FamilySearch Bloggers' Dinner at FGS2012

Greetings from Birmingham, Alabama where I am for the 2012 Federation of Genealogical Societies Conference.

On Tuesday night, I was invited to a bloggers' dinner by FamilySearch. They provided a good meal and shared some of the latest FamilySearch news. It is always a good time.

Here are some of the main points of the evening that may be of interest:

FamilySearch is looking for "records preservation volunteers" to assist in their global digitization efforts. Volunteers can serve at home or abroad, and no special skills are needed. You do not need to be a member of the LDS church to participate. For more information, contact TomlinsonKL@familysearch.org .

The 1940 Census project was a huge success. 165,000 people indexed and arbitrated. A record of 10 million indexed records in a single day was set. 434 societies participated. The 1940 census project was completed three months ahead of schedule. Nice job!

Just because the 1940 census is done doesn't mean the work is finished. FamilySearch wants to carry that volunteer spirit over to their U.S. Immigration and Naturalization project. Mobilize your society members and get going.

What's next for FamilySearch? They're going to put more images online and put more digitizing cameras in the field (meaning around the world). They are digitizing books now. Look for digital check-out options in the future, just like checking out an e-book at your library. There are also efforts behind the scenes to improve searching records at FamilySearch including options for alternative spellings.

FamilySearch Family Tree *is* coming...or so I've been told. I am very interested in this, so I will be pestering the FamilySearch booth at the exhibit hall for more details.

Sincere thanks to the FamilySearch team for the dinner, fellowship and informative presentation. I am passing the information they shared because it is of interest to my genealogy pals.

Now back to the conference...