Alan E. Mann, AG

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alan.familyhistory@gmail.com                                                                  Accredited Genealogist

BYU 2008 Computerized Genealogy conference                            www.alanmann.com/articles  

Saturday, 15 March 2008                                                                            3:00 pm and 6:45 pm  

                                                                                                                                                        

Now and Forever: What's New and What's Coming in Family History Online

 

This session looks at some new things on the Internet. There are so many new web sites we can’t possible begin to look at even 1% of what’s new. Rather, I would like to talk about trends and direction for the future, show you several new data sites, demonstrate some new technologies, examine some new products or services, and give you a few hints on how to keep find more of the same on your own.

 

The future

 

The world is changing. A popular think piece video which presents some interesting facts about education in the 21st century is called Did You Know? See the video at http://youtube.com/watch?v=pMcfrLYDm2U. It is done to make people think about educating our children, but the facts and predictions given apply to more than education. Thinking about how these things affect family history and what we should be doing to be prepared for the future can help us gather, preserve, and share our family history more effectively in the coming times.

 

We can also participate in digitization through

www.familysearchindexing.com

www.stgenie.com

 

FamilySearch has been working on something new for several years. You can learn more about it at the BYU Computerized Genealogy conference next weekend. Here’s a few links we’ll look at this session.

Family Tree - http://labs.familysearch.org/familytree/Main.html#

Record Search - http://search.labs.familysearch.org/

FamilySearch Wiki - http://familysearchwiki.org/

FamilySearch Indexing is bringing radical change to the industry familysearchindexing.com.

http://labs.familysearch.org/blog/ - announcements about new features, record search, etc.

 

Publishing is also changing dramatically. Children born in the 21st century will probably consider reading and getting information through their computer as normal and will struggle to see the point of reading paper publications. In many ways, digital distribution is cheaper, faster, and easier to absorb. Most of us who grew up in a paper age still want our news, reference, and reading in paper. I suggest that our lifelong use of paper is actually holding us back.

 

For the future of publishing, you should be familiar with www.Lulu.com (publish and get royalties without publication investment), www.Issuu.com (magazine publishing on the cheap, but professional), and www.scribd.com, which offers free unlimited online document storage. Scribd uses iPaper server to display documents of most proprietary types, including PDF, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, without the user needing any software to view. People can make the files they upload public or private or invite specific others to view.

 

Publishing by remixing – see convergence, below.

 

Convergence is happening and will continue to happen. There is more than one sense—convergence of devices, convergence of services, convergence of location & access(ibility), etc. For example, read this blog posting:

 

My son sits in his bedroom with a TV, VCR, DVD player, video game systems, a small video camera, a digital camera, a computer, and a Video iPod. Each product was initially designed to perform a specific task, allowing us to be entertained or to record images and sound. My son, however, spends his time mixing them together, drawing audio and video from his video games and from movies, and mixing them together with video and still images that he makes of himself and his friends to produce a different and entertaining new information product. Information, to him, is never finished. It’s just a raw material with which he can make something new. (David Warlick, http://davidwarlick.com/2cents/archives/326)

 

Information is not a finished product, it is raw material. If our children can “remix” videos, audio, and images from a variety of sources and a variety of devices, perhaps a similar concept can apply to all data, which is, after all, information. An interesting tool which attempts to apply this concept is Orchest8’s AlchemyPoint (www.orchestr8.com). According to their site, you can automatically decode structured data residing within web pages and uses this information to expose a whole world of related content. Their website describes it “Our system provides advanced content manipulation and mashup capabilities that enable web sites to be manipulated as easily as children's clay. Pages can be visually remixed, content reformatted, and so on.  AlchemyPoint then enables you to easily share this Internet content and web manipulations with friends, coworkers, or the entire world. Information can be emailed, sent via instant messenger, etc. Web manipulations can be easily shared, published to AlchemyGrid, and reused.”

 

Mobile (device and location convergence) –There are billions of mobile phone users across the globe, expand your website to offer a mobile-friendly version! See MoFuse and MoFuseGrow (www.mofuse.com). Create a mobile version of an existing, RSS-enabled site in 5 seconds. See www.zinadoo.com, www.mob5.com, www.skweezer.com.  Consider putting your website in the .mobi domain (cnn, businessweek, etc.) also the m. convention – m.ask.com, m.yahoo.com, m.google,com/m and metasearch find.mobi.

 

e-Readers - Readius from Polymer Vision (a spinoff from Phillips) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N_m36Gr4jzM&feature=related.  Scrollable and/or foldable. Mobile phone. Store things from your computer (no browser yet) or retrieve automatically (RSS, email, etc.). Set up what content to be delivered from a computer, then content is "pushed" to it. 8 gb storage, 30 hours battery life (lithium-ion, rechargeable). Has audio capability (audio books, podcasts, mobile phone). Can synch with a computer or other device (USB/Bluetooth). 5" screen. Working on 8" full color screen. size of a mobile phone, weighs 4 oz. See www.polymervision.com/. Hits open market this summer, price not yet announced. Connectivity details not yet announced.

 

Amazon Kindle - http://www.amazon.com/gp/mpd/permalink/mQOQX2V7KT9ZY:m4H02MFJUILVP. $399. It measures 7.5″ × 5.3″ × 0.7″ and weighs 10.3 oz. Reads AZW proprietary format, but offers free email based conversion from DOC, BMP, JPG, etc. (but not PDF). It handles audio (mp3 or audiobook), has an earplug. Connects to Wikipedia freely, has built in dictionary. Must transfer non-Amazon content from a PC via USB. It is not a cell-phone. Subscription to blogs is available, but for a fee of 99¢ per blog. Updates through Whispernet, built on Sprint EVDO. This means you aren't dependant on an Internet connection (except Sprint's cell phone connection). For complete info, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amazon_Kindle.

 

Sony Reader - supports PDF, JPG, RTF, TXT has built-in software to convert Word. Plays mp3 and AAC podcasts. Memory only 64/192 mb, but expandable to 2gb SD or 4 gb Sony memory (claims to support 8gb not correct).  It measures 6.9" x 4.8" x 0.3" and weighs 9 oz. For more complete info, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sony_Reader. You need to supply your own Internet connectivity to get content.

 

Note, there are others. The iRex iLiad (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ILiad) at $699, the Jinke Hanlin eReader (www.jinke.com.cn/compagesql/English/embedpro/prodetail.asp?id=20) at $349, and the Bookeen Cybook Gen3 (www.bookeen.com/ebook/ebook-reading-device.aspx)at $350.

 

 

New Data Sites

 

There are thousands of other sites which are starting to put up imaged data. For example, here are several sites I found while preparing for this presentation:

  1. Old Upstate, Western & Central NY Newspapers - fully word-searchable database of 5.6 million images of NY newspapers from 1810-2005 (site says 1832, but many papers date back to 1810--see attached list in Excel format) - http://fultonhistory.com/Fulton.html
  2. Great site for Oswego county NY documents online, but I can't find the "root" page which describes what's here or how to use it. http://fultonhistory.com/my%20photo%20albums/Oswego%20County%20Probate%20Records/index.html
  3. The New Bedford, CT Whaling Collection Archives is a comprehensive index of men and ships on whaling voyages from the New Bedford Customs District from 1807 through 1925. The database indexes crew lists and Whalemen Shipping Papers, written contracts with the crew, for the period from 1810 through 1860. The information here is a direct verbatim transcription of the information as it appears on the original documents. http://www.newbedford-ma.gov/Library/WhalingProject/Whaling.html.
  4. The Pittsburgh Jewish Newspaper Project is composed of The Jewish Criterion (1895-1962), The American Jewish Outlook (1934-1962), and The Jewish Chronicle (1962-Present). This project serves as both an online reference source and as a digitized historical documentation of the Jewish community of Pittsburgh and its outlying areas. http://pjn.library.cmu.edu/
  5. Metis Nation Historical Archive - search or browse genealogies and imaged historical documents for the Metis Tribal Nation. http://metisnationdatabase.ualberta.ca/MNC/

Many more such sites will be found on the Internet. Even the rate at which new imaged data sites are appearing is increasing. Putting imaged data on the Internet used to require a big budget and was only done by governments and large companies. New services and new tools now make it possible for even non-profit societies to put up imaged and indexed data. For example, FamilySearch now offers the use of its FamilySearch Indexing to societies to make indexing possible for society members using nothing but an Internet connection. The price of equipment is coming down. For example, see www.stgenie.com. Finally, the cost of web storage and delivery space is getting affordable. All of these things lead to rapidly expanding addition of imaged data on the web.

 

In addition to these new sites (well, new to me, anyway), major sites continue to add new information. For example:

 

FamilySearchLabs is hosting the long awaited access to Family History Library microfilm records online. It is called Record Search and is available at http://search.labs.familysearch.org. The new service has a mix of records, some of which are images only, some are indexes only, and others have both. The records to browse are listed on the right, and those indexed are listed on the left. Your search can be limited to a single record collection or include all records that have been indexed. The image viewer has many options and controls. If you haven’t seen it yet, try it out. It requires an email address, but registration is free.

 

World Vital Records (www.worldvitalrecords.com) has a rapidly growing collection of data. While this site has been around for over a year, the site has found recent success. I mention it here because it has a lot of recently added databases and because it is now available at Family History Centers at no charge. Databases worthy of note include the small town newspapers collections and a large collection of US Directories. Their International collection is getting started, as well. Check out the list of databases available at www.worldvitalrecords.com/genealogy-databases.aspx (NOTE: you will need to click on “see all databases in this category” or you will miss many of the databases they have available)

 

Footnote.com is another site which has shown recent development and which is also now available at Family History Centers at no charge. I am impressed with the number of state naturalization indexes or records they’ve added as well as the unique collection of revolutionary war records. They have contracts with NARA to digitize a significant portion of the US national records. Check out their list of databases at www.footnote.com/browse.php#All.

 

Ancestry.com continues to add new data to their site. Subscribe to their newsletter or blog to be kept up to date on what’s being added daily.

Family History Magazine – download the first issue free from www.discoveringfamilyhistory.com/.

 

New Technology or Concepts

 

Online programs are becoming better and more numerous. The Online Programming for All Libraries (OPAL) is working with the Library of Congress to make programs on history and genealogy available. See www.opal-online.org/archivegenealogy.htm for a list of past programs which are available through the audio archive. These programs include Writing to the Courthouse, African-American genealogy basics, and Irish in America.

 

FamilySearch.org affiliates program works in cooperation with archives, societies, and businesses, FamilySearch is partnering with others to provide access to data and coordinate the indexing of the data. This program is new and only Family History Centers have seen any new actual access to data thus far, but many new things are in development. For more information, check out the new FamilySearch track in the Bean Museum at this conference.

 

Social Networking is a pervasive, significant development which has the potential to change our lives. Social network sites include MySpace, Facebook, and many similar sites. Now, there’s a social network for genealogists. Founded by Paul Allen, FamilyLink is off to a fast start. Check it out at www.familylink.com. 

 

 

New Products and Services

 

Here’s a variety of new products in the Internet marketplace. Which apply to family history?

 

  • www.spinbox.com - --speak your notes, then emailed to you
  • www.phonecasting.com – give a podcast a phone number, dial that number and get the podcast over the phone.
  • www.callwave.com – voice mail to fax
  • www.privatephone.com – get a voicemail box in any area code for free, then listen via phone or have emailed to you or texted to your phone.
  • www.utterz.com – phone in your blog posting.
  • www.SimulScribe.com  utilizes cutting edge voice recognition technology to convert your voicemail messages into text. We deliver your transcribed voicemail, along with the original audio, to your mobile phone, PDA, and/or email account. This process streamlines your communication flow, saving you both time and money.
  • www.evoca.com – podcast from telephone including conference call (Podscope then makes it all full word searchable immediately at evoca)
  • www.tellme.com – interact with the Internet via voice (any phone or microphone-equipped PC) – get sports, directions, shopping, news, or whatever…

 

www.twine.com - You are like a snowflake – you are totally one-of-a-kind. Twine recognizes what makes you special: your unique interests, personality, knowledge and relationships, to help you find and discover things, and be found by others, more relevantly. Twine provides one place to tie everything together: emails, bookmarks, documents, contacts, photos, videos, product info, data records, and more. And, because Twine actually understands the meaning of any information you add in, it helps you organize all your stuff automatically. Finally, you can search and browse everything and everyone you know, about anything, in one convenient place. Find and be found.

 

 

How to Find More on Your Own

 

There are thousands more such sites on the internet. It would be impossible to list them all here. Even if I could list them all, there would be more that weren’t listed by tomorrow! So how can you find more? There’s a lot you can do to be aware of developing technology. I would suggest:

 

·        Read online newsletters, chiefly Dick Eastman’s newsletter (www.eogn.com). See www.cyndislist.com/magazine.htm#E-zines for a list of many others.

 

 

 

 

©Copyright 2006-8 by Alan E. Mann. All rights reserved. Written permission to reproduce all or part of this syllabus material in any format, including photocopying, data retrieval, or the Internet, must be secured in advance from the copyright holder.