GeneaBloggers

Some readers may or may not know, that in my business – High-Definition Genealogy – one of the services I offer is market research within the genealogy industry. I follow the trends and issues, look at figures such as website traffic, demographics, etc. I attend conferences, meet with management of genealogy vendors both large and small, and generally try to have my “ear to the rail” so to speak.

One issue that has become more noticeable is The Content Wars or as some call it, The Content Race.  Namely, the practice of acquiring access to holdings of research information – both public domain and proprietary – and then digitizing them for use by genealogists and others.

I will have more to say on this topic later this week and into next, and I don’t want to share my thoughts and insights just yet.  I’d like input on this topic just from a reader standpoint without the influence of my written word.

* * *

For our Open Thread Thursday, please comment on these issues:

• Once a collection of documents is digitized and indexed, should they be made available to researchers for free or for fee? This means they would either follow the FamilySearch (free) or the Ancestry (fee) models. Note: there are many other vendors and providers both free and fee – I am only using the most recognizable vendors as examples.

• Does it matter if the documents themselves are in the public domain when it comes to charging a fee for access? Does a good index and search mechanism add value to the record set, to the point of justifying a fee for access?

• Think about the holdings that genealogical or historical societies have.  Should they place access behind a members-only website, even if the documents are in the public domain? What about making the index free but the images members-only?

• Let’s say that 20 years from now, most records of use to genealogists are digitized and accessible – either free or fee. What will genealogy vendors need to offer consumers to keep them engaged in genealogy? What will genealogical societies need to do to survive if their public domain holdings are made available for free?

©2010, copyright Thomas MacEntee

As some residents of the East Coast prepare for evacuations due to Hurricane Earl this week, have you ever wondered what you’d do with your genealogy data if you had to evacuate due to a pending natural disaster?

Have you ever considered what you would do if you lost any or all of your data?  And I don’t mean just your genealogy research data – have you taken an inventory lately as to how much genealogy-related data you really have besides your database files?  Bookmarks, favorites, emails, scanned images and documents, blog posts – they all matter and they can all be gone in an instant.

Ways To Backup Your Data

“Back in the day” the ways of securing your data meant copying to CDs or *ugh* even floppy disks (remember those?). Luckily these days we have more and more devices including cheap external drives with 1 TB or more of store and online applications that will backup your data – for free!

• Hard Drive: if you have room on your hard drive, create a “copy folder” of your essential data. This not only gives you a second copy but is what you can use to copy out to CDs, DVDs or other media.

• CDs and DVDs: if your computer has a CD/DVD burner, you can create your own CDs and DVDs to store data.

• External Hard Drive: an external hard drive can connect to your computer via a USB connection and they can hold 1 TB (that’s terabyte as in 1,000 GB) at a relatively cheap price (some under $100). What’s also nice is the size: some can fit in the palm of your hand.

• Online Backup Services: there are a variety of sites that allow you to backup your data – some even for free!

Data Types To Backup

The main focus is your research database but think about backing up these items as well:

• blog posts and templates

• emails

• Internet favorites and bookmarks

• photos and scanned documents

Data Backup Resources

GeneaBloggers has developed a resource list of data backup methodologies and solutions.  Click here to learn how you can backup almost every aspect of your blog, your browser, your computer – even Macs!

Recent Genealogy Blogger Experiences

If you think that data loss can’t happen to you, see what your genealogy blogging colleagues have said recently:

Photo: Backup Backup Backup – And Test Restores at Flickr courtesy of Topato

© 2010, copyright Thomas MacEntee

Today is Wordless Wednesday. If you have your own genealogy or family history related blog, you can participate in Wordless Wednesday. What is it?

Wordless Wednesday is a daily blogging theme used by many genealogy bloggers to help them post content on their sites.

To participate in Wordless Wednesday simply create a post with the main focus being a photograph or image. Some people also include attribute information as to the source of the image (date, location, owner, etc.). Some have begun doing a “Not So Wordless Wednesday” with the main focus still being an image but there is a backstory to the image.

Here are the latest Wordless Wednesday posts from our member genealogy bloggers:

© 2010, copyright Thomas MacEntee

It starts with a simple email. The sender explains that they’d like to exchange links with you – often called “reciprocal link exchange” – and that this would mean you placing a link to their site somewhere on your site and vice versa.

Have you thought about what this arrangement really means? Why a website – especially one that is not in the same subject area as yours – would want to exchange links with you? What actually happens when you post that link?

Why Exchange Links

For many sites, the goal is to appear in the top 10 search results on Google, Bing and other search engines for key words, such as genealogy. There are many factors that go into the algorithm or “formula” used by each search engine and this formula, like the formulas for Coke and Kentucky Fried Chicken – are top secret.

Using Google as an example, theories abound but one proven theory is that the more incoming links your site has, the higher your page rank. This is why some website owners will try to send out emails – spam emails – to lists of other website owners asking to exchange links.

Gaming The System

So rather than focus on websites in their same subject area, these website owners will target any and every type of website, especially those that have a higher page rank than theirs. This link exchange then is not based on a relationship of “I think your site adds value to the community or subject area, so let me post a link on my website,” but one of just collecting links to other sites.

Avoid The Pitch

Personally, I delete emails asking for a link exchange for the most part. If I happen to be familiar with the website and it is focused on genealogy, I might consider posting a link on one of my blogs or websites.

Just as with any relationship on the Internet, you really should know who you are dealing with when responding to these requests. And who knows, over time the “formula” for search engines may change and with all these links you may be doing more harm to your own ranking.

©2010, copyright Thomas MacEntee

The following press release concerning Family Tree Maker 2011 has been received from Ancestry:

NEW ANCESTRY.COM FAMILY TREE MAKER 2011 INTRODUCES MORE THAN 100 ENHANCEMENTS TO SOFTWARE

No. 1 Selling Family Tree Software Offers Simplicity and Depth for Recording Family Histories

PROVO, Utah, August 31, 2010 – Ancestry.com today announced the release of Ancestry.com Family Tree Maker® 2011, an improved version of the world’s No. 1 selling family history software.

For the last 20 years, Family Tree Maker has provided tools that make it easy to build family trees, record memories and organize family photos. Family Tree Maker also enables users to capture stories, and attach videos and audio clips in a way that will help them easily capture and share the story of their ancestors both on-and offline.

“Family Tree Maker 2011 delivers significant improvements on many fronts. By incorporating changes recommended by a diverse base of novice and experienced family researchers, we have arrived at what we believe to be our best release yet,” said Eric Shoup, Senior Vice President of Product at Ancestry.com. “With the recent surge in interest in family history, Ancestry.com and Family Tree Maker have an important role to play in creating new family historians.”

Without leaving Family Tree Maker, users can search the robust collection of family history records on Ancestry.com and simply incorporate matching results directly into their tree. Family Tree Maker 2011 automatically searches Ancestry.com for historical documents about the individuals in the user’s family tree when connected to the Internet. Family Tree Maker 2011 comes with either a free trial or subscription to Ancestry.com.

Ancestry.com Family Tree Maker makes it easier than ever to discover your family story, preserve your legacy and share your unique heritage. Of the more than one hundred enhancements added to the software, the following are some of the new and improved features found in Family Tree Maker 2011:

• Smart Stories™ – Ready to start on an ancestor’s story? The Smart Story editor makes it easy to drag and drop text and photos from your tree into story pages that will update automatically when you make changes to your tree.

• More Complete and Relevant Timelines – Find and add more events to your ancestors’ lives. Add, edit and delete your own historical events and apply historical events by time and geography.

• New and Improved Charts – Enjoy four new fan chart styles. Enhance charts with backgrounds, borders and embellishments. And use fonts you can change based on fact type.

• Improved Integration with Ancestry.com – Ancestry.com has millions of members all over the world. Now you can find out if any of them are searching for your ancestors by viewing Member Connect activity on your home page, plus links to related message boards and new messages in your inbox. You’ll also enjoy faster uploading and downloading of your tree.

• New Media Management Tools – Drag and drop, cut and paste, and even categorize multiple items at the same time. You’ll also find a new tool that will help you locate missing media files.

• Enhanced Reports – Enhanced ancestor and descendant reports, added a surname report and allowed you to sort custom reports, plus you can now save and reuse report settings.

Family Tree Maker 2011 will include either a printed or electronic Companion Guide to help users quickly master the simple and even advanced tasks. The Companion Guide will come with easy-to-understand screenshots of the software.

Family Tree Maker 2011 is now available to purchase online at http://www.familytreemaker.com starting at $39.95. The program is also set to be released in select retail stores.

Internet access required for all Web integration.

About Ancestry.com
Ancestry.com Inc. (Nasdaq: ACOM) is the world’s largest online family history resource, with more than one million paying subscribers. The company has digitized and put online more than 5 billion records over the past 13 years. Ancestry users have created over 18 million family trees containing nearly 1.8 billion profiles. Ancestry.com has local Web sites directed at nine countries, including its flagship Web site at www.ancestry.com.

Disclosure: please see Disclosure Statements for more information on my material connection with Ancestry.com and other genealogy vendors.

©2010, copyright Thomas MacEntee