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Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter
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| December 14, 1998 |
In last week's newsletter I inadvertently wrote "Ancestral Quest" instead of "Heritage Quest." That's what I get for writing the newsletter late at night! The corrected paragraph should read: AGLL acquired Heritage Quest some time ago. Even so, AGLL remains a very small company. AGLL has a huge amount of information available on microfilm, and they have been working hard at converting it to CD-ROM. This company will look attractive to any genealogy software producer looking to expand their catalog. My apologies to the fine folks at both companies. Next, I also wrote "Even though Ancestry.Com today is a division of the larger Western Publishing Company..." While that would have been a correct statement a few months ago, I am now told that Ancestry.com is no longer part of the Western Standard family. It is now independently owned and operated.
The product that I mentioned in error last week was Ancestral Quest, which is published by Incline Software LC. Peter Moss, Sales Manager for Incline Software LC, sent an e-mail pointing out my error. He also included an update about the latest version of Ancestral Quest, which I would like to pass along: Ancestral Quest 3.0 has been announced. Please go to our website at ancquest.com for details. An upgrade offer should be mailed to all registered users within 10 days. This is a major release and should be attractive to the more serious genealogist. The treatment of sources has been a sore point and you will be pleased with both the ease and flexibility built into 3.0 for sources. I took a look at their website and found a lengthy description of all the new features in Version 3.0. The site also says that "As of December 9, 1998, Ancestral Quest 3.0 is scheduled to go into final beta testing by mid-December, and be released very near the end of 1998." For all the details, look at:
Mindscape has released a new version of Family Tree Creator, and I had a chance to use the program this week. This is a 32-bit Windows program; the company says that it will operate on either Windows 95 or Windows 98. I tested it on Windows NT 4.0 and everything worked perfectly there as well. This program has an interesting "heritage" of its own. Originally released by Corel as "Family Tree Suite," the program had excellent graphics capabilities. It also had very good printed reports, thanks to a partnership that Corel had with Progeny Software. As a result of that partnership, Corel's software used Progeny's code for all the fancier printed reports. Less than a year later, Corel sold the program to IMSI. The new owners updated the program and released it under the name "Family Heritage." The new updates finally turned the program into a rather good and powerful genealogy program without losing the top- quality graphics and printed reports that it had contained from the beginning. A very few months later, IMSI sold the program to Mindscape. Again, the new owners updated the program and changed its name to "Family Tree Creator." Now, just to make things more interesting, Mindscape was acquired by The Learning Company. The program still sells under the Mindscape label even though it now "competes" with TLC's other genealogy programs, including Family Origins, Family Tree Maker and the Ultimate Family Tree. I can tell you that Family Tree Creator is a separate program and is very different from the others that I just mentioned. I suspect that the programmers who develop Family Tree Creator have little or no contact with the programming staff in TLC's other divisions. Version 1.0 of this program (then called Family Tree Suite) was a bit weak in the "genealogy basics". It didn't track sources and was missing a few other thingsas well. I was rather blunt in describing those shortcomings when I first wrote about version 1.0. Corel and the later owners apparently listened to the genealogy community; each new version became more powerful than the previous. A sources database was added in the second release and then modified a bit more in subsequent releases. The program has become much more full-featured but always has maintained its heavy emphasis on graphics. In a later newsletter I wrote that it was "without a doubt the best genealogy graphics program available today," and I was pleased to see that quote printed on the side the box on the new version. Before I start describing the latest version of Family Tree Creator Deluxe, I will say that Mindscape has continued the emphasis on graphics. This is still a top-notch genealogy graphics package. Installation of the latest version of Family Tree Creator Deluxe was painless. It did consume about 66 megabytes of disk space, which sounds like a lot. However, that also includes the installation of a separate graphics program that I will describe a bit later. In today's world of cheap multi-gigabyte disk drives, even 66 megabytes seems modest. How different that is from the hardware of just a couple of years ago! Family Tree Creator Deluxe has a data entry screen that is quite different from any other genealogy program I have used. It is very easy to learn. The basic data is entered in a "card" format. It is loosely similar to creating a card file. You can also use "drop and drag" data entry in which you drag other data into the card of the person you are editing at the moment. As you enter more and more individuals, you notice that icons start to appear around the card you are working on. These icons are quick links to other cards. For instance, when I finished entering a few generations of data about my ancestors, my father's card had links above it for his father and mother (signifying that information about those two people was already in the database), spouses on the right and children listed below the card. With these links, moving around this database was simple; just move the mouse and click on an icon. The data entry screens also have provision for entering all sorts of events, such as birth, marriage, death, christening, bar mitzvah, adoption, etc. There is a section for medical information as well. Best of all, the program allows the researcher to record the source of the information found. Source pages are attached to the Spouse, Events, Medical, and Address pages. You can enter any type of information as a source. For example, on the Spouse page, you can include information such as where a marriage license is registered or the location of church records. The reliability of each source may be rated as Primary, Secondary, Hearsay or Unreliable. I imported a GEDCOM file of about 4,000 people and used that data to experiment with printed reports. Indeed, the program gives many reports to choose from: Descendant, Ancestor, Family Group Sheet, Fan Chart, Outline, Descendant, Custom List, Register and Album reports. The software supplied by Progeny Software obviously generates some of these reports. The fan chart is one of the nicest looking computer-generated fan charts I have ever seen. The other reports also are quite attractive. Family Tree Creator includes thousands of borders, backgrounds and photographs that can be used in many of the printed reports as well as in multimedia scrapbooks. The online Help files are excellent. I rarely opened the printed user manual; it was much easier to click on Help or to press F1. I did find a few minor glitches in the online Help information. For instance, in the section titled "Entering dates," there is a sentence that says "Click here to see how Family Tree Creator Deluxe interprets and formats dates." However, the text was not highlighted and there was no link. When I clicked on the sentence, nothing happened. I would consider this to be a trivial problem, however. One neat feature is the ability to create a database on a diskette that can be used by anyone with a Windows PC. The recipient does not even need any genealogy software other than what gets included on the floppy disk. Family Publisher will export part or all of your database to floppy disks, along with the required Windows viewer software to read the data. It is a "read only" program, so the recipient cannot modify your data. You may legally give the diskettes to others. This is a great way to share your data with relatives. It was interesting to note that the built-in Help file still refers to this feature as the IMSI Family Publisher. Family Tree Creator has always been best known for its graphics capabilities, and the latest version continues that tradition. For the person interested in multimedia scrapbooks and other graphics- oriented reports, this program is top notch. You can add your favorite scanned photographs, birth certificates, marriage licenses, etc. directly into the program and then create a multimedia album with support for pictures, home videos and sound. Mindscape bundles Corel Photo House with Family Tree Creator, and the two programs are closely integrated. Photo House is a very good photo-editing and bitmap manipulation program. It can be used for many things, but the enhancement of old family photographs is an obvious use. If you have a scanner, you can scan images directly into Corel Photo House. If you do not have such a scanner, you probably can have someone else do the scanning, or you can find a commercial scanning service to do the work for you. I know the local Kinko's print shop near me will let anyone scan photos on their hardware for a modest fee. Photo House has many built in functions, such as the capability to remove "red eye" from color photos automatically. It can also automatically make corrections to faded or darkened photographs. Of course, scratches or other blemishes can only be removed by some manual work with the mouse. Working with old photographs takes some time, but I suspect you will find that investment of time to be very rewarding. Family Tree Creator Deluxe includes a number of top-rated genealogy guides and reference books. The first I found was the "Beginner's Guide to Family History Research," Fourth Edition, by Desmond Walls Allen and Carolyn Earle Billingsley. This 109-page paperback book gives an excellent introduction of how to do proper genealogy research. In addition, the following books are also included in electronic format on the CD-ROM: "The Source: A Guidebook of American Genealogy (revised edition) edited by Loretto Dennis Szucs and Sandra Hargreaves Luebking" "Ancestry's RedBook - American State, County and Town Sources" edited by Alice Eichholz, Ph.D., C.G. and including maps by William Dollarhide "American Genealogical Gazetteer" by Douglas B. McKay and Kory L. Meyerink. This reference lists more than 1,058,000 place names in the United States Family Tree Creator also includes two huge databases: The U. S. Social Security Death Index database The Sons of the American Revolution Patriot Index of more than 470,000 Revolutionary War patriots and their descendants. I have written quite a bit lately about "partnerships" amongst various companies. Many producers of genealogy software or data have found that they can team with other companies to produce very effective products. Mindscape seems to have done this very well; on the back of the box there are references to several partners who contributed software, data or services to the product: Folio InfoBase, AT&T WorldNet Service, Progeny Software, Heritage Quest, Corel and Pictures Now. Mindscape says that Family Tree Creator requires Windows 95 or Windows 98. However, it worked well on my Windows NT system. The program requires a minimum of 16 megabytes of RAM memory, 66 megabytes of disk space, a CD-ROM drive and an SVGA video card that displays at least 256 colors. In addition, the program will support a sound card and speakers, a modem and any Windows- compatible printer. This is a very full-featured genealogy program with a strong emphasis on graphics and multimedia applications. The description that I have written only scratches the surface of the many features included in Family Tree Creator Deluxe. I am glad to report that it is still the best genealogy graphics program available today. Family Tree Creator retails for $39.95 U.S. funds. The version I used had a sticker on the box that described a mail-in rebate, as well as an opportunity to obtain more Mindscape software at very low cost. I am not sure if this is a limited-time offer or not. I would suggest you check to see what offers are included at the time you are thinking of making a purchase. For more information, go to http://www.familytreecreator.com/ and http://www.ShopTLC.com/
- SkyMall Featured on MyFamily.com, Stock Jumps Last week I wrote a lot about acquisitions and partnerships throughout the computer business world, including those companies that focus on genealogy information and software. This week a new partnership was announced, and it quickly drove up the stock price of one partner. MyFamily.com, which offers the Internet's first free, private family websites, and SkyMall, Inc., provider of the popular in- flight shopping service, announced that MyFamily.com (http://www.myfamily.com) will host an online version of the SkyMall catalog (http://www.skymall.com) for its members. In addition, beginning January 1, 1999, SkyMall shoppers will have the opportunity to receive a free personalized family website at MyFamily.com while placing an order. MyFamily.com is an affiliate website to its parent company, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com). I should mention that Ancestry.com is the sponsor of this newsletter and also places this newsletter on their website. "Our goal at MyFamily.com is to help families use technology to bridge the distance between their various members," said Curt D. Allen, chief executive officer of MyFamily.com. "Sending and receiving gifts is an important family tradition made easier by the addition of the SkyMall catalog to MyFamily.com. The breadth and quality of the SkyMall catalog merchandise, coupled with the MyFamily.com gift registry, gives our customers a simple, welcome way to remember those they love, regardless of where they live." SkyMall is the largest in-flight catalog company in the United States. If you have flown recently on a U.S. airline, you probably found a SkyMall catalog in the seat pocket in front of you. The company also sells products via traditional mail order and via its website. Here is a short excerpt from the press release issued by the two companies: MyFamily.com offers families and other close-knit groups a free, private place to share and distribute family information on the Web. The personalized MyFamily.com websites are accessible only to invited visitors, providing ways for families to securely share news and photos as well as audio and video clips. A multi-user calendar on each MyFamily.com website helps track family events, and an e-mail reminder service helps people remember important family dates. The MyFamily.com gift registry allows family members to record their personal interests and gift preferences. "We are excited to be a part of the roll-out of MyFamily.com and to offer its members quality, unique gifts from the nation's leading merchants," said Robert M. Worsley, president and chief executive officer of SkyMall. "MyFamily.com is providing families a new way to stay in touch, while at the same time capitalizing on a powerful marketing opportunity. We believe partnering with MyFamily.com and providing gifts through their gift registry and event calendar are excellent ways to expand distribution of SkyMall's shopping programs." Mr. Worsley had a good reason to be excited. The stock price of SkyMall Inc. (SKYM) jumped 50% in extremely heavy volume after announcing that it has placed an online catalog on MyFamily.com. When asked, a SkyMall spokesperson said that it appeared that the announcement of the tie with MyFamily.com was responsible for investors' interest. The company was unaware of any other reason for the big jump in stock price. Apparently investors were impressed with the amount of advertising the company would receive. SkyMall's stock was at $4.00 a share before the announcement on Tuesday morning but went to more than $6.25 by mid-afternoon. Some profit taking occurred during the rest of the week; the stock closed on Friday at $5.06 a share.
Thomas Miles has released a new genealogy program called KinAlbum. The program is written for Windows 95 or Windows 98. The program is describes as using a "page format for convenient viewing and includes a page for photos." A website shows a few screen shots from the program but doesn't give many other details. The author will answer e-mail questions, however. KinAlbum sells for $20.00 U.S. funds. Information can be found at: http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/kinwiz
- U.S. Stamp to Honor Irish-Americans Postmaster General William J. Henderson has approved the recommendation of a Citizens' Stamp Advisory Committee to issue a stamp honoring the contributions of the Irish-Americans and their ancestors who came to the United States to escape the potato famine in Ireland between 1845 and 1850. The stamp will salute the 150th anniversary of the famine. U.S. Senator Ted Kennedy, a descendant of Irish immigrants, made the announcement. No date was mentioned for the release of the new stamp.
- What Do You Want For Christmas? What genealogy-related present would you like to find under the Christmas tree this year? Drop me a line to let me know. No, I'm not buying presents for all the newsletter readers, but I will summarize the info and publish it in next week's newsletter. I might even include your remarks as to why the gift would be useful or desirable. You can then conveniently leave a copy of that article lying around the house where a potential late-shopping gift giver might just "happen" to find it. I would suggest leaving it on that person's breakfast plate. Please list only one item and include the brand name where applicable. All suggestions should be genealogy-related in some manner. Also, please keep your suggestions brief. Send them to: gift@rootscomputing.com Merry Christmas! - Former President to Jump Again Former President George Bush seems to be enjoying his retirement. He recently told CNN talk show host Larry King that he plans to celebrate his 75th birthday next June by jumping out of another airplane. He made an earlier parachute jump on March 25, 1997 near Yuma, Arizona. Boasting he feels like a "spring colt,'' Bush said toward the end of his appearance on King's show last Tuesday night he was planning another parachute jump next June. "Larry, you ought to go with me,'' Bush said. King replied, "If you do it, I'll do it.'' Bush spokesman Michael Dannenhauer confirmed Wednesday that the former President was serious. Bush wants to jump sometime around his June 12 birthday, Dannenhauer added. There is no confirmation from Larry King's staff yet about his participation. Actually, the parachute jump last year wasn't Bush's first. His first jump occurred when he bailed out of his damaged bomber during World War II.
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. The Thornber family, which originates in Lancashire/Yorkshire England, from 17th to 19th century. This website provides local history sources for East Lancashire and West Yorkshire: http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/Craig_Thornber The Weedman Hompages is dedicated to connect all living Weedmans to their ancestry: http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/hnweedman Kenney family of Virginia and Kentucky - Information taken from records obtained from old letters, Bible statistics and recollections of some of the elder members of the family: http://www.geocities/com/HotSprings/Villa/1442 O'Donnell surname genealogy with biographies and family trees submitted by O'Donnell researchers worldwide: http://ynot.netgrp.net/~tursky/index.html Victoria, AustraliaGenWeb Project VictoriaGenWeb genealogy transcription depot and transcription facilitator: http://www.rootsweb.com/~ausvic/ Clan Macrae History and Genealogy, with related Scottish history, culture and current events links: http://www.clanmacrae.org A New England Yankee's Genealogy Page, contains information about New England Yankee heritage, including a list of the shareholders of the town of Billerica, Massachusetts: http://walden.mvp.net/~rogbarn/genealogy The surname WEYN in the Waasland, Belgium and the name PONET in the province of Limburg, Belgium: http://user.online.be/vinum Cass County Cemeteries: http://www.geocities.com/heartland/fields/2715 Garrison family tree dating back to the 1800's: http://www.geocities.com/heartland/prairie/2317 The Cousins Family Tree for the surname of Cousins: http://cousins.future.easyspace.com Bailey (all spellings) database includes the Baileys on the 1850 census, Bailey descendant charts, Bailey marriages and Bailey information: http://www.angelfire.com/mo/BaileyInfo Genealogy of the Pearsall Family of "Ole Hempstead" (1645 to present) Long Island, NY: http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Acres/5417 Long Island Genealogy: http://www.LongIslandGenealogy.com 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.
If you would like to submit news, information or press releases for possible inclusion in future newsletters, send them to roots@compuserve.com. The author does reserve the right to accept or reject any articles submitted.
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. It is re-published here with the permission of the author. Thank you for your cooperation.
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