ThinkGenealogy

Connect with friends, connect with family, connect with those that match your DNA?  The social networking site launched in beta today by the Sorenson family of companies called GeneTree promises to better help people answer the questions “Who am I?” and “Where do I come from?”.

A number of Sorenson companies (Sorenson Molecular Genealogy Foundation, Sorenson Media, Sorenson Genomics) have joined forces with a vision described in their motto and overall goal:

Motto: You Belong Here

Goal: To be able to take any two people in the world, sit them down and tell them exactly how they’re related.

The press release uses phrases such as “deep ancestral histories” and “human genetic heritage” as it describes how this social networking site is different from other family history networking sites:

GeneTree will tie into the SMGF database that currently contains information on more than 6 million ancestors through linked genetic and pedigree data from approximately 90 percent of the world’s countries.

Registering for the beta site is open to all and is completed in a few minutes.  The site allows you to manage your profile, upload media, create a family tree, connect with friends, and keep a DNA profile.

The following image shows the Flash-based Family Tree Builder:

It will be exciting to see how this site evolves and is accepted by the genealogy community.

I was reading Dick Eastman’s newsletter today and came across a post about MacFamilyTree 5 beta so  I decided to follow the link to the company site to see what the UI looked liked.  To my surprise, the main tree diagram looks a lot like Microsoft’s Family.Show sample application that I have blogged so much about. 

Compare the tree diagrams for yourself:

MacFamilyTree 5 beta

Microsoft’s Family.Show

The latest updates to genealogy software appear to have at least a graphic designer (if not a user experience designer) on the team.

This last week Family Pursuit Beta 1.0 was launched and I am excited to be among the testers.  This web-based genealogy application promises tools to organize your research and collaborate with others. 

The user interface is clean and consistent.  A tutorial explains the application and there are help links available on every page.  I was interested in how the company would fulfill their promise to “enable genealogy enthusiasts to involve family members who have never engaged in family history work. ”  After spending a few hours using the beta, I think Family Pursuit, LC is on a path of innovation for genealogy software.  Those more experienced with family history now have tools available to mentor beginners in the research process and work collaboratively toward a common goal.

It is early in the beta process and not all features are available.  Overall, I like what I have seen so far and will share more details as the beta testing continues.