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Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter
| May 11, 1998 |
Most of this newsletter is being written aboard United Airlines flight 766 going from Denver to Boston. If the big, burly guy sitting in front of me doesn’t lean too far back, I may get this newsletter finished. Of course, typing on this tiny palmtop is already a challenge. Most of the information in this edition of the weekly newsletter focuses on the annual conference of the (U.S.) National Genealogical Society held this past Wednesday through Saturday. Approximately 1,500 people descended upon the Denver Convention Center, a great place to hold a major conference. There was plenty of space, the presentation rooms were easy to find, the acoustics were good, the vendors’ area was comfortable and the shuttle buses to the hotels ran frequently and on time. More than 100 seminars and presentations pulled in the crowds, and almost every well-known genealogy speaker was present. A complete list of all the sessions is available at http://www.ngsgenealogy.org. You can also find information there on how to order tape recordings of any sessions you would like to listen to. The sessions that I attended were all very good. The food served in the convention center was typical of convention restaurants: over-priced and tasteless. However, a short stroll away, the open air 16th Street Mall had 25 or so restaurants with a wide variety of offerings at reasonable prices. The National Genealogical Society and the Colorado Council of Genealogical Societies presented a first-class conference. I enjoyed it and I believe that everyone I talked to at the conference was equally pleased. Next year’s conference will be held May 12 - 15 in Richmond, Virginia. If you would like to attend a large genealogy conference, you might want to start planning that trip now.
- NGS and Computers: Ten Years Later I would like to share some of my thoughts and personal "flashbacks." The first national genealogy convention I ever attended was held ten years ago: the 1988 National Genealogical Society’s annual conference was held in Biloxi, Mississippi. I have attended every NGS annual convention since then except for the 1995 session. I have seen a lot of changes in the NGS over the past ten years regarding the use of computers and other technology by genealogists. While attending my personal "tenth anniversary" I had a chance to reflect on the changes I have seen. The 1988 conference had exactly one computer-oriented session scheduled in the syllabus. I believe the topic was "Computers and Genealogy – Will the Two Ever Meet?" I sat through that session and listened to the presenter go down a long list of pitfalls and problems regarding the use of computers. Many of the items she listed were related to the primitive genealogy software available in 1988. At the end of her lecture, the presenter suggested that computers were excellent for word processing but that no serious genealogist would ever use one for any other genealogy purpose. In addition to that lone presentation, a small room was set up with a couple of computers installed to demonstrate genealogy software. The room was not listed in the syllabus as it was a last-minute addition to the agenda. I believe that many of the convention attendees were not aware of this addition. Furthermore, there was no phone line or modem installed in that room since online communications for genealogy purposes were not considered to be very important in 1988. A few months later I visited NGS headquarters and invited their staff to join CompuServe’s brand-new Genealogy Forum so that they could better serve NGS members and attract potential new members in a way previously unavailable. The people I met with politely expressed interest but pointed out that the NGS staff members generally were not computer-literate, other than the fact that some of them had learned to use WordPerfect. While the NGS did have an active Computer Interest Group in 1988 that published a newsletter and sponsored a number of other projects, the senior NGS management at that time was not concerned with the use of computers in genealogy. Thanks to the visionary efforts of Susanne Murray, the NGS did appear a bit later on CompuServe, where Susanne provided information on a one-on-one basis for several years. However, the other officers and staff members of NGS largely ignored computers throughout the late 1980s and the early 1990s. I was reminded of all this while attending the 1998 NGS convention in Denver. When I entered the vendors’ exhibit hall entrance, the first thing I saw was a large NGS display with multiple computers in operation, all of them connected online simultaneously. The new NGS Web page was on display, and the online NGS library card catalog was being demonstrated all day long. A number of other online projects, informational pages, and detailed descriptions of NGS services and projects were proudly being displayed on the computer screens. Everywhere I looked I saw computers in operation. Several senior NGS staff members were available all day long, every day at the NGS computer exhibit area, to answer questions and offer assistance. NGS Executive Director Fran Shane was in the area frequently to describe the many computer-related activities the National Genealogical Society is sponsoring. Not only was this information available at the convention, but the same Web pages and the same NGS Library card catalog are also available to you at home at http://www.ngsgenealogy.org. In the past three or four years the management of the National Genealogical Society has spent a lot of time and money on technology. This is a major change in direction, accomplished in a rather short time. The National Genealogical Society is now well prepared to serve genealogists in the twenty-first century. I would like to congratulate NGS Executive Director Fran Shane and his staff for their vision and for all their hard work. Genealogists throughout the United States are now benefiting from their efforts.
- New Products and Services Introduced at NGS Conference Every year I see a number of new genealogy products introduced at the NGS convention. I will briefly mention the ones I saw; I hope to give detailed descriptions with references to company addresses and Web pages in future newsletters. My personal award for "coolest product of the show" goes to Palladium Interactive. While not a part of their "official display," Brian Mavrogeorge of Palladium was quick to pull a PalmPilot device out of his pocket and show a genealogy program running on this tiny handheld device. The program is still under development and does not yet contain all the features that Palladium plans to add. However, Brian was able to show pedigree charts, family group sheets and even data entry screens on this handheld computer that only weighs a few ounces.
The PalmPilot does not have a keyboard; data is entered with a stylus and an "on-screen keyboard". While it is possible to enter data into this device while looking at original records at the courthouse, I suspect that most people will use it as a "read only" device. When going to a courthouse or other research location, it should be much easier to carry information about 1,000 or so ancestors in a tiny computer in your pocket rather than in three ring binders or on card files. The PalmPilot genealogy program does not have a name yet. Brian sometimes called it "Family Tree To Go" although I also heard him say "Pocket Tree" a couple of times. The price has not yet been determined, nor is there a predicted ship date other than "later this year." In other news from Palladium, the popular RootsWeb service on the World Wide Web now has a new corporate sponsor: Palladium. While this will not cover 100% of RootsWeb’s expenses, it should be a big help at keeping this popular service in operation. In addition, future products from Palladium Interactive will include integrated software tools that link directly to RootsWeb data. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (the Mormons) announced the release of several new CD-ROM disks. In a significant departure from previous church policy, these disks are available for sale to the general public. One CD-ROM disk now available is the 1851 British census for Devon, Norfolk and Warwick, available for only $5.00. Another disk contains the 1880 U.S. Census, and a third CD-ROM disk contains some Australian records. I do not yet have a full description of the Australian disk but should have it soon. I hope to write about all these CD-ROM disks in detail in the near future. Broderbund and the National Genealogical Society have announced that all issues of the NGS Quarterly are now available on CD-ROM. I don’t have the exact numbers available at this moment, but I believe there would be about 90 years or so of one of the leading scholarly genealogy publications. A few other booklets and references are also included on the same CD-ROM disk. Again, I hope to provide details within a few weeks. The National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution have released a 1998 edition of the Patriot Index. This CD-ROM was produced in conjunction with Progeny Software. The lineage-linked database has over 470,000 records of patriots and their descendants. This "1998 edition" contains data compiled from ancestral cards on file at the SAR headquarters, primary and supplemental applications from state archives, and new member applications as they are approved by the National Headquarters. Another new service that I found fascinating was the GeneSaver Service announced by Life Science, Inc. of Grantham, New Hampshire. The company is offering clients the opportunity to preserve genetic samples from themselves or from a recently deceased relative for future study. A drop of blood is extracted from a fingertip or a tiny sample of epithelial cells is processed, sealed in a vial and returned to the client. This sample can be used in future DNA studies. Typical uses include evaluation of the risk of developing cancer, cystic fibrosis, Huntington’s chorea, thalassemia and a number of other medical problems that geneticists have proven are inherited. GenuCat is a new CD-ROM product announced at the NGS conference. Actually, the only thing available today is the announcement and a small demo version being shown by publisher Rick Crume. Rick is developing this three CD-ROM collection pointing to genealogy sources. GenuCat is an abbreviation of "Genealogy Union Catalog" and will contain library card catalogs from more than 35 public, state and university libraries across the U.S. The demo version shows a quick and easy interface to finding card catalog entries. The user can search by surname or location or do full Boolean searches on combinations of words. I could specify a search of "EASTMAN and PENBSCOT COUNTY but exclude anything that says KODAK." The result would be a listing of library card catalog entries that match that specification. The books and documents identified could then be examined by visiting that library or, in some cases, by Inter-Library Loan. GenuCat will have three CD-ROM disks: one for family histories, one for local histories and a third for genealogy sources. Rick Crume expects to sell these for about $40 each or $100 for the set of all three. GenuCat should be available later this summer. The Digital Archives of Colorado, a company also known as DigArcCo, has released ten new CD-ROM disks, mostly showing scanned images of immigrant passenger lists from smaller U.S. ports. The ports covered include such places as Bangor, Maine; Alexandria, Virginia; Beaufort, North Carolina; Galveston, Texas and Oswegatchie, New York (and I must admit that I never heard of Oswegatchie before). One other CD-ROM disk from DigArcCo covers the baptism records from St. Joseph’s Roman Catholic Church in Baltimore, Maryland. Some of the General Land Office Records are now available on the World Wide Web. The GLO has been supplying government land records on CD-ROM disks, which sell for $15.00 each or more. The GLO has now announced that these same records are being placed on the Web. You can search for any land grant. If found, you can even download an image of the exact record of the grant. This is an ongoing project; not all records are available yet. The states involved are Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Indiana, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Minnesota, Ohio, and Wisconsin. The service is free and can be found at: http://www.glorecords.blm.gov All in all, the many new items in the vendors’ area of the NGS convention drew their share of interest and warrant some attention to future developments.
- More on National Archives Consolidation Plan In last week’s newsletter I described my concerns with the National Archives and Record Administration’s new strategic plan to consolidate facilities. I also mentioned that John Carlin, the Archivist of the United States, would be at the NGS convention in Denver this week to meet with genealogists and to answer questions about the plan. I also predicted that he would be facing a hostile audience. Mr. Carlin did hold meetings this week. In fact, he and several members of his staff held two open meetings and invited everyone to attend. In addition, I am told that he met privately with several smaller groups, including the staff of the National Genealogical Society. I attended one of the open sessions and can report that Mr. Carlin gave a very effective presentation. He spoke for 8 minutes in the session I attended, a lot shorter than I would have expected. But he and his staff devoted another 45 minutes to answering questions on a variety of topics. The possibility of consolidating Regional Libraries and also Records Centers certainly dominated that conversation. This was a "no holds barred" session, and Mr. Carlin and staff took on all questions. These sessions were not recorded on tape and I never studied shorthand, so I cannot give a verbatim report. However, I did hastily scribble a few direct quotes that I felt were important. In his opening remarks, Mr. Carlin said that he had traveled to Denver to describe "…how the process will work and how you (genealogists) can participate." He also said, "This process is just the beginning… We have not decided anything in terms of what we will do… " He then went on at some length to emphasize that the plans published to date are just the beginning of a study to formulate a plan. Mr. Carlin also stated, "Customers and how we serve customers will be incredibly important as well." The part that really hit home was "…regardless of where they live." In the question-and-answer session Adrian Thomas, Assistant Archivist for Administrative Affairs (I hope that is her title; I was scribbling furiously at the time and may not have written her title correctly) said, "We expect to involve the genealogical community as well as other user communities." She also described a process of meetings that will be held around the country for input from the customers of the National Archives. The first meeting will be held in the Boston area in June. Some other quotes from John Carlin that I captured include:
The above is my recording of the facts as best I could write them. Now I would like to give my personal opinions and interpretations. John Carlin released a 48-page report last fall with the title of "Ready Access To Essential Evidence – The Strategic Plan of the National Archives and Records Administration." That report describes a plan by using words that would seem to indicate that the basics of the plan had already been decided and that details would be formulated in response to this 48-page report. What John Carlin said in person on May 8, 1998, was that there is no plan today although the NARA’s senior management believes that such a plan is necessary. Mr. Carlin talked at length about soliciting input from users (he uses the word "customers") in order to formulate the best possible plan. He also described a process of 18 to 24 months involving e-mail, Web pages and face-to-face meetings at various locations around the country. He indicated that the plans will be formulated only after all customer input has been carefully examined. I like those words. I sat in the meeting and heard a senior government official address the very concerns that I voiced in last week’s newsletter. I admire Mr. Carlin’s willingness to confront a hostile audience face-to-face and to talk about these issues. I believe he is sincere in his requests for customer input. Simultaneously I worry about the possibility that government cost constraints may override customer input. I worry about a lot of other things, too. A friend of mine with many years’ experience dealing with government agencies tells me that reports and plans such as this are common in Washington. He says that it is a standard bureaucratic report, which tells the Congress that "unless you build us some decent facilities, we won't be able to continue to do all the things you want us to do." The next step in this process is for the affected constituencies and the local congressmen and senators to sound the alarm. Eventually, and before any implied threats are implemented, hearings are held to define the problems and needs. Then gradual appropriations of funds are issued for either upgrading present facilities or building new ones. Initially, these will go to the areas which have the most clout on the appropriations subcommittee. Reportedly this happens all the time. I do not know if that is "the plan behind the plan" this time or not. But it is an interesting possibility. My advice to genealogists is to do nothing in the next few days. But in the next 18 to 24 months we all need to monitor this constantly and to offer our serious input in all the appropriate venues. We need to attend these meetings being held at various locations. We need to monitor the NARA website at http://www.nara.gov/nara/spceplan.html for news. We need to offer e-mails back when appropriate. We need to ask questions when we see things that we believe are neither in the best interests of our community nor in the best interests of the National Archives. And we especially need to ask more questions when we don’t see the answers we expect. In short, I believe we should give Mr. Carlin some room to operate and to fulfill the promises he has made to the genealogy community. We should offer to help in the process. And we should watch closely to see that those promises of using input from customers to formulate plans are fulfilled. In the session in Denver this week, Mr. Carlin and his staff said that there would be a session in the Boston area in a few weeks. However, they did not have the details handy. I have since received an e-mail from a newsletter subscriber who quotes a flyer seen at the National Archives’ Regional Library in Waltham, Massachusetts:
I would ask genealogists in the Boston area to attend this meeting. I hope to be there, too.
- GEDCOM Future Directions and Technology Issues Two major sessions were held within minutes of each other at the NGS conference last Wednesday evening. The subjects overlap each other a lot, and both may have major effects on the way we do genealogy research and the tools we use. Many people involved in genealogy technology scrambled from one session to the other in order to hear these reports. I will emphasize that both of these are proposals only; they are not finalized standards. In the first session, Robert Booth, Manager of Architecture, Family History Division of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, presented "GEDCOM Future Directions." In short, this is the church’s proposal and "request for comments" for a new version of the GEDCOM standard. I first announced this proposal in last week’s edition of this newsletter and listed a website that provides very detailed information. You can even download the entire proposal, which runs about 100 pages if printed. In his presentation Robert Booth emphasized that "the importance of data integrity is paramount." He also emphasized that the next GEDCOM standard had to be a uniform format that is rich and yet unambiguous. The LDS Church’s new proposal is being offered to others for study, and the Family History Department of the church invites feedback from the genealogy community. Mr. Booth does not expect to see a final definition for at least 18 months, perhaps longer. Mr. Booth also asked everyone to study the new data model being developed by the GENTECH organization. He stated that he expected there would be a lot of overlap of the two proposals and that the best of each should be incorporated into future standards. With that said, the session ended and most of the attendees rushed to a different meeting room to listen to Robert Charles Anderson give a status report on the GENTECH data modeling project. This also will be a proposal; GENTECH will be issuing it as a "request for comments" to encourage feedback from the genealogy community. However, the proposal is not yet ready for its first release. Bob Anderson gave a sort of "40,000 foot view" of the proposal that illustrates the concept. However, details will not be available for public release until late this summer. Bob Anderson also repeated some of what Bob Booth had said in the earlier session: he expects a lot of overlap between the two proposals and believes that the best of each should be incorporated into future standards. If I may offer a few personal comments: The next year or two should be an interesting time in the genealogy computing industry. Two new standards are appearing within a few months of each other. The two appear to be very different, based upon different foundations and starting points. Yet both could benefit genealogists by improving the quality of the data we use. I suspect that blending the two together may prove to be more difficult than creating the original proposals.
I normally list a number of new genealogy Web pages in each week’s newsletter. However, I find this difficult to do when flying at 33,000 feet. I must admit there is a phone in the seatback ahead of me and it claims to handle data. But at $5.00 for the initial connection and $5.00 for each minute thereafter, I don’t think I will spend much time on this trip cruising the Web. Look for a double listing of websites next week.
Timing is perfect: the pilot just announced that we are beginning our descent into Boston. It required a change of batteries enroute, but it looks like I can get the newsletter finished on this flight. I guess this has been a lucky flight for me. The fellow in the seat ahead of me has discovered that his seatback has been jammed in the upright position. It will not recline. This is one of the few times in my life that I have been delighted with a mechanical malfunction on an airplane. I had a chance to write more of this newsletter than I anticipated on this tiny palmtop computer. I even had room to put my notes on the tray table without having a seat back in my face. In fact, the entire trip was full of pleasant surprises. It started off when the shuttle bus company that was scheduled to take me to the airport elected to send a stretch limo in place of the normal van. They had to drive the limo to the airport anyway to pick up incoming passengers; it was more convenient for them to transport me to the airport in the limousine than by the normal van. So I spent a bit over an hour in heavy traffic all alone in the back of a black stretch limo listening to jazz and watching television. At the airport check-in, the ticket agent upgraded my seat assignment to a better seat than what had been reserved. Upon arrival in Denver, the rental car company informed me they did not have any economy cars left as I requested. Instead, they upgraded me to a full-sized Dodge at no increase in price. All in all, this has been a great week. The first hotel I checked into was a dump, but I checked out immediately and found a much better hotel at a lower price. It’s time to shut down all electrical devices for the final approach. I think I will stop to buy a lottery ticket on the way home… 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. hr> 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:
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The new program under development will exchange data with Palladium’s Ultimate Family Tree. You transfer data from UFT using the standard PalmPilot cradle and interface cable. If you enter new data directly into the PalmPilot, you can later return the PalmPilot to its cradle, press the Synchronize button and the new data will be transferred back to the Ultimate Family Tree on your desktop. For anyone who does not use the Ultimate Family Tree genealogy program, Palladium also expects to supply software that will read and write GEDCOM files and then transfer the information to the PalmPilot.