Ancestry.com- Shaking Your Family Tree, December 3, 1998

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Shaking Your Family Tree

December 3, 1998

Shaking Your Family Tree, by Myra Vanderpool Gormley, C.G.

WHY BUY GENEALOGY SOFTWARE?

by Myra Vanderpool Gormley, C.G.

Why buy genealogy software?

Imagine you are at a family reunion and 20 people are interested in the material you've collected. In order to share it, you have to run to the local photocopy store and make 20 copies of your:

-- family group sheets

-- pedigree charts

-- notes

-- sources

-- family photos

-- first three chapters of your family history book

That's lots of work. Plus, then you'll have to bundle it up and mail it to them. Now imagine sending those 20 cousins the same information by clicking a few buttons in your genealogy program and shipping it to them via e-mail or on a floppy disk. That's why genealogy software is so popular. It allows you to share your information easily and quickly, with little or no reproduction costs.

What's the best genealogy software on the market?

Almost every day someone asks me that question. Usually I give them a list of the most popular half-dozen applications along with a comment that advising others about which genealogy software to use is like telling someone which car they should buy. It depends ... on your purpose, your genealogical goals, the hardware you have and your budget.

Now I have the answer: Get Marthe Arends' new book, Genealogy Software Guide. Not only has she reviewed 33 genealogy database programs (for PCs and Macintosh), she has included information on 43 utilities and research tools of interest to genealogists. The latter are comprised of various applications such as AniMap Plus, Cemetery Caretaker, DeedMapper, GED2HTML, GenMap UK, KinWrite Plus, and Sky Index.

The reviews contain the following elements:

-- Basic information such as the provider's name and addresses, system requirements and cost of the software

-- Program features including such items as the GUI (Graphical User Interface), standard features, functions and limits and restrictions (if any)

-- Reports, consisting of types of reports, limits and restrictions and illustrated samples

-- Sources (the program's sources and footnote and documentation capabilities

-- Bells and whistles (features such as spell checker, foreign language form letters generator, to-do lists, Web page generator from the database)

Appendix A is a handy Database Comparison Chart of 27 database programs showing: price, whether or not a demo is available, platform, number of individuals per database, whether it reorders children (rearranges them by birthdate), source master list, number of multimedia items per person, whether it generates Web pages (HTML files), has customizable reports, and whether it has a data backup function. There are six other valuable appendices, including one called "GEDCOM Explained.''

If you are in the market for genealogy software, be sure to read Chapter 2 -- "What to Expect in Genealogy Software.'' It will help you be a better informed consumer before you invest your money and time in a product.

Chapter 3 pertains to locating genealogy software -- another frequent question, as except for a couple of programs widely distributed in national software markets, it can be difficult to find genealogy applications. The book contains a list of software-purchasing sources and where to obtain demo copies on the Internet and on BBS (bulletin boards).

Genealogy Software Guide is enhanced with the generous use of illustrations and screenshots. This 269-page (8 1/2x11) paperback book is available ($28.45 postpaid) from Genealogical Publishing Co., 1001 N. Calvert St., Baltimore, MD 21202-3897; (800) 296-6687.

(Gormley is the author of Prima's Official Companion to Family Tree Maker available at book stores nationwide and on the Web at: http://www.primapublishing.com and http://www.amazon.com )

(c) 1998, Los Angeles Times Syndicate

Myra Vanderpool Gormley and Julie Case are co-editors of Missing Links, a free weekly genealogy e-zine. To subscribe, send your request to: Missing Links Newsletter

Return to Myra Vanderpool Gormley Main Page
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December 3, 1998
	WHY BUY GENEALOGY SOFTWARE? by Myra Vanderpool Gormley, C.G.
Why buy genealogy software? Imagine you are at a family reunion and 20 people are interested in the material you've collected. In order to share it, you have to run to the local photocopy store and make 20 copies of your: -- family group sheets -- pedigree charts -- notes -- sources -- family photos -- first three chapters of your family history book That's lots of work. Plus, then you'll have to bundle it up and mail it to them. Now imagine sending those 20 cousins the same information by clicking a few buttons in your genealogy program and shipping it to them via e-mail or on a floppy disk. That's why genealogy software is so popular. It allows you to share your information easily and quickly, with little or no reproduction costs. What's the best genealogy software on the market? Almost every day someone asks me that question. Usually I give them a list of the most popular half-dozen applications along with a comment that advising others about which genealogy software to use is like telling someone which car they should buy. It depends ... on your purpose, your genealogical goals, the hardware you have and your budget. Now I have the answer: Get Marthe Arends' new book, Genealogy Software Guide. Not only has she reviewed 33 genealogy database programs (for PCs and Macintosh), she has included information on 43 utilities and research tools of interest to genealogists. The latter are comprised of various applications such as AniMap Plus, Cemetery Caretaker, DeedMapper, GED2HTML, GenMap UK, KinWrite Plus, and Sky Index. The reviews contain the following elements: -- Basic information such as the provider's name and addresses, system requirements and cost of the software -- Program features including such items as the GUI (Graphical User Interface), standard features, functions and limits and restrictions (if any) -- Reports, consisting of types of reports, limits and restrictions and illustrated samples -- Sources (the program's sources and footnote and documentation capabilities -- Bells and whistles (features such as spell checker, foreign language form letters generator, to-do lists, Web page generator from the database) Appendix A is a handy Database Comparison Chart of 27 database programs showing: price, whether or not a demo is available, platform, number of individuals per database, whether it reorders children (rearranges them by birthdate), source master list, number of multimedia items per person, whether it generates Web pages (HTML files), has customizable reports, and whether it has a data backup function. There are six other valuable appendices, including one called "GEDCOM Explained.'' If you are in the market for genealogy software, be sure to read Chapter 2 -- "What to Expect in Genealogy Software.'' It will help you be a better informed consumer before you invest your money and time in a product. Chapter 3 pertains to locating genealogy software -- another frequent question, as except for a couple of programs widely distributed in national software markets, it can be difficult to find genealogy applications. The book contains a list of software-purchasing sources and where to obtain demo copies on the Internet and on BBS (bulletin boards). Genealogy Software Guide is enhanced with the generous use of illustrations and screenshots. This 269-page (8 1/2x11) paperback book is available ($28.45 postpaid) from Genealogical Publishing Co., 1001 N. Calvert St., Baltimore, MD 21202-3897; (800) 296-6687. (Gormley is the author of Prima's Official Companion to Family Tree Maker available at book stores nationwide and on the Web at: http://www.primapublishing.com and http://www.amazon.com ) (c) 1998, Los Angeles Times Syndicate Myra Vanderpool Gormley and Julie Case are co-editors of Missing Links, a free weekly genealogy e-zine. To subscribe, send your request to: Missing Links Newsletter Return to Myra Vanderpool Gormley Main Page Return to Columns Main Page
Copyright 1998, 1999, Ancestry.com Inc. and its subsidiaries. Terms and Conditions \| Privacy Statement