RootsTech is the biggest genealogy conference in the world. In 2023, RootsTech will take place March 2–4 virtually and in-person in Salt Lake City, Utah. However, you have access to the RootsTech On-Demand Video Library of previous conferences anytime you want—and for free! The library unlocks the door to more than 1,500 RootsTech sessions from the RootsTech vault, with more being added every year.
With so much content at your fingertips, the hardest part might be knowing where to dive in. Let’s take a closer look at the RootsTech On-Demand Library, see how the page is organized, and explore a few of its key features.
First things first: getting to the On-Demand Library
To get to the RootsTech On-Demand Library, start from the RootsTech home page. Look in the top-right corner of the page, and click On Demand.
As you can see, the page has an option for signing in, which you might want to do since this can sometimes affect the content that’s available to you. Just use your FamilySearch username and password and you’re good to go. If you don’t have a FamilySearch account, it only takes a moment to create one—and doing so is 100 percent free (and always will be).
Note: Signing in also makes it possible to create a playlist of sessions that interest you. More on this cool feature in a moment!
See what’s trending at RootsTech
When you participate in a conference like RootsTech, it can be helpful to know what other people are currently learning about. This is a great way to discover interesting sessions you might not have discovered on your own.
If you agree, you’ll like our Trending Topics area located near the top of the library’s main page, where you see a list of family history topics or terms that visitors like yourself seem to be especially interested in and searching for.
In the image below, you can see that on the day this screen shot was taken, DNA, Getting Started, and Danish DNA were all quite popular.
Finding the search term that brings you back the most relevant search results can sometimes be tricky. The great thing about Trending Topics is that when you click one of them, we’ve taken care of the search part for you. In the image below, I’ve clicked Danish DNA as the Trending Topic. Here are my results:
Quickly browse some of our favorite RootsTech sessions
One of the funnest things about visiting a library in person is checking out the display tables that the librarians have set out to highlight their favorite books, right?
With the On-Demand Library, we’ve created something similar. The library page features specific categories of RootsTech sessions, followed by some of our top sessions for each category. For example, in the image below you see “DNA” as a popular RootsTech topic and a list of recommended sessions. Click the See More button at the bottom and you'll have even more options to choose from.
Our list of categories and recommended sessions can change, but if you visited the library main page today, you’d see a few more categories:
· Just the Basics—sessions for people new to family history.
· FamilySearch—sessions for people interested in exploring some of the research tools available on FamilySearch.org.
· Recently Added Videos—sessions from previous RootsTech conferences that we just made available.
Use the playlist to save RootsTech sessions for later
If you see a session you want to watch but don’t have time, click the small plus sign in the bottom right corner of the video card. This will move the session to your playlist so you don’t lose track of it.
To access your access your playlist, click the RootsTech menu, followed by My Playlist.
Tips for searching the On-Demand Library
The On-Demand Library has more than 1,500 sessions to choose from. If you have a specific topic in mind, you can search and see everything that’s available. With so many different sessions to sift through, keeping a few basic search principles in mind can help you find what you’re looking for.
For example, you’ll want to be specific, but at the same time, not too specific. Let’s do a little experiment. Say I have ancestors from Germany and I’m interested in improving my research skills. Without thinking about it too hard, I enter “research” as my search term.
As you can see in the image below, my first three results are Quebec Research, Church History Research Guides, and Organizing My Research—three options that are only slightly related to each other and the topic that interests me!
Let’s try again, though this time I’ll use the phrase “18th Century German Records” as my search term. Fingers crossed I get something back that’s useful!
And guess what? I do. The first three search results are all related to the topic I’m trying to learn more about. You can see what year the session was given in the bottom left corner of each result.
Now, don’t take this suggestion too far. Just as you can be too generic and bland in your search term, you can likewise be too specific. I tried “Berlin birth certificates 1850” and the first three results weren’t even related to Germany! The trick is to find a search term somewhere in the middle.
Adding a suggested filter
The suggested filters on the left side of the screen can also help you narrow down your search results. The library has a number of filters to try out, some of which don’t really need explanation, but a few that might. Let’s go through them one at a time.
· Getting Started. These sessions are great for beginners. They serve as overviews or introductions to a variety of topics and can help you feel comfortable when you don’t have a lot of background knowledge or experience.
· Research location. Use this filter if the topic you’re interested in overlaps with a particular country or region of the world—for example, Danish Records or UK Birth Certificates.
· Topic. We’ve organized our RootsTech sessions into 185 different topics, and you can use as many of them as you like to help narrow down your search results.
· Content Type. At RootsTech, there are different kinds of presentations. Some are like a class and others are more hands-on or activity-based. There are also keynote addresses, product demonstrations, and short videos called “Tips and Tricks.” Use this filter if you’ve discovered a content type that interests you and you’d like to find more of the same.
· Sponsor or Exhibitor. RootsTech is a popular place for companies and genealogy organizations to share what they do or introduce a new genealogy product. This can be a fun filter to use if you’re wanting to see “what’s new” in the industry.
· Language. The On-Demand currently offers content in more than 30 languages. If you’re looking for content in a specific language, use this filter to see what’s available.
· Speaker. Speakers at RootsTech often give more than one presentation. If you found a session that you liked, you can filter by the name of the speaker and see if he or she has any other sessions that might interest you.
· Year. Use this filter to limit your search results to a specific RootsTech Conference. Spoiler: so far, they’ve all been great—you can’t go wrong! Then again, if you’ve forgotten the title of the session but you remember when it was given, this filter can help you find it.
Watch RootsTech anytime you want
Now that you’ve read this article, the cat is out of the bag. As wonderful as RootsTech is in person (and it is pretty spectacular), you can participate in much of the conference online through On-Demand. In fact, you can even travel back in time and enjoy the sessions from previous conferences!
Choose a topic and turn yourself into an expert! Or just have fun learning something new. Go to RootsTech On-Demand and start exploring!
What is RootsTech?
RootsTech is a place to learn, be inspired, and make connections through family history. Hosted by FamilySearch and sponsored by other leading genealogy organizations, we have hundreds of expert classes, tips and tricks videos, and inspiring stories that can help you experience family history like never before. Visit our on-demand learning library or make plans to join us for our next virtual or in-person conference event.
