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Ancestry Daily News
2/19/2002 - Archive
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RootsWorks: PDA 2001 - Genealogy Software |
RootsWorks: PDA 2001 - Genealogy Software
One of my favorite TV programs is "Inside the Actor's Studio." On
one episode, actress Ellen Barkin said, "If you don't develop any craft, trying
to get by on talent alone is like being pretty, or being lucky. It doesn't last,
and then what do you have?" Using software is like that. People seem to expect
to sit down, load three thousand names into the program, and start working.
Software and life just isn't like that. If you aren't prepared to invest some
time and energy into developing some craft, your experiences with computers
will be filled with frustration. Sure, you can probably browse a family tree,
but will you know how to print? When and where and how would you cite sources?
Perhaps you can plan your software learning experiences as if they were a school
course. Give yourself that three or four month period to pass your final exam.
Instant gratification is not a reasonable goal for genealogy software use. Of
course, you can go too far with anything, and there's an argument to balance
this one.
Technology for its own sake is a great waste of time and money. Some people
are prone to waste three days trying to get something to work because it would
be cool to try it. Technology is best applied to a clearly articulated problem.
Lucky for us, in family history, we have PLENTY of information transfer problems.
In a recent article about Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) software, I wrote
that, "PDAs are going to revolutionize the way the genealogists do research
in the field, literally." In general, PDA issues are portability issues—leveraging
the size of the device to get information to places it wasn't previously available.
That encapsulates, for me, the reason to deal with genealogy software and PDAs:
convenience and portability.
What Is It?
Let's talk about what a person might want to do with genealogy on a PDA. The
generic benchmark includes the following feature set:
GEDCOM Import. Who wants to re-type their family tree? I'm offended when
I see someone typing information out of a computer into another computer.
Name lookup. If you have more than a handful of people in your file, a name
lookup is a great feature. On a PDA, typing isn't as easy as on a PC, so a "smart
lookup"—one where the current position in the list changes as you type each
letter—is preferred. The Name List is "home base" for most PDA genealogy
software.
Formatted information. We're used to seeing this in certain formats, such
as:
—Family group sheet.
—Pedigree view.
—Descendant tree view
The level of detail available varies, but the current state of PDA genealogy
software provides all of these functions. If you want to know more about the
level of detail in a particular program, all of them have detailed screen shots
on their Web sites, and all of them answer e-mail inquiries about the product.
Features that are less universal, but might be useful, are the capability to
collect new information, and to beam some of the information to another PDA.
I'd like to emphasize that all of this functionality can be packed into a device
that fits into your pocket, and is allowed into any library or county clerk's
office that I've ever seen. It also works from batteries, so you can carry it
into a cemetery and you won't look nearly as silly as you did that time you
dragged out the card table, desktop pc, that quarter mile long extension cord,
and a big umbrella.
Name Two of Them
On my Web site, at www.sharbrough.net/genealogy/pda2001.htm,
there is a more detailed comparison of these programs than would fit into this
article. Each of these programs has been downloaded thousands of times, some
perhaps as many as twenty thousand times.
My Roots - works with PC or Mac.
GedStar -formerly GedPalm.
GedWise -formerly GedVisor.
Pocket Genealogist - Windows CE or Pocket PC only.
Every time I write an article, half of the e-mail I receive tells me that I've
left out the Mac user and that it's probably due to a flaw in my character.
Take heart, Mac users! There is something for you in this survey.
Each of these products comes with two programs: the part that runs on the palm
(the "PDA Genealogy Application") and the companion part that runs on the desktop
(the "Desktop Application"). The desktop application converts from GEDCOM format
to the specific database format used by its companion PDA program, and in some
cases, back again.
There's one other product I'd like to mention, because it has a very creative
set of screen shots. Handytree requires the Palm database program ThinkDB version
2.0. I can't tell how it works with PC software yet. I didn't see the word "GEDCOM"
on their site, or at PalmGear. My suspicion is that it's different from the
others, and that you have to get your data into an Access-type format before
you transfer it to ThinkDB. Setting that aside, the program allows the user
to sketch maps and tombstones and to store those images with the information
about the people. The information can also be uploaded to the desktop. It's
different, and you know that I love me some innovation.
When it Works, What Does it Do?
Some of us have a rather bulky three-ring binder for each family that we
research. When I go to the library, I try to have a specific research plan -
a particular goal to look for specific records about specific people. I've been
told that this is important and I take it seriously. I only carry as much information
as I can comfortably carry with me into the repository, and I make my choices
about what to carry, in part, on my goals for that day. But every time I go
through an index working on Sharbroughs in Alabama in 1810-20, I run into records
about my Littrells, too. More often than not, I don't have the three-ring binder
for Littrells with me, and I can't tell if I already know anything about the
people whose names are in the index or not.
My PDA frees me from that. I can look up the Littrell family and see if I'm
coming across old information or new. I can also tell which of my four John
Littrells the index deals with because I can see a list of people by name with
their birth and death years.
While many libraries welcome laptop users, it's not convenient to carry
that laptop up and down the floors of the Family History Library in Salt Lake
City, for example. Some people aren't comfortable walking away from a laptop
in a library, for fear that it will be stolen. And many rural courthouses don't
have a place for you to plug one in at all. PDAs beat laptops for portability
and it's not even close.
For that advantage, we pay a price. Even a powerful PDA has some serious
size limits compared to a laptop - you can't put all of the images, mp3 files,
and data on them that you'd find on a PC. Other features that differentiate
products are the operating system, look and feel, developer Web site, price,
age, and installed base. I will provide a table of those features on my Web
site after this article is published.
The basic process involves a few steps:
—Make a GEDCOM file on your desktop computer. This is typically an Export
function from whatever program you use for your research. After you get the
hang of this, you might decide that one big file is too clumsy, and split your
Wilsons and Smiths into two separate sets.
—Running the "Desktop Application" to convert the Exported GEDCOM into the
right format for the "PDA Genealogy Application," and
—Running a hot-sync to download the exported-converted information into the
PDA. Don't be concerned if this takes ten minutes or longer, depending on the
number of people in the database and the vintage of your PDA.
What's the Down Side?
Let's re-visit the Personal Reference Boundary. That is how I refer to the "line
in the sand" across which you would not be willing to enter information. You
set your Personal Reference Boundary, and enter information on one side of it,
and don't enter information on the other side. I predict that you will move
that boundary in the years to come as the software on the PC and the Palm makes
it easier to move data properly. For example, I don't hesitate to enter appointments
and contact info into my PDA, because the sync program merges them in such a
way that there is no difference what computer I used to enter into the data.
I wouldn't consider that with family history data, but one can hope that someday
we will have the same experience in our peculiar domain.
Be very careful about entering new information on the PDA. GedStar describes
itself as a "viewer" and I think that there is some wisdom in this. I see PDAs
as reference tools, not as research input devices.
There are also some real space limits if you're working on a PDA. PDA Memory
is a great asset - you only pay for it once and you get the benefit over and
over so buy as much as you can. Another possible down side is the lack of choice
if you're using a Mac or running WinCE. Don't despair - quality is more important
than quantity and the choices you have are good ones.
The last possible down side I want to mention is the complexity of moving data
from the Desktop to the PDA. This seems especially daunting the first few times
that you try it. If any of you have the time, I'd like for you to share your
experiences with me by e-mail.
What Else?
It's time to talk about registering your software. Some of the products described
in this article are "shareware" - which you try before you buy. Once you've
tried it, if you decide that you want to continue to use it, you are obligated
to register and pay the license fee. This isn't just a moral platitude from
a redneck -- it's the law. Some shareware developers have had one registration
for every 10 copies downloaded from their sites. This software is reasonably
priced, and I encourage you to support these developers by faithfully registering
your software. It's never too late. Start today. Okay, I'm getting off the soapbox
now.
Some day, a PDA will be, functionally, a completely portable data terminal,
wirelessly connected to your home or office network, the Internet, and great
stores of information including databases, image galleries, news and mail sources,
and lots and lots of genealogy sources. That day isn't here yet. I'm also certain
that a day will come when there is a family tree for just about the whole world.
One of the ways that tree will be completed is through people sharing what they
know. Having the ability to carry your conclusions around in your pocket, and
to beam them to others, may hasten that day.
Link Me Up
My Roots
www.tapperware.com
GedWise
www.batteryparksoftware.com
GedStar
www.ghcssoftware.com/gedpalm.htm
Pocket Genealogist
www.northernhillssoftware.com/pgenie.htm
Handytree
www.geocities.com/arkansoft/page11.html
Beau Sharbrough is the former president of GENTECH, and the founder of the
GENTECH and FGS Web sites. The RootsWorks series of articles focuses on genealogical
applications for generic technologies. He would like to hear from you at rootsworks@sharbrough.net,
but due to the volume of e-mail received, he is unable to answer every e- mail
message received. Please note that he cannot assist you with your individual
computer problems, as he is generally busy developing The Virtual Excuse, a
product to promote harmony in family life. Visit Beau's Web site (www.sharbrough.net)
for links to previous articles and updates on TVE. Beau is the father of two
college-age girls who make excuses adroitly, and is a proud graduate of Texas
A&M University.
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