Granite Mountain disgorging its treasure

In the 1930s, a new and unheralded technology was introduced to the world: microfilming. Where would most of our genealogical research be today if it weren't for that development, which seemed so insignificant at the time?

But here we are in the 21st century, tired of a technology that requires us to make ourselves presentable and drive to a research facility to wind a microfilm machine and squint at the old images.

We wouldn't be complaining if someone hadn't invented the Internet and introduced us to digitized records.

The microfilm records that have been doors to hidden genealogical treasures for years are gifts from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. When the microfilm camera and reader were introduced to the world, Archibald Bennett was a leader of the Utah Genealogical Society, the church's genealogical arm, which does business as FamilySearch.

Bennett dreamed of bringing under one roof copies of all the world's records of the dead. It wasn't until the microfilm process was developed that he saw a way.

He and a few associates traveled around the world negotiating with keepers of various official records. The eventual result was 2.4 million rolls of microfilm preserving untold millions of records.

The church bought a mountain in Little Cottonwood Canyon in Utah and blasted into it to build the Granite Mountain records vault, where many rolls of microfilm are housed.

Today, the Family History Library in Salt Lake City stores copies of that microfilm and loans them to researchers through the church's Family History Centers around the world.

Over the past decade, commercial enterprises such as Ancestry.com and Footnote.com (which Ancestry recently purchased) digitized selected records and made them available on the Internet via paid subscriptions.

FamilySearch also had a presence on the Internet, but it wasn't always user-friendly, and accuracy of some of the user-submitted materials was questionable. Frankly, users were becoming more sophisticated and wanted to see the amazingly clear images they'd come to expect at Ancestry and Footnote. In 2005 the church announced it would virtually open the doors to the vault; the microfilm would be digitized and become available to everyone over the Internet. And best of all, it would be free - no subscription necessary.

The church partnered with genealogical societies and individuals to begin indexing records as they were digitized. Eventually, FamilySearch began a beta (testing) site that allowed access to a few of the records. The site emerged from testing last month.

I like the new site. It's cleaner with little clutter to distract a visitor. Users from the old days won't be able to find some of the older records, such as the Pedigree Resource Files. But there is a green box labeled "Go to the previous site" that allows viewers to access the old site.

A click on "Changes at FamilySearch.org" walks viewers through the changes with explanations of why they were made and what is still to come.

Of course those who don't like change are whining a bit, and others have little patience for the time necessary for such a major overhaul. Although the site is out of beta, the indexing, digitizing and tweaking continue. Give them a break, folks. They've made great strides and I, for one, think what they're doing is worth the wait.

With the writing of this column I signed up to do some of the record indexing. It's actually easy and fun. I encourage all of you to pitch in and help. Visit https://giveback.familysearch.org/indexing to learn more about how to contribute.

Time is running out for procrastinators to get the bargain rate price for the Pinellas County Genealogical Society's Feb. 12 seminar, which promises to be a highlight of the year for area researchers.

The featured speaker is nationally hailed Megan Smolenyak, who will address four topics, including the one for which she's best known, tracing roots with DNA. Registration received by Feb. 5 is $42 for members, $47 for non-members. After Feb. 5 it's $50 everyone.

The daylong seminar will be held at Largo Public Library, 120 Central Park Drive, Largo, and starts at 9 a.m. Go to http://tbo.ly/PinellasRegistration to print a registration form.