Category Archives: Software

Genealogy Software and other programs that can be used in genealogy.

G is for GEDCOM

G

GEDCOM is an acronym for GEnealogical Data COMmunication. It is a data transmission standard developed by the LDS church, Mormons, for moving data between different genealogy programs.

It is an old standard and not maintained. There are some efforts for an new standard.

The issues with it are that it is not designed to deal with certain types of data or conclusions.

It is helpful in that it is a text file and you can make sense of it by reading it.

The best use of it is for sharing data with other researchers who are researching one or more of your family lines. It is also a good backup. If you backup your database to GEDCOM periodically and have it in a safe place, if your computer dies, you can import it into a new program without data lose. This is in addition to backing up your genealogy program’s native database format.

GEDCOM is also used for the various popular genealogy websites to upload your data to them, and you can download GEDCOMs from them.

Be careful with downloading GEDCOMs from online sources as it is up to you to verify the information in them is accurate. If you merge a gad GEDCOM into your database, you cannot “un-merge” it. This illustrates the importance of frequent and verified backups.

A verified backup is one that you have tested and know that it can be used to restore your data.

Note Taking and Research Logs With Evernote

Evernote is a very handy program that allows you to store notes online and locally. It autosyncs when there is an internet connection. You can have Evernote on your computer, laptop, tablet, phone, etc. Each device can access all the same notes. If you want, you can also share your Evernote notes with others.

Notes are organized into folders so you can keep different kinds of items separate.

I like having it on my phone for grocery lists and for things like the size of wiper blades and oil and air filters for my car, or the size of the filter for my furnace.

It is also great for use as a genealogical research log to avoid searching the same material more than once, or to plan out a research trip.

The genealogy blog, Moultrie Creek Gazette, has a great article on using Evernote for research logs using the Web Clipper browser extension. I found it thanks to Dick Eastman’s blog EOGN, http://blog.eogn.com/eastmans_online_genealogy/2014/03/has-evernote-made-genealogy-research-logs-obsolete.html.

The Moultrie Creek Gazette has several other articles on using Evernote. I will have to add this to my list of genealogy blogs to follow.

Taking Notes With the Computer

Fookes Software’s NoteTab, is my favorite all-around, all-purpose program. It is billed as a programmable text editor. This means you can build scripts to handle various text editing tasks.

A text editor is plain text, like if you used a typewriter. A word processor is like Microsoft Word, or OpenOffice Writer, the user can do bold, underline, pictures, etc.

The benefits of using a text editor to do your writing is that you can focus on the content first, and the presentation later. With a word processor, there is the constant temptation to format text as you go rather than going with the flow.

NoteTab has one useful feature for taking notes called Outlines. A NoteTab outline is just a plain text file with a special formatting code in the first line so that NoteTab will show it as an outline.

NoteTabOTLExample
Example Of NoteTab Outline

I have many uses for outlines in my searches. When I am online, I can copy and paste to my outline. I have one outline I use to keep track of which people in my database I have found in the SSDI on RootsWeb. When I find someone in the SSDI, I add a post-em that explains who this person is, and their parents names, and spouse and children’s names, if all are deceased. Then even if I am no longer able to help anyone researching this line, they at least have a clue of who they are and where else to look. This also helps me organize my SSDI search as I plan which family to search for next. I copy and paste the preview of the post-em to a new outline with the name of the person for the outline heading. The preview includes the date and time, so I know when I did it. I use RootsWeb SSDI since it is free, even though it is only updated every few months. I have also learned of the death of some cousins we lost touch with, and can find their obituary online, if I check them often enough. NOTE: Due to people misunderstanding how the SSDI works most free access to it, especially via RootsWeb has been discontinued.

NoteTab’s scripting abilities also allow it to open other programs such as web pages. I built a script using NoteTab’s Clip language to give me a choice of surname, then I can select the one I want and go to the current week’s message board postings on GenForum and other sites, and see if anyone has posted anything relevant to my search. Any results can then be copied to any of the desired outlines that apply.

I have another outline that has all of the people that I know had military service. I can then review this list to see what I have found for them online, such as at the NARA Soldiers and Sailors…. (get link, etc.). I can then use this information to identify where to look when going to a library or using a service such as Ancestry.com.

I prefer to use NoteTab Pro for its versatility, but there are two other versions, NoteTab Standard, which is now included with Pro, and a free version, NoteTab Light. The free version can read outlines but cannot create new outlines without a workaround. All three versions support a PasteBoard feature. One document is designated as a PasteBoard and anything you copy goes to the paste board. One inventive NoteTab user built a clip to do a similar thing with outlines, and creates the header composed of the date and time. This clip is good if you have a lot of repetitive information you plan to copy from an electronic source, and need to keep it organized.

If you want outlines in multiple depth and with formatting, such as bold or underline, check out InSight or PowerOutlines by DataOmega. InSight has all the bells and whistles plus the kitchen sink. PowerOutlines is focused on outlines. Both products can import NoteTab outlines. PowerOutlines has the added benefit of being able to save to the NoteTab outline format, so you can view and edit the same file with either PowerOutlines or NoteTab.

As you can see, using computers in the pursuit of genealogy is more than about which genealogy program to use. A good text editor is critical. Be aware that online there are raging debates about the best text editor. I have a couple that I use, depending on my needs. Just don’t get sucked into the rabbit trail of one of these debates. Don’t waste your time on those pursuits that could better be spent breaking down walls.

Genealogy Software

There are a few different categories of genealogy software.

The most important would be what most people think of as genealogy software, a database of you family tree that allows you to easily add individuals, families, events, sources, etc. and print reports.

A very powerful example is LifeLines. It is a command driven software that runs on Windows, Linux, Unix, Mac OS-X, and others. Some might consider it old, but it has power and flexibility that a lot of high-priced software does not. It even runs off a thumb drive. I like and use this for it’s powerful report feature and ability to help clean up certain kinds of data issues. Best of all, it is free!

Another free program is GRAMPS. It started off running on Linux, but now works on Windows and other operating systems. It even has an option to work off a CD. It has matured in recent years, but I have not used it for a few years.

An example of a program with a free basic functionality and a fee to enable all features is Legacy Family Tree , now at version 8. I started off with the free version and have paid for versions 6, 7, and in recent months 8. It has a lot of powerful features. It allows pictures of each person and can be used as a reminder for birthdays and anniversaries and has a report to generate a family calendar of such dates.

Another program I have that is designed around simple data entry is Behold. There is a one-time fee that covers all updates. Its development pace has slowed as the main functionality is solid. New features are added periodically.

There is a long list of software like the above that range from free, to trial ware, to low cost, to high cost, over $50.

In addition to the above type of software, there are different programs geared towards research, or assisting with research. These all have a slightly different focus.

GenSmarts is a program that can read GEDCOM files and the native database format of many popular genealogy programs. It looks for “holes” or gaps in your data, such as missing birth, marriage, and death dates and places and generates a list of potential records to search to find it. It allows the user to turn off suggested places to look for each individual. Some genealogy programs, like Legacy, have similar but not as complete capabilities.

I had another program for working with tracking research, but in moving computers and hard-drive failures, I am not finding it. I know I have it backed up, it did not get moved to my current main computer. I will post an update once I track it down.

Spreadsheets can be valuable tools. A gentleman has developed a series of census spreadsheets for each of the US decennial (every ten year) censuses to help keep track of which ones you have read for different people.

In the internet age, a good web browser that is fast and secure is helpful for searching the many free and pay genealogy sites.

Having a research record to keep track of who you have contacted about what and when and replies, etc. will help avoid duplication of effort over the years. This can be pen and paper, a spreadsheet or other electronic document, a specialized program, or a feature of your genealogy program.

There are many other genealogy programs available, many more than I can try.

There are also other genealogy helper programs that I have not tried.

ISBN Lookup on Google

Google has several neat searches. I discoverred last week that one can type weather: followed by the Area Code, and get a four-day weather report.

On a hunch, I tried isbn: and the ISBN number of a book, and got hits specific to that book. For example, isbn: 1556135777, will find all online references to Researcher’s Guide to United States Census Availability, 1789-1910/1920, by Ann B. Hamilton, my late mother.

I have found that Amazon.com has the ISBN number in both a 10 digit and 13 digit format. The 13 digit ISBN number started January 1, 2007, according to Wikipedia. ISBN numbers are regulated to identify the country, publisher and other information about a book. Amazon.com also has its own numbering system, ASIN, for items without an ISBN number.

Any book submitted to the Library of Congress will have an LC Classification or Call Number, and it can be located using the online catalog. The call number has a link to similar call numbers, so one can learn which books on the same surname are also in the Library of Congress.

Google also has Google Book Search. This has a feature to find books in libraries and gives an estimate in miles of the distance to that library from the search location. One can also find out if their ancestor’s names are mentioned in any of the books scanned in this massive Google project.

Having this information makes it easier to find the complete bibliographic source citation for a book or any other published work.

I recommend building up a bibliography of your genealogy library, to simplify future citations. For example, I have one collection for the books my parents published, and another collection of genealogy books by other researchers, etc.

A good bibliography building program makes this easier. I use Zotero, an add-on for the Firefox web browser. It can capture online information, but can also be used offline to edit citations, and import or export them in a variety of styles. Zotero supports citations for a wide variety of publications, and can make copies of images, and attach notes to each source. This makes it easy to create a bibliography for anything you publish.

To stay organized with your genealogy library, update your bibliography data with a new citation for each addition to your library. This will save problems with “What was that source?”, and frantic searches for a book you know you have, just to get the proper citation. In addition, add these new sources to your genealogy program as sources, so they are ready for reference.

Archiving Email

Archiving email to free up disk space and insuring it is available for future reference is an important task that is best not left for later. One can put off long-term storage until there is nothing to store.

Two programs from Fookes Software offer excellent choices for backing up and archiving email so that it is easy to retrieve and use. Mailbag Assistant and Aid4Mail are two products that one should not do without. The needs of an individual or organization will determine which one is best suited to the task. Both can handle a wide range of email formats.

Mailbag Assistant has an interface that allows one to view the contents of Mailbag Archives, and if you choose you can forward or reply to a selected message using your default email program. In addition, it offers advanced sorting, and searching to quickly find the email you seek. It can handle tens of thousands of email messages in an email folder. It also has scripting options if you want to make a script to process on a regular basis.

Aid4Mail has multiple versions for the individual to the corporation. It can read a variety of mailbox formats, but is designed to archive rather than read the archives. One option allows it to create a CD of selected email messages that can be read in a web browser. Aid4Mail is also very valuable for converting mailboxes from one format to another if you want to move to a new email program.

Both of these relate to genealogy as a way to store important information received in email. One way to back up ones genealogy is to email it to yourself. Both products can split attachments from messages so they can be accessed independently of the email message.

There is a lot of overlap between these products in the area of creating archives, but they are geared to different uses. If all you want is a quick archive of your email or to move to a new email program, then Aid4Mail is the one to choose. However, if you want to be able to look through the archive and interact with it like an email program, then Mailbag Assistant fits the bill.

Whichever program you choose to do the job of archiving your important email, be sure to keep a copy of the archive in a safe place, in case disaster strikes. If you do not have the room to store print-outs of all the information in all your email, then archiving is the way to go.

Organizing Pictures

Today, after benefiting from organizing all the cords for my computers, and rearranging and organizing and storing things, I found yet more to do. Isn’t that they way it always works?

My wife’s grandfather died several weeks ago, and I still had not moved the photos off the camera and onto my computer. I have promised to share them with other of my wife’s family, and with my wife’s recent knee replacement, and other things, just have not gotten it done.

After I got the photos onto the computer, I also wanted to make sure I had all the digital photos in one place. I soon found that I did have all or nearly all digital photos I have ever taken, but in multiple directories and in multiple drives. I was afraid I would have to go to digging through backup CDs, but instead had to sort out duplicate photos, etc. I then made sure to do the same consolidation on my USB backup drive, and then updated the backup to include the new photos.

The consolidation of the digital photos will make it easier to get it all organized as I move forward. This includes digital photo albums I made of my parents 40th anniversary a few years ago. I now need to make albums of other photos and post online to share with family and friends. I use one of two programs from Fookes Software, Album Express or Easy Imager. Both allow re-sizing of images, and adding text and create web pages that can easily be navigated. Album Express is geared more towards the web novice, Easy Imager has lots of bells and whistles. Fookes Software has several other programs that are of use to genealogy. I am a little biased, as I have helped beta test all of them. You can find my name in the acknowledgments in the help files. I will have articles on the other products from Fookes Software, including reviews and how-tos.

In addition to digital photos, we have tons of photos. Unfortunately, most are not labelled. We have two storage boxes holding the album my mom made for me as a young child, and I added to some in college, and our wedding album, and tons of unlabeled photos. Back this winter, I did get started and labeled about a hundred photos, with who and when. Some will only be approximations without a receipt for development.

It is important when labeling photos to use the right kind of pen. A photo safe, acid-free, archival quality pen cost about $2.50 at Wal-Mart. Be sure to store photos ink side up and do not stack them, or the ink will stick them together and you will have writing on the front of photos. I learned this the hard way, but not before I caught the issue, and the ink would wipe off the picture. Plan ahead and do not have a fan or strong breeze when you do start labeling the photos.

Once they are labeled, it would insure you have a copy to scan them in. Services exist to scan photos, but a good letter-sized scanner can be purchased for$100 or less.

Both labeling and scanning and making physical albums are good winter or rainy day activities for a couple or family. Be sure to label photos before the one who knows who people are is gone. When my Granddad was sick, we went through all of his pictures and labeled them to make sure we knew who they were, since he was the only one left who knew. I hope that all of my parents photos are labeled, at least the ones my Mom was the source of knowledge. There is still time for my Dad. Note to self: Find out if all the photos of Mom and Dad are labeled.

Those albums will require the most precious resource – time. So check back here for the progress I make.