Alan E.
Mann, AG
byu@alanmann.com Accredited
Genealogist
BYU
Computerized Genealogy Conference March
2004
What's New in Family History on the Internet
Let me first answer that question
conceptually, then specifically. In general, the trend on the Internet for
family history is to have searchable indexes. There are many companies,
archives, and individuals trying to put digital images of original records
online. There are a few new technological applications and several promising
new possibilities. For example, there is a new “book scanner” that scans each
page of a book. It actually turns the pages and scans each page, then converts
the image to recognizable text (OCR, that’s not new), indexes every word of the
book, and saves the scanned images, text, and index. What’s new is that it does
all of this automatically—without any human doing anything other than putting
the book into the scanner, removing it when it’s done, and using the results!
What’s preventing much of the current
technology from making everything easier for the researchers is that too many
questions are unanswered—what format should data be stored in (what’s safest
and longest lasting?), what’s the best program to make the data available to
the researchers, and who’s going to pay for it all? In a time of budget crises
for libraries and governments, the fee-based web site or sales of digital
copies seems to be one answer.
Examples of useful new sites:
Sources 2 Go (www.sources2go.com)
– miscellaneous scanned data
BYU family histories project – (will have to
locate address)
BYU online libraries - www.lib.byu.edu/online.html
BYU immigrant ancestors project - immigrants.byu.edu/english/default.asp
Extensive Study of Civil War Soldiers (BYU
project) – (not live yet--www.cpe.uchicago.edu)
English Documents Online - www.pro.gov.uk/online/docsonline.htm
Digital index to births, marriages, and deaths
in the
Another aspect of what’s new in Internet
family history is research guidance. While there is a product by that name from
familysearch.org, I’m talking about the concept of getting research suggestions
or assistance from artificial intelligence.
Here’s
a couple examples of programs or web sites that do something for you automagically:
GenSmarts
This is a program that you can download from www.Gensmarts.com. The program analyses your genealogy file and
makes research suggestions. It will save the suggestions as “to do” items. The program recognizes nine different genealogy
software programs as well as GEDCOM.
Each research suggestion has an explanation of
why the search is important, what you should expect to find, and where the
record is available. When the record is available online, it links you to the
website. For example, GenSmarts suggested that I
search the 1880 IL census for John Dearing because his father's birth place and
mother's birth place were not in my database, and that information is available
in the 1880 census. It told me what the family should look like in the 1880
census (ages, etc.; and it left out the children who died before 1880). When I
said I wanted to do it, GenSmarts opened up
familysearch.org, filled out the search boxes, and presented me with the
results.
GenSmarts
also gives suggestions from over 100 online catalogs and record repositories.
It even includes some 60,000 specific records from a variety of sources,
including the Family History Library Catalog.
The program will launch an online search
automatically from the research suggestion for the following websites (in three
categories). In several cases, it will fill out the search form and present the
search results for you. In some cases, you may have to fill out information. In
a few cases (e.g., John Dearing 1880 census), you may need to modify the search
to find the information sought.
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Fee-based
sites with trial or per image fee |
Free
websites |
Subscription
sites (no trial) |
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1837online.com |
Bureau of Land Management |
HeritageQuestOnline |
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Ancestry.com |
BYU-Idaho |
NewEnglandAncestors .org (NEHGS |
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familyhistoryonline.net |
Cayuhoga
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Genealogy.com) |
EllisIsland.org |
Scotlandspeople.gov.uk |
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FamilySearch.org |
ScottishDocuments.com |
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NPS Civil War |
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RootsWeb.com |
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Hugh
Wallis (http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~hughwallis/)
Hugh has done a great work that helps
researchers use the IGI more effectively.
1.
IGI Batch Number Search Tool
(UK, USA, and Canada) -- Hugh has identified over 50,000 extraction batch
numbers and lists them by state or county, then by town. Each batch number has
a link that takes you to familysearch.org and fills out the batch number for
you. This enables you to search IGI extractions by town!
2.
IGI middle name index
(England, Scotland, and Isle of Man) – You may not be aware of this, but IGI
searches ignore middle names unless you check the exact spelling box, which
often restricts your search so much that you miss what you were looking for.
Hugh has indexed the entire IGI for
Stephen
Morse (http://stevemorse.org)
Steve Morse has a plethora of tools to help
with genealogical research. His new web site divides the tools into seven
categories. These categories, with a quick summary statement of what’s in each
category follow:
1.
2.
Census and Soundex
– The first option is an excellent overview of how his site can help with
census searching. There are ED tools for the 1920 and
1930 census which are important in larger towns and cities. There’s
simple search forms that save several clicks when using ancestry.com or
genealogy.com (works only for those with subscriptions to those sites). It can
decipher occupation codes given in the census, and generate soundex
codes.
3.
Births, Deaths, and other Vital Records
– Search five different versions of the Social
Security Death Index, find birthdays of twentieth century people, and search
4.
Calendar, Sunrise/Sunset, Maps
– Jewish calendar, sunrise/sunset calculators, assistance in getting street and
satellite maps, and various types of zip code searches.
5.
Creating your own Search Forms, Search
Engines, and Databases – helps in designing and improving
your own web site.
6.
Dealing with Hebrew Characters
– Jewish, Israeli, and Hebrew translations, phone directories, and other help.
7.
Miscellaneous
– Truly miscellaneous—from information about Belarussian
towns to the history of computers.
Paf Insight
This tool is for LDS users. It is actually
software that you download from www.ohanasoftware.com. It runs on your
computer, but it searches the Internet automagically. Select an individual, family, or any portion
of your PAF file, and turn the program loose. Not only will it find matches in
the IGI, it will update your file with temple dates. It also has a number of
non-web related functions. The company web site promotes their program for the
following reasons:
1.
Search the Online IGI and Update Your
Records
2.
Collaborate Easily with Others
3.
Repair and Compact your database safely
4.
Spend Less Time Merging and More Time
Researching
5.
Number Your RINs
the Way You Would Like Them
6.
Discover the "Hidden" data in
your database
FamilySearcher
This tool is a program you can download from http://myweb.cableone.net/kevinowen3/familysearcher.htm.
It works with any GEDCOM file and will help you search www.familysearch.org.
Export a family or portion of your data file to a GEDCOM, open it in FamilySearcher, and do a thorough search of the
familysearch.org web site without having to enter the search information. You
can select IGI, Ancestral File, census records, Social Security Death Index,
Pedigree Resource File, or Vital Records Indexes. FamilySearch.org opens in a
window that is headed by the familysearcher program.
It also searches Ancestry, RootsWeb, and EllisIsland. It’s freeware, so give it a try.
Bonus new sites: www.genealogy-search-help.com and
www.zapmeta.com
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©Copyright 1997-2004 by Alan E. Mann. All rights reserved. Written permission to reproduce all or part
of this syllabus material
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