Technology & Tools
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Are you new to GEDmatch?
If you are like many family genealogists and historians, you are likely involved in analyzing the potential of using DNA for your research. As you may have read, here or elsewhere, my wife and I have both ‘taken’ 23andme and AncestryDNA ‘tests’. We obtained some useful and interesting information; I even solved one small mystery using DNA. But for all that, I’d have to say the whole DNA thing seemed overblown and over valued to me. That is until now. This last week a friend strongly suggested I use GEDmatch. I dutifully downloaded one of my DNA test results (the one from AncestryDNA because it was newest and I only…
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Surname Searches
Hunting for places where surnames are prevalent can provide and set of useful start locations from which to start a genealogical search. But before you start here are a couple of points worth considering… Remember most, if not all, surname search tools use current data. So you need to know whether a location has been through major population shifts since your family was ‘there’ (where ever that might be)? If like me, your family came from an area that was ethnically cleansed, a surname search may not be very useful. Consider whether your family surname may be mis-spelled using local standards versus original location standards. Does the name end in…
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Anabaptist-Mennonite DNA project participation
As many of you may have already guessed, our families and ancestries are crowded with Mennonite and Amish peoples- Anabaptists. For years, we knew of the Rich (Henss Family Branch) connections to the Swiss- Elsass/Alsace, Montbeliard/ Bern communities. More recently, we have come to understand quite a bit of the Senger (Rabideau Family Branch) connections to the West Prussian / East Prussian Mennonite communities. Because of the smallish nature of these original communities, we (Becky, my wife, and I) have elected to purchase DNA tests from 23andMe and submit our DNA test results for inclusion in the Mennonite DNA Project. This past weekend our 23andme DNA test kits arrived! Now…
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Remote Desktop Sharing (Free)
For years I have had the need to share information, applications, and desktops across the miles. Just recently, I stumbled across two viable, and affordable solutions that should work for people like me who are: poor (and prefer to stick with Open Source – Free- software), multiplatform (Win, Mac, Linux) users and who also… desire a better “hands on approach” to sharing information and coaching folks on system’s usage across the miles. The applications I have found to be most workable for me are: Google Chrome Remote Desktop Beta Teamviewer 7 Google Chrome Remote Desktop Beta Briefly, Chrome Remote Desktop offers the following functions, including: OS independence (it runs on Win, Mac,…
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Prussian Mennonite Research Materials
As many of you may know, my Recht family line (Hermann Recht’s family) has strong roots within what was once the Mennonite Community resident near the former Elbing and Marienburg, Westpreussen. As I conduct my Prussian Mennonite family genealogical research, this page will evolve and develop into something a bit more robust. I am using Mendeley to gather and manage my research findings and source materials (I am also using the tool in an effort to evaluate its effectiveness for genealogy work.) If I end up writing something profound, perhaps Mendeley will also manage my writings. In any event for those interested in viewing and accessing most of my source…
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Finding Genealogy Software (more) pointers…
In keeping with the theme of my previous posting, here are some additional pointers to genealogy software and software reviews. Be aware that none of the listings are complete, nor do they over-lap to any significant amount. Each list is “somewhat” to “a lot” unique. Additionally you should note, not all the listings or reviews have been “conducted” or “written up” by software professionals or genealogists. Many are simply a compendium of personal opinions or available happenstance; but that does not mean they are not helpful or informative. In total the articles should paint a reasonably complete portrait of options and considerations. The bottom line is, if you are in…
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When considering new Genealogy Software…
As most of our readers know, I belong to numerous on-line forums and discussion threads. Lately there have been numerous requests for assistance in the selection of Genealogy software. Hopefully this post will provide some help in that vein while making the responses obtained via email from the discussion forums both more meaningful and valuable. The first thing to be aware of when you ask for help in picking software is that you will get your respondents biases along with their recommendations, even if they don’t mean to provide you their biases. Software after all is a reflection of both its users and authors. To help you sort through that…
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Automated Translations
We all have languages we do not understand or read. Some of us struggle along in our native tongue only; others have a small or large suite of languages with which they are able to work. In the end though, we all hit a language wall and need to rely on tools other than our personal skills. And… that’s where the challenge begins. Today, I was translating a small German paragraph for use here on ManyRoads. So for grins and laziness reasons, I thought I’d attempt to use Google Translate to help speed up my effort. Boy was I surprised! Let me explain what happened. The paragraph I wanted to…
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Presenting family genealogies on the web
Presenting readable, genealogical information, data, and stories is a complex challenge. It seems to me that people’s lives ought to be expressed as more than family trees, dates, and lineages. I have been struggling with this problem for quite a while. Perhaps you have as well. Over the years, I have noticed a few ‘special’ difficulties in making this type of information, useful, accessible, easy to find not to mention human. The major problem areas, for me, have centered around the following: genealogical data & stories can run deep & wide (they may, and often do, involve a lot of data from many locations, sources, and media) genealogical data/ information…
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Genealogy & Data Management
Some of you may be aware that my ‘day’ job involves benchmarking organizations against various process and business improvement models (see: PEP) . If you are reading this note on ManyRoads, you most certainly are aware that I have a passion for genealogy (as my daughter might say: “No Duh.”). What I am curious about is… do you feel, like I do, that the genealogy industry (e.g., Ancestry.com, familysearch.org, etc.) would benefit from having more reliable, accurate, and predictable data management practices? If this thought piques your interest, please read on. Data Management Maturity Model The Carnegie Mellon Software Engineering Institute (SEI) and the Enterprise Data Management Council (EDM Council)…
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Another Mocavo offering
Mocavo is embarking on a new extension of their already exceedingly useful services; one where they conduct automated research and linking between family trees. According to them, once you upload your GEDCOM File(s) you will begin to taking part in the future of genealogy research. Mocavo plans to send out fully-automated search results to your email and will make new connections for your tree(s) from all over the web! Each uploaded Family Tree will be rolled in to the Mocavo search index to help the genealogy world discover each other and uncover some of the vast array of data/ information available. All you need to do to take advantage of…
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New FamilySearch Film Ordering
This week I used the new FamilySearch.org microfilm (microfiche) ordering system for the first time. As you might expect, like any new service there are a few wrinkles but overall the new system is simply a magnificent advancement. Here’s what I learned with my orders. NOTE: If you did not already know, recently FamilySearch.org placed a new online ordering mechanism on their site. According to their site this offering is being rolled out across the world and is currently available in my area (Colorado). Click this link to read the complete announcement. As most of you know, I do a lot of Prussian research (which means I order quite a…
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Sharing Notes, Tasks, Todos
Keeping notes, reminders and tasks synchronized as I move from place to place has been a real dilemma for me. Not surprisingly, I really need a place to take notes, add reminders when I am browsing the web or reading my email. I also need these notes, reminders, todos to be available wherever I am and on whichever PC I use. Recently, I found what seems to me to be a good solution. Perfect no, good, yes! This solution involves the use of several free, open source tools: ThunderBird (email system of choice) FireFox (internet browser of choice) ReminderFox (todo list and reminder system) and one file synchronization (Cloud) toolset:…
- Ancestry.com Thoughts, German Genealogy Pointers, Quebec Genealogy Pointers, Search Tricks & Tips, Technology & Tools
Kick-starting your genealogy efforts
I have put this little reminder checklist together to help me and others quickly examine our obvious options when we either are stuck or just getting started. This list is hardly exhaustive and if you try everything here without success you should not feel like you have to throw your hands up in despair, there are still many avenues to examine. Hopefully though, using these tools will prove useful and productive and fun. Enjoy! Have you checked? For basic name searches try these out. Not all of these tools are genealogy focused but they are all quite robust and helpful. Google Mocavo FamilySearch Ancestry If the above hasn’t provided you…
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Polish Archives
For those interested in such things, a number of ‘online’ Polish Archives have recently come to my attention. They include: Archiwa Panstwowe- State Archive in Poznan Archiwum Archidiecezjalne w Poznaniu (Archidiocese of Poznan Archive) Genealogical Society of Great Poland “Gniazdo” Although many of these site pages offer English translations, I find the translated documents to be only marginally easier to use than the Polish original pages (and my Polish is limited to the ever present and marginally accurate Google Translate). Nonetheless, these archives look to be a very positive resource and representative of a very hopeful trend! Should you know of other online Polish Archives you believe we should share,…
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