FAMILY AND CHURCH HISTORY MISSION

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2 FAMILY AND CHURCH HISTORY MISSION The full time missionary force of the Family and Church History Mission averages between 300 and 350 missionaries. To this are added another 400 to 450 part time Church Service missionaries, many of whom are effectively working on a full time basis. Of the full time missionaries, approximately one-third are single sisters with most of the balance being senior couples. All of the full time and Church service missionaries serve in one of the seventeen zones of the mission. Many have served several missions, either here or elsewhere in the world, and a large percentage who were invited to accept an invitation from the mission president to extend do so on a regular basis. In addition to the regular work to which they are assigned, missionaries regularly engage in extensive temple work and family research. Some of this is done at times designated for such activity by the mission schedule. The mission provides missionaries who work in cooperation with the full time professional staff in the Family History Library, the Joseph Smith Memorial Building, and the Church Office Building. Almost all of the full time missionaries live in rented housing in a campus-like environment. Sociality among the missionaries is common and regular activities are held for all who might wish to participate. ADMINISTRATION ZONE The Administration Zone is located on the third floor East wing in the Joseph Smith Memorial Building and consists of the mission presidency, the executive secretary, and their wives. The presidency administers over all mission services. Also included in this zone are the personnel directors, who handle arrangements for processing new missionaries, the mission publications editors, who publish the Mission Memories book semi-annually, the mission secretary/receptionist, the records secretary, the mission doctor, and the Elijah Missionary Choir director. BRITISH REFERENCE * / MEDIEVAL / PHOTO DUPLICATION ZONE Records and information for England, Wales, Scotland, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Channel Islands, and the Isle of Man are located on the B-2 level of the Family History Library. Missionaries assist patrons who are doing research in these countries. They assist patrons using the computer desktop, Internet services, basic sources, research problems, books, maps, fiche, and films. They also serve as team members with various projects and special assignments. The British Reference Zone is also home to missionaries who work with the medieval sector providing service by researching and organizing medieval records. They develop, maintain, and make available the Medieval Families File (with temple ordinance data when completed) for selected individuals who lived before Included in this zone is the Photo Duplication center. These missionaries receive requests for information from patrons living in all areas of the world either by mail, phone, , or FAX. Every effort is made to locate the sources provided by the patron, verify its accuracy, make photocopies, and assemble the material for mailing back to the patrons. CHURCH HISTORY ZONE Missionaries assigned to this zone serve in the Church Office Building, second floor East wing. Some are assigned to work in the Church History Library. Others assist archivists in the preservation of church historical records, reading and summarizing historical and personal journals, transcribing and auditing oral histories, assisting patrons in obtaining copies of patriarchal blessings, microfilming, and scanning or capturing digital images of historical documents of enduring value. The cataloging function of this zone provides access to records in the Family History department collection. Each record, book, film, fiche, or compact disc acquired is reviewed and the appropriate data entered into the system. This

3 includes a complete description of the arrangement and contents of each record. After careful review of all information for quality, it is then made available in the patron catalogs. Missionaries in this zone are involved with the Collection Development. They receive and process the flood of gifts books and other publications that come in the mail or are donated in person from visitors to the Family History Library. Missionaries review, analyze, collect, and develop genealogical materials. They also help maintain and develop the library collection. Letters of acknowledgement and appreciation are then sent to the donor. CONSERVATION LAB ZONE Conservation Lab Zone missionaries assist professional staff personnel in the processing of new materials for patron use, the maintenance, repair, and restoration of library materials, including books, maps, and documents. Restoration to near original condition is their goal. Also included in this zone is the microfilm reader repair function where missionaries and staff insure that over 500 microfilm readers are maintained in good operating condition. The Conservation Lab is located on the Family History Library third floor, and the reader repair shop is on the B-1 level. DEAF SERVICES ZONE The Deaf Zone office is located in the Family History Library on the main floor. The primary function of missionaries in this zone is to assist deaf patrons who visit the Library in doing their personal research. They also provide an outreach of the mission to the deaf community along the Wasatch Front. Under the direction of the mission presidency, the full-time Deaf Zone missionaries attend local deaf wards on Sundays and temple sessions for the deaf each week. They participate in special community events for the deaf, including speaking in the deaf wards, family home evenings, teaching, and striving to stimulate family history study and genealogical research within the local deaf community. Sign language and research classes are taught in the Family History Library for the deaf community, missionaries and staff. These classes sharpen the skills of those who know some sign language and help to bridge the communication gap between deaf and hearing cultures. Every two years the Deaf Zone full-time missionaries serve on a committee to help organize and conduct a family history workshop, held locally, which is made available to all deaf the world over. FAMILY RECORDS EXTRACTION SUPPORT ZONE The Family Records Extraction Support Zone is located on the sixth floor West wing of the Joseph Smith Memorial Building. Missionaries support the full-time staff by developing software training classes for foreign language extraction and presenting the material to stake extraction directors and workers, making telephone calls to and meeting with stake extraction directors and their high councilors to encourage support of indexing programs, answering questions on the telephone support lines, writing software instructions and help files, and making daily trips to the Family History Library to scour microfilms to determine suitability for extraction. Missionaries are involved in the management and shipping of CDs of images for extraction to the hundreds of stakes currently involved in the extraction program. FAMILY SEARCH REFERENCE ZONE * The Family Search Reference Zone missionaries serve on the main floor of the Family History Library and the main floor of the Joseph Smith Memorial Building. In the Library lobby, missionaries serve at the Information desk, Exit Desk, the desk where temple ordinance cards are printed, and provide orientation services for visitors and guests. Patrons are given prepared literature showing how to begin their own family history research. Missionaries are assigned in both buildings to provide individual or group assistance and instruction on the use of the computer desktop as it relates to family history research. They help guests with PAF, updating records, TempleReady, registering members with FAMILYSEARCH.org for internet IGI ordinance search, temple submission, and all other desktop uses. INTERNATIONAL REFERENCE ZONE* Located on B1 in the Family History Library, the International Reference Zone serves patrons who are doing family history research in areas of the world outside the United States, Canada and the British Isles. Patrons who visit the International Zone are seeking information on ancestors from countries such as Germany, Sweden, South America, Mexico, the Netherlands, India, and Thailand. While foreign language proficiency is very helpful in particular circumstances, missionaries who work in the International Zone need not be bilingual. However, it is necessary for missionaries in this area to learn the Church produced genealogical research programs that are used by patrons. Such understanding of research software programs is a major advantage to patrons, and becomes a valuable tool in their research endeavors. Some missionaries fluent in their native language and English function in this zone with

4 cataloging records under the direction of the Church History Zone as well as serving patrons who come needing their language expertise. LIBRARY ATTENDANT ZONE* Missionaries serving as Library Attendants provide an important dimension of service to patrons visiting the library. Included in the range of services offered by this zone are: providing directions, assistance in finding and retrieving films, microfiche, maps, books, and document and film copy assistance. Missionaries assist the staff with shelf reading of the collections of books, maps, pedigrees, and microfiche. Library Attendant missionaries support the main library staff in organizing and maintaining the library collections by participating in projects like film labeling, maintaining census records, and bar-coding library items. Working closely with the library staff, some assistance also is available to missionaries as they pursue research on their personal lines. LIBRARY PUBLIC AFFAIRS ZONE * Missionaries in the Library Public Affairs Zone provide key assistance to staff in areas of VIP projects, VIP and Media hosting, and other related activities. They take telephone reservations for group visits to the Library and assist with hosting of groups. They assist with special project research and prepare working documents for microfilming. Missionaries prepare packets of material for the groups. They also prepare displays, bulletin boards and Family History Library Scrap Books. MISSIONARY TRAINING LABORATORY ZONE The purpose of the Missionary Training Lab (MTL) is to provide training for all missionaries. It is located in the Joseph Smith Memorial Building third floor east wing north. The MTL provides opportunities for each of the incoming missionaries to learn to use the computer, including the internet and become familiar with the research processes. These include the Family History Library Catalog (FHLC), Personal Ancestral File (PAF), TempleReady, the Internet IGI and the use of the microfilm and microfiche readers. Other topics relating to family history research are also taught during the initial training period. Training is then available as an ongoing process throughout the entire mission experience. ORDINANCE DATA MANAGEMENT ZONE Ordinance Data Management (ODM) missionaries are involved in assuring that electronic temple records are correct and current. Some of the records assigned to our missionaries date back to when the Church started keeping records at the Temples. Records processed by the missionaries in the Ordinance Data Management Zone are made as accurate as possible so that patrons who work in the nearly 4000 Family History Centers, worldwide, will have valid information for use in researching their ancestry. This zone is located in the Joseph Smith Memorial Building, on the sixth floor West wing. Collection Management is a part of this zone. This unit acts as the source of record expertise for the department. As the stewards of the Church s family history collection, this group must direct all aspects related to record usage. This requires that the group analyze the availability of records in a given area of the world, then compare those results against actual family history collection holdings to determine what is most needed to satisfy the research demands of Church members. They then make recommendations on which records should be acquired, indexed (or extracted for Temple use), and included in publications. In order to perform these functions, the group has ongoing needs for individuals with expertise in non-english languages, genealogical research, and databases. RECORDS PROCESSING ZONE The Records Processing Zone is located on the sixth floor, in the East wing of the Joseph Smith Memorial Building. Missionaries assigned to this zone perform a variety of computer-related tasks, including data entry, auditing, and records verification. Missionaries and staff compare stake extraction database information with either microfilm or CD images, identifying and correcting errors. The completed process qualifies data for entry into a computer database that patrons can access via the Internet at Family History Centers throughout the world. It also produces supplementary names for Temple ordinance work. Final products such as Ellis Island, the 1880 U.S. census, and the 1881 British census are produced for use in computer-based research. RESEARCH SUPPORT ZONE Missionaries assigned to the Research Support Zone are located in the Joseph Smith Memorial Building on the third floor West wing. They receive electronic inquiries from around the world that deal with research in the following

5 areas: International, British Isles and US/Canada. In cooperation with the Church World-Wide Support staff, they assist in the preparation and testing of training curriculum materials. TRANSLATION SUPPORT ZONE Missionaries in this zone serve in several different buildings depending on their work assignment. They prepare records collected that need translation and cataloging. They provide the expertise to make records accessible in the patron catalogs. UNITED STATES/CANADA ZONE * Records and information pertaining to the United States and Canada are on the second and third floors of the Family History Library. Missionaries in this assignment assist patrons who are pursuing research data that involves records from these two countries. Library services are explained along with various sources of information available. Missionaries also answer questions about research problems, assist patrons in updating their PAF records, and preparing names for Temple submission through TempleReady and Internet IGI. They assist patrons in using the computer to find source materials located in the library such as books, maps, microfiche, films, and provide assistance in using the Internet to search genealogical sites including FamilySearch, census records, library catalog, etc. WORLD WIDE SUPPORT ZONE Missionaries assigned to the World Wide Support Zone are located on the third floor West wing of the Joseph Smith Memorial Building. They receive and log telephone inquiries from directors of Family History Centers and researchers from around the world and provide technical guidance and answers to their questions via telephone and . Their responsibilities deal specifically with problems relating to FamilySearch, Personal Ancestral File (PAF), Internet International Genealogical Index (IIGI) and companion programs. * These assignments usually involve rotating shifts working days, evenings, and Saturdays