I guess your first thought is that citations and sources are not the same thing and cannot be in opposition. But, in fact, they are in opposition when someone fails to provide a source merely because they are afraid to "mess up" the citation. Yes, that really does happen. People are intimidated by the forms asking for details about the source and they have no idea what the form is asking for and therefore elect either to forego adding the source or to leave off the citation.
I must admit that some of the systems for citations used by genealogy database programs are intimidating in their complexity. If a program elects to use a simple form for entering a citation, then it is criticized for failing to provide for all the variations found in the Mills book. (Mills, Elizabeth Shown. Evidence Explained: Citing History Sources from Artifacts to Cyberspace. Baltimore, Md: Genealogical Pub. Co, 2007).
OK, before you get all huffy, I am 100% in favor of citing sources and I have a copy of the Mills book sitting here, always within reach. I fully realize that I use Turabian format for all my book citations and that you publishing folks probably use Chicago or MLA or some other format. I use Turabian to annoy all of you anyway.
But there is a problem. Consistent with our desire to attract new, younger genealogy adherents, shouldn't we look at some of the areas of genealogy that might be made a little less intimidating. Isn't an 800 page book on citing sources intimidating? How about we decide that the source is important and as long as there is enough information to find the source, then the source is cited and leave it at that? Maybe the programs with the complex citation formats could be optional and a simple form would be sufficient for most purposes. Aren't the complex citations formats more suited to publications than family trees?
Now lets see, the idea is that we want to know where all this weird stuff came from, isn't it? Wouldn't it be nice if we had some idea whether all these lengthy pedigrees back into the Middle Ages and beyond had sources? Do we want to know or do we want perfectly formatted citations? I know, you want both. Knowledge and Perfection. So what if this is a multiple choice test and you can only choose one? As for me, I would rather have some idea where the stuff came from rather than worry about commas and colons. I'll leave the citation issues to the journal editing folks.
By they way, most of the people I know who are doing genealogical research have never read or even seen a genealogical journal article and wouldn't know where to go looking for one. So the whole idea of a formal citation is missing from their experience. The last time they did a citation was doing note cards in high school. Personally, I was used to citing everything I said in a law brief but, as lawyers, we use our own proprietary method of citation and it is pretty loose. If an attorney uses some weird format, nobody really cares. All they do is make disparaging remarks in the answering brief.
It also helps a whole lot that many of the journals use different citation standards and I find that I am always looking for a citation standard in Mills that seems to be one of the ones she left out of the book. For example, how do you cite comic books? No, just kidding. No comments please. I know how to cite comic books.
So what is the point of this blog post? I never thought you would ask. My point is that citation formats are nice but are really intimidating to most researchers. Let's try to be a little more inclusive and less strict. As long as we can find what they are talking about, it should work. If someone wants to come along and correct all my citations, and has nothing better to do, they are more than welcome to do so.
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Sunday, June 2, 2013
Date for shutting down New.FamilySearch.org finally announced
Thanks to Renee Zamora in her Renee's Genealogy Blog this morning for a link to this announcement:
So by the end of the year, the link between New.FamilySearch.org and Family Tree will finally be severed and I can get on with sorting out my family. Let's see if they are able to adhere to this timeline.
I would suggest that anyone using New.FamilySearch.org right now better move over to Family Tree immediately and get used to using the newer program. It is better to start moving now, than to wake up some morning and find out you can't do anything at all and haven't any idea how to use Family Tree.
Here is the link to the products page so you can keep up to date as to which products have been linked up to Family Tree in some way or other.
FamilySearch Products
Coincidentally, I gave this link in my last blog post also.
FamilySearch is pleased to announce the official release of the FamilySearch API. Thank you to all who participated during the beta and pilot phases. This release will replace the familytree/v2 API (targeting new.familysearch.org) for all tree reads and writes. With the release of the latest FamilySearch API the following dates are also announced:
June 30 – Write capability for the familytree/v2 API will be turned off. Partners can no longer use this API to write to the tree. This functionality is replaced with the release of the latest FamilySearch API.
The collaboration toolkit (a feature of the FamilySearch API), which includes sources, discussions, and the change log, has moved from beta to pilot. With the collaboration toolkit in pilot, partners should feel confident the code is stable and start implementing the features.
Sept 15 – All partners who write to the FamilySearch Family Tree will need to implement the features of the collaboration toolkit by Sept 15 in order to maintain their certification. They will be able to re-certify after the collaborative features are added.
End of year – Partners will be able to continue to use the read functionality of the familytree/v2 API until the end of the year.OK, so here is the translation. What this means is that apparently, after June 30, programs that currently write data to New.FamilySearch.org will no longer be able to do so. New.FamilySearch.org will effectively be cut off from changing the data that ends up in FamilySearch.org's Family Tree. This is very good news for all of us who have been waiting for this to happen.
So by the end of the year, the link between New.FamilySearch.org and Family Tree will finally be severed and I can get on with sorting out my family. Let's see if they are able to adhere to this timeline.
I would suggest that anyone using New.FamilySearch.org right now better move over to Family Tree immediately and get used to using the newer program. It is better to start moving now, than to wake up some morning and find out you can't do anything at all and haven't any idea how to use Family Tree.
Here is the link to the products page so you can keep up to date as to which products have been linked up to Family Tree in some way or other.
FamilySearch Products
Coincidentally, I gave this link in my last blog post also.
Some Hidden FamilySearch and FamilyTree Resources
The newly designed website for FamilySearch.org seems to work just fine and according to reports from FamilySearch, they have seen activity increase. But a few of the resources that were easily accessible on the older design, have disappeared into obscurity. Here is a list of those resources and a link directly to those I think you might find useful. Some of them, frankly, I have no idea how to find from the FamilySearch.org website. You will just have to use the direct link I provide below and maybe you can figure out how these pages are connected. The link is in the title to each paragraph. You can copy the link by right-clicking on the link and then pasting the link into a reminder list of some kind.
Family Tree Training
Here is a screenshot showing the top of this page.
These are not "new" pages, but old pages that have been lost in the shuffle or whatever. This one contains links to many of the Family Tree support documents including the Reference Manual.
Family History Products
This is another page that I found through links on the bottom of old pages. I am not sure how to navigate to the page, but I think my wife found it in a link at the bottom of the startup page. Here is a screenshot of the page:
Product Support
This is an interesting page. It is located in the Get Help link and then the Help Center link. But it is the gateway to help and reference material for all of the "products." It seems that FamilySearch refers to the different functions or applications on the website as products. Here is a screenshot of the page. Your screen may not have all the same icons, because I am signed in with an LDS Account.
The icons link to further resources, including some of the same resources, on a different page, for Family Tree. So if you click on the icon link to Family Tree, you will find the Reference Guide at the bottom of the resulting page.
Learning Center
Some of you may have wondered what happened to all the pages inside of FamilySearch.org, including the list of video training resources. Well, here they are buried down in the "Get Help" link and the "Help Center" Here is a screen shot to prove that they are all still there:
Another hint. Look at the links on the bottom of the pages. The bottom links change as you move through the website. Some of the resources are located in those links.
Youth and Family History
This page is aimed at members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and isn't even on the FamilySearch.org website, but it has the FamilySearch title and old logo. I just thought you might want to know it was in existence.
About FamilySearch Page
This page isn't really hidden at all, it is located in a link at the bottom of the startup page for FamilySearch.org. But it is one of those links you probably haven't explored. I suggest you go to the page and click on the various links. You might be surprised at what you find. Here is a screenshot of the About page:
I haven't nearly exhausted all of the links, but I think you might get the idea. There are a lot of resources buried in the links on FamilySearch.org. You just might want to scroll to the bottom of each page and see the links and familiarize yourself with all the stuff.
Family Tree Training
Here is a screenshot showing the top of this page.
These are not "new" pages, but old pages that have been lost in the shuffle or whatever. This one contains links to many of the Family Tree support documents including the Reference Manual.
Family History Products
This is another page that I found through links on the bottom of old pages. I am not sure how to navigate to the page, but I think my wife found it in a link at the bottom of the startup page. Here is a screenshot of the page:
Product Support
This is an interesting page. It is located in the Get Help link and then the Help Center link. But it is the gateway to help and reference material for all of the "products." It seems that FamilySearch refers to the different functions or applications on the website as products. Here is a screenshot of the page. Your screen may not have all the same icons, because I am signed in with an LDS Account.
The icons link to further resources, including some of the same resources, on a different page, for Family Tree. So if you click on the icon link to Family Tree, you will find the Reference Guide at the bottom of the resulting page.
Learning Center
Some of you may have wondered what happened to all the pages inside of FamilySearch.org, including the list of video training resources. Well, here they are buried down in the "Get Help" link and the "Help Center" Here is a screen shot to prove that they are all still there:
Another hint. Look at the links on the bottom of the pages. The bottom links change as you move through the website. Some of the resources are located in those links.
Youth and Family History
This page is aimed at members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and isn't even on the FamilySearch.org website, but it has the FamilySearch title and old logo. I just thought you might want to know it was in existence.
About FamilySearch Page
This page isn't really hidden at all, it is located in a link at the bottom of the startup page for FamilySearch.org. But it is one of those links you probably haven't explored. I suggest you go to the page and click on the various links. You might be surprised at what you find. Here is a screenshot of the About page:
I haven't nearly exhausted all of the links, but I think you might get the idea. There are a lot of resources buried in the links on FamilySearch.org. You just might want to scroll to the bottom of each page and see the links and familiarize yourself with all the stuff.
Saturday, June 1, 2013
The more things change, the more they stay the same
In the 1868 revision of his book, The American Genealogist, William Henry Whitmore said,
The improvement in the subject matter of our genealogies has been very apparent. Twenty years ago nearly every man who knew anything of his pedigree beyond his grandfather, was firmly possessed with the idea that three brothers of the name came over here; every family was confident that it was of noble descent; nearly every family was positive that it was the rightful inheritor of an immense fortune in England.See Whitmore, William Henry. The American Genealogist. Being a Catalogue of Family Histories and Publications Containing Genealogical Information Issued in the United States, Arranged Chronologically. Albany: J. Munsell, 1868.
Well, it is interesting that Whitmore saw improvement, because now, more than a hundred and forty-five years later, we have some of the exact same issues. I am still hearing the "three brothers" story regularly and most of my researching friends are fully confident of their noble descent. We have perhaps made some progress in the area of expecting to inherit a fortune from our remote English ancestors.
In fact, I can quote the story from one of my own family's books,
It is claimed that the rich Morgan bankers of New England are their descendants. The story goes on to say that one stayed in Massachusetts, one went west and one went south. What happens next in the book is extremely interesting. The descendants of the Morgan who went south are listed until it is noted that "During the War of the Revolution there were several men by the name of John Morgan residing in the area included in old Frederick County, Virginia." There are in fact, five such men. Guess what, there is no proof in the book or otherwise as to which of these John Morgan's we are descended. But conveniently, the one with the rich relatives was chosen as the right one.
My own research is not as well founded as it could be, but it is certain enough to put into doubt the whole story accepted as the truth by thousands of the Morgan descendants. The family line as it appears on FamilySearch.org's Family Tree is also inconsistent with the book's narrative. There are no sources cited for the account in the book but various documents are alluded to and the online trees, including several on Ancestry.com fail to give any sources at all except citing other family trees. Well, I have my work cut out for me.
It is amazing that these stories, such as the three brothers, have such permanency. They are passed down and preserved without any supporting documentation or even a hint of a reliable source. But once told, they become the canonical text. Every once and while, just to drive us all crazy, someone substantiates one of these stories and that fact, of course, validates all of the others.
I am not suffering under any illusions that I can reform the pedigree of the ages in my own lines. I am not even sure I can get past the village with the five John Morgans, but that is what genealogical research is all about.
In fact, I can quote the story from one of my own family's books,
The first known Welch Morgans to come to America were three brothers bearing the names of James, Miles and John, sons of William Morgan of Glamorgan County, Wales. They came in a sailing vessel and arrived in Boston, Massachusetts in about the year 1636.
From these three ancestors came a long line of distinguished men and women who have played important roles in the growth and development of America.See Richardson, Arthur M., and Nicholas G. Morgan. The Life and Ministry of John Morgan: For a Wise and Glorious Purpose. [S.l.]: N.G. Morgan, 1965.
It is claimed that the rich Morgan bankers of New England are their descendants. The story goes on to say that one stayed in Massachusetts, one went west and one went south. What happens next in the book is extremely interesting. The descendants of the Morgan who went south are listed until it is noted that "During the War of the Revolution there were several men by the name of John Morgan residing in the area included in old Frederick County, Virginia." There are in fact, five such men. Guess what, there is no proof in the book or otherwise as to which of these John Morgan's we are descended. But conveniently, the one with the rich relatives was chosen as the right one.
My own research is not as well founded as it could be, but it is certain enough to put into doubt the whole story accepted as the truth by thousands of the Morgan descendants. The family line as it appears on FamilySearch.org's Family Tree is also inconsistent with the book's narrative. There are no sources cited for the account in the book but various documents are alluded to and the online trees, including several on Ancestry.com fail to give any sources at all except citing other family trees. Well, I have my work cut out for me.
It is amazing that these stories, such as the three brothers, have such permanency. They are passed down and preserved without any supporting documentation or even a hint of a reliable source. But once told, they become the canonical text. Every once and while, just to drive us all crazy, someone substantiates one of these stories and that fact, of course, validates all of the others.
I am not suffering under any illusions that I can reform the pedigree of the ages in my own lines. I am not even sure I can get past the village with the five John Morgans, but that is what genealogical research is all about.
Review of Aspen's Roots by Paul Sullivan
Aspen's Roots is a delightful and beautifully illustrated children's book with a message about roots; that is family roots. Here is a link to the book. It is also available on Amazon.com.
The author of the book is Paul Sullivan and the Illustrator is Pamela Gillette. They sent me a copy of the book to review and I was more than pleasantly surprised. Here is the description from the flyleaf:
Aspen is a beautiful young sapling living a carefree life amidst the wonders of nature. She is happy. However, the seasons are about to change. The quiet time of winter helps Aspen learn to feel beyond herself. She discovers that it's what's below the surface that really makes us strong. With a new creed of giving - now she is happy.The message is short and clear. As genealogists we are currently concerned about reaching out to younger people and including them in our passion for our families' history. This is the type of outreach that I think is most effective to get young people thinking about their own relationship to their ancestors.
Thanks to Paul and Pamela for the opportunity to share this book with my own family and with you all.
Quick View of Genealogy, Part 3: FamilySearch Research Wiki Namespaces and Menus
This is the third in the series of Quick Views on the FamilySearch.org Research Wiki. In this segment, I discuss namespace, those mysterious subdivisions of the Wiki that appear in the titles to the pages. For example thee Wiki's page titles may look like this: Talk:Utah or Edit:Utah The first part of the name of every page, before the colon is called the namespace and is a way to organize the Wiki into functional parts. I also talk about User pages and other menu selection items.
The Future of Genealogical Software
Warning: This blog post contains my opinions. In the past, these opinions have proved to be controversial. So, if you are avoiding controversy right now, for any reason, you might want to wait to read this post until your controversy tolerance has re-booted.
First off, I think the concept of an isolated, unconnected "desktop" computer is very close to dead. The average U.S. household has 5.7 Internet-connected devices and the total number of these devices, just in the U.S., is more than half a billion. See "Internet Connected Devices Surpass Half a Billion in U.S. Homes, According to the NPD Group." Quoting from that same article:
It is abundantly obvious that one company, Microsoft, has dominated the operating system market for many years. Historically, the commercial battle for market share was viewed as taking place between Microsoft and everyone else. The statistics continue to show an overwhelming dominance of the Windows operating systems on desktop computers. In that area, for example, Apple computers have never risen above about 3 or 4% of the market. See Desktop Operating System Market Share. This is the classic story of winning the battle but losing the war.
The reason for this is simple. Remember, the number of non-desktop devices now exceeds the number of desktop computers. So who is winning the battle of operating systems? The company that controls the mobile/online market share. In the 1st quarter of 2013, Google's Android operating system had a 75% share of the mobile market. That is everything else besides the desktops. In that same quarter, Apple's iOS had a 17.3% share. Windows had a 3.2% share. See "Android and iOS Combine for 92.3% of All Smartphone Operating System Shipments in the First Quarter While Windows Phone Leapfrogs BlackBerry, According to IDC" So who is developing genealogy software for Android devices? The answer is any company using the Web as the primary provider of services and software.
It doesn't take a crystal ball to see where the market is going. Who uses the smartphones and tablets? Overwhelmingly younger users. Among the 18 to 29 age group cell phone ownership is at 93% and smartphone ownership is at 65% of the population and rising rapidly. While in the 65 year old plus population, that smartphone ownership is only 12%. See Pew Internet: Mobile. Only a very, very small percentage of those users are using Windows. If you want to involve younger users in genealogy, you have to provide a way for these mobile users to be involved.
How does this relate to genealogy software? If the genealogy software companies want to stay in business, they have to move to mobile devices and use Android and iOS. Are they doing this? Sort of. But who is doing this? Let's look at the top three online genealogy companies and see.
Ancestry.com has had apps for some time now, that run on both iOS and Android and connect directly to their database of Family Trees online. So their millions of online Family Tree users can access their data directly from mobile devices and they are not tied to Windows. But Ancestry.com still has a Windows 8 app also. But the key here is that emphasis is on the Web based data, not the desktop. But their programs run on mobile as well as desktop devices. So Ancestry.com benefits from the changes.
MyHeritage.com is the newcomer. But it has already gotten into the game with apps for both Android and iOS to access their huge online family trees. They are working on a Windows 8 app also. But the key here is that they are developing powerful online tools that benefit the online family trees. They also provide a desktop solution that integrates with their online family tree for free. But the emphasis is on the online tree.
FamilySearch.org has, since the beginning of 2013, been saying that Family Tree is a complete solution (or will be) for hosting your genealogical information. There is no mention of having your own genealogy on your own desktop based program. Notwithstanding this reliance on an online program, FamilySearch.org is looking to third party developers to provide mobile access to the online Family Tree. There are already Android and iOS apps that will directly access Family Tree. Additional connectivity is inevitable.
So, what about the issue of having your own data on your own program on your own computer. This still seems like a good idea, but my guess is that in the future, the mobile operating system market (young people) are not even going to recognize this as an issue. Keeping all their data on the Web will be as natural as eating and drinking. Unless the genealogy software developers recognize this change, they will simply go out of business. The idea of having your genealogy "online" will not be an issue because it will not be an option to have it anywhere else. Guess who wins in the end? Google and the online genealogy family tree providers.
Guess who loses? The software companies that are still Windows dominated and slow to take advantage of online databases. Who wants to buy a program that will only operate on one computer and cannot connect to any online database? Think about it. Genealogists who presently focus on their insular desktop computer and the unconnected database programs will disappear. What is an example of the type of program that will succeed? Something like Heredis that runs on all sorts of devices? Or Ancestry.com's Family Tree Maker and MyHeritage's Family Tree Builder that will likely, in the future do the same? Think some more about it.
First off, I think the concept of an isolated, unconnected "desktop" computer is very close to dead. The average U.S. household has 5.7 Internet-connected devices and the total number of these devices, just in the U.S., is more than half a billion. See "Internet Connected Devices Surpass Half a Billion in U.S. Homes, According to the NPD Group." Quoting from that same article:
Overall, the number of connected devices per U.S. Internet household has grown to 5.7, up from 5.3 devices three months ago. In that time frame, the installed base of tablets increased by nearly 18 million and there are nearly 9 million more smartphones users. Amongst this growth, Apple and Samsung remained the most prevalent smartphone brands consumers own, and Apple continues to dominate the tablet market.The number of smartphones and computers has now exceeded the number of computers. It is important to look at the variety of devices that connect to the Internet:
More than 4,000 U.S. consumers, age 18 and older were surveyed in the first quarter of 2013. The number of installed and internet connected devices includes those that deliver broadband applications such as computers, tablets, smartphones, HDTVs, Blu-ray Disc Players, video game consoles, and streaming media set top boxes.Many of the genealogy related programs, particularly the dedicated database programs, have recognized this expansion of devices and have designed apps that work with mobile devices to some extent. But to a greater extent, the more traditional genealogical database programs are ignoring the larger changes in the dynamics of the marketplace. Focusing solely on hardware devices is misleading as to the direction of the market. The real battle is being fought in the realm of operating systems.
It is abundantly obvious that one company, Microsoft, has dominated the operating system market for many years. Historically, the commercial battle for market share was viewed as taking place between Microsoft and everyone else. The statistics continue to show an overwhelming dominance of the Windows operating systems on desktop computers. In that area, for example, Apple computers have never risen above about 3 or 4% of the market. See Desktop Operating System Market Share. This is the classic story of winning the battle but losing the war.
The reason for this is simple. Remember, the number of non-desktop devices now exceeds the number of desktop computers. So who is winning the battle of operating systems? The company that controls the mobile/online market share. In the 1st quarter of 2013, Google's Android operating system had a 75% share of the mobile market. That is everything else besides the desktops. In that same quarter, Apple's iOS had a 17.3% share. Windows had a 3.2% share. See "Android and iOS Combine for 92.3% of All Smartphone Operating System Shipments in the First Quarter While Windows Phone Leapfrogs BlackBerry, According to IDC" So who is developing genealogy software for Android devices? The answer is any company using the Web as the primary provider of services and software.
It doesn't take a crystal ball to see where the market is going. Who uses the smartphones and tablets? Overwhelmingly younger users. Among the 18 to 29 age group cell phone ownership is at 93% and smartphone ownership is at 65% of the population and rising rapidly. While in the 65 year old plus population, that smartphone ownership is only 12%. See Pew Internet: Mobile. Only a very, very small percentage of those users are using Windows. If you want to involve younger users in genealogy, you have to provide a way for these mobile users to be involved.
How does this relate to genealogy software? If the genealogy software companies want to stay in business, they have to move to mobile devices and use Android and iOS. Are they doing this? Sort of. But who is doing this? Let's look at the top three online genealogy companies and see.
Ancestry.com has had apps for some time now, that run on both iOS and Android and connect directly to their database of Family Trees online. So their millions of online Family Tree users can access their data directly from mobile devices and they are not tied to Windows. But Ancestry.com still has a Windows 8 app also. But the key here is that emphasis is on the Web based data, not the desktop. But their programs run on mobile as well as desktop devices. So Ancestry.com benefits from the changes.
MyHeritage.com is the newcomer. But it has already gotten into the game with apps for both Android and iOS to access their huge online family trees. They are working on a Windows 8 app also. But the key here is that they are developing powerful online tools that benefit the online family trees. They also provide a desktop solution that integrates with their online family tree for free. But the emphasis is on the online tree.
FamilySearch.org has, since the beginning of 2013, been saying that Family Tree is a complete solution (or will be) for hosting your genealogical information. There is no mention of having your own genealogy on your own desktop based program. Notwithstanding this reliance on an online program, FamilySearch.org is looking to third party developers to provide mobile access to the online Family Tree. There are already Android and iOS apps that will directly access Family Tree. Additional connectivity is inevitable.
So, what about the issue of having your own data on your own program on your own computer. This still seems like a good idea, but my guess is that in the future, the mobile operating system market (young people) are not even going to recognize this as an issue. Keeping all their data on the Web will be as natural as eating and drinking. Unless the genealogy software developers recognize this change, they will simply go out of business. The idea of having your genealogy "online" will not be an issue because it will not be an option to have it anywhere else. Guess who wins in the end? Google and the online genealogy family tree providers.
Guess who loses? The software companies that are still Windows dominated and slow to take advantage of online databases. Who wants to buy a program that will only operate on one computer and cannot connect to any online database? Think about it. Genealogists who presently focus on their insular desktop computer and the unconnected database programs will disappear. What is an example of the type of program that will succeed? Something like Heredis that runs on all sorts of devices? Or Ancestry.com's Family Tree Maker and MyHeritage's Family Tree Builder that will likely, in the future do the same? Think some more about it.
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