Understanding Topographical Maps for Genealogists -- Part Three A matter of scale

Early historical maps were usually one-of-a kind unique hand-drawn creations. Even if the map were published, the additional copies of the map were duplicates or near duplicates of the original. As a result of the individuality of the maps, there was no easy way to compare places shown on one map to those same places shown on another map. The problem was the lack of a uniform scale.

In maps, the term "scale" refers to the relationship between a measured distance on the map and the measured distance on the actual portion of the earth being represented. If the scale were 1 to 1 (usually represented by 1:1), the map would be the same size as the land or building represented. For very small objects a 1:1 representation is reasonable and practical. For land, showing things at full size is usually very impractical. Any map drawn to a particular scale will only be entirely useful if the map also shows the scale represented.

Here is a screen shot of the bottom of a topographical map showing the scale:

A couple of things need explaining. First, a "7.5-Minute Quadrangle Map refers to the best known and most detailed United States Geological Survey maps that are drawn at a scale of 1:24,000, that is one inch on the map represents 24,000 inches or 2000 feet on the earth's surface. This type of scale is known as a ratio scale. When two different maps have the same scale, distances measured on the two maps are comparable. So any 7.5-Minute Quadrangle Map in the U.S. is exactly comparable every other map with same scale. The 7.5-Minute maps are the only largest scale maps of the U.S. that cover the entire country.

The bar scale shown in the screen shot above, gives you a measuring size so that you can measure almost exact distances on the map. The bars are calibrated in meters, miles and feet. Remember that a mile is 5280 feet.

Many other map scales have been used historically and many are in use today. Some of the most common scales for topographical maps include the 1:62,500 or a 15 minute quadrangle, the 1:100,000 or one degree sheet and the 1:250,000 or 2 degree sheet. The reference to "minute" is the measurement on a circle i.e. curved surface of the earth's sphere in degrees, minutes and seconds. (360 degrees in a circle, 60 minutes in a degree, 60 seconds in a minute). The smaller the scale of the map, such as 1:250,000 the larger the area on the actual earth surface, the map covers. Large scale maps cover a small actual world area. Small scale maps cover a large actual world area.

Now you are asking, who cares and why should I know this? A map is not just a picture, it is supposed to be a representation of a portion (or all) of the earth's surface. Old historical maps were sometimes drawn with a variable scale. That is, the scale varied from one location to another. Places well known to the map maker were drawn with greater detail than those unknown or at some distance. It is often very difficult to try and match an historical map to its modern equivalent for this reason alone. If you are aware of the scale of a map every time you look at one, you will not be mislead by places that appear to be quite close but, due to the scale of the map, may actually be hundreds of miles apart. A map is only accurate if it has a consistent and measurable scale.

The good, the bad and the wiki

It is difficult to understand how any aspect of genealogy could be in the least bit controversial. The subject matter yes, the discipline, not so easy. But notwithstanding the non-controversial nature of genealogy as a discipline, the FamilySearch Research Wiki is loaded with controversy.  I teach classes many times a week and the classes where we discuss the Wiki are always the most lively. There is a huge amount of skepticism that anything like a "wiki" could possibly work.

All wikis are to a major degree collaborative and despite the huge amount of media emphasis on collaborative interaction on the Internet, I feel that most people do not believe that collaboration works. It may be one thing to accept input on a document from peers or superiors in a commercial work group, but the average computer user is not used to being corrected. In one instance on the FamilySearch Research Wiki, one of my associates made a contribution to the Wiki. Unfortunately, he did not identify himself by entering any information into his User page, so I did not know who he was. The information entered needed to be altered slightly. When I mentioned the change later, he admitted that he had entered the information but since then he has not contributed to the Wiki. No one likes to be told they are wrong and correcting entries is a form of telling people they are wrong.

 So if this is the mind set, how can a wiki possibly work? The idea of collaborative documents, including wikis, only work when the individuals involved turn over "ownership" of the document (or wiki page) to the community and stop thinking in terms of personal ownership.

Cooperatives, such as buying co-ops, farm co-ops in some form or another have an extremely long and involved history in our society. Co-ops where people pool their resources to obtain certain communal advantages are very viable and long-living entities. If you think of a wiki as a type of co-op, the idea becomes less foreign and more viable. A wiki is an information co-op.

The fact is that wikis do work. The concern that the information will ultimately be corrupted or inaccurate is not realized in practice. Wikis, for the most part, are self correcting. Where they do not work well is with information dealing with issues with a significant amount of controversy. If the Research Wiki dealt with family and individual information there would be much more difficulty in coming to a consensus. But if the topic is cemeteries in Ohio, there will not be a lot of disagreement over the content. But this non-controversial nature of the content does not diminish the overall controversy of the wiki idea itself.

If you have concerns about the viability of the wiki idea, I suggest you get involved in the wiki community. Try making some changes and see what happens. With the FamilySearch Research Wiki, you just might get a comment or two, but nothing else.

Is there an iPad in your genealogy future

I had someone today stop me at the Mesa Regional Family History Center just to tell me how much they liked Reunion on the iPad. Looking around and seeing the huge increase in the number of smart phones, particularly iPhones, it is likely that someone you know will show up with either an iPhone or an iPad. The new iPad 2 is really impressive. Many people who do not want to pay for the monthly charge of the iPhone are purchasing iPod Touch with all of the same features and no monthly charge. You still need an Internet account and the Internet needs to be available by WiFi.

Going back to the Mesa Regional Family History Center, they just introduced free WiFi at the center. That means I can take my MacBook Pro to the Center and actually do some work while I am there. The times are really a'changin.

There is a state south of Arizona

I do intend to finish up my post on Understanding Topographical Maps for Genealogists, but in the first post I asked a question about what state lies to the south of Arizona. This was not a trick question. I was not going to say something like, Florida, because it is "south" of Arizona. I really meant what state lies to the south of Arizona.

Well, I did get the answer but the person who got the right answer was my daughter so that really doesn't count. I also got the right answer from one of my sons. They are all Bloggers and definitely online.

Arizona's neighbor to the south is commonly called Mexico. But the real name of the country is (translated into English) The United States of Mexico.  (Estados Unidos de Mexico or Estados Unidos Mexicanos). Mexico has 31 states and one Federal District. If you are interested, here is a list of the Mexican States in Wikipedia. The state to the south of Arizona is Sonora. People in Phoenix are more aware of this than other places because of the license plates from Sonora.

The point from a genealogical perspective is simple. Sometimes we are not even aware of how little we know about our world geographically speaking and that gets in the way of our genealogical research. Some of the insurmountable genealogical mysteries can move towards solution if the locations of the events are accurately identified. I have been talking about topographical maps for a while because two places on a map might look relatively close together but there just might be a major river or mountain in between. We used to live on the Ohio River. Even though we lived about a mile from Indiana, it would take us about half an hour to drive to the town across the river, because we had to drive to a bridge. Back in the 1800s there were no bridges and living across the river would have been a major obstacle.

Also populations migrated along rivers, railroads and canals. Knowing about the lay of the land and the proximity of developments makes a huge difference as to why and where people lived.

Just remember, there is a state south of Arizona. Sonora.

Lest We Forget -- FamilySearch.org Marches On

I estimated that FamilySearch.org had added over 200 million records in January and was interested to see, with a short month, if they would add more than that in February. It looks like they had more than 350 million records added. It is pretty hard to imagine over 1/2 billion records in two months!

From our perspective at the Mesa Regional Family History Center, one of the most important additions is the 1930 Mexican Census for all of the states. We have a lot of Spanish speaking patrons and this will be a great resource for some of them.

It is also interesting to note that FamilySearch is adding African records such as Zimbabwe, Death Registers, 1890-1977; Index to Death Register, 1892-1977.  


If you want a list of the most recent records. You go to FamilySearch.org and click on "All Record Collections" just below the list of countries on the startup page. When you click, you will be taken to the Historical Record Collections page. If you click on the title to the "Last Updated" column, the list will be sorted chronologically and show the most recently added items like this:

Check it out. FamilySearch.org is rapidly becoming one of the most valuable genealogical resources on the Internet.

Quick Correction on last post on New FamilySearch

Please be aware that New.FamilySearch.org is no longer a usable program. If you come to this blog post. please click on the logo above and see the latest posts on FamilySearch and other issues. This post is long out of date. Click Here for the latest information. 

A comment from a reader cleared up a slight mystery, for me anyway. New.FamilySearch.org has an update link on its startup page. Here is a screen shot of the page with an arrow showing the link:

This link takes you to a page that is updated from time to time with changes in the program. However, the most recent page was not the one referred to by The AncestryInsider. That page is located on the home page after you have logged into the program. Here is a screen shot of the location of the second update page:

This second link is to a slightly more informative PDF file that contains the information. Thanks for the heads up. I will remember to check both places in the future.

New FamilySearch goes public?

Thanks to The Ancestry Insider (AI) for another scoop. His post today is entitled, "NFS Public Release Begins." He quotes and unidentified individual at FamilySearch as saying:

“In February 2011, we’ve invited a limited number of public users to begin testing public access to the new FamilySearch [Family Tree] website,” disclosed FamilySearch. “These valued testers will help us make sure the system can handle the increased load.” Don’t bother begging; FamilySearch has already selected the testers.

I am not sure that this constitutes going public, hence the question mark in the title. The AI is correct about the confusing terminology. I have begun calling the FamilySearch.org website released in December, 2010, the "updated FamilySearch.org website." This is to try not to use the term "new"  which is getting pretty old now anyway. Technically we aren't talking about a new site at all. FamilySearch.org has not changed URLs and is still tied to the old FamilySearch.org website. The site we all call "New FamilySearch" should properly be called FamilySearch Family Tree or something of that nature.

New.FamilySearch.org (NFS) does have an entirely new User Profile and Preferences. All of the old Preferences have been re-set to hide names, addresses and phone numbers. Unless users go back into their preferences and change those items, they will not be shown. I have found it valuable to have my contact information in New FamilySearch and so I opt for having my info made public.

I agree that those coming into the system will have a different experience than those of us who already have generations of ancestors mangled by the program. I find that anyone who has little or no previous contact with families listed in the New FamilySearch program, will have an easier time using the program than those of us who have been in the system for years and years dating back to the Ancestral File and before.

As for AI's comments about SCOE, I am not sure I see anything remotely moving in that direction yet. By the way, SCOE stands for Source Centric, Open Edit. Right now, NFS is a long way from SCOE.