ThinkGenealogy

Soon after posting the Genealogy Research Process map, I was contacted by Bob Coret about translating it into Dutch.  Bob took charge of the entire effort and enlisted the help of the Family Tree Forum (Stamboom Forum).  With the help of about 8 volunteers the map was translated, reviewed, and corrected.  My part of the project was easy as I simply copied and pasted the translations and as needed reduced the font size to fit the longer words.  The team did an excellent job and I want to congratulate them for their efforts.  I hope the translated map will be very useful to you for many years.

downloadable PDF (Dutch) - 8.1 MB

For those who are interested in the technology side of genealogy and family history, check out the archived content from BYU’s 2008 Family History Technology Workshop.  The workshop was divided into three sections:

1. Human Interface
2. FamilySearch Projects
3. Automated Record Extraction & Linkage

Within each section were 3-4 presentations by both students and professionals that lasted about 20 minutes each.  The archived content contains a paper for each topic and optionally the presentation slides.  Twenty minutes is not a lot of time to present all the information that was contained in the paper so think of the presentation slides as a quick overview whereas the papers are more in depth. 

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The Og Blog at Root Television has showcased both of the first two videos created by ThinkGenealogy on its weekly New Roots Tuesday post. 

1. DNA Channel: Are You Smarter than a Grade School Genealogist? Episode 1 - Introduction to DNA
2. How To Channel: 10 Things Genealogy Software Should Do

We are having fun coming up with other ideas that we want to share in video.

Are You Smarter than a Grade School Genealogist? 

Episode 1 - Introduction to DNA 

Match your genealogy knowledge against a grade schooler to determine: Are You Smarter than a Grade School Genealogist?  In this episode, Nathan, a 4th grader from Arizona introduces DNA for the genealogist. 

Video - YouTube (4:04)

A few days ago I created and posted to the internet my first genealogy video entitled: 10 Things Genealogy Software Should Do

I submitted it to Roots Television and am happy to announce that it is currently being featured on the RootsTube channel.

Do you ever worry that your genealogy data will be lost?  Is the backup process that you use too complicated?  Have you ever wished you could access your documents and images from any computer with a web browser?  Tired of taking your laptop with you to the FHL or FHC?  Having difficulties keeping file updates synchronized across multiple computers?  Do you need to share files between a Mac and a PC?  Have you ever had a USB drive go bad right before a presentation?  Do you have a need to access documents from a mobile device?  Let me introduce you to a product that will solve these problems and put a smile on your face.

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On March 13, 2008 I presented at the 2008 BYU Family History Technology Workshop and my topic was: 10 Things Genealogy Software Should Do

Here are links regarding the presentation:

• Paper - 18 pages
• Slides - 29 slides
• Video (recorded later) - 17:30

Would you like to see these 10 ideas implemented in the genealogy software that you use?  How can these ideas be improved upon?  I encourage you to respond.

Although not specific to genealogy, these video presentations on User Experience (UX) from the recent MIX08 conference should be of interest to the Genealogy Software Community:

• Getting Clued in to Experience Managment by Lou Carbone
• The Fuzzy Tail by David Armano
• The Back of the Napkin: Solving Design Problems (and Selling Your Solutions) with Pictures by Dan Roam
• Creating Better User Experience: Design Strategy by Kim Lenox, Dan Harrelson
• Creating Better User Experience: Interaction Design by Kim Lenox, Dan Harrelson
• Creating Better User Experience: Information Architecture by Kim Lenox, Dan Harrelson 
• Creating Better User Experience: Design Methods by Kim Lenox, Dan Harrelson  
• Beneath the Surface: The Natural Experience Vision by Daniel Makoski 
• The Story of the Ribbon by Jensen Harris 
• Crossing the Usability Chasm: Advanced and Adaptive User Interfaces by Gil Hupert-Graff, Yochay Kiriaty 
• Touch Me: What’s Next for Interfaces by Daniel Makoski, Doug Cook, Dave Wolfe, Chris Bernard, Dale Herigstad, Yoshihiro Saito 
• Designing Next Generation User Interface Experiences with Microsoft Expression Blend and Windows Presentation Foundation by Nicholas Petterssen, Johnnathan Lansing, Stuart Mayhew
• Silverlight on a LAMP site by Rick Freeman, DJ Pooh, Luke Conner

 From the MIX site, here is a description of what the conference is all about:

On the frontiers of the Web, boundaries are blurring—developers and designers, advertisers and publishers, software and services, media and technology, TV and PCs, PCs and mobile devices, producers and consumers. The old order is getting a little MIXed up.

MIX is an ongoing conversation between web designers, developers, and business decision makers. We showcase topics and solutions that bridge Microsoft and non-Microsoft perspectives, and emphasize the inclusive and participatory nature of the next web.

The topic of User Experience needs to be better understood not only by those who create genealogy software (designers, developers, managers), but also by those who use the software (genealogists, family historians).  These two groups together form the Genealogy Software Community.  In an effort to raise awareness and encourage dialog, I will continue to post any UX-related content that I find.

Today I came across a post by FamilyLink.com CEO, Paul Allen, that announced a new employee program where 10% of their work time (4 hours for a 40 hour work week) can be spent doing their own family history.  The idea was patterned from Google’s policy that allows employees to spend 20% of their time on personal projects.  This idea is very exciting to me and is one that I have been thinking about a lot over the last year specifically in the context of genealogy software.  Maybe I should have blogged about it sooner.

The Genealogy Software Community is in great need of innovation and it is great to see an innovative company like FamilyLink.com spend some time “in the trenches” doing family history.  Maybe they will come to understand and embrace the Genealogical Proof Standard and Source Citations and find ways to implement them in software in ways that won’t scare those who are starting out in family history.

Paul references a talk given by Marissa Mayer at Stanford a few years ago on the topic of Google’s culture of innovation.
She included the following 9 points:

1. Ideas come from everywhere
2. Share everything you can.
3. You’re brilliant. We’re hiring.
4. A license to pursue dreams.
5. Innovation not instant perfection.
6. Data is a-political.
7. Creativity loves constraint.
8. Users not money.
9. Don’t kill projects.  Morph them.

I met Paul last week during the BYU Computerized Genealogy and Family History Conference and was impressed by his sincerity and desire to grow the family history economy.  This latest announcement is continued proof that he is out to make a positive change in the world of genealogy and family history.

In a continuing effort to have the best user experience possible, Footnote is making visits to a few homes in Arizona cities this week.  I heard about this back in early February from Dick Eastman’s newsletter and decided to volunteer.  Today I received a visit from Dick and members of the Footnote team.  The group had representatives from software development, design, management, business, and marketing.  The visit lasted a little over an hour and I enjoyed the chance to participate and provide my feedback.  Everyone was very nice and interested in my opinions.  I had only used the Footnote site a few times before the visit, but I was able to navigate around and uncover most of its features.  The group asked me questions and let me think out loud as I used the site.

One point that I brought up in today’s visit that is an issue with not just Footnote, but also FamilySearch, Ancestry, World Vital Records, and other online database/document sites is that there is a lack of consistency with source citations.  For example, the same census document could have different citations on different sites and none of the citations follow the format in either of Elizabeth Shown Mills’ works: Evidence! or Evidence Explained.  When I download an image from one of these sites, I should get automatic source citation in my desktop genealogy application as well as additional details such as source provenance.  It should be very easy.  To modify a phrase from an action movie: “With great source repositories, comes great responsibility.”

 It is very encouraging to see companies like Footnote take an interest in what its members and potential members care about.  I was impressed by the Footnote team and site and get the feeling that the innovation hasn’t stopped yet.

As an added bonus, I got to meet Dick Eastman.  Overall, what a great experience!