Recap of 9 January 2004 Meeting

President D. Jane Carpenter, Conducting
Speaker: Raymond S. Wright III
Family History Library Director

What’s New at the Family History Library

Mr. Wright started his talk with biographical details explaining his personal passion for genealogical research. His first professional genealogical research experience dated from when he was in graduate school in the early 1970's. His B.A., M.A., and Ph.D. are all tied to historical and genealogical studies in Germany.

Before being called to be the Director of the Family History Library, Mr. Wright served as head of Brigham Young's Family History Department where he spearheaded several volunteer genealogical database projects - http://familyhistory.byu.edu and at http://immigrants.byu.edu.

He went on to explain the position of the LDS church (“parent company” of the Family History Library) and noted the 'Church' feels that professional genealogists can and have assisted patrons in developing their personal family histories and hope they continue to do so. He also mentioned that commercial publishing organizations have also played a major roll in the development of large databases (now most obvious and effective on the internet)and publications that have made family history research more accessible and effective for a larger section of the population.

The Family History Library provides assistance and resources for approximately 800,000 to 900,000 people a year. The Library anticipates (and is currently making plans) toward assisting far greater numbers in a number of ways. Of major interest are plans to make the resources of the FHL (staff and holdings) available electronically by utilizing the hardware and software resources of the LDS Family and Church History Department of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

The Family History Library is moving to make more digital acquisitions than microfilmed and is also moving towards to scanning a portion of the microfilm holdings into a digital format. In fact, later this year the Library will be testing a project that could provide microfilm scanning on demand. The FHL is now a place to test programs, procedures, and software necessary to make resources available electronically.

By the 3rd Quarter of this year (2004), a better computer desktop for patrons will include OCLC and other resources already available electronically through other libraries.

A British program combining GPS with British Ordnance Maps and various jurisdictional boundaries is growning. The end result of this project is a means of gaining a location and a list of the jurisdictions in which it is located is generated. Eventually the list will include film numbers and even digitized images (in the long term). Those who are familiar with the complex overlapping of the various probate, census, parish, and other jurisdictions will be the most appreciative of generating a list of those
jurisdictions for any specific town.

The FHL will be re-designed and remodeled this Spring with the end result once again combining the family history collection, currently housed in the Joseph Smith Memorial building, with the main collection. In the next 6-8 months, cataloging staff will move from the Library. With the extra space an area geared toward beginner genealogy researchers will encompasse the entire first floor.

Questions from the floor led to the following answers:

1. Broadband access in the FHL is under discussion with outlet connections at tables on every floor.

2. Cataloging is undergoing changes and is now under the direction of David Rencher.

3. During 2004, 20-40 microfilm readers will be replaced by a similar number of computers.

4.Five goals of the Family History Library:

        a. Remain the pre-eminent research center

        b. Become the Regional Family History Center for the Salt Lake Valley

        c. Support the LDS Church Family History Program

        d. Become a pre-eminent educational center. He clarified this goal by stating that it doesn’t refer to degrees or certification, but to classes both in the building and over the Internet.

        e. Become the source of information for ordinary LDS folks by being convenient, user-friendly and available electronically.

As a professional researchers, the Salt Lake Chapter of APG is delighted that the current FHL director shares our passion for the process of research and education.

President: D. Jane Carpenter, MLS
Vice-President: Chad Milliner, AG, MLS
Sectretary: Kathy Kirkpatrick
Treasurer: Jim Petty, AG