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Getting Organized - Part 2 - Family Tree Software

© Mark W. Swarthout

I have owned and used a computer of one type or another for almost twenty-five years. I surfed the web when it was simply text based information with little or no linking capabilities. So it was only natural that I should put my family information into a computerized format. When I first began, I simply picked up a program off the under $10 table at the local computer store. When it came time to upgrade, I switched to the program that my father-in-law was using to allow me to share files with him. And when my cousin printed out a really neat chart, with everyone's names listed on it, I upgraded to a newer version.

In the next few articles I'll discuss a variety of software programs available to you over the net or through your local software source.

Far from being a complete listing, these are a small sample of the software that is a available. I haven't tried to rank them, just provide some of the nice features and some of the shortcomings of the products. In each of these cases, the company provided a demonstration copy of their software and permission to quote from their literature and web sites.

Testing Information

The family tree I used while evaluating these packages was that of the residents of The Shire from J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings and consisted of 130 individuals, with numerous distant cousins marrying each other. I had to add a few second marriages, since that isn't something that happened in normal circumstances in The Shire! I ran the software on a Dell Pentium III running the Windows ME operating system.

GEDCOM

GEDCOM stands for GEnealogical Data COMmunications, a File Format and Standard created by the Church of Later Day Saints that allows genealogists to share information regardless of what program they are using. If a program does not support the GEDCOM standard, you may regret using it when you want to switch programs or share information with others. There are a number of programs that will allow you to view GEDCOM files and even convert them to HTML files that can be easily shared on the internet. I would not recommend any program that does not have the ability to import and export the GEDCOM standard. Many of the sources for information will gladly share these types of files with you, which can save you a great deal of time typing in data you find.

The copyright of the article Getting Organized - Part 2 - Family Tree Software in North American Genealogy is owned by Mark W. Swarthout. Permission to republish Getting Organized - Part 2 - Family Tree Software in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.