Episode 393 - FamilySearch Completes Digitizing Of 80 Years Worth Of Microfilm / Learning To Use The Top Sites

Host Scott Fisher opens the show with David Allen Lambert, Chief Genealogist of the New England Historic Genealogical Society and AmericanAncestors.org. The guys begin with kudos to FamilySearch on their historic announcement (with plenty more on it coming in Segment 2). Fisher talks to David about his latest research project… tracking a suspect in a cold case murder. David then reviews some of the finds the WikiTree Challenge people made on his own tree last week. There were some fascinating discoveries, as usual. Next, hear about the oldest "art" probably ever found… made by children. In a cave. A LONGGGG time ago! Then it's a happy birthday greeting to America's oldest living World War II vet. You won't believe how old he is!

In Segment 2, David Rencher, Director of the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah, comes on to talk about the remarkable milestone FamilySearch.org just achieved… the digitization of some 2.4 million rolls of microfilm that were accumulated over 80 years! They haven't all been published just yet, but this collection covers BILLIONS of name listings. David also explains the Library's reactivated look up service, and on line consultations. The rerouting of resources due to the pandemic has brought about remarkable upgrades!

Then, Fisher visits with Bob Taylor, the originator and Director of Development for The Family History Guide website, TheFHGuide.com. This site can train you, for free, on how to use any of the major sites including FamilySearch.org, Ancestry.com, MyHeritage.com, and FindMyPast.com. Bob explains how it all works.

Then David Lambert rejoins Fisher for a pair of questions on Ask Us Anything.

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