Happiness Is: The Family History Library in Salt Lake City

In Front of FHL

Recently I had the opportunity to use the Family History Library in Salt Lake City for two wonderful days. I've been before so it was not new to me but I did learn a few new tricks which I'm happy to share with my readers.

We landed in Salt Lake City late Monday afternoon. Since the Library closes at 5 p.m. on Mondays I opted to unpack and rest a bit at the hotel. We met Joan Miller and her husband Reg for a nice supper at Olive Garden Restaurant (I thought it was appropriate given the "OLIVE" part of the name!)

Joan and I have corresponded on Facebook, Twitter and by email but never met in person before.  Joan is the owner of Luxegen Genealogy and Family History blog and we were both in Salt Lake as official RootsTech Bloggers.

Microfilm Rows

The first place we headed in the Family History Library was the floor for US and Canada microfilm. Once there we chose a microfilm reader. There are different options for readers - for left-handed users, for handicapped and for enlarging smaller microfilm.

Microfilm Numbers Sign

I chose a reader and my husband and I started to hunt for the film numbers I wanted. You are allowed to take 5 at a time from the self-serve drawers. The films are easy to find as there are large signs at the end of each row of drawers. These signs show the film numbers found in that specific row.

Microfilm Drawer

We found our row and then looked down the numbered drawers. Each drawer has an easy-to-read sign showing what films are in each.

I easily found the drawer I wanted and took 3 film boxes back to my reader.










I was lucky enough to run into my good friend Steve Morse of One-Step Search Engine fame. I knew he was also at RootsTech and we hoped we'd get a chance to spend a bit of time together, so it was nice to see him at the Library

Hubby, Lorine, Steve Morse

Soon I found a few documents I wanted to save. I had the choice to use the amazing film scanner the FHL has on site or my little iPhone app called ScannerPro. I opted to use ScannerPro since I had not played with it much before coming to Salt Lake City.

Example of scan using ScannerPro

Using ScannerPro on my iPhone I was able to easily and quickly scan the documents I wanted. Before processing the scans (right on my iPhone) I edited them with the easy-to-use editing options included in ScannerPro. Then I processed and uploaded the scans to Evernote (I could also have uploaded them to GoogleDocs or Dropbox) directly from the app.

Using Evernote or Dropbox allowed the scans to sync to all my devices including my main computer back home. Technology at its best!

For some of the pages of microfilm that I wanted, I used the camera setting on my iPhone instead of ScannerPro.  If I had wanted to use the ScanPro1000 that the Family History Library provides, all I had to do was take a Quick Start tutorial sheet and follow the directions. After following directions and creating your scan of the image you want on the microfilm you have several choices:

1. Print 8.5x11 or 11x17
2. Scan to hard drive
3. Scan to USB port
4. Scan to CD ROM

I neglected to note the cost of using ScanPro1000 so perhaps a reader can share that with us. (Banai Lynn Feldstein writes to say  "Scanning is free. You can save to flash drive or to their hard drive (then upload to Dropbox or email to yourself -- they block some emails, but gmail works; I haven't tried Dropbox yet to verify it's not blocked). Printing on paper is 5 cents. I think 11"x17" sheets of paper are 10 cents.")

Note: Photos of Library interior taken with permission of Library staff

Arrived at Salt Lake City for RootsTech!

Well, I'm here! I just checked in at my hotel in Salt Lake City. My journey began on Sunday at noon when I left for "The City" and an overnight stay at a Hotel near the Airport. 4:30 am came mighty early! But I was up and ready to go by 5:15 (not bad).

Customs was easy as pie at the Airport. I was expecting a hassle or nightmare or both but the airport personnel were helpful and pleasant. It was a very small plane for the first leg of our journey to Denver Colorado. And we were in the very last row of seats right by the washrooms. Not pleasant. But on the bright side, I didn't have far to walk and so didn't have to use my cane from my seat to the washrooms. Yay!

Wheelchairs were there and waiting at each step of the journey so that was a nice bonus. Then came the last leg, from Denver to Salt Lake City. A bigger plane, more comfortable seats but a few annoyances. You know the kind you get when travelling anywhere - a guy in the seat behind me kicking and pushing on my seat the entire flight. Guy two seats away (same row) using his iPad as a torture device by flashing the sun in my eyes the entire flight. Guy beside me playing his iPod so loudly that even with his earbuds I could hear every word. And worst of all, a baby that messed its diaper and wasn't changed... But onward and upward, grin and bear it, we arrived safe and sound about 2:30 local time.

Took the Express Shuttle (only $8.00 per person) to our hotel and checked in with no problems. Just before we went to our room I grabbed a Cappuccino at the coffee shop in our hotel lobby. Oh boy was it ever good!

Interestingly enough when we finally got into our room with our luggage and coffees in hand, it was exactly 12 hours since we got up this morning. It's a journey but one I'm so excited to be on!

Discovered I left some clothing at home that I wanted, so tomorrow will go shopping for half a day and hit the Family History Library the other half. Tonight I hope to meet up with Joan Miller, another RootsTech Official Blogger, and perhaps one or two other early arrivals.

You can follow my Tweets on Twitter at @LorineMS and Joan's Tweets at @Luxegen. We'll be tweeting non-stop about RootsTech (starting this Thursday) and I'll be Tweeting about my adventures in the days leading up to RootsTech.

But now I'm going to lie down and have a short nap! It's been a long two days.

Making a Choice - Go for the Challenge or the Easier Research

It's almost time for me to leave for Salt Lake City and RootsTech! I'm flying in a few days ahead of the conference which is Feb. 10-12. That will give me time to rest up from my long journey and to visit the Family History Library to do my own personal genealogy research.

I'm pretty excited. I've been to SLC before but not for about 5 years. Since it's almost impossible for me to obtain FHL microfilm where I live, I look forward to these trips to do the research I can't do here.

This trip I'm having trouble deciding on a research plan! I know from experience that I must have a plan, and lists of films and books I want to consult or my limited time in the Library is wasted.

I'm torn between researching my mother's English ancestry (SLC being the only place I can consult the records I need) or some of my more challenging Ontario Canada lines. I *want* to research my Canadian brick walls but I know that it is more efficient for me to do that English research. But it's more fun for me and much more of a challenge, to do the Ontario stuff.

I can get most of the Ontario records with a trip to the Archives of Ontario and a few other repositories so even though such a trip is not easy for me, the fact that it's "do-able" is weighing heavily in my decision.

So -- do I take the challenge where I have to really think and work to find any tidbit OR go the easier route where it is mostly robotic, not much thinking required....

I've given myself til the end of the day to decide. Tomorrow I have to hop to it and get the list of films that I need and figure out my plan of attack.

I may be kind of quiet over the next few days, but once RootsTech starts you'll be able to read my daily blog posts, follow my tweets on Twitter at @LorineMS and watch here for any videos I manage to create.