by Lisa Cooke | Sep 17, 2013 | 01 What's New, Family History Library, FamilySearch
The biggest family history library in the world just got a new boss! Diane Loosle is the new Director of the flagship Family History Library (FHL) in Salt Lake City, Utah, and the first woman to hold this job. She has exciting ambitions for the FHL and I look forward to seeing how they unfold.
Diane mentions three specific goals she’ll focus on between now and the end of 2014:
- “Become more family and youth-oriented through providing interactive, discovery experiences.
- Enhance the services of the library through new collaborative research areas and better access to research staff.
- Engage more patrons from the geographic community surrounding the library.”
As an example of the first objective, a FamilySearch press release says Loosle wants to “study the role of the Family History Library and 4,700 satellite branches worldwide…and how to make them discovery centers for people of all ages, not just a research facility.”
“Our centers are great places to do genealogical research,” Loosle says. “[But] we need to figure out how to balance the needs of researchers while increasing appeal to those with other family history interests. You can’t attract a younger audience and offer the same experiences. We need to offer fun experiences and activities for the entire family that will increase love, appreciation, and understanding of their ancestors.”
I admit I’ve wondered about the future of satellite family history centers as increasingly folks stay home to research online. So I look forward to seeing how she will reinvent these community resources to serve today’s (and tomorrow’s) genealogical researchers.
Loosle comes to this job with great credentials. She is an accredited genealogist who has been with FamilySearch for 19 years, where she championed new customer service initiatives. She also has an MBA, strong business and leadership skills. She is described by a senior executive at FamilySearch as “one of the most qualified and capable to ever serve in this position.”
Congratulations, Diane! We look forward to seeing what’s coming next.
by Lisa Cooke | Nov 20, 2013 | 01 What's New, FamilySearch, Immigration
Nearly a million indexed records and images in the Brazil, Rio de Janeiro, Immigration Cards, 1900-1965, collection are among newly-posted data in FamilySearch’s ever-growing free digital archive. The cards were issued by Brazilian consulates around the world and presented upon arrival in Brazil by visitors and immigrants. They contain the immigrant’s name, where he or she came from, the date and place of birth, and the parents’ names.
This is a pretty significant time period for Brazilian immigration. Brazil’s population was about 17.4 million in 1900–and it nearly doubled in the following two decades. By 1940, Brazil housed over 41 million people, and by 1960, over 70 million.
Most immigrants to Brazil since slavery was abolished in 1888 came from Italy, most significantly the areas of Vêneto, Campânia, Calabria, and Lombárdia. Germany and Japan sent their share of immigrants, too.
That’s not all that’s new on FamilySearch, though. Check out these other indexed and imaged records:
| Collection |
Indexed Records |
Digital Images |
Comments |
| Brazil, Rio de Janeiro, Immigration Cards, 1900–1965 |
334,188 |
615,026 |
Added indexed records and images to an existing collection. |
| Canada Census, 1911 |
1,227,603 |
0 |
New indexed record collection. |
| Canada, Ontario, Toronto Trust Cemeteries, 1826–1989 |
96,228 |
0 |
Added indexed records to an existing collection. |
| England, Cheshire Non-conformist Records, 1671–1900 |
14,673 |
0 |
Added indexed records to an existing collection. |
| Hungary, Civil Registration, 1895–1980 |
0 |
40,475 |
Added images to an existing collection. |
| Indonesia, Jawa Tengah, Kebumen, Naturalization Records, 1951–2013 |
0 |
14,330 |
Added images to an existing collection. |
| Indonesia, Jawa Tengah, Wonogiri District Court Records, 1925–2013 |
0 |
137,465 |
Added images to an existing collection. |
| Italy, Trieste, Trieste, Civil Registration (Tribunale), 1924–1939 |
0 |
97,505 |
Added images to an existing collection. |
| U.S., Indiana, Marriages, 1811–1959 |
468,724 |
0 |
Added indexed records to an existing collection. |
| U.S., Louisiana, New Orleans Passenger Lists, 1820–1945 |
51,232 |
0 |
Added indexed records to an existing collection. |
| U.S., North Carolina, Wilmington and Morehead City Passenger and Crew Lists, 1908–1958 |
88,345 |
0 |
Added indexed records to an existing collection. |
| United States Public Records Index |
132,330,416 |
0 |
Added indexed records to an existing collection. |
by Lacey Cooke | Jan 11, 2019 | 01 What's New, Records & databases
Big updates to UK records king Findmypast are new this week. Discover your ancestors in updated collections for Kent and Norfolk, along with an update to a fascinating collection for Devon, England. Also new and updated this week are US records including marriage...
