FamilyInsight and Windows 7 on an iMac

FamilyInsight is a highly useful add-on tool for Personal Ancestral File (PAF) users who want to do many of the things that PAF won't do, particularly with New FamilySearch. The features of the program give PAF real utility, but unfortunately you cannot make a silk purse out of a sow's ear. (Actually, you can make a silk purse out of a sow's ear, but the question is, who would want to?). PAF is not going to be supported in the future by FamilySearch and as time goes on and more and more information is obtained from online sources, PAF is being left further and further behind.

That brings us to FamilyInsight. This program does what it does so well, it makes me pause repeatedly in my dismissal of the PAF program. Ohana Software has created a really convenient interface and even the most computer illiterate of the PAF users can usually figure out what the program is offering. So, I was very interested to see what would happen when I loaded PAF on my new Windows 7 installation on my iMac. If you haven't read any of my previous posts, you will, of course, not know that I installed Windows 7, using Paralells Desktop, on my iMac. I also have a PC which I have used for years, but I really prefer working on a Macintosh computer.

If this experiment works out, and it seems like it is going to do so, then I will dump my desktop PC in favor of the new iMac.

The PAF program running on Windows 7 looks and acts in the normal PAF fashion. However, I have yet to get FamilyInsight to work with any PAF file. The first obstacle was to get FamilyInsight to open at all. The program could not find the FamilyInsight data file. I finally got the program to recognize the location of the data file for the program but I have still not gotten past the program's inability to locate the PAF data files, even when I open FamilyInsight from within PAF while the target data file is open in PAF. I am still working on the issue and haven't yet decided if the problem is with Windows 7, the way it works on the iMac or something in FamilyInsight.

As with any new operating system, I would not recommend jumping directly into an upgrade until I determined to my own satisfaction that the new system will work with all my existing programs. Stay tuned for further comments on Windows 7 and existing genealogy software.

How do I do genealogy?

When I was young and had time to do things other than genealogy, I used to practice archery from time to time. I would set up various targets to shoot at in the yard, which was big enough to use for the activity. Inevitably, I would shoot all of my arrows and miss the target at least a couple of times. In targets, think cardboard box, not the nice straw kind with big circles. Anyway, there were a couple things I did know when I started to search for my lost arrows. First, the arrow could only go a certain distance and second, I instinctively knew that there was no use looking in the next lot or across the street, the arrow was somewhere in the general direction of the target and only at a limited distance. I would then systematically examine the ground in the direction of the arrows and would always find all my arrows.

Think about your ancestors. Searching for them is exactly like searching for my lost arrows. You can only find them in a certain place and time. They have to be there. You were born, therefore they exist. This simple fact seems lost on many who are looking for their ancestors. Expressed another way, you research from the known to the unknown. This basic principle of research means you don't jump back to search for your great-grandfather until you know all of the ground between where you are now and where you think he was. There is even a scriptural admonition, which says, “Wherefore, because of their blindness, which blindness came by looking beyond the mark, they must needs fall..." (See Jacob 4:14). So, what do you know about your parents?

I acknowledge that there are those people who cannot find their own parents. Some arrows do get lost. But it is amazing to me how many people skip the middle to get to the ending without even knowing they are doing so. To repeat the question, what do you know about your parents (or the person you are looking for)? I am talking about research in depth. To use another analogy, you can't build a bridge without a pier. You need to be firmly sure of the ground on which you stand before you reach out across the void and try and find your family.

Let's say you want to find your great-grandparents wedding date. Start with their children, your grandparents. What do you know about your grandparents? When was the first child born? Where was the first child born? What was going on at the time? What kind of record might contain information on a marriage date? An insurance application? A medical record? A newspaper story? A journal? Letters to relatives? A draft registration form? A Social Security application form? Where would these records be kept?

This topic has been brought to my mind repeatedly by questions asked at the Mesa Regional Family History Center. Every time I help answer a question, the answer usually lies in re-examining what the person knows and not what he or she doesn't yet know. Do not look beyond the mark, look for people only where and when they might be found.

Genealogist's view of Windows 7

I have been running Windows XP since shortly after its release. After reading many reviews, I elected not to upgrade my home computer to Windows Vista but some time ago, our office computers were all upgraded. So I have been running both Windows Vista and my older versions of Windows XP for a considerable time. During the past week, I have been working with Windows 7 installed on my iMac using Parallels Desktop. I feel that I have a pretty good level of experience with both Vista and XP to adequately compare them to Windows 7.

As a beginning statement, Windows 7 is still Windows. It is not radically different than either Windows XP or Vista. Since I was using a new install of the program to an essentially blank disk, I was spared the painful upgrade process from XP. To upgrade from Windows XP to 7, the user is urged to run Windows Upgrade Advisor to see whether there are software issues that might affect installation and whether to install the 32-bit or 64-bit version. The user is also told to back up all of their data to an external hard drive. You then save your files and settings to the external drive using Windows Easy Transfer. Both the Windows Upgrade Advisor and the Windows Easy Transfer are supposed to be downloaded from Microsoft's Website since they apparently do not come with the Windows 7 software package.

So before you even think about upgrading, you need, at the very least, external storage large enough to back up your entire data files and the two downloaded programs from Microsoft. this may mean a trip to a store and the purchase of a new hard drive. Next come the clincher, you will wipe your primary disk clean when you install Windows 7 and will have to re-install your programs. That is all of your programs. Good luck. Just hope that you still have all of the access keys and passwords necessary to re-install anything you actually need and that the programs will actuall work with Windows 7.

After installing Windows 7, the user is instructed to use Windows Easy Transfer to restore your files and settings but not your programs. If any of your programs just don't happen to be compatible with Windows 7, it is just too bad. No solution is offered for this inevitable problem.

The online discussion about Windows 7 appears to be uniformly favorable. As a matter of fact, the program runs quite well on my iMac. I have successfully installed Personal Ancestral File, Roots Magic 4, Ancestral Quest 12.1 and Animap without any issues at all. I finally got Legacy 7 to install with the Geo feature. It took several tries and I am not really sure the program is running correctly. I tried to install FamilyInsight but so far, I have not gotten the program to run at all. The FamilyInsight program will not find the data file nor will it properly open any of the PAF files I have on the Windows 7 program portion of the iMac disk.

One problem I can foresee about upgrading, is that there is an unspoken assumption from Microsoft that you can download the extra programs you need to complete your upgrade. However, that assumes you can get your upgraded computer to see your network and get online. This is not necessarily a valid assumption. I found in installing Windows 7 that it took me two days to figure out how to get the Windows 7 program to see the network so I could copy my files over to the computer. Granted, I may be asking for more complication by using Windows 7 on an iMac, but hey, what is life without challenges.

There will probably be a lot more to write about and I probably will. Stay tuned.

New FamilySearch -- Down to the last two Temple Districts

With the Jordan River Temple District gaining full access to New FamilySearch by November 9, 2009, there are only two more Temple Districts left until the introduction process is complete in all of the Temple Districts in the United States. There may still be areas where the program will still have to be developed in non-Roman alphabet languages, like Chinese, but it looks like the introduction is essentially over for the time being. The last two Temple Districts, still waiting for an introduction date, are the Salt Lake Temple and Oquirrh Mountain Temple Districts.

The last announced upgrade to the program was in August of 2009. Since that time, it is notable that there have been changes and adjustments to the program, especially with the ordinance reserving and Family Ordinance Request printing process, but none of these changes have been officially announced. Some of the changes make a significant impact on the issue of duplication of ordinance work, although it remains to be seen if the efforts will have a practical effect in dissuading people from entering duplicate information and re-doing the Temple ordinances.

Latest update to FamilySearch Record Search

As of November 3, 2009, FamilySearch Record Search has added a number of new collections. These updated records include the following: [Descriptions from Website]

Indiana Marriages from 18811 to 1959 -- Indexed in partnership with the Indiana Genealogical Society. Name index of marriages recorded in the Indiana Territory and in the State of Indiana between 1811 and 1959. This collection includes marriage returns and licenses for the following counties: Adams, Blackford, Decatur, Franklin, Henry, Huntington, Owen, Rush, and Sullivan. Microfilm copies of original records are available at the Family History Library and at family history centers. 11% complete and no images.

Massachusetts State Census, 1865 -- This project was indexed in partnership with the New England Historic Genealogical Society (NEHGS). Name index and images of population schedules listing inhabitants of the State of Massachusetts in 1865.

Minnesota Will Records from 1849 to 1918 -- This collection is sponsored by the Minnesota Historical Society State Archives, (www.mnhs.org) the National Association of Government Archivists and Records Administrations (www.NAGARA.org), and FamilySearch (www.familysearch.org). Name indexes of the Probate Court will books for the counties of the state and territory of Minnesota. Some testators who resided outside of Minnesota recorded their wills in these Probate Courts. Four Minnesota counties are not in this collection: Hennepin, Marshall, St. Louis, and Wadena. Currently, data is only available for the following counties: Brown, Dakota, Freeborn, and Ramsey. 9% complete and no images.

United States Census for 1920 -- Now 51% complete and no images, data currently available for the following: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Illinois, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, and Wyoming.

Wisconsin State Census for 1855 -- Name index and images of the Wisconsin state population census taken in 1855. This census only identifies the head of family by name. The rest of the census is statistical.

Spain Municipal Records --- Images only, see Spain Civil Registration.

Italy, Napoli Province, Municipal Records, from 1809 to 1936 -- Images only. See Italy, Castellammare di Stabia Municipal Records

Netherlands, Limburg Parish Register Transcripts, from 1600 to 1822 -- See Netherlands, Limburg Catholic Church Parish Register Transcripts

Brazil, Catholic Church Record -- Images only. See Brazil Catholic Church Parish Records

Some of these records have never before been available online and especially not for free.

Parade of States -- online digital genealogy resources -- California

Everyone would expect California to have a lot of digital resources and they would be right, to a point. In actual numbers of records, they fall way short of Washington State, but they do have some very interesting collections which I have used in researching early California families. All in all, California is long on pictures and short on actual source documents given the large population and long history of the state. There are a lot of records and indexes online on the subscription Website, Ancestry.com. Here is a sample of the free online collections:

• The Anne T. Kent California Room (Marin County Free Library) To quote the site, "The Anne T. Kent California History Room is an archive dedicated to collecting and preserving information on local, regional, and state history with a strong emphasis on the history and culture of Marin County. Resources include books, maps, photographs, oral histories, biography files, early Marin County voter registers, clippings and ephemera."

• Calisphere (UC Libraries) Thousands of images and primary source documents from the 19th-20th centuries.

• Digital Anaheim (Anaheim Public Library) A digital archive of nearly 2,000 photographs of the City of Anaheim.

• Los Angeles Public Library Photo Collection The Los Angeles Public Library's History and Genealogy Department's Photo Collection emphasizes the history of Los Angeles, Southern California, and California.

• Online Archive of California A collection of resources from a large number of California institutions, way too many to list here. The list alone is longer than most of my posts. Even though the list is impressive, it turns out that most of the records are only available offline and must be searched at the California State Archives.
  

• Regional Oral History Office (University of California, Berkeley) An extensive collection of oral histories by category.
  


• Sacramento History Online Sacramento History Online is a joint project of four Sacramento County institutions to digitize and catalog over 2000 items from their collections. The project's goal has been to document agriculture and transportation in the Sacramento region from the mid 19th to early 20th century.

• San Fernando Valley History Digital Library An interesting site but it doesn't look like it has been updated for a while.

• San Francisco Historical Photograph Collection (SF Public Library) To quote from the Website, "The San Francisco Historical Photograph Collection contains photographs and works on papers of San Francisco and California scenes ranging from 1850 to the present. This collection includes views of San Francisco street scenes, buildings, and neighborhoods, as well as photographs of famous San Francisco personalities. The collection consists mostly of the photo morgue of the San Francisco News-Call Bulletin, a daily newspaper, ranging from 1920s to 1965. The collection also contains albums, slides, postcards, cabinet cards, stereoviews, and lantern slides of San Francisco and California subjects. "

• San Joaquin Valley & Sierra Foothills Photo Heritage The photo collection contains items from nine different libraries in the San Joaquin Valley. There are nearly 3000 digital images in the collection.
  


• University of California History Digital Archive Includes University of California In Memoriam.The UC History Project Website is organizing, digitizing and creating materials on the history of the University of California’s ten-campus system.

USA, United States or nothing

One of the features of the newer genealogy database programs is the ability to regularize or standardize place names. But, the standardized place names are anything but standard between programs. For example, New FamilySearch, the huge database from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) has a feature called Standard Finder and according to this source, the place names in the U.S. are appended with "United States." However, there are major database programs, like Legacy Family Tree, that add on "USA."

Now what do we do? Do we put anything after the entries in all of the various databases or do we just leave the designation of the country blank? Originally, with the paper forms of family group sheets there was an extremely limited space for entering the place names. It was a common practice for those using the forms to enter place names either partially or with a number of abbreviations. Early genealogical database programs also had a character limitation on the fields for geographic information. Early users of Personal Ancestral File commonly abbreviated most, if not all of the place designations. Unfortunately, the practice of abbreviation and shortening of place names has not gone completely away, even though there are now adequate spaces allocated for the complete geographic designation. Because of more than adequate space, it is no longer considered acceptable to use abbreviations.

This brings up the issue of the use of United States versus USA or whatever. It is interesting to note that although we commonly refer to our own country as the United States, there are other countries, such as Mexico, that are also properly known as "United States." The official name of the country of Mexico is United Mexican States or United States of Mexico depending on how you translate the name in Spanish. It is also interesting that the official name of the USA is, of course, The United States of America.

Usually there is no possibility of confusion. For that reason, it is common for the place names in the U.S. to end with the state. However, in our international community, there are multiple places with the same name as some of the U.S. states. A good example is Florida. A place name search in the Family History Library Catalogue on the place "Florida" will give you a list of 25 matching places, from such different geographic areas as the Philippines to Brazil. It quickly becomes apparent that in some cases it would be wise to specify the country as well as the state. So why not do so in all cases and make it a general rule? That is what is being done with standardized place names.

As a side note, my wife once flew to Panama City, Panama but almost ended up in Panama City, Florida. This is another reason why a more complete specification of place names is desirable. Sometimes at the country level but commonly at the city and county level, there can be massive confusion. As an example, nineteen states have a "Clay" county.

So which one of the two designations are we all going to use. I see no reason not to use USA. It is commonly recognized on products around the world and is an easy three letter designation. However, we do have to live with the designation "Unites States" even though there is a small measure of ambiguity on an international level. For the present, until there is some kind of international agreement, I will continue to use whatever the particular program thinks is the correct designation; either USA or United States. But I am going to add one or the other to all my place names. Nothing is not an option in our global age.