The Jewish Genealogical Society of Great Britain

Transcription

1 The Jewish Genealogical Society of Great Britain JGSGB Education Session 7 Family Tree Programmes & Recording Data Jeanette Rosenberg 22 May

2 Agenda Introductions Thinking about storage of family history data Evaluating your choice of package Case Studies of Family Tree Maker/Ancestry & My Heritage Survey of recent developments and forward look Session review Disclaimer: I have no financial interest in any genealogy software or other programmes mentioned today. Rapid Pace of Change High tech phones with genealogy on them I pad & I Phone Mac users Tablets Users of other operating systems e.g. Linux 2

3 Be prepared for Genealogy on the go Tablet Computing Do we still need a desktop computer? 3

4 iphone ipad etc Reunion Mobile Family Tree GedView iheritage Shrubs FamViewer Traces of the Past Families Tree to Go (Ancestry) Source: Dick Eastman Or your Android Ancestry BillionGraves Catch Evernote FamilySeek FamilySearch Families FindGrave Genedroid My Heritage 4

5 Mac If you re a Mac user the software you need is one of these packages: Lifelines Mac Family Tree Reunion A bit more for you later! Linux users Linux Just about all I can tell you is that the main programme is called Gramps! (Genealogical Research and Analysis Management Programming System) 5

6 Recording Your Data Where to Start What to record in the first place How many facts? How to do it? Where to Start With yourself Your parents Your siblings Their families Work backwards, upwards and downwards 6

7 Sourcing Your Data Why? So you don t keep re-researching in the same place So you know where information came from So other people can trust your data if you share So other people can find out the same information for themselves Further info - my tutorial in October 2009 Newsletter Elizabeth Shown Mills the Sourcing Guru Let your software help you (if you use software) Elizabeth Shown Mills 7

8 What kind of researcher are you? Traditionalist Generation Historian Family Tree Climber The 3 types of researcher identified by Shown Mills in 2003 Traditionalists Have a sound knowledge of sources Carefully document and analyze their evidence, but Produce a genealogy that rarely reflects anything concerning the way the families actually lived. 8

9 Generation Historian Follows similar procedures to the Traditionalist but once having established the identities and relationships they seek out further information on the economic, religious, legal, social, and cultural conditions that existed in the various localities that can cast some light on how family members lived. With this information they can then portray, with some accuracy, the lives of those individuals. Family Tree Climbers The largest group, but... Enthusiastic, and unencumbered by detailed knowledge of how to do genealogical research Accept information from sources without question Assume since it has been published in a book or on the web, it must be true 9

10 Special Data -How to fit it in to software Health Adoption DNA/Genetics Jewish Data Photos Audio & Video The Notes Field free form for your narrative 10

11 What to put in & what to leave out Health, Illness & DNA? Bankruptcy? Divorce? Illegitimacy & Adoption? 2010 newspaper article about Warwick University Research: Family tree research can open a "Pandora's Box" of secrets that may cause rifts -can-open-pandoras-box-of-family-secrets.html Family Tree Records & Storage In a specialist software package? On paper On your own computer Online / on the internet A mix of all of these 11

12 Output Reports different kinds Charts - types Saving & storing Printing to Paper or pdf file Great big files or paginated in book format Sharing and Sending Privatising GEDCOMS Who Owns the Data? Privatising Different standards in different countries When it s out there, it s out there. Copyright & other intellectual property issues No such thing as copyright of genealogy 12

13 Features of Genealogy Software It s just a clever filing system with various benefits & features Helps you store & organise information Presents the information Allows you to share it Allows you to add: Notes Pictures Audio files Video files More Features And do more or less everything else you d want to besides! 13

14 Genealogy Software Packages Choosing which is for you Evaluating them Cost from free and share-ware thru expensive Updating Share-ability etc [And...basically most people use Ancestry/Family Tree Maker or MyHeritage] Questions to ask yourself What does the software do? Will the software help me trace my family? Will the software check what I input is accurate? Do I need the same software as the people I want to share my information with? 14

15 What The Software Won t Do Research your tree for you Check that the information you put in is accurate (US Acronym: GI Joe Garbage in, Garbage out!) Make it easy to leave/end a subscription It s a bit like a mobile phone contract I think! Avoid the Top 10 Errors in Genealogy 1. Never adopt details from someone else s tree without checking the info. Always flag errors. 2. Don t assume that all information you receive from relatives is always correct. Use it as a starting point, don t just ask one relative, ask as many as possible! 3. Don t judge historic events from a modern perspective. If your 44 year old 5 x great grandpa married a 13 year old girl, it may well have been legal at that time and place. 4. Marriage banns or an engagement notice don t necessarily mean that a couple actually got married. 5. Avoid relying on one source when more than one is always better, the more different sources the more convincing the proof. 15

16 Paton on Pitfalls, continued. 6. Never start with the assumption that you re related to someone famous and try to force the connection. Always work form the known to the unknown and not the other way. 7. Don t fall for tourist traps e.g. your coat of arms or that Royal connection! Don t be misled. 8. Don t assume your relatives stayed in the same place for too long, but if someone moves suddenly over a long distance do check out the facts, it could be someone else of the same name. 9. Gravestones may have been placed many years after a death and may not be accurate, don t assume it is. 10. Check the names of all informants on statutory records they may have got their facts wrong. With thanks to Chris Paton - Your Family Tree Spring 2010 pp What to look for in your genealogy software Ease of use Creating, managing, printing & presenting Comprehensiveness, clarity Ease of installation & setup Do you need to be a techie?! Features & benefits Ease of attaching documents & photos Help & documentation From the company 16

17 What should you consider? What exactly you want to achieve? Recording a few basic facts How serious a researcher are you? What about privacy? What, if anything do you want to put online? Who controls the data on your website? Your IT skills Basic Online Genes Reunited Find My Past Ancestry /Family Tree Maker My Heritage/Geni Offline Many other options... Let s explore! It s really all about being organised! 17

18 Storing your family tree data online Advantages Free or low cost access to basic online facilities. Other family members can be given access to your data. The site is always up-to-date with your latest research. Enables distant relatives who share a common ancestor to make contact with you. Access your information from anywhere in the World. You may download your data and submit it to other websites for publication. Storing your family tree data online Disadvantages Privacy and security could be compromised. Host organisation has access to your data. Limited storage for notes, sources and other interesting stories about your ancestors. Very limited range of charts. Little or no reporting. Relies on relatives knowing where to look to find family information. Difficult to determine if the site will still be around in 10, 25, 50 or 100 years time for your descendants to access. Host organisation will keep altering the software to stay ahead of other website applications. 18

19 Storing on your own computer Advantages One off cost of software then it s yours to use for ever Storage of sensitive family data -you are the only person with access to it More fields for storing data and notes etc. Much better methods of recording sources Usually a much higher standard of reports and charts The software won t change. It stays the same until you decide to upgrade Some software programs allow you to create basic websites Better quality programs allow you to create PDF files of diagrams/reports to distribute to relatives via . Software allows you to be selective about what information to submit to online websites via the GEDCOM transfer facility. Storing on your own computer Disadvantages Costs Not so easy to give others access to your work in progress You will have to pay to upgrade the software every few years if you want to keep up to date with software technology. You need to be organised to keep backups away from the PC in case of hardware failure, theft or fire etc. 19

20 What the benefits & features do Some relate to the genealogical research process Some relate to how you display the results Not possible to evaluate a programme based on how you want to display results [and...basically most people use Family Tree Maker/Ancestry or MyHeritage] Who is going to see the results? What do you want to do with your tree? Publish online Printed and showed to family friends attachment send to others too 20

21 Archiving Who will look after your data in the future? Grandchildren? Their kids... Remember that digital media degrades over time Computers change and your info might not get transferred over... Why bother with software? Can t it all be done online? Actually, no! 21

22 Packages With web-based tools Trials of & credits for research sites Access to online BMDs & Censuses Ability to establish your own website Payment Credit card or pay-as-you-go Subscriptions & ease of cancellation.. But what about the Jewish stuff we want?.. What if you have a one name study? 6 Bad Things About Today's Genealogy Software Make you enter your data into forms and require you run reports to see (some of) your data. Person-centric, rather than source-centric. Emphasize formatting your citations correctly, rather than documenting your sources correctly Promote merging other people s data with yours, rather than keeping them separate and virtually merging Don t adhere to GEDCOM standards, thereby not allowing you to correctly transfer your data between programs. Try to do everything, except the one thing you want them to do: Help you quickly and easily record your data, evidence and conclusions and let you make use of them. Source Louis Kessler 20 Nov

23 Software Packages Family Tree Maker/Ancestry Legacy Family Historian Mac Family Tree Personal Ancestral File Reunion Roots Magic Who Do You Think You Are?... And many more 23

24 Evaluation of Software Packages Updated for 2013!!! Packages can t cover all eventualities Some programme developers leave things out now that they used to include because they ve become standard on new computers, e.g. Photo editing and various print options. So which one do you want to use?... But, most people that I know use Family Tree Maker/Ancestry or MyHeritage It comes down to your personal preferences in the end: The situation is similar to what I experience when I do presentations. Some of the people's comments say how much they liked the presentation, others express the fact that everything I said was a complete waste of time. Did these two people hear the same presentation? Sometimes I wonder if my commentators are looking at the same program? 24

25 Survey of Genealogy Database Software Usage Jerry Kocis offered a 32 page survey of genealogy database software usage in March 2013 in the Google+Genealogy Tech Community. He has summarized and analyzed the answers from 166 respondents. He described the survey as: "This is a survey regarding users satisfaction with their genealogy software,including their perceptions of to what extent they make use of the software s features and capabilities. 9!867&app=WordPdf&authkey=!AGACpklnit8Necs Kocis Survey Set in Perspective Interested readers should peruse the entire document My take on the results, at least for the three programs analyzed in more detail, is that users are fairly well satisfied with their program, but need to learn more about using the program effectively. The respondents were probably more tuned in to genealogy technology & Social Media than the typical genealogical society member or occasional user of online trees, so it would be interesting to do this type of survey in a large genealogical society with thousands of members. Comments from Geneablogger Randy Seaver: 25

26 Comparison of PC Genealogy Software Features Data entry & citation Views Management tools Charts Reports Printing & publishing Integration Help & support Operating System (pc or Mac) Family Tree Maker Legacy Deluxe RootsMagic The Master Genealogist (Gold) arison-of-pc-genealogy-softwarefeatures Comparison of Mac Genealogy Software Features Data entry & citation Views Management tools Charts Reports Printing & publishing Integration Help & support Operating System (pc or Mac) Family Tree Maker ifamily for Leopard MacFamily Tree Reunion comparison-of-macgenealogy-softwarefeatures 26

27 Buying your Software Widely available from retail outlets Can be downloaded Specialist shops in the UK that I ve used: S&N Genealogy - TWR Computing - Try out packages at JGSGB Family History Fair in July GEDCOM Genealogical Data COMmunications How genealogy programmes talk to each other Allow exchange of data between dissimilar programmes without needing to re-enter data Standard for data exchange (where 2 programmes both handle GEDCOM) Use to upload to other programmes e.g. FTJP 27

28 GEDCOM (Techie bit) If you use 2 or 3 different genealogy programmes because you like the different outputs each offers, transfer (import & export) your data between them by GEDCOM, your only worry is version control for your data. NOT for transfer of all file types / media e.g. images and multiple facts check error files. Translation errors creep in Chinese whispers Better GEDCOM Campaign Lots happening among the techie & developer world Blog Website Campaign 28

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30 A closer look at 2 possibilities Family Tree Maker/Ancestry My Heritage.com Not looking at Has recently been purchased by MyHeritage 30

31 Comparison FTM Tie in with Ancestry & JewishGen Store info online at Ancestry or offline on your computer Blog Newsletter Worldwide data Greater functionality More expensive Ongoing subscription My Heritage Tie in with Yad Vashem Store online or offline on your computer Laurence Harris & Schelly Talalay Dardashti Blog Online search of other people s data sets Cheaper. & free to use in limited format Some frivolous parts e.g. photo mashups and celebrities, sending flowers & gifts Serious stuff too e.g. surname distribution mapping utilities Megadex search - Acquisitive of data and other genealogy companies, e.g. Backupmytree Family Link & World Vital Records New datasets all the time 31

32 Amazing datasets (via Ancestry) Education programmes Sales of other data and software Not just one site: Do you still need a desktop (local) genealogy program? Functionality between programs Blurring between what runs on your computer and on the internet If stored on your pc a greater risk of becoming obsolete Issues with synchronisation & version control Backups 32

33 Story Telling NEW!!! Every family has a story and within that story is power to connect in new ways with those you cherish most. This year s new genealogy development: discover how to preserve and share your stories as part of your family history pursuits. Story Telling The art of storytelling Preserving oral histories and family memorabilia Creating family history traditions Using social media to share your story Publishing family stories 33

34 Help from Story Telling Blogs Possibly leading to self-publishing your own book (we are not covering this subject today!) Looking forwards - Exciting times ahead! How genealogy software helps people to record and share their stories Mergers & acquisitions in the market It s all about the data what do you get for your subscription apart from the software and an online tree More mobile genealogy More sharing & collaboration 34

35 Agenda - Review Introductions Sourcing Story Telling Thinking about storage and evaluating your choice Looking at some packages in more detail Review Next session: will be on 20 June The subject is Making the Most of Visiting Archives Webinar Link to be sent out soon Thank You. Any Questions? 35

36 The Jewish Genealogical Society of Great Britain 36