Most stakes of the Church have begun to use the new version of FamilySearch (new.familysearch.org), which provides a searchable world index of about 1 billion names. With this program, people can collaborate on family research 24×7 at a home computer.
Want a sneak peek at upcoming FamilySearch programs being developed? Check out labs.familysearch.org, which showcases new technologies that aren’t yet ready for prime time. Anyone can access that site and provide feedback that will be used to refine these new programs. The labs version of FamilySearch includes:
- FamilySearch Beta
- Record Search
- Forums
- Research Wiki
- Family Tree
- England Jurisdictions 1851
- Standard Finder
- Community Trees
- and more
The FamilySearch staff and volunteers are busy. There are 185 camera teams filming 60 million new images annually. The Granite Mountain Vaults are digitizing their 2.5 million rolls of microfilm. City and county history books are being added to the FamilySearch site, which already has 50,000 books online. Some 100,000 FamilySearch volunteers are also sorting through a million names a day. This is one of the largest volunteer genealogical efforts in the history of the world.
You may be interested to note that the majority of users of FamilySearch.org are not members of the Church. According to Paul Nauta, FamilySearch public affairs manager, “The genealogical craze is phenomenal. It’s not indigenous to the LDS faith only.”
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