Re: Microfilm data in LDS canyon vaults to go online

["readysetgo95814" <mcortez3@...>]

This is great.  Thanks for sharing Victor.

Maria

--- In ranchos@yahoogroups.com, "v.h.villarreal" <raices_regias@y...> 
wrote:
> For your information,
> 
> > Microfilm data in LDS canyon vaults to go online
> > 
> > By Carrie A. Moore
> > Deseret Morning News 
> >       Ever wonder what's inside those secured
> > vaults, owned by the LDS Church, positioned high
> > inside the granite walls of Little Cottonwood
> > Canyon?
> >       The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
> > Saints is working toward allowing anyone with
> > Internet access to learn more than they've ever
> > known before about the information contained on 2
> > million-plus rolls of microfilm housed there.
> > Currently, the church is compiling searchable
> > indexes to that information and will eventually make
> > it available for free through an automated database
> > on the Internet.
> >       The church excavated the vaults containing
> > those records on property it purchased in the 1960s,
> > providing a safe repository during the height of the
> > Cold War for birth, marriage, death and census
> > information it considers essential for the salvation
> > of mankind after death. Now church leaders seek to
> > make the information more readily available to the
> > world.
> >       "The goal is to create (Internet-accessible)
> > indexes to all the films we have in the vault.
> > That's a long-term process and that's a lot of
> > films," according to Paul Nauta, manager of public
> > affairs for church's FamilySearch.org Web site.
> > "We've not announced when people will begin to start
> > seeing" the indexes.
> > 
> >        Those attending the annual Federation of
> > Genealogical Societies' conference this week at the
> > Salt Palace will get a "sneak preview" of the      
> > church's plans. As the project progresses over time,
> > indexes to records from 110 nations previously
> > stored on microfilm will become accessible to
> > virtually anyone, anywhere, through the Internet via
> > the touch of a few keystrokes.
> >       "We're showing people how we'll be creating
> > indexes from those films. Sometime in the future
> > we'll ask people to help us create the indexes and
> > make them publicly available, and little by little
> > we'll start to index the films from the vault like
> > we did with the 1880 (U.S.) Census.
> >       "The challenge now is it takes a lot of people
> > and a lot of time" to create such an index.
> > "Currently, you have to look at images on paper or
> > burn them on a CD and distribute those to index the
> > data. We're moving the whole process to the Internet
> > and this is a prototype of what that might look
> > like. . . . That's what the biggest buzz is at the
> > conference."
> >       Conference attendees are using a lab at the
> > Salt Palace equipped with a number of computers to
> > demonstrate the new automated database. The
> > microfilm information includes birth, marriage,
> > death and census records.
> >       New advances in indexing software utilities
> > and applications mean the LDS Church "now has the
> > ability to produce lots of indexes faster," than it
> > did with previous databases it has digitized,
> > including the 1880 U.S. Census. Making that database
> > available online was a 12-year project, using tens
> > of thousands of volunteers.
> >       In the future, the new technology "will
> > provide automated indexing" for an ever-increasing
> > number of microfilms "so people can readily search
> > it from their homes."
> >       As the number of family history researchers
> > continues to grow - one study showed 40 percent of
> > Americans have done research on their family history
> > and another said 90 percent have expressed interest
> > - demand for online indexes that simplify searching
> > for ancestors has soared, he said.
> >       How much time will it take to digitize all the
> > films in the vault?
> >       "Let's put it this way, it will depend on how
> > much volunteer help we get," Nauta said. "I think we
> > can digitize the films to be indexed to stay up with
> > demand, but much will depend on how many volunteers
> > we can generate worldwide to index their records of
> > interest. If, in a couple of years, we could get a
> > million indexers worldwide, we could put a big dent"
> > in the massive undertaking.
> >       The indexing demonstration and other planned
> > improvements to the popular FamilySearch.org Web
> > site are drawing standing-room-only crowds at the
> > convention. The changes "will make great strides to
> > simplify and increase the success of the family
> > history experience," he said.
> >       Just when the first indexed information from
> > the microfilms will become available online has not
> > yet been announced. "We don't want to be swamped
> > with people before we're ready to handle it," Nauta
> > said.
> >       The new developments won't make more than
> > 5,000 small family history centers housed in LDS
> > chapels worldwide obsolete. Previously, those
> > looking for information contained on the microfilms
> > stored in the church's Granite Mountain Records
> > Vault had to request that copies of information on
> > the films be sent to their local center. At some
> > point in the future, that likely won't be necessary
> > any longer, he said, but "that will continue to be a
> > role for a long time.
> >       "Family history centers will continue to be a
> > mainstay" for accessing information on the
> > microfilms for some time to come.
> >       As more of those records become digitized and
> > indexes become available, the role of the local
> > centers, he said, "will probably change. Some people
> > have no Internet access, and they'll use them for
> > that. The role of the family history centers will
> > evolve over time to help people get started" with
> > their research because "many people don't know how
> > to do that. They will become more fundamental to
> > help people get and stay organized, and to answer
> > questions they have doing their research."
> >       Many of those in town to attend the conference
> > are also making use of the church's renowned Family
> > History Library, less than a block from the Salt
> > Palace. Hours have been extended to accommodate
> > guests, with the library open from 8 a.m. to 10:30
> > p.m. through Saturday.
> >       "It's an exciting time for family history,"
> > Nauta said. "Those just developing this kind of
> > research as a hobby will never have any appreciation
> > for how far this industry has evolved, even in the
> > past 10 years." 
> > 
> > 
> >
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