The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints preserves millions
of microfilms containing information on ancestors from all over the world. These
rolls of microfilm are circulated worldwide to three thousand five hundred Family
History centers, but the original rolls of microfilm are stored in a vault found
within the mountains outside of Salt Lake City. While some genealogists have
heard of this underground storage area, very few know how it operates. Many
others have never heard of it at all.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has now released
a one minute forty-five-second video clip that you can download and play on
your computer. In this video clip, Richard E. Turley Jr., Managing Director
of the Family and Church History Department, and David Rencher, Director of
the Family History Library, gives a quick tour of the facility and explains
its operation. As David Rencher says, "The value of that facility is immeasurable
because of its content, because of the diversity of its collection. . . . I
don't think you could put a price tag on that collection today."
At only a minute and forty-five seconds, there isn’t much detail
available. However, you do get an excellent glimpse of the huge effort expended
to preserve genealogy material. The "Genealogy in a Granite Mountain"
video clip is available in Quick Time, Windows Media Player, and Real Player
formats at: www.lds.org/media/videoclip/display/1,7031,1659-1-747,00.html
Dick Eastman Online
