Issue 4.16
Here are 12 new FamilySearch.org changes and additions patrons can expect to see in 2016. The free Family Tree, used for building and collaborating on your family history, will be more robust and dramatically faster. Hooray! Patrons will receive quick record hints from FamilySearch’s billions of online records when records containing an ancestor are added or modified. Hints will also begin to originate from more online collections and additional record types. In addition, increased collaborations options with improved views will be available.
Improved guidance will help users achieve family history goals or provide direction when and where they need it. A new relationship feature will enable you to easily identify how you are related to people in the Family Tree.
More user-friendly search capabilities will provide less duplication, better search results, and more insight at a glance across the many record sources on FamilySearch.org. The process of adding family photos, stories, documents, and audio files will be easier. A dynamic, personalized home page will help you find more family information. The offering of simple tasks while using the site will help you discover more ancestors and improve the quality of your personal family history and information in the FamilySearch Family Tree. If you go to https://familysearch.org/lihp-a and then sign in, you’ve got it.
Partners will be offering more exciting third-party products and apps integrated into the content of FamilySearch that will offer fun and enriched experiences. More digital camera teams will be added to preserve historic records and make them accessible online. There are 319 digital camera teams producing 125 million images per year currently. Additional cameras in 2016 will focus on more international records. More mobile apps on IOS and Android platforms will become available through FamilySearch.
The new, web-based tool will allow more volunteers to help index more historic records online from any web-enabled tablet or computer. This will also help engage more foreign language volunteers needed to index a growing tide of new international historic records.
RootsTech, a global even hosted by FamilySearch in February, will expand its streaming audience and provide recorded, usable content to reach more people worldwide. New developments will encourage younger patrons to participate in family history Building from the base created by family historians and older patrons, there will be an added emphasis on attracting youth. These are exciting times!
For more information, contact Shanna Jones at shannasjones@msn.com