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Family History Fair

“Genealogy for Computer Geeks” presented by Dana A. Repouille Assistant Stake Clerk for Computers Council Bluffs Iowa Stake Family History Fair What is a Geek? Definition: An odd or ridiculous person A fool, a simpleton A carnival freak

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Family History Fair

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  1. “Genealogy for Computer Geeks” presented by Dana A. Repouille Assistant Stake Clerk for Computers Council Bluffs Iowa Stake Family History Fair

  2. What is a Geek? • Definition: • An odd or ridiculous person • A fool, a simpleton • A carnival freak • People who are unusually interested in technical matters to the detriment of their social life, especially people who work with computers • Are you a geek?www.julen.net/ephemera/pub/Geek.html • Take a quiz!http://solonor.com/geek.php

  3. Computer Geeksand Genealogy Geeks • Computers are very useful for genealogy • Research • Storage • Maintenance • Communication • Publishing • Computer geeks love toys and gadgets! • They maintain public journals, called web logs, or just “blogs”:www.nonplus.net/geek/000646.php • Genealogy Geeks have blogs, too:www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=genealogy+blog

  4. Genealogy Geeks Get Organized • Daughters of the American Revolutionwww.dar.org • Iowa Genealogical Societywww.iowagenealogy.org • Pottawattamie County Genealogical Societywww.rootsweb.com/~iapottaw/PCGS.htm • Nebraska State Genealogical Societywww.rootsweb.com/~nesgs • Greater Omaha Genealogical Societyhttp://hometown.aol.com/gromahagensoc/myhomepage/index.html

  5. Genealogy Geeks Love to Share • Software users groupswww.familysearch.org/Eng/Home/FAQ/PAFUG.htmwww.uvpafug.org • Groups, forums, and mailing lists • http://groups.yahoo.com • AncestralQuest • FHCNET • FHCTECH • PAF5-USERS • PAFInsight • http://groups.google.com • Major genealogy sites have similar forums

  6. Sharing and Collaboration • Make your family history information available to others through the Pedigree Resource Filewww.familysearch.org/ENG/share/Preserve/frameset_preserve.asp • Find people with similar research interests and share information through e-mail collaboration listswww.familysearch.org/ENG/share/Collaborate/frameset_share.asp • Major genealogy sites have similar features • Be aware of privacy and ownership issues!

  7. Genealogy Conferences • Want to meet fellow geeks face-to-face? • www.ngsgenealogy.org/confnatl.htm • GenTech • “What do you get when you cross a room full of Computer geeks with a bunch of Fanatic Genealogists? I mean besides a very messy office and 16 pizza delivery boxes. You get GenTech, an organization obsessed with the Technology that is involved with Genealogy.” • www.stlgs.org/gentech2004 • GENTECH 2005 Conference will be held 1-4 June 2005 in Nashville, Tennessee, in combination with NGS's twenty-seventh Conference in the States.

  8. Genealogical Uses for Technology • Find and record data • Store data • Maintain and update data • Organize data into usable information • Share data with others • Preserve data

  9. “Offline” Research • Ancestral File, IGI, etc • Pedigree Resource File • Family History Resource Files • Vital Records Indexes • Censuses on CD • 1851 British • 1880 United States • 1881 British • 1881 Canadian • Microfilm, microfiche, and those old fashioned things called “books”

  10. “Online” Research • www.familysearch.org • www.cyndislist.com • www.ancestry.com • www.1worldtree.com • www.genealogy.com • www.rootsweb.com • www.ellisisland.org • www.onegreatfamily.com • www.gengateway.com • www.worldgenweb.org • Google is a verb! www.google.com

  11. Recording Text • Handwritten and printed source documents are the foundation of true research • Microfilm scanners can capture and store images of documents • Canon MS-300 • Minolta MS 6000 • Printed text can be scanned, and converted to text files using Optical Character Recognition software • CanoScan LiDE 30 USB Flatbed Scanner • ScanSoft's OmniPage OCR

  12. Language Translation Tools • Foreign language source documents?No problem! • www.google.com/language_tools • http://babelfish.altavista.com • www.freetranslation.com • www.foreignword.com/Tools/transnow.htm • http://translation.lycos.com • www.faganfinder.com/translate

  13. Recording Sound • Tape recorders are being replaced by digital recorderswww.olympus-europa.com/voicewww.thinkgeek.com/gadgets/electronic/5ec3 • Cell phones can record short messages • Record your notes as you walk through cemeteries, etc • Record your interviews with family members • Transfer interviews to a computer via USB • Convert WAV files to MP3 format

  14. Recording Images • Digitize your photographs before they fade!(flatbed scanner works well) • Use a digital camera • Make a slide show of your family album • Record and store your interviews • Transfer your videotapes to DVDwww.4everondvd.com • Capture snapshots from tape or broadcasts • Store photos and videos of your home for insurance purposes and personal history • Use your imagination – anything is possible!

  15. The Floppy Disk is Dead • History of the floppy disk (diskette)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Floppy_disk • 1998: Apple's iMac has no floppy drive • 2003: Dell Computers no longer come with standard floppy drivehttp://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/2905953.stm • "I think this is the first time I can say that the floppy disk is dead," Microsoft Corp. Chairman Bill Gates, 4 May 2004 • Note: Temple submissions must still be on diskette

  16. Storage Media • LS-120 and LS-240 SuperDisk • Iomega www.iomega.com • Zip Disk (100MB & 250MB) • Jaz Disk (2GB) • USB Drives • USB Hard Drives • “Memory Sticks”www.memorystick.comhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memory_Stick • Online storage • Isolinear optical chipshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isolinear_optical_chip

  17. Organize data into usable information • Personal Ancestral File • Family Tree Maker • Legacy • Ancestral Quest • Roots Magic • Other helpful toolswww.uvpafug.org/software.htm

  18. Maintain and update data • Family Searcherhttp://myweb.cableone.net/kevinowen3/familysearcher.htm • PAF Insight • PAF Palwww.ohanasoftware.com • GenSmarts www.gensmarts.com

  19. Present data to others • Write your personal historywww.ohanasoftware.com/?sec=learnmore/personalhistorian • Publish your family history on CDwww.familyhistorycd.com • PAF 5 has a Create Web Page feature • PAF 5 has a Print Book feature • Distribute your GEDCOM file • Protect privacy of living individuals • Protect your ownership of the datawww.progenysoftware.com/gedmark.html • PAF Companion

  20. Preserve data • Compact Disc (CD)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compact_dischttp://computer.howstuffworks.com/cd.htm • 700MB • “Burn” a CD all at once • Universal Disk Format (UDF) makes CD-R and CD-RW discs into “big floppies”http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_Disk_Format • DVDhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DVDwww.howstuffworks.com/dvd.htm

  21. Parting Thoughts • Don't believe everything you read • Without a source document, it's a rumor! • Overcome your shyness, and interview people face-to-face • "And [Elijah] shall plant in the hearts of the children the promises made to the fathers, and the hearts of the children shall turn to their fathers. If it were not so, the whole earth would be utterly wasted at his coming." • Send questions and comments to drepouille@hotmail.com

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