Planning a Trip to Salt Lake City for Your Family History Research?

Posted on August 8, 2012 by Gena Philibert-Ortega

Introduction: Gena Philibert-Ortega is a genealogist and author of the book “From the Family Kitchen.” In this guest blog post, Gena provides practical advice for genealogists planning a trip to Salt Lake City for doing family history research.

Want to go to Salt Lake City in Utah? If you are like most genealogists that question is answered with an emphatic “yes!” because Salt Lake City is one of the world’s centers for family history research.

photograph of Temple Square in Salt Lake City, Utah

Like any research trip it’s a good idea to do your homework prior to leaving home. There’s so much you can do in Salt Lake City including researching at the world famous Family History Library (open to the public free of charge) or even attending a conference like RootsTech. But before you pack your bags consider these tips.

Travel is easier when you have a guide. The Chart Chick’s Quick Insider’s Guide to Salt Lake City by Janet Hovorka, president of the Utah Genealogical Association and a Salt Lake City native, provides family history researchers with what they need to know for a trip to this genealogical mecca. Covered in this guide is everything from how to get around Salt Lake City to archives and libraries (aside from the Family History Library), places to visit, shop, and most importantly—where to eat. To purchase this Salt Lake City, UT, travel guide book or download it as a free PDF, visit Janet’s blog The Chart Chick. If you do request the PDF you have the added advantage of being able to download it to a mobile device for easy reference.

Do your genealogy homework. Before you take a genealogy research trip make sure you are prepared. Conduct a thorough search of the Family History Library Catalog and make note of all the microforms, books and resources you want to see. Pay special attention to the location of the item. If an item is in the “Vault” you will need to order it beforehand. Since the Family History Library Catalog is available on the Internet, do this preliminary research first so you don’t waste time while at the library.

photograph of microfilm drawers inside the Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Utah

Ask other genealogists. It’s always a good idea to talk to other genealogists who’ve traveled to your destination. Frequent travelers to the Family History Library may have helpful tips about making photocopies, what to bring, how they go about researching at the facility, and where the best places to stay in Salt Lake City are. Not sure you know anyone who has been to Salt Lake City? Ask around at your local genealogy society or post a question on a social media website like Facebook, Twitter or GenealogyWise.

photograph of the Family History Library of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Salt Lake City, Utah

Have fun! Yes, there is so much you can research at the Family History Library, as well as the other archives and libraries, but don’t forget to take some breaks during your trip as well. It’s important to schedule some time to eat, walk around or even take the night off to check out the sights and tourist attractions. If you arrive on Sunday, the Family History Library is closed but that gives you time to prepare for your research and do some sightseeing in Utah.

photograph of Salt Lake Temple, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Salt Lake City, Utah

However you plan your family research trip, remember this: no matter how much time you spend researching, there will always be more you wished you had seen. So when you get home, organize what you found, update your database and start planning your next trip!

Handy List of New Jersey Newspapers Online 1773-2010

Posted on September 1, 2010 by Tom Kemp

Here is a list of New Jersey newspapers online 1773-Today.

Begin Searching Now

New Jersey Newspapers Online

Archivio di Stato (State Archive) L’Aquila, Italy Destroyed by Earthquake

Posted on April 6, 2009 by Tom Kemp

Early this morning we got the news of the earthquake in L’Aquila, Italy.

Klaus Graf sent me these before and after pictures of the Archivio di Stato (State Archive) there in L’Aquila, Italy.

Massachusetts Library Lecture – Sat, 4 Apr – Braintree, MA

Posted on April 4, 2009 by Tom Kemp

Thayer Public Library, 798 Washington St., Braintree, Massachusetts.
For more information, call 781-848-0405 x4420 or visit www.thayerpubliclibrary.net

Program: Discovering Your Ancestry Using the Internet
Speaker: Michael Brophy
When: Saturday, April 4, from 10 a.m. to 11:15 a.m.
Cost: Free and open to the public.

The most popular and useful features of www.newenglandancestors.org, www.familysearch.org, www.genealogybank.com and other Internet resources will be discussed.

New England Ancestors is the database of the 150+ year old New England Historic Genealogical Society.

Family search is the website of the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, UT.

Cyndi’s list is the most powerful search engine on the Internet for high quality genealogy databases and subjects.

GenealogyBank is a fast growing website that contains the best newspaper collections on the planet.

Genealogy Librarian – Edith Nettleton – turns 100!

Posted on July 23, 2008 by Tom Kemp

Tuesday July 22nd was Edith Nettleton’s 100th birthday!

Celebrate with her and send a birthday card to:
Edith B. Nettleton
c/o Guilford Free Library
67 Park Street
Guilford, CT 06437

Rachael Scarborough King, New Haven (CT) Register reporter wrote about Genealogy Librarian Edith Nettleton turning 100.
Click here to read the entire article.

Here is the first part of the article:
GUILFORD, CT — Surrounded by friends, family and colleagues, Edith Nettleton celebrated her 100th birthday Tuesday at the place where she has spent much of her adult life — the Guilford Free Library. Tuesday’s party could not take place at the main Park Street library, where Nettleton became the first librarian in 1934. The building is under construction and due to reopen in early September.

But that didn’t stop well-wishers from filling the temporary library on Carter Drive for the occasion.

The party — which included punch and her requested chocolate cake and coffee ice cream — was one of four in the past few days for Nettleton, whose birthday was Tuesday.

“It’s overwhelming,” Nettleton said of the party. “It’s lovely.”

She started working at the library 75 years ago, and retired from her role as library director in 1978. Since then, she has continued as a volunteer librarian, often working on special projects on Guilford history or genealogy.

She can still be found at the library a few days a week, where the main reading room — the
Edith B. Nettleton Historical Room — is named for her. Click here to read the entire article.

FamilySearch adding 1920 Census online

Posted on July 21, 2008 by Tom Kemp

Complete US Census Index 1790-1930 to be free online.

FamilySearch.org (the Family History Library – Salt Lake City, UT) announced today that it will complete its online index to the US Census 1790 to 1930, making the entire index free online for the first time.

Currently FamilySearch has online free indexes to the 1850, 1860, 1870, 1880 and 1900 US Federal Census online at its FamilySearchLabs site. It announced work on the 1910 census index a few weeks ago.

Today FamilySearch announced that it will immediately work with The Generations Network (TGN – also known as Ancestry.com) and begin putting the 1920 census index online for free. TGN will swap it’s index to the 1920 census and in exchange FamilySearch gave TGN their digital version of the 1900 census.

As I wrote earlier – the Family History Library’s indexing project has done high quality work and the FHL’s version of the 1900 census is the best online with double keyed indexes and brand new digital images of each page of the census.

FamilySearch will merge the Ancestry indexes with the new FamilySearch indexes to create an enhanced census index, which will be added to both sites. The final indexes will be free on FamilySearch.org

FamilySearch will use the 1920 Census index from Ancestry as a first pass and will begin to double check and correct each entry. FamilySearch will also add more indexed fields and arbitrate any discrepancies between the two indexes. This re-indexing of the 1920 census is currently in progress. Once completed, the enhanced 1920 index will be available on both sites.

Genealogists interested in helping create the improved index may volunteer at FamilySearchIndexing.

As FamilySearch did previously in an agreement with Ancestry for the 1880 census – the 1920 census will be searchable for free on FamilySearch.org but to view the page images, researchers will need to pay a fee and will be redirected to the page images on Ancestry.com

It’s a great day for genealogy.
.

Census – Vital Records – Washington State; England; Mexico

Posted on July 18, 2008 by Tom Kemp

Washington State Census, Birth Records, Marriage Records, Death Records; Mexico 1930 Census; and England & Wales Census of 1841 & 1861 are now online.

It’s a great day for Genealogy.

Washington State
Washington State Digital Archives has now put Washington State & Federal census records from 1847 through 1910. Click here to see the list of census records online.

FamilySearchLabs has the index to the 1841 Census of England & Wales and 1861 Census of England & Wales online for free – but the links to see the images take you to a pay site – FindMyPast – where you need to sign up to view the census page images. The Family History Library has similar arrangements with other providers where the indexes are free but there is a charge for the page images. See FamilySearchLabs for the details.
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Peruvian Vital Records 1874-1930; Spanish Parish Registers go online

Posted on July 12, 2008 by Tom Kemp

FamilySearchLabs.org has put the birth, marriage and death records of Lima, Peru for 1874-1930; and the Ciudad Rodrigo (Spain) Parish registers for 1550-1930 online.

This has been my third blog posting today about new Hispanic family history records.

Earlier I wrote about the more than 230 Spanish language newspapers – 1808-1977 going live on GenealogyBank and that FamilySearch Indexing now has a Spanish language website.

GenealogyBank is the best and largest source for online Hispanic newspapers.

It’s a great day for Hispanic genealogy!

Peruvian Vital Records – 1874-1930
The civil registration records: births, marriages and deaths from the Registro Civil de Lima, Peru are now searchable on FamilySearchLabs. These records were digitized and indexed from 227 (35mm) microfilm in the vaults of the Family History Library in Salt Lake City. For more information on Lima’s vital records see: Officina Registral Lima

Ciudad Rodrigo (Spain) Parish registers for 1550-1930
Roman Catholic parish registers from the Ciudad Rodrigo Diocese in Spain from 1550-1930 are now searchable at FamilySearchLabs. These records include baptisms, marriages, burials and other church records.

FamilySearch Indexing now available in Spanish

Posted on July 12, 2008 by Tom Kemp

FamilySearch’s indexing system is now available in the Spanish language, giving Spanish speakers easier access to an enormous collection of family history resources.

Familysearch, a nonprofit organization sponsored by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, contains the world’s largest repository of genealogical records.

For longtime family history buffs, making the indexing process accessible in Spanish will make more of the Spanish language microfilm at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City available to genealogists.

Having the indexing system available in Spanish also gives volunteers who speak Spanish the opportunity to add indexing information to the Internet, opening up this opportunity to genealogists in Spanish-speaking countries.

Even a novice genealogist can register at familysearch.org and, after completing a simple tutorial, participate in the indexing process.

Designed for ease and efficiency, the indexing software allows indexing to be processed on a personal computer at home or any other location. Indexing projects are downloaded on the computer, and the significant data is entered in a tabbed format.

And because all of the information and instructions are now in Spanish, users are not required to speak English.

Numerous Spanish projects, including the 1930 Mexican Census, the 1869 Argentina Census and some church records from Spain and Venezuela, are currently available for online indexing.

According to Paul Nauta, manager of public affairs for FamilySearch, the time commitment to work on indexing is not significant. “A seasoned indexer could complete a census page in about 15 minutes, while a newcomer may take twice that long,” Nauta explained. “Volunteers may also work in short segments, saving their work online as they go. If they are unable to finish, the work is automatically assigned to another indexer, so not even 10 minutes of work would be wasted. We’ll take any and every effort,” he concluded.

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