Ah Those Genealogy Tangents

I typically spend my weekends as most others do: running errands, working around the house, watching a little t.v. and other mundane tasks that never seem to get done during the week.  But I also allot a bit of time to indulge in things that I enjoy doing and might otherwise get pushed to the side if I didn't allot some specific time to these items.  Genealogy is one of those things.  Volunteering at the National World War I Museum is another.  Last weekend, those two things came crashing together.

I've been working on a goal as a volunteer at the museum.  I really want to work in the museum's research center.  I mean, what genealogist or history junkie wouldn't want to spend four hours or more surrounded by history of that magnitude and have the ability to help a stranger discover new and interesting information?  My other goal is to step out of my quiet little comfort zone box and take a place among the interpretive corps of the museum.  Yep, I'm challenging myself to step in front of a group of strangers and guide them through the museum and do it so well that they're excited to spread the news about what a great museum the went to.  Ah, but I digress.

So each weekend I'm putting in my volunteer hours, walking the corridors of the museum, learning as much as I can and talking to visitors who come in.  Many have stories of relatives that served and in speaking to one person I had the sudden realization that I had a World War I draft card for my paternal great-grandfather, Ludwig Altman, in my possession that I hadn't done a darn thing with.  Whoa.  Stop the crazy train because I need to get off for a minute and check this out.  It was one of those moments that I really just wanted to headdesk myself because here I was, volunteering at a World War I museum that actually HAD a research center in the basement and I had neglected to check out this piece of information?  As Bill Engvall would say, "Here's your sign."

World War I Draft Card for Ludwig Wilhelm Altman

So this past week I took a couple of minutes and composed an email to the research center staff at the museum requesting to know if I was able to provide the information from the draft card if they had the resources to look and see if my great-grandfather had served?  The answer was yes so I forwarded the information to them and one of the kind volunteers was able to assist me in discovering that Ludwig had not served in the war.  He was (in my mind, quite unfortunately) too old to fight but still young enough to be required to fill out a draft card.  He was also the only provider for my great-grandmother Ida.  A little disappointed that I would get no military file from Ludwig, I thanked the volunteer for their assistance and began to move on my merry way to other things.  It only took a few minutes for me to begin kicking myself.  Was I really giving up THAT easily?  Surely somewhere in the family members I knew of that currently existed on my family tree there was someone, somewhere that had served during World War I?

Thus began my latest genealogy tangent.  Oh how easy it is to get distracted from what you're doing on one line when you make a new discovery.  I decided I wanted to follow this tangent.  It was a project that was, most likely, short-lived.  It had a definite beginning and a definite ending and, potentially, wouldn't take too much time to complete.  I probably never would have attempted this project at this point if it wasn't for the existence of a timeline view in my handy-dandy little iGadget app MobileFamilyTree.  If you remember, I've been playing with MobileFamilyTree for a bit and did a review of the app here.  One of the features the app has is a timeline view, which worked great for my needs on this project.  I decided to begin by looking for people who would have been 18 years old when the U.S. entered the war in 1917.  I knew there were younger people who volunteered earlier in the war but I just needed a place to start.  Inputting that criteria into the app gave me the following view:

Time frame selection for timeline view

 

Final result of timeline view using the period 1880 to 1896

 

Now THERE'S a list!  Everyone in my family tree that was born from 1880 to 1896 and would have been 18 in 1917.  I know you can't see the list very well, that's okay, I just wanted to give you an idea of what the app's timeline view would look like.  The work of paring that list down wasn't terribly difficult either.  I went through the list, removing the females (because, let's face it, they're not highly likely to be in the military records) and those who were deceased or just born within those years.  That got me a very manageable list.  I believe I was looking at about 12 men.

 

A sampling of individuals from my timeline view

I then went to the Mid-Continent Public Library and logged onto their Ancestry database and began systematically checking each person's name in just the military section of Ancestry.  I managed to find draft cards on almost all of them.  Unfortunately most of the eligible family members were claiming exemptions, so I suspect they won't have served during the war.  I am happy to report that I found a couple of good possibilities for war service, however, and will be checking with the research center very soon to see if anything pans out with any of the draft cards I located.  Writing them off completely without verifying the fact that they have no service record would just be ridiculous, especially considering how easy it was to verify that great-grandpa Ludwig didn't serve in the war.

So stay tuned, this is a project I hope to have completed in the next week or so and I'll be sure to update you on my findings.  On a side note, I was talking to my new brother-in-laws about my findings this weekend and PhotoGuru got very excited and said their family had some very interesting things pop up in their family tree when he traced their family history.  Um, really?  How did I not know that PhotoGuru had done this???  Funny how no one thought to mention that to the obsessed genealogist who was entering the family until now, LOL.  So with any luck, PhotoGuru will gather up that information he discovered (along with some other rather interesting findings and information he talked about) and I can get on working on those elusive Newell ancestors.

Have a great week everyone!

Talking Tech: Family tree apps for the iPad - MobileFamilyTree

Welcome to the last entry in my series on family tree apps for iGadgets.  This week I'm reviewing MobileFamilyTree.  In previous entries I've reviewed GedView, Heredis and LiveHistory.

MobileFamilyTree

MobileFamilyTree by Synium is another fairly young app.  I learned about it by doing either a Google search or by searching in the App Store.  And here's my disclaimer for this week: The developers of MobileFamilyTree were kind enough to provide me with a free copy of the app to look at and review.  I make every effort to ensure my posts are fair and unbiased whether I pay for the item (in this case, the app) or it is provided to me at reduced or no cost.

MobileFamilyTree currently only has one review in the App Store for it.  Not having used the app with Family Search (I don't currently have a tree on Family Search) I can't speak to whether the review is accurate or not.

And getting right down to it...

The Good:

• The interface is very good looking.
• The GEDCOM import was very easy and I loved how the import progress bar showed not only how far it was in the import process and how far it had to go but it also showed how many people, families, etc. were being imported so I could verify right away that everything imported.
• The menu options of running reports or viewing the virtual family tree right in the individual record are really great

• Seeing the fields for nicknames and other names was very exciting!  Not every app has these fields.  And YAY!  A field for married name!  That's a great idea, so you can show whether a female changed their name, kept their maiden name or hyphenated their name!  That feature gets an A+
• Being someone who works in databases all day I was also thrilled to see appropriate fields for title and suffix as well.

• There is a good selection of person event options to add to each record.  From adoption to wills and everything in between INCLUDING faith and residences

• Another home run: the Associated Person field.  Wow, what a great idea to be able to associate a witness or godparent with an event!

• The in app help is really good.

• The Research Assistant and Family Search integration are nice features.

• The reports are fantastic!  I especially like the format of the to-do report.

• The options that are available of both the views and the reports is wonderful!

• I like being able to see both the databases you have and the GEDCOM files you've opened in the front screen.

• It's nice to be able to export to a GEDCOM file or share via the cloud, not all apps have even one of those options, let alone both.

• Individuals can be bookmarked for easy access, which is a great option.  A start person can also be identified.
• The labels section is an interesting addition.  I can see there being some potential with that.
• It has the option to merge a person and add media.
• The "Places" screen is pretty interesting.  I can see the potential for that area if you're looking for things in certain locations.

• Navigation is very easy, being set up similar to using a web browser.  This set up makes it quick and easy to move between individuals and families and makes it quick and easy to move from one individual to another.

The Bad:

• Not being able to see the full location in the "Persons" list is a pretty big inconvenience.  Only the city is currently visible so, for example, if you have two George Smiths with one born in Kansas City, MO and the other in Kansas City, KS you would have to go into each record to see which person was the person you wanted.  Including complete location information in the "Persons" view would make locating the correct person a little quicker.
• Being able to select a preferred partner or to re-order the partners to show the most recent union first is really necessary functionality in my opinion.
• Including functionality to allow re-ordering of facts (or other items) would be really helpful.  I like to see my items in chronologically order and unless you enter them that way in this app it doesn't seem to allow you to re-order them.  A genealogist rarely gets to enter events chronologically.
• There's no field where you can add your own organization code.  Other apps have had this option and it was really nice.
• Being able to add a source right from the screen of the person you're working in would be much better than having to add it before including the source in a person's record.  On the other hand, it's nice to have the option to be able to add sources.

The Ugly:

• I would love to see the to-do list have a checkbox next to the item so you could check it off and have it be hidden from the current to-dos on a done list (similar to the Apple "Reminders" app) or at least be moved to the bottom of the to-do list and show as done.  It's kind of clunky when you have to edit the item to mark it done and then it still shows on the to-do list.
• I'd love to see the option of adding new "types" in the to-do screen.  "Further research" is just too generic for my tastes.
• I'd also love to see the name/item that's been associated with a to-do show up in the list of to-dos so you don't have to look at each item to know who it's for.  For example, I needed to get several birth certificates.  I titled each item "Get birth certificate copy" and assigned it to a person.  I would have liked to have been able to look at the to-do list and see the title of the to-do and somewhere next to or underneat have the to-do assignment listed.

Recommendations not necessarily falling in the above categories:

• I know developers are trying very hard to be all-inclusive but I would prefer to have spouse or partner fields to be selectable between the two as opposed to titled specifically "Spouse" or "Partner".  I can see why it's been titled such and that's really a minor personal preference complaint.

I highly recommend this app for any iGadget user, although it has the potential to be somewhat confusing for new iGadget users.  The help documentation is very good on this app though so don't be intimidated by all the bells and whistles it has!

Overall grade: A

That's it for Talking Tech (for now).  If anyone happens to see another app they'd like to have me review please don't hesitate to contact me and let me know.  I'm always happy to spend some time reviewing items that could be helpful to genealogists.

Talking Tech: Family tree apps for the iPad - LiveHistory

Continuing my series on family tree apps for iGadgets, this week I'm reviewing LiveHistory.  If you're just tuning in, I've previously reviewed GedView and Heredis.

LiveHistory

LiveHistory is still considered a fairly young app.  I can't recall where I learned about LiveHistory at, maybe FaceBook, maybe a blog post on another blog, but they were still looking for testers for their app.  Which leads me to my disclaimer for this post: The developers of LiveHistory were kind enough to provide me a free copy of the app to look at and review.  I make every effort to ensure my posts are fair and unbiased whether I pay for the item (in this case, the app) or it is provided to me at reduced or no cost.

So, as I said, LiveHistory is still a fairly young app.  There are actually only two reviews in the App Store for it (one of which, I will say straight out, I completely disagree with and I believe it to be entirely too harsh as it almost solely focuses on the interface and can't seem to get past what the reviewer considers to be "ugly").  And it's important to remember that LiveHistory bills itself as more than just a genealogy app, it also adds biography functionality to its repertoire.

Okay, enough of that, let's get to it!

The Good:

• I can't say how much I love that LiveHistory has included an adoption field.  Not enough apps and programs have this as an option.

• Also fantastic is the occupation field, venue field and residence field!

• The forecasting is an unique option.  I haven't decided if I'm completely sold on this functionality or not but it's a nice option to have so I'm listing it under "Good".  It could potentially be helpful, but I can also see where it might be limiting for new or unaware genealogists.  I would caution genealogists who use this app to only use this option as a tool to guide you on what time period to look in and to not simply rely on the forecasting as being set in stone.

• The ability to drag out the pedigree chart and have the chart expand is a nice feature.
• The notes option on each event screen gets an A+ (note: these screens are a little difficult to find, the event screens utilize the iGadget swipe screen functionality)

 

• And LiveHistory hit it out of the park when they provided the option of selecting the type of household (joined or on own) and providing fields for beginning and end dates to that!  Just WOW you guys!!!!!

• Re-ordering items in this app is SO easy.  There are multiple name slots offered and being able to re-order those easily was an exciting discovery.
• Relative age mode...GREAT!
• Another home run is the option to search by first name, nick name or last name all in one place.  YEEESSSSSSS!!!!!!!

 

• The GEDCOM import is quick and easy.  I had just over 3,600 individuals to import and the import only took between 5 and 10 minutes.  LiveHistory provided a good set of instructions with a tip to make sure the iPad didn't go to sleep.

The Bad:

• Okay, I've just got to say that the lack of reports is really, really, really, REALLY BAD.  You can't have a genealogy app without at LEAST pedigree charts and family reports.
• Once I imported my GEDCOM file, the middle names in my family file imported with the first names, which I don't like.  There are blanks for middle name so maybe it was due to the type of GEDCOM I used or the way it was exported but it would be nice if the names went where they were supposed to.
• Another item that "mashed" together were the dates and places of an event.  These are important items in genealogy and should have separate fields. 

• It's really a necessity these days, with so many blended families, that being able to list children as biological, step or half siblings be included in a genealogy app.  It's hard to think of everything to include but these are biggies.
• WHERE is the in-app help????  How about an in-app instruction manual or even just a link that directs you to the app website where the manual could be located at!  I've said it before and I'll say it again, this is a BIG deal for me.  I'd rather have a great help section than pretties or bells and whistles.
• There are NO fields for LDS users.  Not including these fields is a BAD choice because not having these fields will deter LDS members from using this app and the data stored in these fields will go nowhere when a GEDCOM is imported.  Again, really bad since many other apps offer these fields as an option.
• Um, where's the export feature?  How can I share my genealogy with others if I can't export to GEDCOM???
• A cancel option needs to be added when entering a new person or making changes, just in case the user makes a mistake.

The Ugly:

• Yeah, the interface?  Really ugly LiveHistory.  Now that's not enough to keep me from enjoying the app but it could use some work.
• It would be really nice if, when there's a swipe screen option (of which there's several), that the bubbles at the bottom of the screen indicating that screen had a swipe screen option were a more contrasting color.  I had to look at the FAQ to discover this, whereas if the bubbles had just been a better contrast I would have been able to figure that out.
• Suffix field.  In my opinion it's necessary (again I'm a stickler for fields for everything important and suffixes can be important in genealogy).
• There are no customizable settings.  The app is pretty much cookie-cutter at this point.  There is definitely potential for a future update to allow customizations though!
• Let's talk about the search/name column at the left.  How about making that collapsible?  Does it really need to be visible at all times or can you collapse it to make more room for the individual information and pedigree view.  As a matter of fact, maybe the LiveHistory developers should consider the possibility that including three different screen views on the not-so-large screen of the iPad isn't the best layout they could have opted for.  How about making it just the search screen and pedigree then being able to switch to the individual view.  Add a couple more toggle buttons at the bottom for different options and open that screen up so you can see more information.  That pedigree view can be a little hard to see past about three generations with the screen the way it is now. 

Recommendations not necessarily falling in the above categories:

• I appreciate that LiveHistory is including such labels as "Life Partner" in their field, however, I would like to be able to choose between "Spouse" and "Life Partner" for a field.  While I agree that only allowing spouse is too limited, the flip side of that coin is that life partner is too limited of a label as well.  Make that field able to be changed from one to the other.
• A small inconvenience but I'd like to be able to set a preferred spouse.
• An option I've seen in other apps is a field for an organizational reference number (a number a genealogist might assign to an individual when organizing their paper files).  I love this option and would love to see it included in a future update since many people use some type of code when organizing their paper genealogy files.
• With this app you have the ability to browse by time period.  I'm torn on whether I like this or not.  It's a unique feature and has a nice slider bar that you can adjust to filter what you see by date.  I think I just need to get used to it so I'm classifying it as not Good but not Bad or Ugly either. 
• Another feature I'd like to see (from any of these genealogy apps) is the ability to import GEDCOM files from online storage sites such as Dropbox, Google Docs or Box.

I would recommend this app for new- to mid-level iPad users.  I would rate it as being just barely behind GedView and it's not so advanced it may become confusing for users.  I anticipate LiveHistory will become much more developed in the future as the developer gets more constructive feedback from users.  There is great potential here and I'm looking forward to seeing what happens with this app in future updates.  While it's not my favorite app out of the four I'm reviewing, it has the potential to become my favorite and I'll continue to use it.

LiveHistory is a great mixture of a genealogy database and biographical information database.  If you're planning to write a genealogy book or family biography this would be a good app to check out.  The price is a little on the high end in my opinion, I just think there's too many things lacking in the app to justify the regular price of $7.99.  They are currently offering a promotional price of $6.99 but I'm not sure that slight discount would sell me on trying it knowing what I know about the app.

Again, I want to stress that this is still a fledgling app with a great deal of potential.  Keep your eye on this one because I'd wager that there will be some great updates coming down the line!

Overall grade: B+

Talking Tech: Family tree apps for the iPad

Since getting back into working on my family history I've been searching for ways to be mobile and stay organized while being mobile.  I migrated from a desktop to a laptop several years ago and, while I love my Family TreeMaker program on my laptop, I just felt the laptop was still a little too much to take on a trip to the library or on a research trip.  Plus I didn't care so much for the integration with Ancestry.  Don't get me wrong, I get the why of the partnership and I see the benefits BUT...I'm also a clean-data-hound.  I work in databases everyday at my job so I see what dirty data can do and I've spent, literally, hours cleaning up dirty data.  So consequently, I'm pretty strict about what data I bring into my tree.  

Enter scene: the iPad.

Oh yes, I went hard-core iThing.  I didn't believe D1 when he told me they were addictive items.  Actually, this really started with the gift of an iPhone, courtesy of D1.  Yes, the same person who gave me the warning about the iAddiction started me down the iRoad.

Okay, I hear you, I'm rambling.  Back to the point: the iPad.  When I got my iPad I decided to see what I could do with it with genealogy.  I'm still learning about new apps genealogists are using (I recently discovered Evernote) but my first order of business was to find a family tree app because I really wanted to replace taking my laptop with me to the library (sorry Acer, I still love you, I just don't love lugging you around).  So I set out searching and decided to do a series of blog posts about my app discoveries in hopes of helping others who are looking for good apps for their iPads.

I knew many of the computer family tree programs had accessory apps for their programs: Ancestry, Legacy, etc. but this isn't what I wanted.  This clean-data freak wanted a stand-alone iPad app that was more than just a GEDCOM viewer.  I wanted to be able to add data, pictures and possibly even attach documents.

So what are the apps you ask?  I'll be reviewing GedView by David Knight, MobileFamilyTree 7 by Synium Software, Heredis by BSD Concept and a fairly new app called LiveHistory Genealogy by AlgoCoil.  So let's get started!  Oh, and here's my transparency disclosure: MobileFamilyTree, Heredis and LiveHistory provided copies of their apps free of charge for me to review.  I appreciate their willingness to do so but want to assure my readers that it in no way influences my opinion of these apps.

GedView

I stumbled on GedView right after getting my first iPhone and I did pay for the app.  I absolutely don't regret having paid for it either.  At $3.99 it was worth every penny.  The current version is 3.4.1 and there are several good reviews on GedView in the app store.

There are several good things about GedView.  The interface is clean, basic and fairly user friendly.  If you're looking for a pretty interface, however, this app is not for you.  The interface is functional, not beautiful.  The developer spent his time working on the functionality of this app, which matters to me more than how the app looks.

Individual Detail View

The GEDCOM download/import features are extremely easy to use and getting my GEDCOM file imported was no problem at all.  I love that for larger GEDCOM files you're able to start the download and leave the app and the download will continue.  A notification will pop up when when the file has finished importing.


When it comes to entering data, the good functionality continues.  There is a great list of events you can add to each individual record.  From birth to probate and everything in between there were things I hadn't even considered adding to my database.  There are fields for LDS information and a field for organization codes (which I love due to the filing system I use for my paperwork).

Images and media can be added and you can add notes and details to any photos you add.  Individuals can be bookmarked for quick access.  You can add GPS coordinates to the record, however, GedView cannot locate the coordinates on its own.  Once the coordinates are added, however, GedView can map the location.

Some really cool options: you can make a phone call from within the app if phone numbers have been entered, emails can be composed by simply clicking on an email address on file in the app.  There are several customizable settings and the users manual is absolutely positively FANTASTIC!!!!  It contains clickable links to take you directly to the item you want to learn about and the descriptions are very good.  The other really awesome item is that there is an area for citations.  It contains a field for text from the source which is useful for including the quote where the information came from.

With the good there always comes some bad.  The biggest downfall with this app for me was that there are no fields for middle name, suffix or nickname so, in my database, those items are included with other fields.  I was also disappointed to discover that you're unable to indicate if a child is adopted, biological or a step-child.  These two items bother me quite a bit because I feel those fields are pretty standard these days.

Other items I feel could be updated or streamlined: 

• Being able to indicate whether a significant other is a spouse or life partner would be ideal
• Adding marriages is a clunky process.  You have to add an entirely new family and you can't add the marriage in the individual's record...understandable but not ideal
• Reports are basic, you get a pedigree chart and family group record only
• The search function is very simple but is not a "one-stop shop".  There is a search area for name, forename and file number.  You can also search by going to the Index or Family screen and tapping the letter of the surname you want to go to.

GedView is a somewhat limited app.  HOWEVER, it is a work horse app that is dependable and I would definitely recommend it for someone who wanted a basic app with few bells and whistles.  People are are just starting out using the iPhone or iPad will find this app good to use.  Anyone who wants an app with few bells and whistles but lots of functionality will be very happy with this app.  And at $3.99 this app is worth every penny.  Bonus: this app works on both the iPad and the iPhone.

Grade given: Definite A