Genealogy Lesson 22 - Setting a genealogy budget

In today's economy, budgets are more important than ever.  Genealogy is a great hobby but let's face it, it can get quite expensive.  You pay for memberships to websites; you buy software, you order books and buy copies of documents.  I personally blow about $500 per year on my genealogy.  I say that the money is "blown" because I cannot get it back, there really isn't much of material value to show for it, and it cannot keep my kids from starving if they were hungry.  Money spent on genealogy is pretty much a luxury, rarely a financial investment.

With that said, most of us have to limit the things that we commit to each year.  I always renew my Ancestry.com membership but I might let Footnote or Genealogy Bank lapse...unless they run a really great sale!  I also buy the yearly upgrade for Family Tree Maker and set aside money to make copies at the archives each month.  What I have been unable to budget for are trips to national genealogical conferences.  I would love to go but I cannot justify the financial return.  Sure, I am missing out on a lot of learning opportunities, but I cannot see paying $1500+ for travel expenses.

I know a lot of people would love to have an Ancestry.com membership but cannot afford it.  Well, the grass is not much greener on my side of the fence either!  No matter what we have in life, we always want more.  We have to understand that each of us have means in which we must learn to live.  If you cannot afford an Ancestry membership, go to a local library that provides free access.  It's not that easy for me to attend a conference, but when one comes to my local area, I will eventually be able to attend.  Make lemonade with those lemons!

Decide how much you can afford to spend each year on genealogy and do your best not to go over that amount.  It will cause you to assign value to things and to decide what is really important to your short and long term genealogy goals.  My short term goal is more inline with buying an Ancestry.com membership this year.  My long term goals are more inline with going to conferences.  I can achieve that long term goal, maybe when I retire or pay my house off.  It's not ideal for my wants but it is the most feasible path at this point for my needs.

One way to stretch your genealogy budget is to do what I suggested in a past lesson...get a buddy or join a group.  If two or more people pool their resources, you can gain access to more resources than you could on your own.  A local genealogical society can get group access to online databases.  Your genealogy buddy can go half with you on the cost of a needed book.  Being creative and resourceful can help squeeze more out of the money that you spend, getting you closer to your goals, sooner.

Genealogy Lesson 13 - Using Common Sense in Communication

Lately I have thought a lot about genealogy and email.  Not so much about how we use email in genealogy but instead what we do with email in genealogy.  I get email from people, all of the time, about various family lines that I am researching.  The big question is how do you process this type of correspondence?

 

I get tons of email from people whose research I do not trust.  I might look it over but it is probably going into the recycle bin.  They often present undocumented speculation or hearsay.  If someone tells me all about John and Jane Doe from 1693, I tend to downplay its accuracy quite a bit.  Records from that time period are very hard to come by and few families can be documented, with any certainty, that far back. 

 

Think about it, people back then remarried often so maiden names are almost impossible to find.  There were ten cousins named John or William or James, so trying to separate them is pretty much a joke.  Unless you find first-generation documents that have actual signatures or wax seals, you often cannot accurately tell one John from another.  I am being a little pessimistic but at the same time...I am being realistic.

 

Now do not get me wrong, there are a few people out there who can stand behind their work from the 1600s.  I know a couple of researchers that have scoured every available detail about a given family but they put thousands of hours into researching that one group.  Most people give a limited amount of time to tracing any one line.  It is therefore hard to consider yourself, or anyone else, an expert on a particular family or surname.

 

So back to the email connection...what do you do with an email that might have some potentially valuable information?  Whatever you do with it, do so right away.  If you do not process it immediately,  the email will probably get lost in your inbox, never to be seen again. 

 

Save a tree and do not print it out, no matter how worthy of a paper copy it may be!  Copy and paste the interesting parts into your family tree database and note who sent you the information.  It is important that you only create a note and DO NOT add the information to your actual tree.  Until you prove the information is reliable, only keep it in your notes!

 

I like Family Tree Maker, the way it has "tasks" that you can set up for future research.  If someone emailed me to say that John and Jane Doe married in 1693, I would copy the information into their notes section and then create such a task.  That task would remind me later to actually find the source of their marriage.  Only after finding the actual source would I consider adding it to my database.

 

You have to use common sense a lot in genealogy.  You need to realize that some people are good researchers and others are not-so-good!  A lot of people just suck up information like a sponge and regurgitate it around the web, fact or not.  You have to learn which people produce junk and which ones can be trusted.

 

Ally yourself with researchers that are as good or even better than you are, so that you can learn from them.  No one ever got smarter by hanging around people that are dumber than they are!  Challenge yourself and each other.  If someone is sending you undocumented information, call them on it.  Ask where they got the information.  If they have no answer, they have nothing!   Promptly give them the link to my website so they can take my lessons too!

 

Genealogy is a nit-picky beast, that is for certain.  You have to be prepared to challenge people and to be challenged by others.  Stay on your toes and be ready for anything.  There is no end-all-be-all manual or guide for genealogy.  You have to know something of value when you see it...on your own.  You also have to be able to weed out the junk.  By all means, share what you find with others but do not be the one who sends out recycle bin fodder! 

 

Be proud of your work and send out only your best, documented material.  Your ancestors would thank you for the accuracy.  I would be pretty mad if you tacked a bunch of kids under my name that did not belong to me!

Genealogy Lesson 7 - Citing your Sources

By now you have realized that I am not exactly holding your hand and taking you step-by-step into genealogy.  I assume that you have at least some basic knowledge of what to do.  My objective is to get your research off to a sound start.  I want you to be thorough in what you do, focus on quality versus quantity and above all...cite your sources.

 

Citing your sources is the most tedious part of genealogy but it can be the most rewarding.  I will give you a real-life example of how citing sources can get you out of a bind...

 

I run the manufacturing center for a local robotics company.  We are putting out a new product line that currently takes over one hundred man hours to produce.  That is an astronomical amount of time, but it is what it is.  I keep meticulous records and can prove how long it took each worker to build each part of the finished unit. 

 

This afternoon a co-worker tried to call me out on how long it really takes to build a unit.  He made the statement that he could "build the same robot, with no experience, in less than fifty hours"...and said this in front of my boss!  I immediately pulled out a spreadsheet documenting all of the build times, along with the corresponding work tickets, and he immediately looked like an idiot.  He shut his mouth and went back to work.

 

I was not shaken by his comment in the least.  I had the documented proof and all he had was conjecture.  In the end, no one likes that a unit takes one hundred hours to build.  However, like I stated before, it is what it is.  I have the proof in black and white and no one can argue with that.

 

Now let's translate this example into genealogy terms.  If you find a fact, be it a birth date, marriage location or mother's maiden name, write down the exact place that you found it.  In short, if you cannot reproduce your results...they are worthless.  You have to keep track of everything that you locate.  This is where programs like Family Tree Maker come in handy.  This type of database program allows you to easily track your sources (and defend them later if needed).

 

Let me also clarify this...you do not need to photocopy everything!!!  I see people at the archives paying a dollar to photocopy the title page on a reel of microfilm.  It is totally acceptable to write the information on the copy of the document and not actually copy the title page.  Save yourself the money!  As long as you can reproduce the search, that is all you need. 

 

Write down the title, author, reel number...whatever...just enough so you could go back later and find the document again...just in case someone challenges your research in the future. 

 

As long as you can prove where you got your information, you will do a great job in this hobby.  If not, you come across as  unreliable when someone questions "where did you get great-great-grandma's date of birth?" and all you can come up with is "I do not remember."  With that in mind, I would strongly suggest that you get a copy of Evidence! Citation & Analysis for the Family Historian by Elizabeth Shown Mills.  It is the premier resource on source citation for genealogical purposes.  I should also mention that Ms. Mills has more recently put out a second version of the book, Evidence Explained:Citing History Sources from Artifacts to Cyberspace 2nd Edition.

 

One other quick tip before I wrap up....always cite your sources on the front of a photocopy, not the back.  If you make a photocopy of that copy for someone else later on, you will save time and money by only needing to copy the fronts!

Genealogy Lesson 3 - Relative Interview Questions

By now you should have made a decision on your method of record processing, manual or computer-based.  I tend to refer to computer-based systems when I write.  That is my personal preference so I am somewhat biased toward the format.  I have been using Family Tree Maker for probably twelve years now and would not trade it for the world.

 

At this point, you are ready to begin interviewing your relatives.  This might sound like a formal process but it is quite simple.  You can begin with yourself and what you know concerning your parents, grandparents, etc.  Always ask the top eleven questions that a genealogist needs answered:

1. Full maiden name of each person
2. Date and location of birth
3. Name of parents and grandparents
4. Name of spouse(s)
5. Date and location of marriage(s)
6. Date and location of spouse(s) birth
7. Names of their children
   
8. Date and location of death
9. Date and location of death for spouse(s)
10. Burial location(s)
11. Do you have any old family photos?
    

Let's say that you interview your grandmother.  If you ask her these questions for herself, her husband, their children, her parents, his parents, their aunts and uncles, her grandparents, his grandparents, etc., she may not have all of the answers but you will have a great start none-the-less!  (As a side note, you might also ask how the person knew all of the information they provided...to help decide how reliable the information might really be!) 

 

Memories fade but people generally know what they are talking about.  Record everything that you are told because something off the wall now might make sense later.  I always recommend using a tape recorder if the person being interviewed will allow it...but always get their permission first.  I use a hand-held digital voice recorder because it is compact, simple to operate and I can save the files directly to my computer. 

 

A sub-focus of the genealogy interview is to document old family stories.  This recommended outline of questions can  precipitate related questions such as "how did you two meet" or "what kind of wedding ceremony did you have?"  Let the conversation go where it wants but always come back to the eleven questions at some point.  If you manage to cover all of these topics, your interviews should flow well and be a genealogical success.

 

I have audio tapes of my now-deceased grandmother that I made twenty years ago.  Every time I listen to them, I learn more about the family because I had just let her talk and tell the story that she wanted told.  I kept things orderly during the interview but let the stories flow between the specific answers.  These tapes are now family heirlooms that can be passed on to my children and grandchildren.

 

You can make your own heirlooms by repeating this interview process with all of the living members of your family, at least those who are willing.  A lot of people, especially if they have a skeleton in their closet, will be reluctant to give you personal information.  If that is the case, leave them alone and go on to the next person.  You would not want your "dirt" recorded for posterity either.

 

After each interview, go home and enter all of the information you have discovered into your record keeping system.  Before long, you will begin to see your family tree take shape.  Each interview will add branches to the tree.  Just be sure to enter the data while the information you just absorbed is still clear in your mind.

 

It might take awhile to collect but this personal view of your family history will prove priceless in years to come...trust me.

Genealogy Lesson 2 - Genealogy database programs

The first thing you need when starting a genealogy project is a way to collect all of the data that you find.  If you are not organized, you are going to get frustrated very quickly.  With that in mind, you must devise a system of record keeping.

Until recent times, most genealogy record keeping was done on paper and stored in file cabinets.  You could buy large charts and had to write everything in pencil so you could make changes.  I literally have a chart that is the size of my living room, not that I use it anymore.  I keep it as a reminder of the way things used to be.

Maintaining paper records is always a good idea but you have to come up with an adequate filing system.  I always make folders, going by last name, first name of the husband and keep records for him, his wife and any unmarried children in that file.  I then put all of my folders in a file cabinet, in alphabetical order by that last name.

Files are great but simply having a bunch of papers does not constitute a family tree.  To see the fruits of your labor, you need to create a coherent accounting for the information found on each document.  In the older, more manual method, you would use "family group sheets" to document the names and dates associated with each person in a given family.  These are simple paper forms that most local libraries, at least those with a genealogy focus, can still give you for free.

The modern way of organizing genealogy data would be a computer-based database.  There are many programs on the market, ranging from one hundred dollars down to free.  More expensive does not always mean better so keep that in mind.  There are also web-based programs that you can use, again some are free and some charge a fee.

I tend to stay away from the online database programs, for several reasons.  You sometimes lose control of what you put online.  Most sites allow you to keep your work private but you really have no way of knowing exactly how safe and secure their site really is.  If they had a computer crash or went out of business tomorrow, what would happen to all of your research?  I am probably being a little paranoid but, as a poker player would say, "I like to hold my hand close to my chest."  I would recommend having a program on your computer and then uploading that information to a web-based program, if you want it on the web at all.

As for computer-based programs, there are lots of choices out there.  I have always used Family Tree Maker (discontinued in 2015) for my own research.  There are also a few free programs that you can download, the most popular being Personal Ancestral File or PAF.  It is made available by the LDS church.

After deciding on the right program for you, take the plunge and get one.  Most can be obtained online but you can also find the more popular programs at Target, Wal-Mart, Best Buy, etc.  Try to get the most recent version, not something that has been sitting on the shelf for three or four years.

When you get the program in your hands, install it on your computer and start playing around with the features.  Get bold and enter what you know about yourself and your immediate family.  Once you enter your first name and date, you are officially initiated into the genealogy hobby.  I warn you now that it can be extremely addictive!

Enter the Ancestry.com giveaway but hurry because it ends on January 31st!

You could win $500 worth of Ancestry.com products/services.  In order to be eligible, you must be a fan of Ancestry on Facebook.  You can find their Facebook page by clicking here!

After you have become a fan of their Facebook page, you must email your Facebook user name to this address:

sweeps@ancestry.com

All valid entries will be eligible to win a prize pack that includes a one-year World Deluxe subscription at Ancestry.com, Family Tree Maker 2010 and a MyCanvas Photo Book.

Full details and eligibility requirements can be found by clicking here!

Ancestry.com iPhone and iPod Touch App Review

I was extremely excited to hear that Ancestry.com put out an iPhone application within the past few days.  I was even more ecstatic when I found out that it was free.  The download was quick and simple.  The only thing required when I launched the app was my Ancestry.com user name and password.

Unless you are an Ancestry.com member, the app is pretty much useless for you.  It pulls your Ancestry.com online family tree into the program for use.  So, unless you have a family tree on Ancestry's web site, you are out of luck!  It is key to remember that this is an Ancestry app, not a Family Tree Maker app.  You do not need Family Tree Maker to use the app, but you MUST have an Ancestry.com membership.  I guess you could use it with a free trail, but that would only last until your trial period was up.

I personally have an Ancestry.com membership but I actually did not have any trees online.  With that in mind, I had to upload one before I could do much with the app.  If you do not have a tree already, it will prompt you to create one at the Ancestry site.  Trust me - the screen on an iPhone or iPod Touch is too small to do much data entry.  With that in mind, I opted to start Family Tree Maker on my computer and uploaded a small tree to the site, a file with about 60 family members.  Despite the small file size, it took a long time for it to upload.  Maybe the Ancestry site was busy last night with extra traffic, becuase of the new app.

It took about an hour for my file to upload but after that, the app ran quite fast.  It found my new tree automatically and opened right up.  The color scheme is nice, typical Ancestry green and antique white.  All of the basic data entry functions that you would expect are there.  You can create and edit people in your file.  You can write and edit notes and even upload photos to your file.  This is a neat feature if you have an iPhone with a camera.  You could take a picture at a cemetery and put it directly into your tree.  The best part is that the file on your iPhone is synchronized with the tree your have on Ancestry.com.  When I added a photo to a member of my tree, it was on Ancestry's site instantly.

There are a few weaknesses that I see right off.  There is no way to see an actual tree, at least that I have found.  There are no reports and I do not see any way to share/export/email information to your friends.  I also do not see how you can delete someone from your tree.  The idea here is not to be a Family Tree Maker substitute but instead a way to view and work on your tree from the road.  In that respect, it was better than I expected.  For a new app, it is very clean and looks great!

As would be expected, the app is a little buggy.  When you look at a person's photo gallery, the images are not cropped properly.  It also gets stuck between images sometimes.  It is almost like all of the photos are connected end to end, instead of being separate files.  When you scroll across the gallery, it moves like a roll of microfilm and does not seem like individual photos in an album.  I only played with program for about an hour and it did cut off inexplicably once.

I will continue to play with the app for at least the next few days and let you know if I have any other thoughts.  As of right now, I think it is a great tool.  It might actually encourage me to put my entire tree on Ancestry's site, just to get the functionality out of this app.  The only negative about putting my tree on the site is that it does not sync with my Family Tree Maker file.  I would therefore have two family trees going, one on my computer and one online.  When Ancestry gets their online trees to sync with the at-home version of Family Tree Maker, then the app will be one hundred times more important to me than it is today.

What I am genealogically thankful for this year.

I know this is a day late but I was thinking about it last night...what are the top ten things I am thankful for in genealogy this year?  It took me awhile to fill this list but here we go, in no particular order...

1. State budget cuts this year did not severely hamper the Library of Virginia.  In past years, they were forced to lay off employees or even close for extra days during the week.
2. Family Tree Maker 2010 finally seems to be getting stable.  I think I have finally made the long-term switch to that product.
3. Ancestry.com went public this year - it is now on the stock market.  This may turn out to be a terrible thing in the long run but for now it seems positive.  They have a huge rush of cash into the company so I would expect a lot of expansion in the near future.
4. Getting my new office set up.  I am sitting here typing in it right now!  I am not finished with it yet but I should be done by the end of the weekend.  I mostly have to do some trim work and painting.
5. I set out to create a free set of genealogy lessons by email, for the general public, and I actually did it.  I wrote 20 lessons, set up a website and an email delivery system.  You can check it out here:  USA Family Tree.  I have over 1,000 subscribers.
6. I was directed to the Library of Congress site Chronicling America - a free database of US newspapers from the late 1800s to the early 1900s - great site!
7. I bought an iPod Touch.  This, more than anything, changed my life this year.  For about $300, I have a very powerful computer in my pocket at all times.  I am even able to have a viewable copy of my GEDCOM with me whenever I need it.
8. My GPS unit, great for finding my way around old country roads.  It keeps me from pulling over constantly to read a map.  It also helps me to record the coordinates of places that I find, such as an old cemetery.
   
9. I finally got the picture of my great-great-great-grandmother that I knew existed but never took the time to track down.  I found a new cousin, told them how to find the photo, and they tracked it down for us...very exciting.
10. Finally found the middle name of my great-great-grandfather, Joseph Addison Vass, on his daughter's SS-5.  We always assumed his middle name was Andrew so this was a great find.

Well, that is my genealogical to-be-thankful-for list.  What is on yours this year?

The Generations Network formally becomes Ancestry.com

Thought I would pass along a note that The Generations Network has once again changed its name. Now it will be formally called, Ancestry.com. This is about the third name change in as many years! This is the same company that "took over" Rootsweb and Family Tree Maker.

Interviewing your relatives for genealogy purposes

Are you ready to begin relative interviews? This might sound like a formal process but it is quite simple. You can begin with yourself and what you know concerning your parents, grandparents, etc. Always ask the top eleven questions that a genealogist needs answered:

1. Full maiden name of each person
2. Date and location of birth
3. Name of parents and grandparents
4. Name of spouse(s)
5. Date and location of marriage(s)
6. Date and location of spouse(s) birth
7. Names of their children
   
8. Date of death
9. Date of death for spouse(s)
10. Burial location(s)
11. Do you have any old family photos?
    

Let's say that you interview your grandmother. If you ask her these questions for herself, her husband, their children, her parents, his parents, their aunts and uncles, her grandparents, his grandparents, etc., she may not have all of the answers but you will have a great start none-the-less.

Memories fade but people generally know what they are talking about. Record everything that you are told because something off the wall now might make sense later. I always recommend using a tape recorder if the person being interviewed will allow it...but always get their permission first. I use a Sony digital voice recorder because it is compact, simple to operate and I can save the files directly to my computer.

A sub-focus of the genealogy interview is to document old family stories. This recommended outline of questions can precipitate related questions such as how did you two meet or what kind of wedding ceremony did you have? Let the conversation go where it wants but always come back to the eleven questions at some point. If you manage to cover all of these topics, your interviews should flow well and be a genealogical success.

I have audio tapes of my now-deceased grandmother that I made twenty years ago. Every time I listen to them, I learn more about the family because I just let her talk and tell the story that she wanted told. I kept things orderly during the interview but let the stories flow between the specific answers. These tapes are now family heirlooms that can be passed on to my children and grandchildren.

You can make your own heirlooms by repeating this interview process with all of the living members of your family, at least those who are willing. A lot of people, especially if they have a skeleton in their closet, will be reluctant to give you personal information. If that is the case, leave them alone and go on to the next person.

After each interview, go home and enter all of the information you have discovered into your record keeping system. Before long, you will begin to see your family tree take shape. Each interview will add branches to the tree.

It might take awhile to collect but this personal view of your family history will prove priceless in years to come...trust me.

First things first, getting started in genealogy

The first thing you need when starting a genealogy project is a way to collect all of the data that you find. If you are not organized, you are going to get frustrated very quickly. With that in mind, you must devise a system of record keeping.

Until recent times, most genealogy record keeping was done on paper and stored in files. You could get large charts from the local LDS library and had to write everything in pencil so you could make changes. I literally have a chart that is the size of my living room, not that I use it anymore. I keep it as a reminder of the way things used to be.

Maintaining paper records is always a good idea but you have to come up with an adequate filing system. I always make folders, going by last name, first name of the husband and keep records for himself, his wife and any unmarried children in that file. I then put all of my folders in a file cabinet, in alphabetical order by that last name.

Having a bunch of papers does not constitute a family tree. To see the fruits of your labor, you need to create a coherent accounting for the information found on each document. In the older, manual method you would use "family group sheets" to document the names and dates associated with each person in a given family. These are simple paper forms that most local libraries, at least those with a genealogy focus, can give you. You can also find online versions that you can print off for free by using this link: Ancestry free genealogy forms

The modern way of organizing genealogy data would be a computer-based database. There are many programs on the market, ranging from one hundred dollars down to free. More expensive does not always mean better though...keep that in mind. There are also web-based programs that you can use, again some are free and some charge a fee per month/quarter/year. A few of the most popular online programs would be Ancestry, My Heritage, Geni and Tribal Pages.

I tend to stay away from the online database programs, for several reasons. You sometimes lose control of what you put online. Most sites allow you to keep your work private but you really have no way of knowing exactly how safe and secure their site really is. If they had a computer crash or went out of business tomorrow, what would happen to all of your research? I am probably being a little paranoid but I like to hold my hand closer to my chest. I would recommend having a program on your computer and then uploading that information to a web-based program, if you want it on the web at all.

As for computer-based programs, there are lots of choices out there. I have always used Family Tree Maker for my own research. The most recent versions have had some growing pains but the program is still the most used in the industry. Another popular option would be RootsMagic. Reunion is popular with those who use a Mac/Apple computer. There are also a few free programs that you can download, the most popular being Personal Ancestral File or PAF. It is made available by the LDS church. I have not used their program personally but it is widely utilized throughout the world.

Follow some of these links and check out each program before making a decision. A good site for product reviews is GenSoft Reviews. There you can read hundreds of personal reviews of over 400 different genealogy programs.

After deciding on the right program for you, take the plunge and get one. Most can be obtained online but you can get the more popular programs at Target, Wal-Mart, Best Buy, etc. Try to get the most recent version, not something that has been sitting on the shelf for three or four years. You can also pick them up at eBay but only buy those that are "new in the box."

When you get the program in your hands, install it on your computer and start playing around with the features. Get bold and enter what you know about yourself and your immediate family. Once you enter your first name and date, you are officially initiated into the genealogy hobby. I warn you now that it can be extremely addictive!

RootsMagic 4 public beta

I am a little late in getting around to pointing this out but better late than never...

If you have ever wanted to try RootsMagic, now would be the time. They are offering the public a chance to beta test their latest version, RootsMagic 4. The offer is good until the end of March and is totally free. You just download the program, after filling out a brief form, and install it using a temporary registration code they provide to you in an e-mail. At the end of March, the program will stop working but you can use it until then. You can then provide feedback about any issues you find.

I downloaded the program and it was larger than I thought it would be. I think the program was +/- 33 MB and the optional maps were another +/- 68 MB. Compared to Family Tree Maker, 2008/2008 this is still tiny but I was under the impression that it was smaller than that. I would not recommend trying to download the program if you are using dial-up.

Yesterday I briefly played with RootsMagic 4 and, overall, I liked what I saw. I have never used any version of RootsMagic before so it was my first experience. It did look a lot like the Family Tree Maker 2008/2009 interface, which surprised me after all of the complaints. Maybe RootsMagic has looked like this for awhile and FTM copied them...someone will have to educate me on that point.

From what I saw, I was not overly impressed at first. It seems a little too stripped down visulally. I was however very interested with its website creation function. It is somewhat limited but very powerful at the same time. I am going to make a sample site and I will post a link to it, maybe later tonight if I can stay up late and get it done.

Anyway, download the program and let me know what you think. I really cannot give a review at this point because I just started to playing with it. I will weigh in on the subject once I give it more study.

Here is the link for the beta test: Click here for RootsMagic 4 beta

Family Tree Maker 2009 version 18.0.0.305 - Final release errors

So, now that Family Tree Maker 2009 is a final release, I installed the version that is going public...18.0.0.305. There are a lot of fixes in there but I still noticed a few problems, right off the bat. I sent them a little note, a copy of which I am including below. Let me know if you all are having the same problems.

"I am still seeing several errors in 18.0.0.305.

When I go into the "people" screen, "person" tab and add an event...let's say a birth. I start typing the location and the first letter or two will bring up choices from existing places. When I select the correct location of that event from the drop down, it will create a new "place" even though I am selecting an existing place. You end up with a duplicate place (that is exactly the same) over and over again. (See screen shot). It will do this over and over again, every time. You can end up with unlimited duplicates.

There are also lots of problems with in-program books. In one example, I am trying to add photo albums for various people but run into four main problems...

1. If you add enough albums, the names of the album in the left column and the person that the album is about will not match. It is like there is a lag in naming albums and creating them. I will have moved on, adding the fourth or fifth album and it is naming that fourth or fifth album after the person who my second or third album was about. Sometimes it will name album after album after the same person, despite the subject being different for each.
2. After awhile, albums just cease to generate a preview. They are there on the left side but you cannot look at the item in the main preview screen. The "generating" status bar runs its cycle but nothing is actually generated.
3. You cannot actually change the report title in the right column. It will always default back when the report is regenerated. You can save the report but that does not change anything in your book.
4. After creating several albums and trying to generate them various time, I will start to get memory errors. Its like the program is getting bogged down and not clearing out old memory. It never fully crashes but gives warning after warning. My computer is fairly new and does not have problems with memory except with FTM in the book section.
   

One other pet peeve with the program. In an Ahnentafel Report, it will make the statement that a couple had "X" amount of children. It should be stated like the Simple Ahnentafel Report, "children of ___ and ___ were..." The more general approach acknowledges there could be children that you missed, such as those who died in infancy that you do not know about for certain.

Sorry for the large list but these are a few things I have noticed as of late."

Family Tree Maker 2009 Service Pack 1 Available

You may have heard by now that Family Tree Maker 2009 is now as complete as it is going to be. They just released what is being called "Service Pack 1" or version 18.0.0.305. If you have the program, it should prompt you to update automatically when you open it up. However...if you use Vista...you might have to run the program as an administrator to get the update. To do this, right click on your desktop FTM2009 icon and select the "Run as Administrator" function (or something along those lines). That is the only way to give the program permission to install an update when running Vista.

Anyway, I have been working with Family Tree Maker as a beta tester but they made us sign confidentiality agreements this time so I could not share many details. Now the cat is officially out of the bag so I can tell you what I know.

They brought back the book function, at least a semi-functional version. It is better than nothing but needs work. They also added some features to help you standardize your source citations that is kinda nice. There are some extra chart options now, the calendar function is back plus a few other things here and there. Basically, FTM 2009 is almost back to where FTM was at version 16 or so! They have almost fixed all of the ways in which they went wrong.

According to their website, the new features that have been added to Family Tree Maker 2009 are as follows:

• Free Download. Get the guide to these new features written by Official Guide author Tana L. Pedersen. Download Now!
• Extended Family Chart. This chart is bound to become a favorite because of its ability to display every individual in your tree—or just the people you select. Each generation appears on its own horizontal row, making it easy to quickly tell where people fall within your tree. Note: This is not a replacement for the All-in-One chart; the All-in-One will be added in a future release.
• Calendar. The calendar is back! You can create a monthly calendar that displays birthdays and anniversaries included in your tree. Personalize the calendar by choosing which individuals are included and customizing colors.
• Enhancements to Data Entry. The pedigree view has always made it easy to navigate between family members as you’re adding and editing information. But with the new data entry keyboard shortcuts, you can quickly move between family members without even lifting your fingers from the keyboard.
• Source Templates. Take the guesswork out of citing sources with new source templates. Family Tree Maker has created source templates based on the QuickCheck models in Elizabeth Shown Mills’s book Evidence Explained. Can’t figure out how to document the tombstone photo you found at FindaGrave.com? Family Tree Maker has a source template for that—and more.
• Desktop Book-Building Functionality. By popular demand the book-building tool is back. You can create your own family history book complete with charts, reports, photos, personal stories, and an automated table of contents and index.

They are now taking suggestions for the 2010 version. If you have any good, productive suggestions please let me know and I will pass them along to the development team if I agree with you. We cannot ask for the moon at this point, just to keep making small improvements, to bring back old and valuable features and to make the program more stable.

Balance between genealogy and personal life

I have been answering a lot of e-mail lately, some of which is quite old. I used to be really good about responding to everyone, almost immediately, but I have gotten slower in my "old" age. It might take me a month or two before I get up the initiative to respond to certain e-mail. I get so many requests for help that I have to put some off or else I would never get anything done in my personal life. I love reading what you all send, and I will do my best to help out, but forgive me if I am slow.

I also tend to lose interest in genealogy once in awhile. It is almost like a sanity to check...to drop everything and do other stuff. I love this hobby but I cannot let it rule my life. If you notice in my posting archive, you will see some months that I post every day and others where I drag along. It is not that I run out of things to say, I just have nothing interesting enough on my mind at that moment to bother writing about. Unlike some genealogy blogs, I do not try to keep you informed off all the industry news. I do pass along items from time to time but this blog is pretty much about me and what I find interesting. I try to keep it fun to publish and/or do things that I like and that I use in my own research.

I do not tend to devote a lot of time talking about non-Ancestry/Family Tree Maker products. Those are the ones that I have used for years and that I find most helpful. I have tried other programs, such as The Master Genealogist, but they are either too involved or too simple. My focus is keeping genealogy fun. The day it stops being fun for me is the day that I quit all together. This is not my job. It is something I like to do and I am glad that you guys care enough to read what I write and respond with your comments and questions. That is what it is all about...sharing and communicating for fun.

I have seen people get into literal fist-fights over who was right about a name or date. I used to be like that but now I do not care so much. I respect the passion that people feel for their research, right or wrong, but I am not going to argue with anyone. You might say that I have found genealogical peace. I go with the flow, say please and thank you, and simply enjoy what I am doing. In the words for Forrest Gump, "When I got tired, I slept. When I got hungry, I ate. When I had to go, you know, I went." I get hot and heavy when I am on the trail of a long-lost ancestor but I can also set it all aside, take my kids to Disney World, and never check my e-mail for two weeks. I have found balance.

I will eventually respond to every e-mail that I receive but the time has to be right for me. Do not take it personal but the more interesting I find your inquiry, the more quickly I will respond. Sometimes it takes awhile to respond because I am think up the right answer or checking into a source for you...and you do not even know it. You think I am blowing you off when I am really doing some leg work. I tend to not respond until I have an answer, decreasing the number of back-and-forth e-mail between us. I try to answer the question directly but I honestly do not want to do the whole project for you.

I used to do research for money but that is miserable. I spend the whole time that I am at the archives wishing that I was working on my own family. I will do some paid stuff, mostly just making copies of known documents, but those days are pretty much gone. You can always ask because, if money is tight, I might take on a project or two...you never know.

Anyway, I just felt like rambling a bit today. There is nothing in here that is going to help you find your great-great-grandmother's maiden name but maybe you still learned something of value.

Ancestry Toolbar Screenshots

I have wanted to play around with the Ancestry Toolbar for awhile now but every time that I try, the family tree portion of Ancestry is not working. Finally today it worked! I think they have been doing a lot of work on the site lately and the trees get bogged down.

The toolbar lets you add information that you find on the web to your family tree, saved at Ancestry.com. It does not work with Family Tree Maker directly. It only works with your online tree. It is not very intelligent in that you cannot sync your online tree with the one you are working with in Family Tree Maker, at least not as far as I know. If someone knows otherwise, please let me know. I guess this tool is also useless if you do not have a family tree at Ancestry.com.

I started playing with the toolbar a few minutes ago and made some screen shots to show you how it works...at least the save feature.

First you click the save button and get the following screen. It allows you to either save photos or text to a person in your tree or you can simply save the website bookmark to that person.


In this case, I selected to add text. It gives you a highlighted box that you can move around the screen and select sections of text or a photo. Just click on the section of text you want to save.


Once you select the text you want, and you can select more than one section, press the "Save Selected Items" tab at the top of the screen. It will ask you to choose a person from your family tree to save the information to. You type their name into the box and you will be shown any people with similar names. Once you choose the person you want, press the attach button and it will tell you when it is finished.

From this point, you see the normal version of the web page you saved information from. To see what you added, click on the "My Trees" portion of the toolbar and select the tree you saved to. From there, find the person in question and view their details. Any photos will be saved into their photo section and selected text will show up as a story.

The web address where you found the information will be cited with a click-able hyperlink back to that page, at the bottom of the saved story.


Instead of selecting text and/or photos at the beginning of these steps, say you selected simply to save the link of the page to your person. It would have been saved in the "Web Links" section of the right-hand column.

This tool is very simple to use and would be great if you keep only an online version of your tree. I mainly use Family Tree Maker and use the online tree only as a backup. I find it helpful if I am not at my computer and I need to pull up some information. I can always go online and see my file, at least as it was the last time I uploaded it to Ancestry.

If you have questions or comments, fire away, but hopefully this helped someone. I may review some of the other features later.

Ancestry Toolbar - New, Released Today

Ancestry.com released a new tool today...the Ancestry Toolbar. It can be used with Internet Explore, Firefox, etc. and shows up under the box where you enter in a web address. The toolbar allows you to copy photos or text into your online tree at Ancestry.com. It also saves a link to the source as a sort of citation. You can also choose to just save the link and associate it with anyone in your file.

I do not know if there are any limits to what or how much you can copy. I am going to download the toolbar today and play with it a little. I will pass along what I find through my fiddling around. I gather that it only adds data to a family tree that you host on Ancestry.com. I do not think it will import the data to your Family Tree Maker software.

If anyone out there gives the toolbar a try, let me know what you think. If you do not have it yet, you can click any of the highlighted links in the posting to download it now.

Getting rid of all of my paper copies

I have been a little slow in posting over the past week or two. I have been working on a personal genealogy project for the past few months and I have been rolling with it lately. I was looking around my office one day and noticed how many files I had. I literally have hundreds of file folders, filled with copies from deed books or census records. I am extremely neat and organized, everything has its place, but I started thinking about what happens to all of this stuffwhen I die?

The more I thought about it, the more I realized all of these files have a 99% chance of ending up in the trash. My kids might care less about them so I am running a huge risk of wasting all of my efforts...in the long run. I made a bold decision, one that I might regret later, but I am going through with it for better or worse. I am throwing everything away myself and not waiting for them to do it!

I decided to go through each file and scan everything into my computer, either as a JPEG or PDF. I am then sending copies to anybody I know researching that family. There is no sense in being stingy with what I have if it might advance research on that line. I am also making sure that I have entered everything into FTM2008 and that all of my entries are neat and uniform. My goal for years has been to put together a book of all my research and I am finally doing it!

I made the decision to stick with Family Tree Maker 2008 and/or 2009 because it does a great job handling media files and I am adding all of my scans into the program. It is actually quite neat to be able to pull up any document at any time, no matter where I am located. It is really getting me interested in genealogy all over again!

I also made another huge decision...I am dropping everyone except for direct ancestors from my family file. I did the math on it and I have about 350 direct ancestors in my family file. Compare that the around 2,500 people, including all aunts, uncles and cousins. There is no way to really focus on quality with that many people (and I could care less about quantity). I am focusing on the direct ancestors and moving information about their children to the notes section of each ancestor.

I want to focus on preserving the history of my ancestors as opposed to my relatives. This is counter to what most genealogists try to do but I want to actually finish the book project and cannot do it while trying to fit in 2,500 people. I want to go back and look for deeds and stuff from my ancestors that I have neglected to look for in the past. I want to fill in the blanks that I have been too preoccupied with aunts and cousins to do. I also only want to go back about six, maybe seven generations. Anything beyond that tends to get too sketchy for me. I do not operator on theory.

Now do not get me wrong, I am still looking for marriage, death and SS-5 info for aunts and uncles that may give me info on their parents, my ancestors. I just cannot focus on them any more. I am going to get out a first revision of my family history book, with my ancestors only, and then I might go back and do more detailed books on each family surname. I have enough info in my files to write ten books, easily. I just need to shrink my focus to make sure it gets done.

The last big decision I have made is to keep only original documents and photographs. I am then going to donate all of those to a local library or society. I have a lot of old, original documents that would make a great public collection. I would like to work a deal with William and Mary or the Library of Virginia to one day start the "Lett Collection." I have been a collector of old Virginia documents for some time and will have a rather nice collection by the time I retire from the game. I would like to see it go somewhere safe and enduring.

I know I am rambling a little it but I wanted to let you know what is going on in my genealogical world. The genealogy industry has been kinda slow in general this week so I have not had much to pass along either. Have a good weekend!

Family Tree Maker 2009 Ready for Purchase

Family Tree Maker 2009 is apparently ready and available for purchase. I got word from them today that it can now be bought through their store and not only on pre-order from Amazon. I went through the ordering process but I did not actually buy it since I registered 2008 and should get a free upgrade.

I was looking to see if there were any warnings about a delivery delay but I did not see any. I would assume that if you order it today, it would go out within the next few days. I have not heard from anyone who has it yet so let me know if any of you buy it and when it arrives.

If you want to buy the new version, you can find it at Ancestry's site via the link below. If you order now you will get free shipping, at least until that offer runs out.

Family Tree Maker 2009

The Generations Network has released the following statement about their impending release of Family Tree Maker 2009:

"The Family Tree Maker team is pleased to announce the release of Family Tree Maker 2009. We are excited about the new features and user requested tools included in this version.

Over the past year, we have been making patches available that include additional functionality and features that our customers have asked for. In addition, the features included in the 2009 version come primarily from our Family Tree Maker 2008 users, showing us what features should be released next and testing the product to make sure it is working at top efficiency. We had more than 300 beta testers for Family Tree Maker 2009. We appreciate this active and ongoing participation.

Take a look at what’s new since the original release of Family Tree Maker 2008. Features available for the first time in Version 2009 are marked with an asterisk (*).
Genealogy Reports

• Register and Ahnentafel full reports
• Register and Ahnentafel simplified reports*
• Data Errors report*

Charts

• Vertical Pedigree Chart
• Hourglass Chart*
• Horizontal Hourglass Chart*
• Bow Tie Chart*
• 180-Degree Fan Chart*
• Family Tree Chart*

Publishing Functionality

• Book layouts for main charts
• Saved settings in charts/reports
• Saved templates in charts
• Preparer information included in chart footers
• Enhancements to the RTF export
• Ability to show siblings within charts*
• Single-page PDF export from charts*
• Ability to add boxes in charts to a “Marked Box” category and modify box settings for these boxes*

Improved Data Manipulation Tools

• Change Place Name tool
• Find and Replace tool
• Streamlined data entry from any workspace using a full-featured edit person window*
• Ability to set spouse order (Person menu)*
• Ability to order media items for an individual*
• Find Individual tool (Edit menu)*
• Find Duplicate Individuals tool (Edit menu)*
• Ability to update multiple facts at one time (From Manage Facts or Fact options): change fact types, move description to place or place to description, mark as private*
• Insert foreign language characters into text fields*

Improvements within Research Tools

• Automatic simple backup at shutdown
• Ability to ignore hints*
• Option to delete existing facts in individual and Web merge*
• Inclusion of married names, AKAs, and titles in index*

Improvements to Import

• Improved name parsing
• OLE objects (PDF, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, RTF) from previous FTM versions*
• Import previously ignored hints lists*

Improvements to Places

• Track and print your ancestors’ migration paths on interactive maps*
• Places toolbar that allows for researching place names not currently in the file and pinpointing places such as libraries, churches, and courthouses*

Improvements to Sources

• Copy and paste source citations

* New in Family Tree Maker 2009

Here’s what’s coming:
In addition, we are currently working on new features that will be available as part of Family Tree Maker 2009—as soon as they become available:

• Book Building
• Better Ancestry Member Tree Integration
• Improved Relationship Calculator
• Source templates based on Evidence Explained by source expert, Elizabeth Shown Mills
• And many others…

Thank you to all of the Family Tree Maker community for their loyalty through the years. We are committed to making Family Tree Maker the best desktop software for doing your family history.

Thank you,

The Family Tree Maker Team"