The Family Tree
By Terence L. Day
Terence L. Day, genealogist and journalist, is on the Washington State University faculty. He welcomes e-mail at genealogy@moscow.com, or regular mail in care of the Tri-City Herald City newsroom, P.O. Box 2608, Tri-Cities, WA 99302-2608.
Genealogy software keeping up with technology
This story was published Aug. 16, 1998
A few weeks ago, I came home to find a package on my doorstep. Since I haven't written anything mean-spirited lately, I opened it.
It was yet another version of Broderbund's "Family Tree Maker," computer software for genealogists. It seems every time I turn around, I'm getting a new version, five new ones in about 10 years. There are two ways to look at this phenomenon. The cynical view is that Broderbund's original version, put on the market in 1989, wasn't very good and the company is running to keep up, or that Broderbund is just milking customers.
That would be a significantly mistaken explanation.
A more upbeat explanation is that Broderbund is a leader who plans to stay in the lead, and -indeed - is doing a better job of staying on top of technological advances that occur almost overnight while genealogists are dreaming of Aunt Susan's bran muffins.
This is the rational explanation. Certainly the folks at Broderbund understand better than anyone else how to generate revenue with genealogical software and services, but that only works because there is value in Broderbund's offerings.
Broderbund claims to lead the field in "family tree" software, with more than 2 million copies sold. I haven't had time to explore new or improved features in this latest version but thought it worth mentioning to the software's loyal users that Version 5.0 is on the market.
I also would suggest that if you are considering buying your first computer program for genealogy, Family Tree Maker is one you definitely should investigate and that you should look at Version 5.0. Sometimes, stores push earlier versions in stock. While they can be upgraded, why bother?
I don't know of any company that provides a greater array of features than Broderbund, including a multitude of compact discs packed with genealogical data and resources and research tools for cruising the World Wide Web.
Version 5.0 includes a new research journal, family trees that display in an hourglass, and historical timelines, plus new, advanced research tool features. And that's just for starters.
The one new feature I have played with is the new historical timeline feature. I'm not through evaluating it yet, but have gone far enough to know this is a dilly of a tool for genealogists and family historians - notwithstanding some needed improvements, which I trust will show up on my door step one day.
Historical timelines are so valuable I've developed some of my own. They help genealogists define research goals by telling them at a glance whether certain sources should be investigated on a given individual. And they are vitally important to family historians who want to go beyond the stark, dry bones of data to the flesh of understanding their ancestors' lives.
Number me among the latter. I would have accomplished much more genealogy in the last 41 years if I weren't so easily distracted by the seductive enticements of historical facts. But I wouldn't have it any other way.
I'm as much driven to know about my ancestors' lives as I am to know that they existed. We don't really know our ancestors when all we have is naked data about them. Births, christenings, marriages, divorces and deaths make a skeleton of a story.
Family Tree Maker's historical timelines allows you to display your ancestors and descendants on a chart that includes important historical events. You determine what type of events you want displayed. There are 10 categories; arts, Asia, economics, Europe, military, politics, religion, technology, U.S. and World.
The program lets you display any combination from one to all 10 categories.
For instance, the technology timeline tells me my Grandpa Charles C. Day's life spanned completion of the first transcontinental railroad, invention of the telephone and phonograph, the Wright brothers' first flight, building the Panama Canal, completion of the first transcontinental telephone cable, the first television broadcast, the first atomic and hydrogen bombs, and launching of the first satellites.
Why it doesn't tell me it also spanned the first radio broadcast, introduction of the automobile and completion of the first transcontinental highway and of the interstate freeway system, and invention of the computer boggles me. I hope Broderbund will improve their selection of events somewhat.
Indeed, I hope a later version will allow me to choose from a list of events I want to display.
Examples of the political events that the timeline lists during my grandfather's life include: impeachment and acquittal of President Andrew Johnson; President Garfield's election and assassination; Sitting Bull's surrender; adoption of the McKinley Tariff; the Battle of Wounded Knee; the Pullman strike; McKinley's election and assassination; Teddy Roosevelt's ascendancy to the presidency; extending the franchise to women; and the passage and repeal of prohibition.
I would like to be able to delete and add individual events in all 10 categories, according to what seems meaningful to me. I wouldn't want to delete them from the master list, just from individual reports that I build for my families.
Stay tuned: Another time, I'll report on other features in Family Tree Maker 5.0. Meanwhile, I heartily recommend you take a look at this latest version of genealogical software. It isn't for everyone, but it is for a lot of genealogists and family historians.