Free Software

In an earlier post about Software I hinted at some useful items then I added some websites. I have been doing a lot more since then and though I would share some tips on Free Software.

There are options for free software whether you use Linux or the bloated and security risky Windows option. For me the important things are free, or at least cheap, and secure, as in I won't lose my work if I reinstall and accessibility, if I'm at home or on vacation, at a family history center or visiting relatives I need to have access to my research.

Fortunately with the increasing availability of wifi access life is much simpler, I used to drag a laptop around with a copy of everything on it then I could update my home system when I got there. All extra work and the risk of losing all the updates if something happened to the laptop. I needed a better solution.

Google came to the rescue, love or hate Google it does provide some good tools. First you need a Google email account, this Gmail login is the universal login to all the other tools, if you don't want to use the Gmail system you don't have to, just access it every few months to keep it active, or you could just use it for genealogy work or for all your mail and filter the genealogy stuff, it is up to you.

Next you can setup your own Google start page, you can add all sorts of gadgets to it including your Gmail access and the rest of the tools listed below, you don't need the personalized Google page but it does help with an overview, notice it uses your Gmail login.

Next on the list is Google Notebook, it is just what it says it is, as you are surfing and you find something that you may need to follow up, just select the text, right click and 'Note this' the clip is added to your notebook with the web address and is then available whenever you log in on any computer.

Goggle Docs and Spreadsheets is the online document program, you can create documents from your notes, from webpages and just by typing, once again it is always available online and all you need is your Gmail login to get to it.

All these tools can be pulled together with the Google toolbar, which gives several other options as well. I have also added Google calendar and Blogger tools so I can work from almost anywhere in the world knowing my data is secure and available.

As for the family tree itself, I am still undecided, I could host it myself on one of the spare domains I have, but that is not really free, so I have, temporarily at least, hosted it with tribalpages.com. The basic package is free (with advertising) but most important it can be password protected so only known users can access it, though it does allow other users to search for links to their tree they cannot access the data without asking for the password. I have some issues with their helpdesk and the running of the site in general, so I am still searching for the perfect solution.

The start

Just who are the Geleick's and where did they come from?

Most people have probably had the same thoughts about their family, this blog details the research I have done into the Geleick family, you may find the methods used will help you find you ancestors, you may find you are related to the Geleick family, you may just find all the hard work I do interesting. In any case you are welcome to read this and send me your comments.

The first thing I did was write down everything I knew, or thought I knew, about the family. That gave me half a dozen names and a few dates, not an extensive family tree yet!

Next step was to ask other family members what they knew, this added a lot more people and some more dates and the first disputes. What people remember is not always accurate, even the name of one great aunt was in dispute and some dates and even places of birth.

So we come to one of the important facts for genealogists, written data is usually more accurate than memory, especially if it was written at the time the event took place. Assume nothing until you have the evidence.

So now I need two things, a source of data and a method to store the data I am collecting in a sensible manner, so I can display the findings and find the data when I need to add to it or confirm it. Luckily the net provides both these so I'll go and do some research and see what works for me.