A few days ago, James Tanner posted My Top Ten Genealogy Programs for Now. Randy Seaver followed with My Top Ten Genealogy Research “Programs.”

There apparently were some comments that not all items on the list were actually programs, but websites or other apps used when researching.

I love Top Ten lists, especially when they related to genealogy so I’ve devised my own current list – yes, the list evolves over time as my research needs shoot off in different directions – but I’ve called it my list of research tools, which is a bit more encompassing and reflective of how I work.

1. FamilySearch – FamilySearch is often my first stop when looking for new genealogical info for three reasons – I think its search engine handles spelling variations in names better than Ancestry does and it often gives me hits that aren’t on Ancestry AND its ever-growing digital collection is fabulous. An added plus is that it’s free, although I am not one who thinks everything in genealogy should be free.
2. Ancestry – It has hundreds of databases and the public member trees are great for picking up clues along the research trail. I think everyone knows this is a subscription site!
3. AmericanAncestors – The New England Historic Genealogical Society in Boston has added databases creeping out of the New England area, with a special focus on New York, and has rebranded itself online as AmericanAncestors. I have tons of early New England lines so this subscription site is a must.
4. Provincial Archives of New Brunswick (PANB) – MIxed in my New England heritage are quite a few Loyalists who fled to Canada in 1783. Like FamilySearch, PANB is busily adding new (digitized) free records to its site, with everything from Daniel Johnson’s early newspaper abstracts to 19th and 20th century vital records. There is one search engine that will search all 36 databases.
5. Find-A-Grave – This free site has expanded so much from the days when it was a gravestone photo and transcription collection to one that often has links to graves of other relatives, biographical information and sometimes even photos. Like public member trees, it needs to be used cautiously as there are incorrect people linked as family and a lack of a gravestone photo may mean that the person in question didn’t die/wasn’t buried there, but I have found many missing family branches on this website.
6. FamilySearch Books and Google Books – I actually prefer FamilySearch’s digitized book collection over Google because of the format in which they are saved. Some of Google’s books open in a format that looks like OCR was used and the text is oddly spaced and words garbled. Both are free.
7. Chronicling America – The Library of Congress’s digital historical newspaper collection is great for my husband’s lines, but not so much for my family (which has an emphasis in New Jersey and Maine, neither of which is in their collection).
8. Arkivalieronline – The Danish National Archives free website contains digital images of both census records dating back to 1787 and church register records in some cases from the 1600s and many from the 1700s into the 1900s. Reading Danish isn’t really necessary as many of the records are in table form with columns for each detail found on a record. It is necessary to know where your family was living, as the church records are kept at the parish level. However, the censuses are searchable by name and place so it is possible to find your family and then go to the church registers for further information. The records are not indexed, but FamilySearch has been working on that.

My last two in the Top Ten cover software programs and genealogy education online.

1. RootsMagic 7, Legacy 8 and Family Historian 6 – I am still torn between these three genealogical software programs. RootsMagic 7 is my main program, mostly because with a local users’ group I have learned a lot about navigating it. Legacy 8 is still an option, too, but I’ve had to teach myself as I don’t know anyone nearby who is also using it. Quite honestly, Family Historian 6 would probably be my “go to” program, except for one drawback – it has no templates that align with Evidence Explained.  I was a long-time Family Tree Maker user, but I’ve given up on it.
2. Legacy Family Tree Webinars, Illinois State Genealogical Society webinars, Southern California Genealogical Society webinars and others offer tons of live, free webinars every week. The topics are quite varied and they are an excellent way to keep up with new methods, build my research skills and learn about new resources. I also subscribe to Legacy Family Tree Webinars for access to past presentations and handouts.

I have to add one comment here. Many people use online note taking apps like Evernote, One Note, and others. I have just never been able to get into online note taking. The one exception is when I’m at a conference running from session to session. I’m either a paper-and-pencil note taker or Word user. I’ve been in libraries more than once when the internet went down and, while everyone else moaned about the lack of access, I had my research list on paper. As for portability, if I have lengthy notes that I need with me, a flash drive does the trick and no internet is needed. I’ve tried more than once to migrate to Evernote, but when they recently announced that the free version could only be on two devices and I had it on three – my laptop, my desktop and my iPad – that really irritated me and I deleted it from all three. Problem solved.

There you have it – my top ten genealogical research tools.

Do you have a favorite that isn’t on my list? Please leave a comment.

 

My last RootsTech 2016-related post is about announcements made by Ancestry and RootsMagic. Both caught everyone pretty much by surprise. Software MacKiev is the new owner of Family Tree Maker and RootsMagic is partnering with Ancestry to allow some sort of access and sharing capabilities.

I view both of these announcements as positive developments because more choices are always a good thing. I am a long-time (since Broderbund days) user of Family Tree Maker, but I began to migrate away from it in 2014. RootsMagic was the first alternative which I tried out and I like it. Having said that, I am also still seriously looking at other programs – two, to be exact, that remain on my short list of potential replacements for FTM.

When the Expo Hall opened on Thursday morning, I made a beeline for the Software MacKiev booth because I had a very specific question that I wanted answered. Ancestry did not use the word “sync” anywhere in its news release. Kendall Hulett’s article said, “You will have continued access to Ancestry Hints, Ancestry searches, and be able to save your tree on Ancestry” with Family Tree Maker.

In the RootsMagic part of the announcement, the exact wording is “With this new relationship, RootsMagic can serve as your desktop family tree software, while having access to Ancestry hints, Ancestry searches, and the ability to save your tree on Ancestry.”

Almost the exact same wording. RootsMagic’s same-day (2 Feb 2016) announcement actually included the word “sync.”

The representative for Software MacKiev answered my question – Will Family Tree Maker continue to sync with Ancestry in the way that we know it? The answer was a nebulous statement about syncing in the way it has been would be going away and a new format would be developed.

My view about this situation is two-fold. First, we will have to wait and see what happens to the syncing process. Based on Ancestry’s wording, I tend to think users will be able to continue to share to an Ancestry tree, but there won’t be a full sync option as we know it today.

In spite of RootsMagic actually saying it will “sync” with Ancestry, it appears to me that both programs will offer the same capability in terms of “access to Ancestry Hints, Ancestry searches, and be able to save your tree on Ancestry (Ancestry’s words.)”

Second, I am much more concerned about the reaction of many to this announcement, based on comments that have been posted in various online groups to which I belong. There has been a small group of kickers and screamers who didn’t want to have to learn a new program. Their reaction has been that all is now well again.

Wrong response, in my opinion. This whole situation with the demise and rebirth of Family Tree Maker is a clear demonstration of the speed with which changes arrive in the technological world.

I stand by my blog post on 9 December 2015 to implement a plan now.

One or more companies, including the one that sells your favorite genealogy software program, could easily announce tomorrow that they are dropping your product or going out of business. Right now, I am thinking with the ease of creating GEDCOMS, my new software choice might well be the use of two programs, based on features that each offers, and it is very possible that neither of them will be Family Tree Maker.

I would continue to urge everyone to NOT maintain a single online family tree, but to keep control of your work AND the future of your family tree through the use of a genealogy software program. Sharing a tree online is great cousin bait, but that should never be your ONLY tree.

Be an informed consumer. Stay on top of the press releases and DON’T read anything into a message that isn’t explicitly stated, particularly when two or more companies are involved. If the exact wording doesn’t match (e.g. the recent use of the word sync), take a wait and see attitude.

Lastly, change will come whether we are prepared for it or not. It’s a lot easier to adjust when we have a plan.