Choir practice at 6:20 this morning was a bit of a struggle, but the improvement in our performance made it worth it. We sang The Lord is My Shepherd, a beautiful, peaceful version of the 23rd Psalm at the mission devotional. The speakers at the devotionals tell of their lives and how they came to the mission. There are as many stories as there are missionaries, and we get to know one another in this way.
After the devotional I and two of my mission group set off for the Family History Library for our next round of training. The morning sessions dealt with Guest Services [or how to treat those who come to the Library], Safety and Security issues, and Quality Response Center,the group that keeps the machines up and running.
After lunch we had a brief tour of the Main Floor of the Library, followed by shadowing missionaries who were helping guests with their initial experiences at the Family History Library. It was interesting to observe the different skill levels of the missionaries. Our group was one of the first groups to have the intensive two week training we just finished. So missionaries who came earlier did not have that benefit, although they would have received one-on-one training. I am glad that we did have that training, even though a lot of it was review for me.
After the shadowing experience we went to the second floor computer lab, where we will spend much of our time for the next three or four days. I really liked the way he sister who was presenting let us work on each small step of the skills she was teaching. She also followed the "See One, Do One, Teach One" model, by having us walk her through each process after we did ourselves what she had demonstrated. The written materials were also very good, as the procedures were clearly marked out in a very orderly manner.
I was particularly glad to learn about a program for photo editing, with capabilities that I have wished for. The program is irfanview, and is available to download for free. We learned to straighten, crop,highlight, add text, change sizes, and merge pieces of a document into a panoramic image. This list does not begin to cover all of the options available in the program. The symbol for the program is a red flat cat--kind of fun!
The presenter has also developed a brilliant way to title documents and pictures so that they are not scattered through one's files. For genealogical files she puts the surname all in caps followed by the given names. Then in parentheses [I use brackets because I am always looking for shortcuts] she puts the birth year, preceded by the letter b, For example: GRAPATIN Olga [b 1912] wedding portrait.
When I told Gregory about this he commented, "This is very orderly, and we know that our Father's house is a house of order." How very true! Now I have another task to help me clean up the family records I have already attached in FamilySearch: putting the titles of the documents and pictures in this form. It will definitely be worth it when it is completed.
Tomorrow we get to have Open lab from 7:40 till 9, so I can work on these skills before learning more about the Research Process.
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