Submit annual history online?

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chchstake-p40
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Submit annual history online?

#1

Post by chchstake-p40 »

I remember hearing late last year that there may have been a way to submit your Stake or Ward annual history report online via the church website. You could email your pictures, pdf documents etc via an online form instead of having to print it out and send it via mail.

Is this correct? I have read the wiki page on annual history submission and there is nothing to indicate this way of submitting and I have attempted to search the forums and there doesn't appear to be anything relating to an online website for doing this.

Perhaps this new online submission is still in beta? If so, it would be great to have the link to see what it is like, or to know when it will become available for general use.
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aebrown
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#2

Post by aebrown »

chchstake wrote:I remember hearing late last year that there may have been a way to submit your Stake or Ward annual history report online via the church website. You could email your pictures, pdf documents etc via an online form instead of having to print it out and send it via mail.
I've never heard of such a thing. Although it's an interesting concept, it has never been mentioned on the forum, wiki, or any official communication.

Regarding electronic submissions, the current Annual History instructions say (in the Frequently Asked Questions):
What formats are acceptable?
Annual histories should be submitted on paper. An additional electronic copy may be included, but it should not be the only format submitted. Electronic files included in the annual history should be in nonproprietary formats, such as PDF, TIF, JPEG, MP3, and so on.
manielsen2002
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Re: Submit annual history online?

#3

Post by manielsen2002 »

It seems that the Church is getting more serious about Wards and Stakes "actually" submitting these histories, our Stake has been diligent in doing so and a website method of submitting them would be very nice, as it seems the limit of 12 meg, as stated in the guidebook, is always exceeded and I end up having to snail mail it.

It would be very handy to allow the wards to submit this way to the Stake and then the Stake could access this and approve them, etc, and approve.
supermanforever
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Re: Submit annual history online?

#4

Post by supermanforever »

This is what I found by searching the history.lds.org site:

https://history.lds.org/stakedistrictmi ... s?lang=eng

Electronic Submissions
Stakes, districts, and missions may submit their annual histories electronically if the submissions meet the following criteria:

The entire annual history is contained in a single PDF or Word file. Photographs or other attachments must be embedded in the file. (Do not e-mail audio or video files.)
The file is no larger than 10 megabytes. A compressed file is acceptable.
Annual histories not meeting these criteria must be submitted in hard copy.

Send the electronic file to:
annualhistory@ldschurch.org

Include the following information in the body of the e-mail:

The unit’s name and number
The year covered
sdrakulich
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Re: Submit annual history online?

#5

Post by sdrakulich »

I submitted our Stake Annual History online earlier this week. I followed the directions given at the history.lds.org site and shortly after submitting it I received a response back saying it was received and it would be permanently preserved in the Church archive. Quick and easy process.
manielsen2002
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Re: Submit annual history online?

#6

Post by manielsen2002 »

That is not the issue, I have done that many times as well. The problem is that they limit the size to under 10-12 meg attachments in emails. As time goes on, that limitation will become a problem, and in fact it is already a problem. We currently have a file size of about 30-40 meg, I was able to get an alternative method from the history department to send it rather than snail mail, but I'm just suggesting that there could be an easier and more efficient method since email systems do have their limits and they are not designed for large file exchanges.

If the alternate method they gave me is available to all then there is no issue, but I had the impression that is was an exception.

I guess, the bottom line of my comment is that there could be a portal created that would make the entire process, from gathering from each organization all the way through to the delivery to the history department easier.
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johnshaw
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Re: Submit annual history online?

#7

Post by johnshaw »

10-12 is going to be pretty standard from an email perspective. Their transfer mechanism is likely something they don't 'like' to do but is setup for most large corporations - some kind of sftp or website solution that you can upload and they can then download.

As time goes by there will likely be a change in the portal. But, like almost everything in ICS, the Hasten the work changes/disruption to priorities are only now beginning to get back to normal.
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jamesfindlay
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Re: Submit annual history online?

#8

Post by jamesfindlay »

I have been assigned by the Church History Department to begin gathering requirements for a possible electronic annual history submission tool. I have read through the comments above and have noted the pain points expressed. What other pain points on the current process do you have that you would like to share? What would you like to see in a proposed electronic submission tool?
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johnshaw
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Re: Submit annual history online?

#9

Post by johnshaw »

I'd love to see something like what I can do with FamilySearch and my ancestors. The 'report' is great, but what about fun videos from Youth Conferences and YW Camps. Is there a way to pull in a social media scrape as well as many wards/stakes have created social media, those are my things.
“A long habit of not thinking a thing wrong, gives it a superficial appearance of being right, and raises at first a formidable outcry in defense of custom.”
― Thomas Paine, Common Sense
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aebrown
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Re: Submit annual history online?

#10

Post by aebrown »

jamesfindlay wrote:What other pain points on the current process do you have that you would like to share? What would you like to see in a proposed electronic submission tool?
Thanks for asking for input -- I think an electronic submission tool could be very helpful, and would probably simplify the archiving process for the Church History Library.

When I was a stake clerk responsible for submitting histories, I found that some wards were very comfortable with submitting electronic histories to me, which simplified my task of gathering all the ward histories. It would be helpful if wards could submit their histories electronically for review by the stake clerk. After gathering the stake's history and reviewing the submitted ward histories, the stake clerk could then make the final submission.

Other wards were very traditional, paper-oriented. It would be good to allow a mixture of paper and electronic submissions. Perhaps for each ward, the stake clerk could see if the ward history has been submitted, or upload it himself, or indicate that a paper history would be mailed.

Another occasional pain point was getting the stake president's signature. If that is required (which the paper process seemed to require, but the email process glossed over, if I recall correctly), it would be good to allow a bit of workflow where the stake president could electronically approve the submission.
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