FamilySearch Wiki talk:WikiProject Utah

Quick links:


 * Admin Meeting page
 * Special Meetings
 * Project meetings with volunteers
 * sample (Beaver County, Utah) In County sample/brainstorm page

On this discussion page, please add your comments and opinions and sign by typing 4 tildes (AdkinsWH 17:34, 1 June 2011 (UTC)). Also add the 4 tildes next to Yes or No votes, so we know it is not just one person's opinion.

Together, we are brilliant! No one person has all the ideas, knows about all the records, or has all the skills. Working and brainstorming together, the Utah Wiki will be user friendly, inviting, and of great value for years. Let's impact the future together!

= Purpose Statement Request =

I would like to request that the following purpose statement be placed at the top of each Utah county page. The idea is it will help people who google into the pages understand this is a genealogy guide:

Guide to [name] County Utah genealogy. Birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, family history, and military records.

Murphynw 21:55, 12 April 2013 (UTC)

= old project page content =

Welcome to the Utah WikiProject! We at and FamilySearch are delighted and hope you'll be part of the project. You'll help untold thousands of future users!

There are 29 counties in Utah currently, plus two counties (Cedar and Shambip), that no longer exist. Pages have already been created for every county, and headings for a basic outline of record types have been added.

Please sign up for tasks below, or add whatever you know about the records available for counties and/or communities and cities in Utah. Working together, we can all benefit from the knowledge of community members on the Wiki.

Purpose and Scope of the Project
The purpose of the FamilySearch Wiki is to help users by giving them knowledge about records and methods for genealogy and family history for Utah. We need to include enough to really help.

It is NOT the Wiki's purpose to link to every website or list every publication that exists. That would overwhelm and clutter the Wiki and would bury – rather than highlight – important and relevant items.

It is the intent of this project to add content valuable to Wiki users to every Utah county page. This includes:


 * Links to online resources, such as indexes or images of records or tips on how to use those records.
 * Links to the Family History Library collections.
 * Local repositories (libraries, archives, museums) and what they may have.
 * Parent counties, neighboring counties, any record loss, brief history, and more.

Most of the content will be added by people like you who get training and follow guidelines (called Tasks) for what to add and where to find it.

Tasks Ready for Volunteers

 * County History Add information about the history of each county.
 * County GenWeb Links Review existing county GenWeb sites. Link to their databases, giving information to help users decide to click or not.

Tasks Waiting in the Wings
These tasks are not yet ready for volunteers, but you may want to know what is on the horizon.


 * Cemeteries in the counties Find-A-Grave and other websites that can be linked specifically to the counties.
 * Link to topics in Library Catalog This allows users to see what is at the FHL without having to list each one nor to update as new things are added. This will also allow only the best items to be highlighted in the Wiki.
 * Newspapers by county
 * Repositories in the county: libraries, museums, etc. Phase 1: Add contact information for local libraries, societies, and other record holders in each county.
 * Church records Phase 1.
 * Major websites: statewide and county-by-county.

If you have additional ideas, please add them to this list and sign it by adding 4 tildes ( ~ )

Tasks Completed

 * County Courthouse Find uncopyrighted images of the courthouse (historical or current) and upload them. List their contact information (address, phone, email), including a link to website, addresses, etc.

I like the title of this section here ("Tasks Completed") better than the one used in the main article because it is easier to follow the logical flow Dggard 08:54, 14 November 2011 (UTC)

Utah Project Pages
Project Tasks Pattern I would like to pattern many of the Utah project pages after the Idaho project. AdkinsWH 21:08, 30 May 2011 (UTC) If you see other project samples, mention them here.

Project Expectations

 * Excellent state and county coverage, with contributions primarily by the community and with a minimum of paid FS employee time.
 * Increased interest in UGA and other organizations that help with the project.
 * Document successes and failures so future projects can benefit.

Scope of project
Modern users want access to Internet indexes and records. Should this be the first priority for each topic or section for a county?


 * Yes AdkinsWH 17:22, 1 June 2011 (UTC)

All users should be told about records wherever they are available. What priorities do you give the following?


 * Linking to the FHLC
 * For that county?
 * Priority 1 (likely already under "Websites" for each county) AdkinsWH 17:22, 1 June 2011 (UTC)
 * For each topic?
 * Priority 2 or 3 AdkinsWH 17:22, 1 June 2011 (UTC)
 * For selected specific records? (What criteria would be used for listing specific records?)
 * Sparingly, if at all. Criteria? Some topics do need specific FHLC sources mentioned, but it's hard to pinpoint the criteria right now. AdkinsWH 17:22, 1 June 2011 (UTC)
 * For every record under that topic?
 * Never this deep AdkinsWH 17:22, 1 June 2011 (UTC)
 * Books
 * Linking to WorldCat?
 * If a book needs to be listed, it should always have a WorldCat link AdkinsWH 17:22, 1 June 2011 (UTC)

First priorities
Met today with Marilyn and Patsy on MeetingPlace for 30 minutes. We made a list of several items (not complete). These have been prioritized by me. Please feel free to suggest different priorities. AdkinsWH 17:22, 1 June 2011 (UTC) Note: it appears that many of these are partially completed. When the project pages are finished, we will have a complete picture.AdkinsWH


 * County courthouse images, web links, addresses, etc. Created task page, added to Tasks needing volunteers AdkinsWH 17:41, 31 May 2011 (UTC)
 * County GenWeb link under "Websites" for each county.
 * Should topic-specific links also be made, such as Cemeteries, Obituaries?
 * Yes, but just to that topic area on the GenWeb site -- NOT to specific cemeteries, etc.AdkinsWH 17:41, 31 May 2011 (UTC)
 * ID repositories for that county. (Libraries, Museums, DUP, etc.) What do they have in their collections? Patsy thinks this is one of the first items.
 * This has the added benefit of helping to ID local experts, people who can give information if not actually contribute to the project. AdkinsWH 17:54, 1 June 2011 (UTC)
 * Search for and link to Internet indexes, images, collections for each topic, each county.
 * Newspapers -- name them, plus point to them on the Digital newspapers project
 * Churches (LDS and others) wards or congregations, boundaries, history and changes over time. Also location of the records.
 * This is a project in and of itself and can bog down the progress on other topics for a county. How can it be divided into logical steps and priorities? AdkinsWH 17:54, 1 June 2011 (UTC)
 * History of the counties -- "Did you know?" Something to catch interest -- pictures ID some printed histories. Created task page, added to Tasks needing volunteers AdkinsWH 22:12, 1 June 2011 (UTC)
 * Look at the topic sections for the Utah counties. Are they all pertinent? Are other topics needed. Prioritize so we get the most imporant first.
 * State topics also
 * Iron county -- Patsy has volunteered

Second priorities

 * Native Americans
 * Quilt walk and other traditions - pageants like Onion Days, strawberry days, 24th of July) Adds interest, "color"
 * Fill in all topic sections for a county
 * Bread crumb trail must be on each new page

The Utah Project does not include
Sub-projects that could bog down the Utah project


 * Getting too specific under any topic. This would bog down the project in a hurry.AdkinsWH 17:54, 31 May 2011 (UTC)
 * LDS research -- the scope must be very clear at the beginning AdkinsWH 17:41, 31 May 2011 (UTC)
 * Church records, especially LDS records
 * First pass could simply list them and refer to Jensen's Enclyclopedic History on Ancestry, with instructions to search by name of ward or other entity AdkinsWH 17:41, 31 May 2011 (UTC)

Low priority, but interesting ideas


 * Going through NUCMC for each county (leads to manuscript collections) AdkinsWH 17:54, 31 May 2011 (UTC)
 * Finding dissertatons that assist with Utah research. (The info may be on the Internet, but they lead to manuscript collections AdkinsWH 17:54, 31 May 2011 (UTC)

Timeline

 * Create project task pages
 * Agree on scope of project
 * Recruit
 * Train

Contents
I was looking at some of the county pages, some need help. Yes I know you are right about the Utah county pages needing help. Dawne

Layout
... I think under the content box [may] work for the [placement of the] moderator sign. I also like the lay out of the Idaho pages. --Jenson1 20:13, March 19, 2011 I too like the Idaho pages. We would love to have you help make the Utah county pages as good as Idaho. Dawne

The layout of the Utah page is not ideal in my opinion. Comments have been made on the Discussion page. AdkinsWH 21:18, 30 May 2011 (UTC)

Leadership

 * Content specialists: Patsy, Marilyn, and Pat, with others they may invite.
 * Community involvement: Wilma, Dawne and UGA representatives
 * Scope of the project: The above plus the moderator (Fran)and a UGA representative.

Learn to better engage community

 * Provide incentives?
 * Invite county moderators/adopters?
 * Contact consultants in FHC’s?
 * Inform/enlist local experts and record custodians
 * Social networking

Moderators and adopters
I would like to be a moderator for Davis County, Utah. Can not get wikitext to accept my name.User:Jenson1

Train volunteers

 * Make specific training available for specific tasks

We probably need to define tasks and get some instructions in place before bringing on the volunteers that aren't familliar with unsing wiki. By the way, what is the status of the people who wanted to volunteer at Riverton? Can we use them or are they syphoned off elsewhere now? HendricksonP 14:48, 3 June 2011 (UTC)

Identify typical tasks

 * Tasks at state and county levels are based on desired contents per content specialists.

Washington County, Utah
Hi there,

Template needs to be edited. Would someone else double check me on this.

This is the courthouse address; Washington County Courthouse 87 North 200 East, 3rd Floor St. George, Utah 84770 p: (435) 634-5728 f: (435) 656-3003

Washington county courthouse web page their address is on the left side after you link to page about half way down. This below is the Clerk/Auditor and not the county courthouse- the Utah template on the right of the Washington County Utah article needs to be edited, I don’t know how to do this. Thanks! If, I have made an error please let me know and I will edit information on the article that I have placed there. County Clerk/Auditor Washington County Utah 197 East Tabernacle St. George, UT 84770 Clerk/Auditor's phone (435) 634-5712 County Clerk/Auditor web page

Thanks so very much --Utahnancy 04:07, 24 September 2011 (UTC)

Thank YOU / Selected Featured Article
Dear Contributors,

The FamilySearch Research Wiki is delighted to let you know that FamilySearch Wiki:WikiProject Utah article you helped create will become a Featured Article that is highlighted on the Main Page of the Wiki. It will appear there for seven days. Thank you for your excellent work – you have given readers/researcher important access to records. Your contributions are appreciated and will assist others in finding their ancestors. You have made a difference in research!

Please note:

We invite you to do any enhancing, editing or changing to this article before we post it. If you are considering an edit we ask that it be completed by November 4, 2011.This article will post November 7, 2011. If you feel that you do not want your article up as yet as a Featured Article please let me know. Thank you for your time and effort!

There is a problem with the wording of the third paragraph (only one sentence) under Templates. It reads "Before creating a template, click on the what templates already exist." I think it needs to be reworded.StroudIL 01:08, 23 November 2011 (UTC)stroudilStroudIL 01:08, 23 November 2011 (UTC)

joy Wyzer17 16:14, 31 October 2011 (UTC)

A few suggestions
I suggest that the lists of LDS Wards that appear on some of the Utah County pages be moved to specific pages for LDS Wards for each county and that if we are going to have a list of Wards that either they be further identified or the types of records they might have be identified. The lists do not seem helpful otherwise. For example, what was the date the Ward was organized, where can the historical records be found etc.

I further suggest that the references to the American Indian tribes be made to refer to the actual current name of the tribe. For example, the name "Paiute" is not helpful or correct, the tribal name is "The Paiute Indian Tribe of Utah" from their website. We should be accurate and not use outdated designations. See http://utahpaiutes.org/

Just some suggestions.

James L. Tanner 13:26, 5 January 2012 (UTC)