Swinging from the vines or reaching for the stars?

I have upon occasion (here and here and here, for example) expressed my frustration with current genealogy software. Those of you lucky (cough) enough to have spent time with me personally have heard me rant vent express my opinions. Some of my frustrations are the result of my own haphazard efforts, but many result from the challenges of analyzing and recording cluster research projects.

Imagine my reaction when almost the first words out of Elizabeth Shown Mill's mouth last Saturday morning at her NGS 2012 session Information Overload? Effective Project Planning, Research, Data Management & Analysis expressed her own frustration with the limitations of genealogy software vis-à-vis the research process? I was not restrained. Fist pumps were involved.

There is a light on the horizon, however. Or a vine to cling to, using the metaphor Katie and Chris Chapman of Pentandra have chosen for their new software, which will be released to beta testers this summer. Geungle, as in it's a jungle out there (which certainly reflects my research at this point), aims to provide a software platform for genealogical research and analysis that complements rather than constrains the research process.

I met Katie and Chris in the NGS 2012 exhibit hall after blogger Linda McCauley (who has heard those rants) told me forcefully that I must visit their booth. She was right. Rather than struggle to adapt existing software to fit their own research needs, they have opted to build a new cloud-based program that will integrate mobile apps, tools for analysis and reporting features that reflect genealogists' actual research work flow. Katie mentioned the ability to take a picture in a cemetery with your smart phone and add it directly to your Geungle database. I asked about linking individuals that are not related by family but by business partnerships, or as neighbors, and was assured that would be possible.

At this point they expect to have a free demonstration model with limited storage capabilities and a subscription-based version for individuals. They hope to include a professional version, as well.

I was completely smitten with their enthusiasm and vision. Completely. I want them to succeed! To the point of all but begging that they allow me to be a beta tester. They are wisely limiting testing in the first stages but (full disclosure here) relented and included me as a beta tester. They hope to start testing in July. Meanwhile, I am sending positive thoughts their way.

One more full disclosure note - I did send this to them to review for accuracy. I'd hate to have my muddled thoughts attributed to them!


Photo credit - From Flickr: Some rights reserved by Accretion Disc

Getting Down to the Basics - A Review

Last weekend I wrote a post asking why people use genealogy databases and begging for specific answers. And I got them! Thanks to all who participated in the discussions here, on Google+ and on Facebook. Five bloggers (hope I haven't missed any, but if I did please let me know and I'll add to this list) posted in response.

• Jasia wrote My Love/Hate Relationship with Legacy Software at Creative Gene.
• Denise Levenick shared My Needs and Wants for Genealogy Database Software; How Well Does Family Tree Maker Mac2 Measure Up? at Family Curator.
• Shelley Bishop explained How I Use Reunion for Mac as my Genealogy Database at A Sense of Family. 
• Review Randy Seaver's Ten Reasons Why I Use a Genealogy Software Program at Genea-Musings.
• Linda McCauley detailed some her favorite tricks in How I Use in My Genealogy Database at Documenting the Details.

I've read and re-read the responses, thought about my frustrations, and settled on a few things I want my Legacy database to do. 

• Manage my source and repositories lists
• Provide a master geographic locations list
• Generate basic reports to share with those contacting me for more information 
• Record conflicting information or problems

I will not be using Legacy in my digitizing project beyond entering appropriate source information. Many people commented that they used a database to organize documents and images. I don't need that. I can find the computer files I need quickly using my existing digital filing and tagging system. Now if there was a way that Legacy could organize the physical papers and photographs I'd be a lifetime devotee!

Nor will I be using Legacy for cluster research projects. I far prefer spreadsheets to sort and analyze information. I have used Ancestry.com's online trees to gather census information and other source documents for small groups and will probably continue. But so far I don't see a genealogy database helping me with my group projects. 

I may learn new methods that will change these views. I joined a Legacy User Group to learn more about the program's features. I'm especially excited to have people I can bounce questions, ideas and problems off of. We'll see how excited they are after a month or two of my questions.

Read the comments on all the blog posts and social media platforms. There are as many ways to use the genealogy database programs as there are users. You may find an idea you hadn't considered. 

And thank you again to all who chimed in with your opinions. It was a marvelous discussion.

Getting Down to the Basics

More musings as I continue to think deep thoughts. The really good news is my husband will be home tomorrow and I'll rejoin the real world and actually do things rather than think.

Anyway, I really need to figure out just what I want my genealogy database software to do for me. It's got nothing, I repeat nothing to do with what "kind" of researcher I am. The software is a simply a tool. Right now it's not a very good one. I'm hoping that's because I haven't really thought through why I use it.

I inherited a Family Tree Maker database from my parents who took all the notes and charts my grandmother, aunts and other family historians had made, wrote letters to all their cousins asking for current information and entered all that data into the program. Heroic work that I truly appreciate for I am not a fan of data entry.

I spent several years validating their data, first using sources I had gathered in my own research and then using the online resources that were becoming available.

Since then I've been focused on two projects: researching those individuals or families that I could not document and digitizing the boxes of papers handed down to me. I haven't found any genealogy database software particularly useful for these projects.

So, an open-ended question for all you genealogy software users out there (especially the non-pro family types): What is it you use the program for? Specifics, I beg of you. As in -

• I use it because I like the lineage reports it produces.
• I like to keep track of my research and it's the best way I've found because it allows me to........
• I collaborate with other researchers and it's a program that we all use.
• I like the family tree structure it provides.
• I love linking media to individuals in the tree.
• I use it to produce GEDCOM files I can upload or share.
• My family loves the charts and reports I share with them.
• I use it to generate HTML pages for my website.
• I use it because it does internet searches or links with Ancestry.com for searches.
• I use it to keep track of my sources materials and write citations. 
• I prefer entering information into a database. It's more organized that way.

There must be hundreds of other reasons. I really want to know. I must be missing something here and could use some guidance.  So let me know.

Why do you use a genealogy database program?

Photo credit: Some rights reserved by Ninja M.

Noodling on Google

After a Google induced nightmare yesterday I am interrupting my blogging hiatus with a few thoughts on life with Google.

Yesterday, with no notice and with no subsequent explanation, my genealogy Google account was disabled. One minute I was posting some insignificant comment about my day on G+; the next minute I was banished. I had a very unpleasant few hours as I realized just how much of my virtual genealogy life and actual life was tied to this account.

• This blog disappeared from the web. I wish I'd kept a screen shot of the notice that appeared. Only the knowledge that I had a recent (though not comprehensive) backup kept me from complete insanity. 
• While my genealogy photographs are backed up locally and on Flickr, all the blog posts are linked to a Google Picasa account. I don't know if I would be able to access them should I ever completely lose this account.
• My G+ profile, my posts and comments disappeared from the platform.
• My primary gmail account for genealogy and all contacts were inaccessible.
• My personal calendar, linked to my genealogy account because that's where I spend the most time, vanished. 
• Neither I, nor anyone I had shared with, could access my Google Documents. 
• A genealogy website I am developing was inaccessible. 
• UPDATE - I also lost access to my Google Reader account, my preferred way of keeping on blog reading and my iGoogle pages of links and rss feeds.

I was eventually able to restore my account by "verifying" my identity to Google via text message to my cell phone. Nothing was lost. All was restored.

I had been very reluctant to share my cell phone number with Google, but did so on the genealogy account because it was so fundamental to my work. A blessing that I did, but finding the link to verify the account was far from simple. If Google suspected my account was being improperly used, there should have been an immediate link to the verification process. Not the case. Not by a long shot.

I tried at least 50 different times to log in to the account - from all of the linked accounts - before I was finally able to access the verification page. The Gmail account ultimately proved the charm. In the process I sent several messages to Google requesting an explanation of why the accounts had been disabled. No response. At least not to date. 

My decision to rely so heavily on Google was deliberate. It seemed the best way to assure access to all my data (ironic, no?) while I was traveling last summer. I invested in an Android smart phone, transferred my calendar and all my contacts, moved some data to Google Docs and took off on my genealogy dream trip. And it worked perfectly! Flawless. 

I'm not certain if I will change my reliance on Google. I understand the need to guard against spam and hijacked accounts. But I was really, really unhappy yesterday (such an understatement). And I still am. I don't know if I did something to trigger this or if it was an attempt to hijack one of the accounts. I don't understand why it was so difficult to find my way to the verification page that restored me to Google's good graces. It's hard to escape the feeling that this could happen again. 

My takeaways from this? There are several. 

First, Geneabloggers are the best! I reached out via Twitter, Facebook and email and was immediately enveloped in a wave of support and sympathy. I can't overstate how much those expressions helped. 

Second, I'm rethinking my all eggs in Google's basket approach. I joked yesterday that I was looking for omelet recipes. Too true. The blog was backed up, but without access to my account I had no way to restore it. My calendar and contacts were synced with programs on my Mac desktop computer, but it is on its last legs. They were not synced with programs on my Windows laptop. As of today I have

• exported this blog to a shadow blog on WordPress. I will do so at least monthly when actively blogging.
• changed delivery of emailed copies of the blog from Tabbloid to a non-gmail address. (More than a few expletives were uttered yesterday when I realized my failsafe backup plan was tied to a Google account.)
• installed Thunderbird and the Lightening add-on on my laptop, downloaded all my emails, contacts, and set up automatic backups of my calendar (see this blog for step by step directions on backing up Google Calendar). 
• put current back-ups of this blog and its template in Dropbox.
• downloaded copies of all Google Docs. For now they're in Dropbox. 

Third, I still love the my Android phone. That's where I found email addresses for some of the Geneabloggers I know. 

Fourth, for all the negative things I've said about Facebook this fall, I reinstated my account there in a split second when I was locked out of G+. I won't spend much time there, but I will not be deleting my account. Social networks need backups, too.

There is still work to do, but Christmas is but a week away. First on my list for 2012 resolutions -

• Blogger's pages did not export to WordPress. They are backed up, but I need to format the WordPress blog to include them. 
• Rethink the Google website. Weebly has been getting lots of good press. I may use that. 
• Make sure that if I do continue using all the Google accounts that I have a backup or alternative account for each of them. 

And now, back to elf duty and my hiatus. I'll be back sometime in 2012! Until then, best wishes to all. 

Pretty Babies - Sentimental Sunday

Somehow I have managed to wait more than two months before trying out the stitching software for my not-so-new FlipPal scanner. I pulled out a large hand tinted portrait of my grandmother, the oft photographed Iva Williams, which is too large to fit on my scanner. I am so impressed with the results! 

Now if I could only figure out how to crop to an oval image on my laptop. I'd wish it was a Mac save for the agonies my iMac desktop is going through as it moves into old age...

Update

Kristin Williams very kindly sent me a beautifully cropped version of Grandmother as a baby. 

Thanks SO much, Kristin. As much as we adore the technology that allows us to accomplish more than Grandmother could have ever imagined, it is a major frustration when it zigs instead of zags. Kristin saved the evening for me! 

Family Tech - Follow Friday

In the spirit of the post-RootsTech love fest (and I did love it), I offer Family Search's new Family Tech site for your Follow Friday consideration. It's full of tips, overviews and tutorials designed for family historians and genealogists. I've spent far too much time this week browsing the various pages!

Clean design (though one of the columns was showing up off kilter in my Safari browser this morning), strong graphics, crisp writing and an RSS feed should you prefer to follow it through a reader make it a pleasure to use. James Tanner of Genealogy's Star was involved in the planning and wrote about the introduction recently. It's a great site that I'll be visiting regularly.

Kamikaze Computing

I am  s l o w l y  climbing out of the hole I threw myself into after my hard drive crashed earlier this month. Thanks to repeated warnings about backing up data I lost nothing but almost two weeks of my time.  I have an old iMac desktop and just installed the automated backup program Time Machine in December (a huge thanks to Shelley whose post prodded me into action). All my data and media files are backed up online through Mozy. So I knew it was all there - just not here where I needed it.

I am a self taught, give it a go kind of gal when it comes to computers. It has served me well, but there are times I would have benefited from a better teacher. This was one of them. My Mac & I did many things well.  I repaired the disk after a few failed attempts and got the Time Machine backup reinstalled. It is an amazing program - a couple hours and everything was just as it was before the crash. Then I installed the updates (cue the shark music) waiting. This is where things fell apart the first time. And the second time. I still don't know if it's the ITunes, AirPort, Remote desktop Client, or OS X update that is killing me, but my days of installing all "recommended" updates  in bulk are over. Another day and I had things back up. Then I got cocky (the kindest adjective that comes to mind).

My photographs (49.5 GB worth) are on the 1 TB external drive that I use for the Time Machine backups. I had no local backups for most of them, only the online backup. I decided to partition the drive so the backups would only take up half the space. Great idea in theory. I read, reread and reread the directions. It seemed clear that you could partition a drive with data on it. It still seems to read that way. Whatever I did, however, erased all the data on the drive. I had two lovely, empty external drives. My dogs heard an entirely new vocabulary that day. My husband hunkered down and stayed out of the way other than keeping me supplied with chocolate, Cheez-its and the beverages of my choice.

At some point I need to figure out what I did wrong (beyond getting out of bed). But my first priority has been restoring the photographs. I quickly backed up the main computer through Time Machine and the logged onto Mozy to download the photos.That was more than a week ago. Between our buggy and medium speed internet connection and their eponymous restore service it  has taken FOREVER to restore the photos. I'm almost there - fewer than 4 GB to go. Then I'll have to do another full backup which will slow the system down for days.

So was this a teachable moment for me?  Oh yeah. Next time I will stop being so cheap and stubborn and buy the damn dvds. It may be possible to restore large amounts of data via download, but it's not worth it. Next time I'll have a local back up of any files residing on a disk I'm working on (new external drive is on the shopping list this week).

I'm still operating off a netbook with no access yet to my database beyond what I have online. I need to figure out a way to make this more useful. I bought it with Linux installed and ended up installing Windows so I could more easily use familiar software.  I have to rethink this. In theory it has the ability to run programs off jump drives but I haven't had much success.

On the positive side of the ledger I have made progress clearing space for a central sorting and storage spot for all the family papers I am determined to cull through this year. Another day moving some furniture around and I'll have a spot with a door that I can leave set up while I work for the next few months. And the RV show is in town. My favorite solution to is to simply leave all this, hop in some rolling home and head off to see the world. Look out Carol, we may be joining you!