Why Genealogists Should Use Computers by Paul Blake President, Rochester Genealogical Society
description
Transcript of Why Genealogists Should Use Computers by Paul Blake President, Rochester Genealogical Society
![Page 1: Why Genealogists Should Use Computers by Paul Blake President, Rochester Genealogical Society](https://reader036.fdocuments.us/reader036/viewer/2022062800/56814131550346895dad17bc/html5/thumbnails/1.jpg)
RR
GG
SS
Why Genealogists Should Use Computers
by Paul BlakePresident, Rochester Genealogical Society
Rochester Computer Society
April 8th, 2003
Webster, NY
![Page 2: Why Genealogists Should Use Computers by Paul Blake President, Rochester Genealogical Society](https://reader036.fdocuments.us/reader036/viewer/2022062800/56814131550346895dad17bc/html5/thumbnails/2.jpg)
RR
GG
SS
Agenda
• Definition of Genealogy & some background• As a genealogist why do you need a computer
– Organization – Discipline– Facilitation of storage– Communications– Research
• Genealogical Software Offerings• Q&A
![Page 3: Why Genealogists Should Use Computers by Paul Blake President, Rochester Genealogical Society](https://reader036.fdocuments.us/reader036/viewer/2022062800/56814131550346895dad17bc/html5/thumbnails/3.jpg)
RR
GG
SS
Definition of Genealogy
• The study of family origins & History
• The word comes from 2 Greek Words– genea meaning race or family– logia meaning theory or science– i.e. to trace ancestry
• Genealogists compile lists of ancestors– arranging them in pedigrees– or other written forms
![Page 4: Why Genealogists Should Use Computers by Paul Blake President, Rochester Genealogical Society](https://reader036.fdocuments.us/reader036/viewer/2022062800/56814131550346895dad17bc/html5/thumbnails/4.jpg)
RR
GG
SS
Definition of Genealogy
• Thought pedigrees were what dogs had
• Pedigree comes from Latin– pes which means foot– grus which means crane– derived from a sign resembling a crane’s
foot– used to denote lines of descent by early
west European genealogies
![Page 5: Why Genealogists Should Use Computers by Paul Blake President, Rochester Genealogical Society](https://reader036.fdocuments.us/reader036/viewer/2022062800/56814131550346895dad17bc/html5/thumbnails/5.jpg)
RR
GG
SS
Some More Background
• Genealogy has gone through 3 periods– Oral tradition - memorized list of names– Written pedigrees - primarily nobility– About 1500 AD in western Europe and
later in the English-speaking world during which the whole basis for genealogy widened to such an extent that the majority of people in western Europe can trace their ancestry.
![Page 6: Why Genealogists Should Use Computers by Paul Blake President, Rochester Genealogical Society](https://reader036.fdocuments.us/reader036/viewer/2022062800/56814131550346895dad17bc/html5/thumbnails/6.jpg)
RR
GG
SS
Some More Background
• Modern Genealogy– Has increased dramatically since 1945– The United States has had a long interest
• Societies like the New England Historic Genealogical Society
• The Augustan Society & many other state societies
• The Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints (LDS or Mormans)
![Page 7: Why Genealogists Should Use Computers by Paul Blake President, Rochester Genealogical Society](https://reader036.fdocuments.us/reader036/viewer/2022062800/56814131550346895dad17bc/html5/thumbnails/7.jpg)
RR
GG
SS
Some More Background
![Page 8: Why Genealogists Should Use Computers by Paul Blake President, Rochester Genealogical Society](https://reader036.fdocuments.us/reader036/viewer/2022062800/56814131550346895dad17bc/html5/thumbnails/8.jpg)
RR
GG
SS
Why do Genealogists need computers
• Organization– As you research you
accumulate information
– The more years - the more paper
– How do you find anything?
![Page 9: Why Genealogists Should Use Computers by Paul Blake President, Rochester Genealogical Society](https://reader036.fdocuments.us/reader036/viewer/2022062800/56814131550346895dad17bc/html5/thumbnails/9.jpg)
RR
GG
SS
Why do Genealogists need computers
• Computers bring organization & discipline
– Key data required
– Syntactical checks for date fields
– Error checking, i.e. person born after death of mother
![Page 10: Why Genealogists Should Use Computers by Paul Blake President, Rochester Genealogical Society](https://reader036.fdocuments.us/reader036/viewer/2022062800/56814131550346895dad17bc/html5/thumbnails/10.jpg)
RR
GG
SS
• Computers facilitate storage of data
Why do Genealogists need computers
– Digital images require much less space
![Page 11: Why Genealogists Should Use Computers by Paul Blake President, Rochester Genealogical Society](https://reader036.fdocuments.us/reader036/viewer/2022062800/56814131550346895dad17bc/html5/thumbnails/11.jpg)
RR
GG
SS
Why do Genealogists need computers
• Communications– Electronic Mail to
fellow researchers and relatives
– Bulletin Board and chat rooms for genealogists researching the same lines
– Sharing research
![Page 12: Why Genealogists Should Use Computers by Paul Blake President, Rochester Genealogical Society](https://reader036.fdocuments.us/reader036/viewer/2022062800/56814131550346895dad17bc/html5/thumbnails/12.jpg)
RR
GG
SS
Why do Genealogists need computers
• Research– Incredible wealth of
information on CD ROMS
– Complete books
– Indexes
– Pictures
– etc.
![Page 13: Why Genealogists Should Use Computers by Paul Blake President, Rochester Genealogical Society](https://reader036.fdocuments.us/reader036/viewer/2022062800/56814131550346895dad17bc/html5/thumbnails/13.jpg)
RR
GG
SS
Why do Genealogists need computers• Research - CD ROM Example
![Page 14: Why Genealogists Should Use Computers by Paul Blake President, Rochester Genealogical Society](https://reader036.fdocuments.us/reader036/viewer/2022062800/56814131550346895dad17bc/html5/thumbnails/14.jpg)
RR
GG
SS
Why do Genealogists need computers
– The internet
– Literally millions of sites
http://www.cyndislist.com/
• Research
![Page 15: Why Genealogists Should Use Computers by Paul Blake President, Rochester Genealogical Society](https://reader036.fdocuments.us/reader036/viewer/2022062800/56814131550346895dad17bc/html5/thumbnails/15.jpg)
RR
GG
SS
• Research
Why do Genealogists need computers
– Many are voluntary organizations
http://www.usgenweb.org/
![Page 16: Why Genealogists Should Use Computers by Paul Blake President, Rochester Genealogical Society](https://reader036.fdocuments.us/reader036/viewer/2022062800/56814131550346895dad17bc/html5/thumbnails/16.jpg)
RR
GG
SS
• Research
Why do Genealogists need computers
– Many are commercial and require subscription
http://www.ancestry.com/main1.htm
![Page 17: Why Genealogists Should Use Computers by Paul Blake President, Rochester Genealogical Society](https://reader036.fdocuments.us/reader036/viewer/2022062800/56814131550346895dad17bc/html5/thumbnails/17.jpg)
RR
GG
SS
• Research
Why do Genealogists need computers
– Some are sponsored by local government agencies
http://www2.cityofrochester.net/cs/MarriageRecords/index.cfm
![Page 18: Why Genealogists Should Use Computers by Paul Blake President, Rochester Genealogical Society](https://reader036.fdocuments.us/reader036/viewer/2022062800/56814131550346895dad17bc/html5/thumbnails/18.jpg)
RR
GG
SS
• Research
Why do Genealogists need computers
– Some are sponsored by US government agencies
http://www.archives.gov/index.html
![Page 19: Why Genealogists Should Use Computers by Paul Blake President, Rochester Genealogical Society](https://reader036.fdocuments.us/reader036/viewer/2022062800/56814131550346895dad17bc/html5/thumbnails/19.jpg)
RR
GG
SS
Why do Genealogists need computers
• LDS Church is a huge sponsor for genealogical research
http://www.lds.org/
![Page 20: Why Genealogists Should Use Computers by Paul Blake President, Rochester Genealogical Society](https://reader036.fdocuments.us/reader036/viewer/2022062800/56814131550346895dad17bc/html5/thumbnails/20.jpg)
RR
GG
SS
Why do Genealogists need computers
• Plug for Rochester Genealogical Society web site
http://www.rootsweb.com/~nyrgs/
![Page 21: Why Genealogists Should Use Computers by Paul Blake President, Rochester Genealogical Society](https://reader036.fdocuments.us/reader036/viewer/2022062800/56814131550346895dad17bc/html5/thumbnails/21.jpg)
RR
GG
SS
What to Buy - Software
• There several popular Genealogical programs available
• PAF is supplied by LDS for free
• Family Tree Maker is the most popular program in the RGS CIG
• Generations, Ultimate Family Tree, Master Genealogist, Family Tree, etc.
![Page 22: Why Genealogists Should Use Computers by Paul Blake President, Rochester Genealogical Society](https://reader036.fdocuments.us/reader036/viewer/2022062800/56814131550346895dad17bc/html5/thumbnails/22.jpg)
RR
GG
SS
What to Buy - Software
• Genealogy programs seem to have similar features
• The Rochester Genealogical Society CIG from time to time does presentations on various genealogical software.
• It is important to select a product that supports the GEDCOM standard which will allow you to share your data
![Page 23: Why Genealogists Should Use Computers by Paul Blake President, Rochester Genealogical Society](https://reader036.fdocuments.us/reader036/viewer/2022062800/56814131550346895dad17bc/html5/thumbnails/23.jpg)
RR
GG
SS
Last but not least
• Lets look at Family Tree Maker
![Page 24: Why Genealogists Should Use Computers by Paul Blake President, Rochester Genealogical Society](https://reader036.fdocuments.us/reader036/viewer/2022062800/56814131550346895dad17bc/html5/thumbnails/24.jpg)
RR
GG
SS
In Summary...
• Definitions
• Organization
• Discipline
• Facilitation of storage
• Communications
• Research
• Brief Look at Software
![Page 25: Why Genealogists Should Use Computers by Paul Blake President, Rochester Genealogical Society](https://reader036.fdocuments.us/reader036/viewer/2022062800/56814131550346895dad17bc/html5/thumbnails/25.jpg)
RR
GG
SS
Q&A
GenWeb
Pedigree
FTM
Cyndi’s
List