I've been waiting for years for someone to apply artificial intelligence to genealogy—and now, it's finally happened! In July 2003, a company called Underwood Innovations, located in Long Grove, Illinois, launched a different kind of genealogical software called GenSmarts. And after playing with it, I have to say that it really is smart. Let me explain.

What It Does
GenSmarts is not a conventional software package designed to help you store and organize all the data you gather during the course of your research. Rather, its purpose is to help steer your future research. Essentially, it takes the information you've entered into your usual software (such as Family Tree Maker) and analyzes it for possible next steps. The result is a customized, recommended to-do list. Better yet, the list is coded with a collection of icons that indicate, for instance, if the data is available online (free or fee) and whether it might fill a gap (say, a missing birth date) in your research. You can then scroll down the list, drilling down a bit by assigning each item a research status (i.e., found, not found, or plan to search). When you do so, additional icons are associated with the item, so you'll be able to quickly assess its status in the future. This feature is also useful for those of you with particularly large files because you can choose to view only those items that map with one of these icons—perhaps just those you plan to search, those associated with your direct ancestors, or those that could possibly fill some of the holes in your research. Incidentally, you can also sort the entire to do list by research priority, date, or surname. Or if you have a research trip coming up to a particular repository, you can get a jump on your preparation by requesting only suggestions that involve resources at that particular location.

Reseach Locations
As you select each item, a window underneath provides additional information, including locations where the recommended resource can be found. For example, if I highlight an individual for whom the 1880 U.S. Federal Census seems promising, I will be directed to the Family History Library's site, as well as other locations (including a variety of libraries and archives). In addition, it will give me a profile of how this person's family should appear in the census, with likely names, ages, and birth places—an especially handy feature for those dealing with common names who may have to wade through many candidate families. In cases where you're directed to a research facility, the window will usually include source details, such as the microfilm title and number or the book title and call number. One less step for you! And here's one of the features I love: if a resource is available online, you can simply double click the entry. Doing so will take you to the site that contains the information, automatically enter the name of interest (for those of you too fatigued to type!), and give you the results (and yes, it works for subscription-based sites, too). A double click on the 1880 census suggestion for an ancestor named William Shields took me straight to Ancestry.com where I was presented a list of people of this name living in New Jersey that year. The whole process took a couple of seconds. By experimenting with a variety of files and families, I discovered that the software plays it safe by over-including, a feature which I appreciate. For example, you may find suggestions to search for U.S. census records for parents of your immigrant ancestors. In such cases, the software is making the assumption that the parents could have possibly accompanied their children. Maybe you know otherwise or maybe it will cause you to reconsider your own assumptions. In either case, I'm glad to see it “err” on the side of making too many recommendations, rather than possibly excluding some helpful ideas.

Which Resources?
Since I've just told you that GenSmarts points to likely websites and repositories, a logical question is which ones? The usual suspects are all included—Ancestry.com, Genealogy.com, Rootsweb.com, FamilySearch.org, EllisIsland.org, the Family History Library, Allen County Public Library, and so forth. But there are also quite a few lesser-known institutions included, partly because users have suggested them. In fact, the company has a forum where users can make requests for research locations, geographies, or record types they'd like to see covered. Messages posted by the company indicate that they intend to extend their reach to Canada, England, and Australia in the near future. And that's where I see the real potential—via an ever-growing collection of resources. At present, GenSmarts is an outstanding investment for genealogical beginners, and a worthwhile one for the more experienced. The company's owner, R. Aaron Underwood, likens the software to a friendly librarian, and he's right. With so many research options, one can quickly be overwhelmed, but GenSmarts helps direct your efforts. Even the old pros among us might stumble across some useful suggestions, but I happily anticipate a time in the not-too-distant future when so many research locations, geographies, and record types are incorporated that I'll be rewarded with an unexpected suggestion or two virtually every time I use the software. In the meantime, I intend to make a habit of using it as a time-saver, a prioritizing tool, and for other bells and whistles I haven't already mentioned, such as its data cleanup functionality.

How to Get it
If you think you might be interested, you can go to http://www.gensmarts.com and download the free trial version to give it a whirl. Like most trial versions, it doesn't give you quite as much as the actual software, but it gives you more than enough to determine if it is right for you. If you're convinced, you can purchase GenSmarts for $24.95 and download it immediately (a CD sent to your home costs an extra $10). Instructions are provided and you'll be pleasantly surprised with how easy it is to set up and get started.

Megan Smolenyak Smolenyak, author of Honoring Our Ancestors (HOA), In Search of Our Ancestors, and They Came to America: Finding Your Immigrant Ancestors. She can be contacted via her website.

Copyright 2004, MyFamily.com.