Geneology Database

Posted for my wife: -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= My husband (the computer wiz) gave your letter to me (genealogy buff) to answer. You bring up several issues. GENEALOGY DATABASES. There are dozens of databases on the market, from free shareware ones to the cadillac ROOTS III which goes for about $250. The best selling one is PAF (Personal Ancestral File) put out by the LDS church. Costs $35, available for MD-DOS, Macintosh and Apple. Order via Mastercard or Visa from 1-800-537-5950. It is very user friendly, easy to use. I like it for both direct line (my husband has ancestors back to the year 6) and a massive one-name study I'm doing on the Bennington family (over 12,000 names). It has lots of room for notes and a special program called Research Data Filer in which to transcribe long documents. GENEALOGICAL INFORMATION EXCHANGE. Most genealogical databases are now capable of creating and receiving information in a GEDCOM format. This allows you to trade info with other genealogists regardless which program they are using and via modem or discs. GLOBAL GENEALOGY DATABASE. I wonder if you may be confusing two databases the LDS church is maintaining. One is interactive, the other not: IGI. International Genealogical Index. This database has over 118 million events, mostly births and marriages in it. The events are not connected one to another. Input is only by Mormon church members, by members personally submitting names of ancestors, or by the Family Records Extraction Program which adds hundreds of thousands of entries a year to the IGI. It is not interactive. ANCESTRAL FILE. This is a computer file of connected genealogies created from pedigree charts and family group records submitted by LDS members and non-members since 1979. You can input by sending a GEDCOM disc to SLC. Every branch library has a set of CD-ROM discs updated at least yearly. You can download info to your own discs. It is not on-line interactive because they are worried about people sending in viruses or erasing info. Corrections to the file can be made by sending in a disc with sources to back up your claim. You can call up the name and address of the submitter of any item to contact him personally. Notes and sources have not been added to the file as yet, though there are plans to do so in future. I'm sure they want to keep the database from being overwhelmingly huge; on the other hand sometimes my proof of a relationship may take a page or two to state. For now, I contact the submitter and ask for their sources and notes. The LDS church does have a computer system, backed up by people who look for points where genealogies should connect. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= -crl -- Chad R. Larson "I read the news today, oh boy!" -- John Lennon (602) 870-3330 ...!attmail!anasaz!chad chad@anasazi.com chad@anasaz.UUCP Anasazi, Inc. - 7500 North Dreamy Draw Drive, Suite 120, Phoenix, Az 85020