an Area Temple and Family History Adviser for 11 stakes in the Fresno region.

For 15 years as a FamilySearch volunteer he was actively involved supporting various features of FamilySearch, including helping patrons with their problem records, launching and supporting social communities and administering research groups sponsored by FamilySearch in Facebook, and working on its Research Wiki. He is an experienced researcher in New England, Midwest and Southern state records, has published 4 genealogy books, and presented on genealogical topics in multiple states. When he is not researching, he loves to garden, read, and watch sports on TV.

ABOUT THE MAIN PRESENTATION -- FAMILYSEARCH LABS: FAMILY GROUP TREES AND THE TOGETHER APP

These new features of FamilySearch were made public at RootsTech 2024.  The Family Group Trees feature has been in the works for over 7 years and allows a family to create a private place on FamilySearch where the living members of the family can create a tree of the living where everyone can see everyone else in the group.  Memories and sources can be added and everyone in the group can see them. The Together app is a new app that is intended to be a companion to the new Family Group Trees. With it you can share many kinds of things about yourself and your family and share with the living members of your Family Group Tree.

ABOUT THE CLASS -- FIVE LESSER USED FEATURES OF FAMILYSEARCH

This presentation covers the following features:

- Start Discovering Your Family Story

- The About page

- Time Line and Map page

- Chats, Notes, Discussions and Brief Life Story (Collaboration Tools), and

-The feature called Following.

All meetings of the Group are open to the public and have the goal of helping people use technology to further their family and personal history.  The Group is in its 34th year and previously was called the Utah Valley PAF Users Group.  On the blog is a way for anyone  to receive the press releases via email.  Members of the group ($15/year), besides being able to interact with presenters on ZOOM, receive the  monthly email newsletter, TAGGology, and have access to the more than 650 videos of past presentations and classes.  TAGGology contains a wealth of information about genealogy, including information for Temple and Family History Consultants.  Free sample copies of the Newsletter can be requested by emailing uvtagginfo@gmail.com  . 

Officers of UVTAGG are Gerhard Ruf, President; Laurie Castillo, 1st VP; Don Snow, 2nd VP; Secretary (Vacant); Jerry Castillo, Membership Officer, Marilyn Thomsen, TAGGology Newsletter Editor; Rayanne Melick, Treasurer; Librarian (Vacant); Carol Hill, Social Media Publicist; James Anderson, FamilySearch Coordinator; Chris Stevenson, Brent Nelson, Jerry Castillo, and Dawn Brimhall, Broadcast and Website Specialists.  For further information contact President Gerhard Ruf at uvtagginfo@gmail.com (801-602-5048), or 1st VP Laurie Castillo at gengal@comcast.net, or 2nd VP Don Snow at snowd@math.byu.edu.

Donald R. Snow, 2nd VP, snowd@math.byu.edu .

==================================.

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

UVTAGG Press Release: Online Mtg, 09 Mar 2024, 10-12 Noon MT, WENDY BRIMHALL AG® on NEWSPAPERS

UVTAGG  Press Release: Online Mtg, 09 Mar 2024, 10-12 Noon MT, WENDY BRIMHALL AG® on NEWSPAPERS

2024-03-07

Journalists and newsletter editors, please post this where you can.    If you need more information, please see our website --  https://uvtagg.org  and Press Release Blog  https://blog.uvtagg.org/ .   If you have questions, please contact me.   Thanks. 

Don

Donald R. Snow -- snowd@math.byu.edu  

[Short Version]======================.

UVTAGG MEETING, Saturday Morning, 09 Mar 2024 on Zoom and Facebook

10 am - 11 AM MT:  WENDY BRIMHALL AG® on OLD NEWS IS GOOD NEWS: SEARCHING FOR ANCESTORS IN NEWSPAPERS

11:10-12 Noon MT:  WHAT WE LEARNED AT ROOTSTECH 2024: PANEL DISCUSSION with MARILYN THOMSEN, CAROL HILL, and SANDY BRIMHALL

More details on UVTAGG.org and on the UVTAGG blog.

====================================.

[Long version]======================. 

UVTAGG MEETING, Saturday Morning, 09 Mar 2024 on Zoom and Facebook

Details and links to watch are on  https://uvtagg.org   and on the UVTAGG Facebook page.

10 am - 11 AM MT:  WENDY BRIMHALL AG® on OLD NEWS IS GOOD NEWS: SEARCHING FOR ANCESTORS IN NEWSPAPERS

11:10-12 Noon MT:  WHAT WE LEARNED AT ROOTSTECH 2024: PANEL DISCUSSION with MARILYN THOMSEN, CAROL HILL, and SANDY BRIMHALL

ABOUT THE MAIN PRESENTATION -- OLD NEWS IS GOOD NEWS: SEARCHING FOR ANCESTORS IN NEWSPAPERS

Newspapers are an incredible underutilized resource in Family History. This presentation will discuss both free and subscription newspaper websites. It will also demonstrate searching techniques and show what information can be gathered from newspapers.

ABOUT WENDY BRIMHALL AG®:

Wendy Brimhall, AG®, is a professional genealogist specializing in the United States Upper South. She graduated from Brigham Young University with a BA in Family History - Genealogy. She completed internships at the Filson Historical Society in Louisville, Kentucky, Utah State Archives, and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Church History Library. She works for Ancestry ProGenealogists®. Wendy gained her love of family history by visiting the Family History Library in Salt Lake City with her parents for many years as a child. She loves gathering the stories of individuals and seeing how their life played out in the time and place in which they lived. In her spare time, she likes to cook, hike, quilt, and fiddle.

ABOUT THE CLASS -- WHAT WE LEARNED AT ROOTSTECH 2024: PANEL DISCUSSION

Open discussion for UVTAGG members on Zoom with Marilyn Thomsen, Carol Hill, and Sandy Brimhall

All meetings of the Group are open to the public and have the goal of helping people use technology to further their family and personal history.  The Group is in its 34th year and previously was called the Utah Valley PAF Users Group.  On the blog is a way for anyone  to receive the press releases via email.  Members of the group ($15/year), besides being able to interact with presenters on ZOOM, receive the  monthly email newsletter, TAGGology, and have access to the more than 650 videos of past presentations and classes.  TAGGology contains a wealth of information about genealogy, including information for Temple and Family History Consultants.  Free sample copies of the Newsletter can be requested by emailing uvtagginfo@gmail.com  . 

Officers of UVTAGG are Gerhard Ruf, President; Laurie Castillo, 1st VP; Don Snow, 2nd VP; Secretary (Vacant); Jerry Castillo, Membership Officer, Marilyn Thomsen, TAGGology Newsletter Editor; Rayanne Melick, Treasurer; Librarian (Vacant); Carol Hill, Social Media Publicist; James Anderson, FamilySearch Coordinator; Chris Stevenson, Brent Nelson, Jerry Castillo, and Dawn Brimhall, Broadcast and Website Specialists.  For further information contact President Gerhard Ruf at uvtagginfo@gmail.com (801-602-5048), or 1st VP Laurie Castillo at gengal@comcast.net, or 2nd VP Don Snow at snowd@math.byu.edu.

Donald R. Snow, 2nd VP, snowd@math.byu.edu .

==================================.

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

Webpage  https://uvtagg.org/classes/dons/dons-classes.html 

UVTAGG - Press Release: Online Mtg, 10 Feb 2024, 10-12 Noon MT, DONALD R. SNOW on GETTING STARTED WITH FREE AI

UVTAGG - 2024-02-06- Press Release: Online Mtg, 10 Feb 2024, 10-12 Noon MT,  DONALD R. SNOW on GETTING STARTED WITH FREE AI

2024-02-06

Journalists and newsletter editors, please post this where you can.    If you need more information, please see our website --  https://uvtagg.org  and Press Release Blog  https://blog.uvtagg.org/ .   If you have questions, please contact me.   Thanks. 

Don

Donald R. Snow -- snowd@math.byu.edu  

[Short Version]======================.

UVTAGG MEETING, Saturday Morning, 10 Feb 2024 on Zoom and Facebook

10 am - 11 AM MT:  DONALD R. SNOW on GETTING STARTED WITH FREE AI

11:10-12 Noon MT:   DONALD R. SNOW on AI Q & A

More details on UVTAGG.org and on the UVTAGG blog.

====================================.

[Long version]======================. 

UVTAGG MEETING, Saturday Morning, 10 Feb 2024, 10 am - 12 Noon MT on Zoom and Facebook

Details and links to watch are on  https://uvtagg.org   and on the UVTAGG Facebook page.

10 am - 11 AM MT:  DONALD R. SNOW on GETTING STARTED WITH FREE AI

11:10-12 Noon MT:   DONALD R. SNOW on AI Q & A

ABOUT DONALD R. SNOW: 

Don is a Californian by birth, with Snow ancestors from Southern Utah.  He is a retired Professor of Mathematics from Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah, and has lived in several foreign countries, both for mathematics and church assignments.  After retiring from the BYU Math Faculty, he and his now deceased wife Diane, served four Family History missions for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, including being Directors of the New York Family History Center in Manhattan, in the Illinois Nauvoo Mission working on a FH project, and in the London England Family History Centre.  Don served two terms on the Board of Directors of the Utah Genealogical Association and was the Host of their online Virtual Chapter Meetings for several years.  He has been a VP of the Utah Valley Technology and Genealogy Group (UVTAGG) since the early 1990's.  He is a frequent speaker at FH venues and loves teaching and playing his accordion.  His website is http://uvtagg.org/classes/dons/dons-classes.html

ABOUT THE MAIN PRESENTATION and CLASS:  GETTING STARTED WITH FREE AI

AI (Artificial Intelligence) is helpful in many ways, including family history.  Once you get started it is easy to use.  This presentation will help you get started with some of the major free AI websites and how to use them.  Examples will illustrate this and give you ideas to use it.  The notes  have the links, so if you use them online, you can just click and go to the AI website.  The AI websites we will discuss are Microsoft's Copilot, Googles' Bard, Open AI's ChatGPT, and Summarize.tech, a website that will give you a text summary of close-captioned YouTube videos.  The notes and other related information, all with active internet links, will be on the handout and posted on  https://uvtagg.org/classes/dons/dons-classes.html . 

All meetings of the Group are open to the public and have the goal of helping people use technology to further their family and personal history.  The Group is in its 34th year and previously was called the Utah Valley PAF Users Group.  On the blog is a way for anyone  to receive the press releases via email.  Members of the group ($15/year), besides being able to interact with presenters on ZOOM, receive the  monthly email newsletter, TAGGology, and have access to the more than 650 videos of past presentations and classes.  TAGGology contains a wealth of information about genealogy, including information for Temple and Family History Consultants.  Free sample copies of the Newsletter can be requested by emailing uvtagginfo@gmail.com  . 

Officers of UVTAGG are Gerhard Ruf, President; Laurie Castillo, 1st VP; Don Snow, 2nd VP; Secretary (Vacant); Jerry Castillo, Membership Officer, Marilyn Thomsen, TAGGology Newsletter Editor; Rayanne Melick, Treasurer; Librarian (Vacant); Carol Hill, Social Media Publicist; James Anderson, FamilySearch Coordinator; Chris Stevenson, Brent Nelson, Jerry Castillo, and Dawn Brimhall, Broadcast and Website Specialists.  For further information contact President Gerhard Ruf at uvtagginfo@gmail.com (801-602-5048), or 1st VP Laurie Castillo at gengal@comcast.net  , or 2nd VP Don Snow at snowd@math.byu.edu .

Donald R. Snow, 2nd VP, snowd@math.byu.edu .

==================================.

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

UVTAGG - 2024-01-06- Press Release: Online Mtg, 13 Jan 2024, 10-12 Noon MT, THOMAS P. GILL on OBSERVATIONS OF 15 YEARS OF FAMILYSEARCH

UVTAGG - 2024-01-06- Press Release: Online Mtg, 13 Jan 2024, 10-12 Noon MT,  THOMAS P. GILL on OBSERVATIONS OF 15 YEARS OF FAMILYSEARCH

2024-01-06

Journalists and newsletter editors, please post this where you can.    If you need more information, please see our website --  https://uvtagg.org  and Press Release Blog  https://blog.uvtagg.org/ .   If you have questions, please contact me.   Thanks. 

Don

Donald R. Snow -- snowd@math.byu.edu 

 

[Short Version]======================.

UVTAGG MEETING, Saturday Morning, 13 Jan 2024 on Zoom and Facebook

10 am - 11 AM MT:  THOMAS P. GILL on FAMILYSEARCH:  OBSERVATIONS FROM THE PAST 15 YEARS

11:10-12 Noon MT:  THOMAS P. GILL on FAMILYSEARCH:  Q&A

More details on UVTAGG.org and on the UVTAGG blog.

====================================.

[Long version]======================. 

UVTAGG MEETING, Saturday Morning, 13 Jan 2024, 10 am - 12 Noon MT on Zoom and Facebook

Details and links to watch are on  https://uvtagg.org   and on the UVTAGG Facebook page.

10 am - 11 AM MT:  THOMAS P. GILL on FAMILYSEARCH:  OBSERVATIONS FROM THE PAST 15 YEARS

11:10-12 Noon MT:  THOMAS P. GILL on FAMILYSEARCH:  Q&A

ABOUT THOMAS P. GILL: 

Tom has been with FamilySearch for 15 years and currently serves as Director of Latin America Operations. He has previously been Director of Planning & Analytics and the Controller/Finance Director. His responsibilities now  include Latin America Operations, Planning, Business Intelligence, and Help Operations. Prior to FamilySearch, Tom worked 3+ years as a Director of Finance for Destination Homes in Layton, Utah and 12+ years for Payless Shoe Source in Topeka, KS. His roles included Director of Planning & Analysis, Director of Capital Planning & Market Analysis, and Director of Merchandise Systems & Solutions.  Tom is a graduate of Brigham Young University with a BS in Accounting and an MBA. Tom and his wife Kathy, have 6 children and 6 grand-children and live in Kaysville, Utah. He served a Spanish speaking mission in Philadelphia, PA. He taught 12 years of early morning seminary and currently teaches gospel doctrine with his wife.  He has been a Bishop and on the High Council of his stake of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  He has  been in charge of RootsTech, both in Salt Lake City and in London, England, and has some great stories to tell.  He now travels all over Latin America for FamilySearch and talking to archivists in many countries.

ABOUT THE MAIN RESENTATION AND Q&A CLASS:  FAMILYSEARCH: OBSERVATIONS OF THE PAST 15 YEARS

Tom will talk about some of the changes that he has seen in his 15 years with FamilySearch. He will talk about the purpose statement, the Family History Temple Support Plan, efforts to build relationships with archivists around the world, and the increasing role and contribution from the general public. He will share some of his learnings from working with users and archivists from Latin America.

All meetings of the Group are open to the public and have the goal of helping people use technology to further their family and personal history.  The group is in its 34rd year and previously was called the Utah Valley PAF Users Group.  On the blog is a way for anyone  to receive the press releases via email.  Members of the group ($15/year), besides being able to interact with presenters on ZOOM, receive the  monthly email newsletter TAGGology and have access to the more than 650 videos of past presentations and classes.  TAGGology newsletter contains a wealth of information about genealogy, including information for Temple and Family History Consultants.  Free sample copies of the Newsletter can be requested by emailing uvtagginfo@gmail.com  . 

Officers of UVTAGG are Gerhard Ruf, President; Laurie Castillo, 1st VP; Don Snow, 2nd VP; Secretary (Vacant); Jerry Castillo, Membership Officer, Marilyn Thomsen, TAGGology Newsletter Editor; Rayanne Melick, Treasurer; Librarian (Vacant); Carol Hill, Social Media Publicist; James Anderson, FamilySearch Coordinator; Chris Stevenson, Brent Nelson, Jerry Castillo, and Dawn Brimhall, Broadcast and Website Specialists.  For further information contact President Gerhard Ruf at uvtagginfo@gmail.com (801-602-5048), or 1st VP Laurie Castillo at gengal@comcast.net  , or 2nd VP Don Snow at snowd@math.byu.edu .

Donald R. Snow, 2nd VP, snowd@math.byu.edu .

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