Episode 478 - Indexing And Artificial Intelligence At FamilySearch / Photo Projects In Time For The Holidays With Maureen Taylor

Host Scott Fisher opens the show with David Allen Lambert, Chief Genealogist of the New England Historic Genealogical Society and AmericanAncestors.org. Family Histoire News begins with the story of a contest winner. He's the young guy who figured out how to translate dozens of tightly rolled scrolls burned in the Mount Vesuvius explosion in 79 AD. David will have more. Then, for families who have missing people in Florida, a special day is coming to help you find closure… and it involves DNA. You're not going to like what David has to suggest concerning the diets of our ancestors. Then again, it was pretty healthy! Hear about this ancient staple. In Scotland, there's been another haul of ancient coins. And there's a real back story to this find! Visiting the US Capitol anytime soon? You can now take photos of the founding documents as long as you don't use flash. Also, the National Archives is searching for indexers to help with the pension records of the Revolutionary War. And they want every word transcribed. Fisher then notes the passing of two employees of our friends at MyHeritage.com in Israel. Both young men, age 23, were murdered on October 7th at the NOVA concert. We send our love and condolences to our friends.

Ian James of FamilySearch then joins the show to talk about how FamilySearch is using Artificial Intelligence, and how it is gradually replacing the old human indexing system. But, hey, volunteers… don't stop yet! They still need you as Ian will explain.

Fisher is then joined by Maureen Taylor, the Photo Detective. The two talk about holiday gifts of photo albums. There are a lot of ways to do them… and there's still plenty of time… as Maureen explains.

David then returns for Ask Us Anything.

That's all this week on Extreme Genes, America's Family History Show!