The FamilySearch Center in the Joseph Smith Building is getting a full upgrade – and progress on the digitization of the Granite Mountain microfilm is moving ahead at a terrific pace. According to Paul Nauta, with FamilySearch, all that film – 2.5 million rolls – may all be digitized by early next year. That is amazing…
The following teaser is from the October 22, 2009 edition of the Mormon Times (Deseret News).
With a 3-D backdrop of New York Harbor and some sailing ships, there’s something new afoot at the FamilySearch Center in the Joseph Smith Memorial Building.
Welcome to a surprising 3-D replica of a wharf at Ellis Island, circa 1890, complete with wooden barrels and crates.
“This is a hidden nugget,” Paul Nauta, FamilySearch public affairs manager, said. “Few people know about it yet.”
This facsimile is phase one of a four-part, ongoing renovation of the facility that could span about three years. Even unfinished, visitors can sit on a barrel and take a picture as if they were on Ellis Island, back in time.
Ellis Island was the standard entry facility for many immigrants to the United States, most from the 1890s to the 1920s. About half of all Americans can trace relatives through Ellis.
Nauta said when the set is completed in about three months, staff will be able to shoot a digital photo of visitors on the Ellis Island set and e-mail it to them later.
Also to be included will be nearby displays about the origin and history of records, with more interactive displays, lining the facility’s outer walls.
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Nauta said FamilySearch has 185 camera teams filming 60 million new images annually. Also, the Granite Vaults are having all of their microfilm (2.5 million rolls) digitized and that process could be completed as early as next year.
