Faithful readers have endured articles on PDA hardware and software, wondering what the connection to genealogy might be. Today, that faith is rewarded with a brief survey of family history software for the PDA. If you or the genealogist in your family doesn't have a PDA and wants one, there has never been a better time to get one--but there's never been an easier time to get confused about the names, brands, features, memory cards, hot-sinkers, car-chargers, and software offerings.

Before you give up in exasperation, keep in mind that many people are happily using PDAs to keep track of their family history, and none of them are as smart or as good-looking as you are. Sadly, nor do they work at the local CompUSA or Best Buy, so you're going to need to do a little homework before you run down there and finish your holiday shopping.

PDA issues are portability issues--leveraging the size of the device to get information to places it wasn't previously available, such as the Family History Library in Salt Lake City. That encapsulates, for me, the reason to deal with genealogy software and PDAs: convenience and portability.

What Software?
At the RootsWorks website there is a more detailed comparison of these programs than would fit into this article. Some programs come in multiple versions, so check their websites for a detailed explanation of feature sets included in them. Each of them has been downloaded thousands of times, some over 20,000 times. All of them have group sheets, GEDCOM conversion, ancestor lists, and descendant lists. The ones covered in this survey are:

-My Roots
Runs on Palm or Pocket PC, works with PC or Mac. If you have a Macintosh computer, My Roots for the Palm is the only program that will import from the Mac without running Virtual PC. The Pocket PC conversion version runs in Windows only. There is a free trial version, which only allows the entry of twenty individuals.

-GedStar Pro
Runs on the Palm. Imports from The Master Genealogist (TMG), Legacy, and Personal Ancestral File (PAF), along with GEDCOM. Free download for forty-five days.

-GedWise
Runs on the Palm. Supports up to 65,000 individuals per database. Offers a download for a thirty-day free trial.

-Pocket Genealogist
If you have a Pocket PC, Pocket Genealogist runs on your PDA. Offers thirty-day free trial. Uses the GenBridge add-on (sold by Wholly Genes) for direct import from PAF or FTM. Can show 255 generations at a time (must involve a lot of scrolling).

The developers of all four of these programs put a great deal of time and effort into customer support; each of them has responded to my emails asking for information about the program. Download one today.

Do I Still Need a Desktop Genealogy Program?
I enjoy having my information with me when I go to the library. I have more records than I can reasonably carry around. I used to have problems because I brought only the records that were related to my research goals. 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.

For that advantage, we pay a price. Even a powerful PDA has some storage limitations 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, though they are closing the gap. Other features that differentiate products are the operating system, look and feel, developer website, price, age, and installed base.

Also, it's not that easy to enter data into PDAs. Where we once had only Graffiti to enter data, you can now find thumb keypads and virtual keypads. Graffiti 2 is a bit more like writing too, which eases entry woes a bit. On the whole, entering data into a PDA is still a royal pain.

So yes, you still need a desktop genealogy program. These programs are, in my opinion, just Field Reference Tools.

What's the Down Side?
Earlier in this survey, I opined that life seems simpler if we think of the Pocket PC as a general purpose computer, and the Palm as a very powerful organizer. Following this thinking, I'd suggest that if you plan to use your PDA as a data entry tool, that you use a Pocket PC. If you want to use it as I do, as a reference tool, go with the Palm. If you can't decide, just get the one that you think makes you look coolest.

Entering data on the PDA is a feature that is becoming more widely available. “Two way synchronization” is the new battle cry for PDA genealogy features. I have a concern about this. Let's revisit 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 info on one side of it and don't enter info on the other side. That boundary is moving, as the software on the PC and the Palm makes it easier to move data properly. My concern is that it is hard enough to tell evidence from conclusions, and I'm not sure that it's easy enough for most PDA users to keep them straight.

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 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.

I should rush to add that PDAs make GREAT tablets. You never run out of paper. Take all the notes in your PDA that you like. After you hot-sync, you can copy and paste them into your desktop program just as you would type them if you were reviewing the documents at home.

What Else?
It's time to talk about registering your software. Some of the products described in this article are “shareware” (meaning 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 red-state redneck--it's the law. Some shareware developers see 1 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.

Oh, and if you're a TMG user, you'll be interested to know that the TMG site has pages for Pocket Genealogist and GedStar. These developers have implemented advanced integration with that program, and TMG users might want to give them the first look.

There is information to supplement this article, and links to all of the pages described herein, on the RootsWorks site.

More Information
For links and more information about PDA Accessories, please see the RootsWorks site. If you want to discuss your PDA challenges, please drop by the RootsWorks Forums. Registration is free, and I'd be interested to know what kinds of issues you are facing.

Beau Sharbrough is a product manager at Ancestry.com. His articles contain his own views and opinions and do not reflect any corporate policy or statement by the company. The RootsWorks series of articles focuses on genealogical applications for generic technologies. Stop by www.rootsworks.com/forums and discuss this or any topic related to the use of technology in family history. Tell us about your experiences. Please note that Beau cannot assist you with your individual computer and genealogy problems. Visit the RootsWorks website (www.rootsworks.com) for links to previous articles and Beau's lecture schedule (next stop: Phoenix, Arizona, in January).

Copyright 2004, MyFamily.com.