by Cathy Gilmore | Jan 30, 2016 | RootsTech 2016, Software
RootsTech 2016 has selected Kindex™ LLC of Kaysville, Utah, from a field of nearly 50 candidates to present their family history software in the semifinal round of the Innovator Showdown on February 3, 2016. Part of the RootsTech Innovator Summit, the Innovator Showdown features the latest in family history technology and innovation. From the field of twelve semifinalists, a judges panel will select six finalists to demo live onstage for over 23,000 people. Winners take home a piece of the $100,000 prize in cash and in-kind services, not to mention the free publicity that comes with being a finalist.
Kindex owners and cousins Kimball Clark and Cathy Gilmore are thrilled about the prospects of their new company. “RootsTech has been fantastic at encouraging new technologies in the family history field,” said Kimball. “The Innovator Summit is a wonderful forum for us to present our ideas and learn from others. We are excited for the opportunity RootsTech provides startups like us.”
For Cathy and Kimball, what started as a project to scan and archive their grandmother’s diaries, letters, photos, and other documents evolved into developing a web software company that solved the problem of accessing and reading old documents through indexing. “We realized that scanning documents and throwing them on a website just wasn’t enough,” Cathy explained. “We had difficulty reading the handwritten letters and navigating through so many files. Why not apply the FamilySearch Indexing model to families?”
Kindex Beta debuts at RootsTech 2016
“Indexing has been immensely popular in fueling the find for millions of researchers,” Cathy continued. “Why not extend indexing to the millions of family records that are rich with people, places, and events. These records are at risk of being lost or discarded, and within them are the stories we all seek.”
“One of the most exciting parts of Kindex is the idea that not only will our family benefit, but that countless people mentioned within others’ indexed records will have new documents attached to them through our tagging and transcription tools,” Kimball said. “For them, we are rewriting their history.”
The RootsTech Innovator Summit is a one-day event for developers, entrepreneurs, and innovators from around the globe to explore, examine, and discover business and technological opportunities within the family history industry. The Innovator Summit is just one of the events offered at RootsTech, the largest family history even in the world. From Feb. 3-6 in Salt Lake City, Utah, RootsTech will offers speakers, entertainment, classes, and large Expo Hall of exhibitors.
Along with being an semifinalist, Kindex will be in the Expo Hall and “Innovator Alley” where the latest in family history tech will be on display. Kindex will debut their new family indexing web software Kindex Beta at RootsTech 2016.
For more information see:
Innovator Showdown Submission: http://devpost.com/software/kindex-index-your-history
Facebook
Twitter: @kindex
Instagram: @kindexyourhistory
Logos: kindex.org/identity
by Cathy Gilmore | Jan 25, 2016 | Letters, Love Letters from the Archive
[Today is Ellsworth’s birthday! Read the newsy letter his fiancé wrote to him, and why she turned down Torleif Knaphus’s invite to the Beaux Arts Ball. -Cathy Gilmore]
2368 Highland Dr
S.L.C Utah
Jan 245/34
Good Morning Merry Sunshine!
How do you feel today? A beautiful, coral-streaked opal sky heralds the dawn of your Birthday Anniversary. The cool, crisp air promises continued winter for us.
Yesterday morning we rose to see the world blanketed in the heaviest snow of the season. The trees—a varied collection of weeping willows bowed reluctantly under their heavy burden, wires were rope-like in appearance and the general appearance was as tho a fairy had touched the landscape with her magic wand strewing the skyline with a lacy network of white branches.
Today enough snow remains on the trees to disguise them as cotton plants—what a frivolous climate.
I’m hoping your birthday joys were complete. Am sending my present today along with one from Knaphus. Eleven in all. You can buy a car with it if you like or a radio or a train ticket for a weekend in S.L.C.
I will be celebrating tonight by doing some sealings in Temple tonight as it is also Grandma Bushman’s birth anniversary & a group of us are going including Vera. Tomorrow night I am helping put over a pageant depicting N.D.A. growth and Saturday Olive & I & June & 3 other of the Knaphuses are doing some baptismal work.
Vera and I had to postpone our missionary meeting but hope to get started next week.
What did you think of the proposition we had to offer. Don’t drop it from your mind without due consideration will you?
Do you hear from Lewis? You know I was just thinking the coincidence it was that you and he should both get Arizona girls. Come to think of it she may even be a relation – everyone else around there is. Now I have it! If she lives around Taylor she must be related to Vera for Vera was born there & it’s the home of he[r] Father’s folks. Ha! who said we weren’t a smart bunch. Tying a not [sic] right around the 3 couples of us. And Gene Murphy is related to some Smiths in S.L. I’ve got to look that up.
Now for my diary incidentally it is sadly neglected.
Stayed with Vera Sun. night. Monday night skipped school & sent to dinner at Eight with Torleif and Olive. Honestly honey. I was too tired to study he had been wanting one to chum more with Olive so I felt rather obliged. Please forgive?
Tuesday night I attended a Stake Mutual party on Stratford Ave. with Oliver.
It was a grand affair & the most fun I’ve had in ages.
Tomorrow night (Fri) Don & Oliver have dates from for Granite Gold & Green Ball.
Knaphus has his car back & says it is at my service. Would I like to have a week end off? Better watch for me hiding under one of the seats in your Sunday School.
Rec’d letters the other day from Marv & one of his old girlfriends simultaneously. Marv’s enjoying life, what with a dance now & then & now & then a new good-looking ‘frill!
Virgil is well now & is back into mischief again.
Connie is still undecided. I have a 50¢ order from her to make a Valentine for John. Didn’t think I’d be making them for other men did you? This coming Sat. the Art Barn sponsors are staging their first annual Beaux Arts Ball — a grand costume affair.
Last night T.S.K. called for me at school and asked if I would care to go. Didn’t say definitely but a ‘couple’ is a ‘couple’ and I’d rather ensure my social standing than my artistic one so I’m waiting till I get a personal invitation from the committee at which time (if ever) you will be the other party. How’s that?
It’s lunch hour now. We’re certainly busy at Kress. S.H. arrives Mon Tues the 30th!
Burbidge tells me his son, Smith leaves Feb. 22 for Western States mission. He may even be your companion. Watch for him.
Edna Remington (office girl) says her sweetheart ‘Wid’ Davidson presided over that branch about 2 yrs ago & that he organized the original basketball team there.
I still see Aunt Annie Folsom upstairs now & then. She sends her best wishes to you & always asks about you. She tries to check up on my behavior & says I look better than at Xmas time.
I saw Helen, Iris & your mother for awhile yesterday.
Time’s up See you tonight under that big bright moon. Where’s that birthday kiss? Here’s mine “X” [stylized “x”]
Forever,
Dorothy
Figure this out & don’t ask me. [underneath looped lines leading up to her name]
by Cathy Gilmore | Jan 24, 2016 | Letters
“Letters are among the most significant memorial a person can leave behind them.” Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
How can we use letters to reshape our history? We may be surprised to learn how rich a source they can be. As an example, here is a transcription of single page of a letter—one that is part of a larger story of Ellsworth M. Clark hitchhiking his way through Southern Idaho and Wyoming in the summer of 1934. He was to be married to his fiancée Dorothy Smith that August, and was desperately seeking work as a school teacher in the height of the Great Depression:
This morning I came over to Montpelier with the County Sheriff. I was in Montpelier for almost one hour before I found out Wm Clark was not coming over here. From the garage where he worked. I walked up past Munks (Mildred is now home), but I believe they were yet in bed so no one came to the door. Not knowing how I would get over here, I walked towards the canyon until I got out of town. I waited for about an hour and caught a ride over with a big truck. As there are very few cars going on that road, I consider myself very lucky to get a ride so soon. I was back on top of mail sacks and boxes of groceries etc. The wind tangled my hair until I thought I’d never get it combed out. Arrived in Afton about 12:30 and just had time to shave & clean up for dinner. Aunt Louise & family have treated me very fine. You should see the swell bedroom I am to have tonight.
After dinner I called on Mr. Crook, the Superintendent of Schools. He was not home, but his wife said she to at a ballgame or church, she didn’t know. He will be back at home about 5:30, at which time I will interview the Gentleman.
June is leaving Paris for Salt Lake today. I think she left about noon. Suppose you will see her before I will.
The weather is somewhat cool up here
Aside from containing fun details about riding in the back of a truck, this letter is more than just a story: it contains people, places, and events. For example, this page contains six people, four places, a date, and a few subjects:
Names:
County Sheriff [Bear Lake County, Idaho]
Wm Clark [William O. Clark KWCZ-3G6]
Mildred Vilate Munk [KWCB-M92]
Aunt Louie [Louisa Mary Shepherd Call KWJZ-HL8]
Mr. Crook
Mrs. Crook
Places:
Montpelier, Idaho
Afton, Wyoming
Paris, Idaho
Salt Lake City, Utah
Date:
9 June, 1934
Subjects:
Great Depression
Hitchhiking
Job search
Each person tag represents an opportunity to share this source as on their family trees such FamilySearch Memories. The date provides a mark on a timeline for that individual, and the locations can help form a map that is also linked to that person. Finally, subject tags illustrate what is contained on this page that will enrich our view of history with this new perspective.
If this much information can be indexed from a single page, imagine what we could derive from an entire letter? An entire collection of letters? This is why transcribing and tagging is the key to unlocking our histories and the stories contained therein.
by Cathy Gilmore | Jan 19, 2016 | Features, Resources, Software
Our team is working hard on our upcoming release of KindexBeta in mid-February. Many of you are just as excited as we are about this ground-breaking software that will change the way families archive their own documents like letters, journals, diaries, and other papers. Let’s take a look at our software’s three main steps: Gather, Index, and Share.
The top area of the screen contains your unique cover image, along with the Add a Record and Search tools. The Search tool enables users to search all or part of your family archive, as well as the entire public Kindex archive. The Add a Record tool adds documents, photos, and audio/video to your family archive. When uploading records, users enter key information such as document type, name, and dates, then move to the Gather screen where the records are managed.
Here is a Gather screen of a sample Family Archive. On the left is a 2-Generation Family List, populated by names linked to your FamilySearch account. In the main area are records in various stages of completion. Records may be sorted by family member(s), or file type(s). In this area you may sort and browse the archive, view original records, and select records to index.
Within a smart and flexible Index screen users transcribe and tag their records. For this record (a letter), the user may scroll and zoom while entering the letter’s content and information in fields to the right. Note the presence of different fields for this record’s information, including names, FamilySearch ID, and dates. These fields are dependent upon each record type, and are designated when you contribute specific records. Square buttons immediately above the transcription area include formatting tools (strikethrough, and underline), tagging tools (FamilySearch ID Tag, GeoTag, and Event Tags), and help tools (user comments and help). These fields and tagging tools mark key data that enables records to be sorted, searched, and shared in powerful ways.
A button on the right expands the indexing to a full screen view, as seen below.
After a record is indexed, it is submitted to the archive to be reviewed by the record’s contributor From our Share screen, you may:
- View and read indexed records (letters, journals, photos, etc.)
- Print and download the original and indexed records
- Share the link with family trees
- View contributors and indexers
- Share the record on social media.
Users may expand to a full screen mode and adjust font size when reading indexed records, as seen below. At any step users may Search all or part of their family archive, as well as expand their search to the entire Kindex archive.
While not an exhaustive list of all the software’s features, this sneak peek gives you a taste of how easy and powerful it is to transcribe your documents and create searchable archives with Kindex. We look forward to helping individuals and family organizations manage and transcribe their archives, as well as working with family history partners in integrating our indexing tool within their software. We anticipate software updates that are optimized for mobile use and utilize speech recognition tools, as well as integrating OCR tools for both typewritten and handwritten documents.
Please visit RootsTech Booth #1017, and at the “Innovator Alley” at the RootsTech Innovator Showdown where we will be presenting our web software as semifinalists!
by Cathy Gilmore | Jan 13, 2016 | Love Letters from the Archive
[Ellsworth is in Georgetown, Idaho on summer break from his studies in Salt Lake City. He is looking for work and missing Dorothy. You may note the absence of Dorothy’s letters. We know she sent him replies, but she had apparently discarded some letters she sent Ellsworth. Spelling an punctuation (a particular vice of Ellsworth’s) have not been corrected. -CG]
Georgetown Idaho
June 24, 1932
Mein Leibes Schatzie, (you said once you did not care if I said that)
There is a new word for you to learn. (schatzli) I couldn’t remember it for the longest time, but it came like a shot this morning. I shaved today and that could be a good reason for an approiate [sic] word to come to me. You see I had not shaven for a week. Well, you should have seen me. I looked like a porcupine. I’ve been weeding garden and hoeing again today, and believe me it’s plenty hot. We have almost as not weather here as they do in Salt Lake during the day, but thank the lucky stars it cools off in the evening.
I couldn’t get all the french in the last two letters, but I will before long. Also I want to ask you what you meant when you said “Noth kent kein gebot” OH! I see now I’ve written it down, only it seems that I can’t quite make out the noth. It means some sort of extremis knows no law. The other expression you used meant ‘To me it is all the same’ (mir ist alles emerlei[?])
So you don’t give a ‘hoot’ whether your letters are interesting or not. Is that what you mean? Gee! they are always interesting to me, but I hope that you cared whether they were or not. You surely are funny sometimes. You change so quickly. did you know that it is been forever that Carbolic acid has been formed to be mostly a bluff anyways it’s not really as effective as once thought.
Oh! Well! ‘doh de doh’ It looks like i have to toughen myself and not let things worry me.
Say, about the snaps. They should be here any day and there as soon as possible. I’ll send them to you. I hope that is soon.
The dance what was scheduled for tomorrow evening has been postponed until Tuesday. I wish they would make up their minds. I am pretty stiff now though, and a few days to loosen up a bit will help. I don’t know what I’ll loosen up for though. It seems that I’m not so crazy about the idea as at first.
Say, in those crazy dreams you have where I’m around some other woman, all you had better do is to remember that dreams go in opposites. That would make things much nicer for me.
You must not get any dream ideas of me running arosn around with someone else’s wife. When I take a girl out I hope that she does not foul me by making me believe things that she has already told someone else. I guess I’m funny that way. If you want to get rid of me, just get married, divorce your husband and come around. I’ll probably say “Yes dear I love you more than ever” (like heck I will) I wouldn’t say it anyway.
Now I think I’ll sign my name
Pure Concentrated Sulfuric Acid Clark
Now forget all that, I guess I’m just a little piqued at the way you ended your letter. The beginning was so good and the end so- so. Not at all like the Old German Proverb “Wie die Anfang zu die Ende” (How the beginning so to the end)
I guess the beginning was too good so the end had to compensate.
Anyway, I guess such things are the spice of life. Keep it up, just so there is compensation as much one way as the other.
It’s funny how a fellow reads things into letters. When I sat down to write your letter seemed the best ever and the more I read it the more I read into it. I guess I had better put it away and read it again when in better humor.
I wish I could see you tonight and talk to you . I’ve so much to say that will seem funny on paper. I’m afraid I’m a pretty poor correspondent card You might read things into it also. Then lets hope that I’ll get better in my writing, become I guess its improbable that I’ll see you soon. Oh. Dot. Now here I am getting ‘blue’ etc.
I’ll cut this rotten letter short and hope that the next one is very much better.
Auf wieder sehen to the sweetest girl in the whole world
Repentantly
Ellsworth
Don’t worry about the ‘can de vil’ and the contemporaries. I have promised.
[circle with X inside] (not habitual)
believe as you will about the sentiment you know me better than most people I believe
