Wiring the family tree: Technology allows family historians to find old records on the Internet and search through millions of names Wiring the family tree: Technology allows family historians to find old records on the Internet and search through millions of names (May 18, 2005)

By Rebecca Wallace

Almanac Staff Writer

On a family history hunt, you finally set eyes on that prized, aging birth certificate. But you didn't have to go to the ancestral village -- it's right there on your computer screen.

Meanwhile, another family historian is seeking out records in the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, only to find out the facility contains millions of rolls of genealogical records on microfilm.

Hardly the time to go flipping through the card catalog, is it?

That's where technology links up with genealogy, and it's a natural match, says Jay Verkler, who will speak on May 22 in Palo Alto about how the high-tech world is changing family history research.

The Portola Valley resident, who spends several days a week in Salt Lake City, oversees the genealogy functions of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

It's not exactly a small undertaking. Founded in 1894, the church's Family History Library is part of a library system that includes 4,400 branches around the world.

The five-floor headquarters building is 142,000 square feet, with some 2.4 million rolls of genealogical records on microfilm, 310,000 books and many other resources, according to the library's Web site.

Mr. Verkler, a church member and former high-tech executive with Silicon Valley companies such as Oracle Corp., was asked by the church a few years ago to head the genealogy functions. He says he welcomed the chance, seeing how computers are changing the face of genealogy.

With the sheer volume of names and other data at the LDS family history headquarters, computers are crucial to keeping everything organized and navigable, he says.

In addition, he says, technology has given libraries the ability to transform microfilm into digital images and then make them easy for people to view on the Internet. "You from your home can find something from Ellis Island about your grandfather," he says.

The church's genealogy efforts span the globe, and include people using several hundred cameras to capture images of aging records such as marriage, birth and death certificates, Mr. Verkler said.

"We do a lot of work in Russia right now because so many records are perishing," he said. "And there are stacks of records in Haiti that are just moldering."

For Mr. Verkler, the work is also a matter of faith. Members of the LDS church place high importance on families and believe family connections continue beyond the grave.

The church's family history libraries, though, are open to the public. Locally, the Menlo Park LDS church at 1105 Valparaiso Ave. has a library branch.

Mr. Verkler's talk on Sunday, May 22, will take place at the Palo Alto LDS Church, located at 3865 Middlefield Road at 7 p.m.

Topics are scheduled to include: the latest advances in data storage and the effects of the Internet on genealogical research. Call 856-9700 for more information.

For more information about the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, go to familysearch.org.
INFORMATION

Jay Verkler will speak on the impact of technology on genealogy at 7 p.m. Sunday, May 22, at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints at 3865 Middlefield Road in Palo Alto. Call 856-9700 for more information.

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