Today was the first day of the RootsTech genealogy tech conference! It is the second year for Rootstech. I missed the last year because I was sick, so I was happy I could go this year.
Jay Verkler’s Keynote
Jay Verkler’s keynote about the future of genealogy tech was inspiring. It was streamed live, and you can see the stream for today at the front page of rootstech.org. The take away from his presentation is that it is important to cement ourselves in the history, as a friend of mine calls it. If we preserve our own history our children will have an easier job than we have trying to find our ancestors.
Microformats
Jay mentioned a couple very interesting things. He brought a couple Google guys to the stage to talk about the genealogical data microformats (see http://historical-data.org/). That is definitely something to look into. We always think of HTML as a language to describe only presentation structure (not even the style anymore, we now use CSS.) So adding markup to give meaning to the data is an addition. Giving semantics to your genealogical web page will help search engines to create more accurate hits, and it also enables tools in form of browser plugins.
GedcomX
GedcomX is another interesting technology that Jay mentioned. The “old” gedcom is… well, old. GedcomX will allow people to share all their genealogical data, not just vital information. You can package the vitals with pictures, conclusions, sources, etc into a gedcomX file.That means you could take your data anywhere which is good for the user, but might be an obstacle for companies to adopt it.
Later I went to the session about gedcomX presented by Ryan Heaton. I have seen several of his presentations at then SORT tech conference (on OAuth), and this time he was clear and informative again. The gedcomx project at gedcomx.net is a project worth contributing to. It is in its infancy so you can make a big difference now.
Family Memories Unconference
Family Memories unconference session was one of the best things today. In the panel we had BillionGraves.com (FH Media), AncestorSync (Realtime collaboration), Mocavo, Memory Medallion, Chartmasters, Life Venture, and Genealogy bank.
Mocavo
Out of all those companies, Mocavo was the loser (if you must have one), because the idea wasn’t really unique. The pitch was that they do genealogy searching, produce content, and host content. I haven’t tried it, and I think I will, but for now I think they should focus on just one thing and do it well.
Billion Graves
I actually downloaded the billion graves app on my phone, and registered while I was listening to the presentation. Now that is an awesome idea. With the app you can take pictures of gravestones which will be sent to billiongraves.com. They will then index the stones. The only disappointment was that I saw in their app that the cemetery of the town where I live is already photographed, and that means my son has to find another Eagle Scout project.
AncestorSync
Dovy Paukstys of Realtime Collaboration said that AncestorSync is like Dropbox on steroids. It is a tool to synchronize your genealogical data with an online genealogy site (Geni, FamilySearch.) There are so much data on people’s computers in PAF files and gedcom. The sites have import features, but every time someone changes the file and emails you a new one, you are in trouble. it is curious that even with several online tree options people still want to have their own data. A sync tool would not solve the problem, but it would maybe take the pain away.
Memory Medallion
Memory Medallion is a great idea. They create medallions that you can put on tombstones. They engrave a QR code on the medallion. The code can be read by smartphones and link you to web sites. They even provide space for you to put pictures and text on their servers. They guarantee the perpetuity of the pictures and text, and even the link. As the presenter put it: “They put history to where it happened.” People going to visit a grave can see a piece of the life of the person. Such a great concept.
Family Chartmasters
Right before the session I saw a guy with a family chart embroidered in the back of his vest. Now, if you have an awesome heritage, maybe I would do it, but the idea is captivating. You visualize your family tree and that is a guaranteed conversation starter. They make large-format family tree charts.
Life Venture
Life Venture is basically a one-guy endeavor. Jose Lacal is writing an iPad app to make interviewing people easier. Based on previous answers the app dynamically personalizes the interview. You can record audio while you capture standardized data. He says he will soon be ready for launch. The app will be free!
Genealogy Bank
Genealogy Bank indexes newspapers. You can find obituaries, and other data. I will definitely try this service. My issue is that often the information is US only. People forget us Europeans. 🙂 When was the last time you read a newspaper? A real newspaper? I just subscribed to a newspaper a couple weeks ago. It is a dying media, but I felt that it is important for my kids to see newspapers at home. And read them. When I read it the first time in ages, several memories came to my mind. I remembered how I used to check what movies were in the theaters. Nowadays I use my smartphone! I noticed that the new Sherlock Holmes movie premiered here last week. When you make yourself sit down and read a newspaper you find things that you just are oblivious to if you just rely on Twitter to give you the news. I realized that there is a lot of information in the newspapers. So, Genealogy Bank is onto something here.
Tell the Story
After the pitches there was discussion on issues of they youth. Some said that there is not enough info for them, others said that there will be too much. A good point was made that even though the youth communicates in bursts of 140 characters, they are still capable of reading huge volumes, such as Harry Potter, Twilight, etc. We just need to somehow captivate their interest. I don’t think that means that we need to masticate and digest genealogy to them. We need to preserve it the best we can, and a day will come when they will ask who they really are.
What this session made me realize, once more, was that we have to preserve the story of life. Whatever way works for us. Just do it.
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