familytreemagazine.com 67THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES <www.archives.gov> organizes
volunteers to make new online records more searchable
for genealogical and historical researchers. This initia-
tive recruits “citizen archivists” to tag, index or tran-
scribe records in its online system <www.archives.gov/
citizen-archivist/missions>.
Volunteers can create a free account, log in and help at
their leisure. All instructions are provided on the site, and
Participate in Citizen Archivist Projects
ROOTSTECH ONLINE
The world’s largest genealogy conference,
RootsTech <www.rootstech.org>, publishes top
presentations from its annual event on its website
<www.rootstech.org/video-archive>. More than
20 speeches from RootsTech 2019 in Salt Lake City
are available for free viewing, including keynote
addresses from Jake Shimabukuro, Saroo Brierley
and Patricia Heaton.
Family Tree Magazine audiences will be familiar
with some of the most popular presenters. Don’t
miss lectures on DNA matches by author Blaine
T. Bettinger and columnist Diahan Southard. And
after you see author Joy Neighbors’ “The Silent
Language of the Stones: Reading Gravestones
through Symbols and Carvings,” you’ll never look
at a grave marker the same way (and you’ll never
miss key the family history clues on it again).
you can rest assured that your time and eff ort will make a
positive diff erence.
Helpers can choose among several pre-selected “Mis-
sions,” or search the National Archives catalog for other
records to tag or transcribe. The historical government
collections (military correspondence, railroad valuation
maps, Tennessee Valley Authority maps, etc.) may prove of
interest, depending on your family’s own history.