As of September of 2022, all microfilms owned by FamilySearch have been digitized and digitally preserved. The Granite Mountain Records Vault has preserved a master physical copy of each film. Every film available in the Library is a duplicate of those stored at the Vault.

In anticipation of the Salt Lake Temple open house, a few of the floors in the Library will be going through some changes. To prepare for the remodel, part of the film collection will be permanently relocated to another site. All films being relocated can be viewed digitally on FamilySearch.org while visiting the FamilySearch Library.

Frequently Asked Questions

You can read more at: https://www.familysearch.org/en/library/microfilm-microfiche-and-CDs

We all know that technology changes swiftly. However, a short article this week surprised me. It appears that US government agencies are being pushed to stop recording meetings, talking books, and other archival documents on audiotape. The answer is simple: they (the US government agencies) can no longer purchase recording tapes!

Quantegy, one of the last analog tape suppliers in the United States, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and shut down its lone U.S. operation. Quantegy was the principal tape provider to federal agencies, but that supply line is now in peril. Agencies must either upgrade, which is a costly and risky process of transitioning to digital storage media, or look elsewhere for high-quality analog tapes.

In January 2005, having previously filed for bankruptcy protection, Quantegy closed its manufacturing facility. In April, 2005, Quantegy resumed operations under new ownership. In January 2007, Quantegy’s new owners announced that it will cease production of magnetic tape in April 2007

The National Archives and Records Administration has already switched from Quantegy tape to WAV files preserved on digital medium such as CDs. "Audiotapes are not becoming old-fashioned," said Les Waffen, an audiovisual archivist in NARA's special media branch. "They're just not going to be available anymore."

NARA officials have begun archiving audio recordings, such as the CIA's radio monitoring of POWs and MIAs during the Vietnam War and oral arguments before the Supreme Court, in digital and WAV files. NARA officials now are unabl;e to purchase new tapes..

Gene DeAnna, the acting chief of the Library of Congress' recorded sound section, appears delighted with the development. "The largest use of audiotapes has been to reformat fragile sound recordings to tape," DeAnna stated in a statement. "We are not using audiotapes to reformat anymore, and it's a good thing."

Library officials have since purchased nine digital audio workstations for producing WAV files for less than $10,000 each. 

DeAnna emphasized that digital offers more resolution than cassette. The library continues to use and acquire audiotapes when sources can be located, but they are then stored in deteriorating boxes. According to DeAnna, Quantegy used to provide archival containers, but library authorities now have to search elsewhere.

Are you still recording on audio tapes? If so, I might suggest it is time to look for more modern technologies. Perhaps it is also time to transfer your existing tapes to more modern methods. 

Don’t be guilty of this! From the Miss Manners newspaper column:

Dear Miss Manners: Lately at social events, I often find myself trapped by people who want to share, in excruciating detail, their genetic test results.

Each person finds their own results deeply compelling, marveling at length over being 3% this and 15% that, with stunning reveals like, “I thought we were Welsh, but it turns out we’re Scottish!” Meanwhile, the next person is on deck, barely half-listening, eagerly getting ready to launch into their own genetic saga.

Monologuing about the minutiae of one’s DNA is self-absorption at, quite literally, the cellular level. Is there a polite way to shut this down?

You can read Miss Manners' reply at: http://bit.ly/4aPqdZN.

From an article by Tim Reinboth published in the undark.org web site:

Various commercial products known as “griefbots” create a simulation of a lost loved one. Built on artificial intelligence that makes use of large language models, or LLMs, the bots imitate the particular way the deceased person talked by using their emails, text messages, voice recordings, and more. The technology is supposed to help the bereaved deal with grief by letting them chat with the bot as if they were talking to the person. But we’re missing evidence that this technology actually helps the bereaved cope with loss.

Humans have used technology to deal with feelings of loss for more than a century. Post-mortem photographs, for example, gave 19th century Victorians a likeness of their dead to remember them by, when they couldn’t afford a painted portrait. Recent studies have provided evidence that having a drawing or picture as a keepsake helps some survivors to grieve. Yet researchers are still learning how people grieve and what kinds of things help the bereaved to deal with loss.

An approach to grief that focuses on continuing bonds with the deceased loved one suggests that finding closure is about more than letting the person go. Research and clinical practice show that renewing the bond with someone they’ve lost can help mourners deal with their passing. That means griefbots might help the bereaved by letting them transform their relationship to their deceased loved one. But a strong continuing bond only helps the bereaved when they can make sense of their loss. And the imitation loved ones could make it harder for people to do that and accept that their loved one is gone.

You can read more at: https://undark.org/2024/04/04/opinion-griefbots-lack-evidence/.

Here is an article that is not about any of the "normal" topics of this newsletter: genealogy, history, current affairs, DNA, and related topics. However, I found it interesting:

By becoming the official custodian of an entire nation's history for the first time, the Internet Archive is expanding its already outsize role in preserving the digital world for posterity. From a report:

The Internet Archive is now home to the Aruba Collection, which hosts digitized versions of Aruba's National Library, National Archives, and other institutions including an archaeology museum and the University of Aruba. The collection comprises 101,376 items so far -- roughly one for each person who lives on the Island -- including 40,000 documents, 60,000 images, and seven 3D objects.

The Internet Archive is mostly known for trying to back up online resources like websites that don't have a government body advocating for their posterity. Being tapped to back up an entire nation's history takes the nonprofit into new territory, and it is a striking endorsement of its mission to bring as much information online as possible. "What makes Aruba unique is they have cooperation from all the leading cultural heritage players in the country," says Chris Freeland, the Internet Archive's director of library services. "It's just an awesome statement." The project is funded wholly by the Internet Archive, in line with its policy of generally letting anyone upload content.

The following is a press release issued by the (U.S.) National Archives and Records Administration:

Archivist of the United States Dr. Colleen Shogan announced Dr. Janet Tran's appointment as the new Director of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum in Simi Valley, CA, effective June 2, 2024. In this role, Dr. Tran will oversee the planning, directing, and administration of all programs and activities at the Library, the largest and most-visited in the presidential library system.

Enlarge

Photo courtesy of Dr. Janet Tran

In making the announcement, Shogan noted, “Presidential libraries serve as vital repositories of our nation's history, and accessible entry points for understanding our democracy and the decisions that shape our nation. With her in-depth knowledge of the Reagan administration and her focus on education and engagement, Dr. Tran is an exciting addition to the team. Under her stewardship, the Reagan Presidential Library will continue to inspire and educate, ensuring that the lessons of the past inform our journey forward.”

Dr. Tran joins the Ronald Reagan Presidential Museum and Library from the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute, where she served as director of the Center for Civics, Education, and Opportunity. Under her leadership, the Reagan Institute Summit on Education (RISE) launched on the 35th anniversary of the release of the A Nation at Risk report, which called for widespread public school reform. RISE brings cross-sector and bipartisan leaders together annually to examine and elevate the national conversation around education in America. Dr. Tran also established the Reagan Institute offices in Washington, DC, organizing an innovative experiential leadership program for university students known today as the Academy for Civic Education & Democracy in partnership with George Washington University. 

Dr. Tran has extensive experience cultivating the next generation of citizen leaders. She began her professional career as an educator at John C. Fremont High School and Camino Nuevo Charter Academy in South Los Angeles. Today, she serves on the Board of Philanthropy for Active Civic Engagement, the iCivics CivXNow Advisory Council, and the Advisory Board of the Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning and Engagement.

Dr. Tran earned a Bachelor of Arts in history and political science from The University of California, Los Angeles, a Master of Education in curriculum and instruction at California State University, Northridge, and a doctorate in education learning technologies from Pepperdine University.

"Dr. Janet Tran's long experience with the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute gives her great insight into its role in collaborating with the National Archives. We welcome her into this important position as Director of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum and look forward to a great partnership in advancing the missions of both organizations," Frederick Ryan, Chairman of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute, said in a statement.

The Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum is one of 15 libraries in the Presidential Library system operated by the National Archives and Records Administration, representing Herbert Hoover through Donald J. Trump. Presidential Libraries and Museums are repositories for each administration's papers and records and preserve and provide access to historical materials, support research, and create interactive programs and exhibits that educate and inspire.

You may have noticed the article, "How to Receive Daily Email Messages Listing All Newly-Added Articles to This Newsletter (Again)," published a few days ago at: https://eogn.com/page-18080/13338441. If you haven't read it yet, I strongly suggest you go read it now. Everything else in this new article is in reaction to that earlier article at: https://eogn.com/page-18080/13338441.

The previous article describes a method of receiving the full text of all the new articles posted to this web site sent to you in email messages. (There are other options besides full text but I suggest you start with full text at first and then change things as you wish after obtaining a bit of experience with the new method.) The new method has been working well for several days now. There is one negative, however: these weekly lists of new articles are now redundant.

For several years, I have sent out WEEKLY email messages listing the titles of all new articles published in the previous week. The new DAILY messages sent with the full text of all new articles duplicates that effort.

I hate duplication of efforts.

As a result, I have decided to stop sending the WEEKLY email messages as all the same information and much more are contained in the new DAILY email messages. I suspect you already receive lots of email, I further suspect you don’t want DUPLICATE information!

I will send this article in this week's email and I will repeat it in next week's email as a reminder and then I will stop sending the WEEKLY email messages.

If you want to continue receiving email updates to newly-published articles, you need to sign up for the DAILY messages as described at: https://eogn.com/page-18080/13338441.

The following announcement was written by the folks at Ford Motor Company:

The Ford Heritage Vault debuted as an all-new online database full of historical Blue Oval photos and brochures back in June 2022, and proved so popular at first that traffic simply overloaded the site. The Heritage Vault hosted 1.3 million searches and 300,000 downloads by the following January, and FoMoCo continues to add content including digital UK-based archives, photos and brochures from 15 other countries, including Canada, Australia, and Germany, and various documents pertaining to 300 different Blue Oval concept vehicles. Now, the latest addition to the Heritage Vault has arrived – vintage copies of Ford Times magazine.

Ford Times magazine was created way back in 1908 as a way for the company to keep employees up to date on what was going on within its walls, no matter where they lived. However, within a couple of years, it quickly evolved into a consumer-facing publication that focused on travel and lifestyle, enjoying a long run that didn’t end until 1993, though it did take a pause in 1917 due to constraints on paper stemming from World War I. Now, Blue Oval fans can check out every issue of Ford Times from 1964-1981 via the Heritage Vault.

Ford Times evolved from a product and company-focused publication to one that revolved around travel and lifestyle, a shift that resonated with customers in a big way. Following the war, Ford also published stories about activities like gardening, minimizing waste, and how to become a better citizen in general. By the mid 1940s, Ford Times once again evolved to focus on things like road trips, the North American highway system, and destinations of interest.

Ultimately, Ford Times proved to be a smash hit with consumers over its many years in publication, peaking at sales of around 2.1 million issues by the mid-1970s and reaching around eight million people in general. Now, Ford fans can revisit these glory days online, and the automaker plans to continue to add more issues moving forward, too.

We’ll have more on the Ford Heritage Vault soon, so be sure and subscribe to Ford Authority for 24/7 Ford news coverage.

The following is a Plus Edition article written by and copyright by Dick Eastman. 

One of the more common arguments against saving things digitally is, “The equipment required to read it probably won't be available in 25 years.” Maybe the time frame is 50 or 100 years, but I hear remarks like this all the time. Yes, there is some validity to that claim. However, there is an easy fix. 

Paper is not a good preservation medium, and microfilm is not much better, as recent experience has shown. Thousands of paper and microfilm documents have been destroyed in seconds by earthquakes, tsunamis, hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, building collapses, fires, and other natural calamities that are regularly mentioned in the news. Burst water pipes will also do the same, even though they aren't reported in the national news as much. Numerous instances of paper records harmed by mold, mildew, insect damage, and other issues are also available to us. 

Microfilm was the preferred storage medium for the last fifty years or so since it required less room than paper. But microfilm is nearly as brittle as paper. The resistance of microfilm to earthquakes, tsunamis, hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, fires, and burst water pipes is just marginally greater. Granted, microfilm damaged in water may be preserved by washing and drying it, but microfilm will be destroyed by other disasters just like paper or anything else. Just running microfilm through a microfilm reader a few times scratches the original. Run it through a microfilm reader enough times and it becomes unreadable. 

Digital archiving presents unique challenges and opportunities. Large data centers are periodically destroyed in significant disasters, disk drives collapse, household PCs occasionally wipe data, and information frequently become outdated due to changes in technology standards. It's likely that the "oops factor," or unintentional file loss, is the largest source of computer data loss. It is nearly a given that a single digital file will no longer be accessible in a few years.

To verify the issue with digital preservation, view an article written by Bill LeFurgy that appeared in The Signal, a Library of Congress newsletter regarding digital preservation, at http://goo.gl/h2rcC. LeFurgy details a poll conducted to find out how the Kennedy assassination affected citizens.  From November 26 to December 3, 1963, the University of Chicago's National Opinion Research Center (NORC) conducted this poll. The survey findings were entered into a mainframe computer that was used to tabulate study data using paper punch cards. The results were then published in summary form.

In order to gauge public response, NORC researchers intended to repeat the 1963 study by posing similar queries to the public after September 11, 2001, another national tragedy. The comparison of the country's reactions to these two radically different catastrophes was the goal. One issue remained: how to decipher the punched cards from the research conducted in 1963? There were still the 38-year-old stacks of 80-column punch cards accessible, but the challenge was getting card readers to read that data. 

The remainder of this article is reserved for Plus Edition subscribers only. If you have a Plus Edition subscription, you may read the full article at: https://eogn.com/(*)-Plus-Edition-News-Articles/13339613 (A Plus Edition password is required to access that article.)

If you are not yet a Plus Edition subscriber, you can learn more about such subscriptions and even upgrade to a Plus Edition subscription immediately at https://eogn.com/page-18077. 

Genetic genealogy has grown in popularity over the past few years – so much so that the Indiana State Police are looking to pay someone a more than $65,000 salary for the work.

ISP announced Thursday that they are now accepting applications for a forensic genealogist, a newly created position for the agency. The person hired for the job will have responsibilities in “routine forensic investigative genetic genealogy analysis with associated court presentation,” according to a release.

They will work in the Indiana State Police Laboratory Division at the Indianapolis Regional Laboratory.

Applicants should have:

The position’s yearly salary starts at $66,534 but may be adjusted due to education, experience and training. Medical, dental, vision, life insurance, retirement plans and accrued time off benefits are included for the position.