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Why Genealogists Should Use Computers

by Paul BlakePresident, Rochester Genealogical Society

Rochester Computer Society

April 8th, 2003

Webster, NY

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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

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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

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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

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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.

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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)

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Some More Background

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Why do Genealogists need computers

• Organization– As you research you

accumulate information

– The more years - the more paper

– How do you find anything?

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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

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• Computers facilitate storage of data

Why do Genealogists need computers

– Digital images require much less space

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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

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Why do Genealogists need computers

• Research– Incredible wealth of

information on CD ROMS

– Complete books

– Indexes

– Pictures

– etc.

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Why do Genealogists need computers• Research - CD ROM Example

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Why do Genealogists need computers

– The internet

– Literally millions of sites

http://www.cyndislist.com/

• Research

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• Research

Why do Genealogists need computers

– Many are voluntary organizations

http://www.usgenweb.org/

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• Research

Why do Genealogists need computers

– Many are commercial and require subscription

http://www.ancestry.com/main1.htm

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• Research

Why do Genealogists need computers

– Some are sponsored by local government agencies

http://www2.cityofrochester.net/cs/MarriageRecords/index.cfm

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• Research

Why do Genealogists need computers

– Some are sponsored by US government agencies

http://www.archives.gov/index.html

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Why do Genealogists need computers

• LDS Church is a huge sponsor for genealogical research

http://www.lds.org/

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Why do Genealogists need computers

• Plug for Rochester Genealogical Society web site

http://www.rootsweb.com/~nyrgs/

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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.

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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

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Last but not least

• Lets look at Family Tree Maker

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In Summary...

• Definitions

• Organization

• Discipline

• Facilitation of storage

• Communications

• Research

• Brief Look at Software

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Q&A

GenWeb

Pedigree

FTM

Cyndi’s

List