View of the FamilySearch Library in Salt Lake City
I can't pin down the date when I started going to the Family History Library in Salt Lake City. It was decades ago. A group from my family history society, the BCGS, would book rooms in a cut rate hotel down the road from the library and spend most of our time in front of film readers there. We'd leave when they closed the doors for the night.
That was back in the day when facts were hard to track down and eyes would glaze over as we cranked the microfilmed frames slowly by. There on the screen, was it really the name I was looking for? Sometimes it was hard to tell. Much of the data I have gathered comes from those research trips. Well, those and the hours that I spent at local Family History Centers close to my home.
But there's always something more to find, at least that's the hope. So when a friend emailed me and let me know her usual roommate couldn't attend a week in Salt Lake City with the Ancestor Seekers, I told her I'd take her roommate's place. It was her second time with the research group, my first.
It was different to be with a well-organized group. We gathered for pep talks in the morning. There were also shared successes after the first day. Everyone clapped hoping they'd find the ancestors they were looking for too. Those successes had usually been helped along by the assistants that Ancestor Seekers had for our group on each research floor of the library. I could have done with assistance like that when I first started going to Salt Lake City to research.
As it was, I received help navigating FamilySearch's collaborative family tree. I'd never ventured into the massive connective tree before and I'm still a bit iffy about a family tree where everyone contributes and any contributor can change information. I was shown how that same tree could contain clues that might help in my own family history research. Another thing I got assistance with was how to use the new work stations with three screens. Imagine, you can sit there and look at three or more different databases at the same time!
We didn't spend all of our time in front of those screens. On the first two days we were able to attend classes at the beginning of our time in the library. One was about Irish research and another about DNA. We were in Salt Lake City for DNA day and the folks at FamilySearch had done a whole series of talks about DNA for the day. We were treated to an in-person rerun of one of the DNA talks given on the previous day. Recordings of all of the DNA talks from DNA day can be seen in the webinars available on the FamilySearch website by searching for webinars once you are on the research wiki.
All of our time with the Ancestor Seekers wasn't spent at the FamilySearch Library. There were also some optional group outings. The tour they'd arranged was my first view of the interesting artifacts and paintings in the Convention Center. One evening some of our group attended the rehearsal of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. It was nice to get some uplifting culture along with research assistance.
Our time in Salt Lake City with the Ancestor Seekers went quickly. All too soon it was over and I was on my way home. One of the best things about being there was all that time to devote to my family history research. Now that I'm home I need to make a concerted effort to unpack all the new information I uncovered. I need to look at those notes, photos of book pages and bits of info saved to thumb drives and see where it all fits in my ongoing quest for family information. Now if I could just find the time!
Sources:
Ancestor Seekers https://ancestorseekers.com
FamilySearch https://www.familysearch.org
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