The 2018 RootsTech App: What you need to know!

The new 2018 RootsTech app was announced today, but before you run to the App store to grab it, you’ll want to read this.

In the iphone App store, there is only one RootsTech app, which you may download, or update if you still have last year’s app on your phone.  If you’re updating, when you open the app again, it will still show the 2017 data. Don’t worry!! It’s a simple in-app update to get all of the 2018 information.

To access the 2018 app…

If you still have last year’s app on your phone, start at the Home screen. In the bottom right corner will be the “Exit to Show List” icon. Click that. From there you will be able to choose RootsTech 2018. A click there and the app will update beautifully!

Peruse the classes, mark favorites, add to your own personal schedule. There’s lots to do to help you stay organized at the conference!

Updates are promised soon, as class syllabi are currently being added.  Updates will hopefully also include maps for the conference venue layout as well as the vendor hall.  Exhibitors are currently listed alphabetically, but booth numbers aren’t included, nor is the Expo hall map. Stay tuned!

 

National Archives “Citizen Archivist Week of Service” Jan 15-19, 2018

I just had to pass this on, for anyone who has a few minutes to spare, and enjoys genealogy volunteer opportunities and community service!

Join us for Citizen Archivist Week of Service!

In the spirit of the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service, join us January 15-19, 2018 for a week-long citizen archivist challenge.

Our goal is to tag or transcribe 2,018 pages in the National Archives Catalog during Citizen Archivist Week of Service. Can you help us meet this challenge?

NARA Citizen Archivist Week of Service

 

Get started by visiting the Citizen Archivist Dashboard beginning January 15. During that week, we’ll have a special expanded missions session and lots of featured records waiting to be transcribed. For our new volunteers, you’ll also find instructions on how to create an account and get started.

You can help us unlock history by tagging and transcribing primary source documents in the National Archives Catalog. As you add tags or transcriptions to these records, those words are added to our Catalog – improving search results, and making our records more discoverable online. The added benefit is that we’re unlocking the sometimes difficult to read text for all to understand. We like to say that as we tag and transcribe, we are unlocking history.

A sample of some of the records you will find in our missions this week

Ready to get started? Visit our Resources page to learn How to Tag and Transcribe Records, learn What Makes A Good Tag, and review Transcription Tips.

Encourage Service Week in your classroom!
Are you an educator? A great way to get students involved is by playing the tagging game. It’ a head-to-head or team-versus-team challenge to list as many keywords (Tags) that describe or identify item in an image. After one minute of writing keywords, teams compare their lists and scores are awarded. Before moving on to the next image, the game host adds all the keywords as tags into the Catalog description. You can find more information and resources for both tagging and transcription on our dashboard.