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IN THIS ISSUE:

FGS Conference This Week More on Family Tree Maker 5.0 Concepts from the GENTECH Lexicon Data Model Backups! Backups! Backups! House Clears Copyright Act Another Year 2000 Bug Home Pages Highlighted

August 17, 1998

- FGS Conference This Week This is the week for one of the bigger genealogy conferences in the United States. The Federation of Genealogical Societies is having their annual conference in Cincinnati. If you are thinking about attending, let me assure you that this should be a good convention. Wednesday will be devoted to presentations and workshops for genealogy societies. The sessions on Thursday, Friday and Saturday are more for the individual genealogist and cover a wide variety of topics. Full details of the conference are available at: http://www.fgs.org I expect to be at the conference this week. That means I will be there instead of at home when it is time to write and mail the newsletter next week. I will have my palmtop computer with me, and CompuServe has local telephone numbers in Cincinnati so, in theory, I should be able to deliver this newsletter just as if I was at home. But I know there may be problems. Depending upon my time available, the computer gods and the hotel telephone system, I may or may not be able to get the newsletter out. Do not be surprised if next week’s edition is delayed or even skipped entirely.  - More on Family Tree Maker 5.0 Two updates/corrections need to be added to my story last week about Family Tree Maker 5.0: In describing the new Hourglass report, I described the chart with seven generations shown. I neglected to say that the number of generations displayed can be changed at any time. You could have 12 generations shown or 20 generations shown or whatever number you want. When writing about the new Alternate Facts, I expressed disappointment that I could not add new "events" and Individual Fact titles. Several people wrote saying that new events can be added at any time. In fact, you can add more. In addition, new individual fact titles for a marriage can only be added on the marriage page, according to FTM 5.0’s Help file. Other individual fact titles can be added on the "Facts page."  - Concepts from the GENTECH Lexicon Data Model GENTECH is one of the leading organizations involved with setting the standards for the use of technology for genealogy purposes. A major work in progress is their formation of the GENTECH Lexicon Data Model. John Wylie has written the following report on the project: Concepts from the GENTECH Lexicon Data Model Over the next few months, and specifically at the FGS conference later this month in Cincinnati, the GENTECH Lexicon Data Model will be publicly released. Beau Sharbrough mentioned this in his guest article here last month, but there is value in knowing more about the thing. First, a brief history. Over three years ago, in response to a call by genealogical software developers, GENTECH asked its Technology Committee to address the need for an effective genealogical lexicon they could use in developing software. As the project grew, it became apparent that a data model should be developed first. Initially the Lexicon Data Model effort was begun as a joint venture of GENTECH and the Federation of Genealogical Societies. However many other groups have also endorsed the effort; the New England Historic Genealogical Society, the National Genealogical Society, the Association of Professional Genealogists and the Board for Certification of Genealogists. Eight knowledgeable volunteers, genealogists, developers and a facilitator were selected and immediately got busy developing this important tool. Six of those eight volunteers completed the project this month. The Data Model isn't simple but it does have some basic elements that relate to all genealogists, whether they are involved with software development or not. It is a schema that uses ‘entities' to describe the genealogical process, including how all data is defined, recorded and related to all other data. I'll address a few of these entities in this article. Keep in mind that the Lexicon Data Model is a logical model and not a physical model. It is not a set of instructions for software developers. It is a description of the genealogical process written in terms that developers can understand. The heart of the Data Model is the ASSERTION. [Note: Throughout this article I will use all caps to indicate an entity title. Also, in data modeling jargon, the plural of an entity title is always that title followed by a lower case ‘s'. Apologies to English teachers are offered in advance.] The ASSERTION records the act of analyzing evidence and coming to a conclusion about that evidence. While ASSERTIONs initially address evidence, they can also address prior ASSERTIONs. We often talk in genealogy about the need to cite sources, and use evidence. The ASSERTION is the basic tool for recording that analysis. Except when addressing previous ASSERTIONs, it will usually address the lowest level of SOURCE. This is sometimes called a snippet. It may be that part of a source that addresses a particular person (what we call a PERSONA). For example, the will of a fictitious John Smith, executed on 1 May 1850, may say "...and to my daughter Polly Adams, I give $100." From this I could assert that: John had a daughter called Polly. She was alive on 1 May 1850. And that she married an Adams. From another source, my knowledge of genealogy, I could also assert that this Polly was the same person as his daughter Mary (Polly being a common nickname for Mary.) Note that these ASSERTIONs will have different levels of surety, and when combined with other ASSERTIONs that address Polly/Mary SMITH/ADAMS, will document an ancestor. ASSERTION is linked to many other entities: SOURCE, EVENT, GROUP, PERSONA, PLACE, CHARACTERISTIC, SURETY, RESEARCHER and another ASSERTION. One can see that software that implements the Data Model would be very powerful. With all this detail recorded (or at least recordable) and linked at the lowest level, we can audit (or backtrack) on all of the hundreds of decisions we make when we enter data into our software. We can also find the decisions of those from whom we import data. Using just the links I've listed above, there are nine relationships other data may have to an ASSERTION. With the important recursive power of ASSERTIONs (that is ASSERTIONs about ASSERTIONs) this becomes the fundamental tool for documenting the genealogical process and in strengthening genealogy software: the ultimate goal of the entire project, and the reason GENTECH took on this task in the first place. Another aspect of the Data Model is how it handles sources. A source can exist as an hierarchy of SOURCE entities, each a subset of a more general SOURCE. At the lowest level (but not limited to that level) this would then be reported in a REPRESENTATION, that snippet from the source that leads to an ASSERTION. In software applications, our Model would expect the ability to store those REPRESENTATIONs. For example, a REPRESENTATION could be a scanned image of the original document, but is not limited to this medium. Thus, recording sources in software must include the ability to manage REPRESENTATIONs and to link these to ASSERTIONs. Note that we do _not_ combine SOURCEs to collect evidence in support of a thesis We combine ASSERTIONs (often ASSERTIONs made about sources.) This thinking is essential to the model and to good genealogical methodology. Think of the software you use and see it you can fit this complex, but correct, thinking into the way it records, stores and retrieves conclusions. One of the most important (and most difficult to manage) requirements of the Data Model was our insistence that all work can be audited. An audit (or attribution) trail must exist for every recorded action that results in a conclusion. The Data Model will insist that data be stored at its lowest workable level. For example, if I assert (in the ASSERTION entity) that John is the father of Stephen, that may be based on, say eight pieces of evidence, each with it's own ASSERTION (#1, #2, #3...#8). This collected ASSERTION is thus #9. Later I find evidence that two of the earlier ASSERTIONs (#4 and #7) are wrong (perhaps a disproved compiled family history). The software must allow me to "de-construct" the previously collected ASSERTION (#9) of the eight pieces of evidence and then reconstruct based on what I subsequently learned. We call this working at the atomic level, and it is essential to understanding the model. It is equally important that genealogists have the ability to retain ASSERTIONs that have subsequently proven false or have changed. We don't want software to destroy data, even if it is proven (or is suspected of being) false. We want to identify the error to insure we, or others, don't repeat it. If this has whetted your appetite for more, stay tuned. The formal (currently over 90 pages) Request For Comments (RFC) document will be released at the GENTECH Luncheon in Cincinnati on August 21st, by Robert Charles Anderson, Chairman of the project. We plan to have it available in digital form for downloading at the GENTECH website <gentech.org> shortly thereafter. We want you to look it over and to tell us what you think. I, personally, expect that the Data Model will improve genealogy as a discipline. We can only get better as we learn more about what we do and how we do it. John Wylie   This will be a major topic of discussion this week in Cincinnati. However, there will be even more discussion later after everyone has read and digested the report. I expect that the GENTCH conference next January 22 and 23 in Salt Lake City will be very interesting. For details on both the Lexicon Data Model and the 1999 GENTECH conference, keep an eye on http://gentech.org  - Backups! Backups! Backups! The following is an excerpt from a message this week on CompuServe’s Genealogy Techniques Forum: Installing Windows 98 has left me with a big problem. After it forced a scandisk on my hard drive it decided to rename/corrupt some files....unfortunately my genealogy database was one of them! I can still see my family tree, ie....navigate through it, but I can't get it to print, show any charts or any other function. It just tells me the data is corrupt. I'm still using version 3.1.Is there ANYTHING I can do to get it back? The quick answer is: No. The database appears to be damaged. Not only that, but the writer of the message did not have a back-up of the genealogy database. I have deleted the name of the genealogy program used as well as the name of the writer. Those two facts are not important as this loss could happen with any genealogy program and it could happen to most any of us. In fact, this problem is not limited to Windows 98. It can happen on any operating system. And yet, problems like this are so easily prevented. To prevent disaster, always have a backup. Make a backup of your critical files every few days. Not only should you back up your genealogy database, but also your e-mail messages, your computerized checkbook register or any other documents that are important to you. Remember that you will lose part or all of your disk drive some day. It happens to everyone sooner or later. Some of us have had it happen more than once! Next, before upgrading any operating system or any hardware, always have a fresh backup available. Making a major change to your system’s "live data" invites disasters. You do not need to back up the entire hard disk. The only thing that is important is that you back up your data files. If your hard disk goes up in flames, you can always install a new hard disk and then re-install your genealogy program. But you won’t be able to re-key all that data. If you have a small genealogy database, it probably will fit on one diskette. Take that diskette to the office for safekeeping or give it to a friend or relative or place it in your safe deposit box. If compressed, you could even e-mail a small database to a friend or relative for safe keeping. I have the luxury of owning at least two computers. I keep the primary database on my desktop PC but always have a backup copy on the laptop computer. (This is also convenient when I take the laptop to a genealogy library or a county courthouse.) If you have only one computer, consider purchasing a 100-megabyte ZIP drive (about $100) or, even better, a one-gigabyte SparQ drive for $200. Both of them are easy to connect and use. Both of them have disks that can easily be removed and stored off-site. When was the last time you backed up your genealogy database?  - House Clears Copyright Act The present U.S. Copyright Act was last revised in 1976, long before the online world became popular. I am sure that the lawmakers who framed the 1976 copyright laws never envisioned the issues created by the World Wide Web. As a result, many people have questioned what is legal or illegal online? Even worse, thousands of people have unknowingly violated copyright laws when creating Web pages or when offering databases online. Of course, this problem isn’t limited just to genealogy Web pages. But genealogists have certainly had problems with the present laws. Corporations and private individuals alike have copied data, graphics and music without permission. Of course, doing that opens up the possibility of fines and lawsuits. I list new home pages at the end of most of these newsletters. When I spot check them, I am appalled at how many of them have graphics that obviously came from someplace else. Many have text information that obviously was extracted from genealogy books, I suspect some of these books still fall under copyright laws. And time and time again I hear music sound clips, almost all of them are obvious copyright violations. If your website has a .WAV file of "Born Free" or "The Wind Beneath My Wings" or any other song that still falls under copyright laws, you could face a significant fine. Think about it. This past week Congress passed legislation to safeguard copyrights for music, software, and written works on the Internet and to outlaw technologies that can crack devices protecting this property. The act has specific language to protect databases, with some exceptions. The Digital Millennium Copyright Act was approved by a House voice vote. The same act was passed by the Senate in May. You can find more information about this at: http://www.news.com/News/Item/0%2C4%2C24928%2C00.html?sas.mail and at http://www.gpo.gov/congress/cong009.html (search on "copyright", then look at H.R. 2281).  - Another Year 2000 Bug Now here is a Year 2000 bug I hadn’t thought of previously. Newsletter reader Dan Hamilton reports "A few weeks ago, I heard a lecture [by Dave Munson] on epitaphs. He showed a slide of one headstone which included the names of a deceased male and his not-yet deceased wife, whose dates were listed as "1904-19__ ." He said that if she survives for another 18 months, some stonecutter will have to correct a Year 2000 problem! I wonder how many headstones and monuments there are like that around the world."  - Home Pages Highlighted The following is a list of some of the genealogy-related World Wide Web home pages that have been listed recently on http://www.rootscomputing.com. Some of these sites may charge a fee for their services: Calhoun County, Mississippi Historical & Genealogical Society, Inc. - A list of publications available, ongoing projects, history of Calhoun County, MS:. http://usr.metamall.com/~rdiamond "Lutheran Roots" Genealogy Exchange: http://www.aal.org/lutheran_roots Italian genealogy links: http://192.41.11.174/distantc/Links/Ethnic/Italian.html Langston Ancestry Family Page: http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Estates/2932/ The Walker African-American Museum & Research Center; Nevada's first and only African American museum: http://members.aol.com/Bigbrwnsis/index.html. Descendants of Simon Bridwell, born 11 Aug 1758 Stafford Co VA, served in the Revolutionary War, died after 1837 in Spencer Co KY: http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~cpalmer/bridwell/preface.htm Bower[s] and Bauer[s] surnames and variant spellings: http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Park/4501 "Borax Slapjacks & Frizzled Chickens" - researching the pioneers of eastern Yosemite and Mono and Inyo Counties in California: http://home.earthlink.net/~bodiebadman Ye Olde Bottom(s) Family - Bottom(s) and over allied surnames: http://www.intercom.net/user/bbottoms Tordoff family interests: http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Hills/8248/tordoff.html Jowett Variations - One Name Study for Jowett/Jowitt/Jewett/Jewitt and similar names: http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~jowitt Gauld Annual Family Reunion: http://www.GeoCities.Com/Heartland/Village/1315 American Civil War genealogy site: http://www.rootsweb.com/~acwroots/index.html Sweet Irish Roques – a collaborative effort for researching Irish ancestry: http://www.teesee.com/Ireland/index.html To submit your home page to this newsletter, enter the necessary information at: http://www.rootscomputing.com/register.htm. Due to the volume of new Web pages submitted, I am not able to list all of them in the newsletter. DISCLAIMER: This newsletter is being written and sent via e-mail at no charge. I expect to write one new issue on a more or less weekly basis. However, life sometimes interferes, and the need to earn a living may create an occasional delay. COPYRIGHTS: While the contents of this newsletter are copyright by Richard W. Eastman and by Ancestry Publishing and by others so designated, you are hereby granted rights, unless otherwise specified, to re-distribute articles from this newsletter to other parties provided you do so strictly for non-commercial purposes. Please limit your re-distribution to one or two articles per newsletter; do not re-distribute thenewsletter in its entirety. Also, please include the following words with any articles you re-distribute: The following article is from Eastman’s Online Genealogy Newsletter and is copyright 1997 by Richard W. Eastman and Ancestry, Inc. 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