Genealogy, or the tracing of a family’s ancestral lineage and history, has caught the interest of people of all ages and walks of life. From students to scientists, hobbyists to serious researchers, many people are turning to technology to help make genealogy a fun, educational and worthwhile experience.
Genealogy is an old science. This has existed in the earliest civilizations with royalties and officials documenting their ancestral bloodline to show the power and wealth that they deserve – and this has often cause trouble among their ranks. The most famous of the family trees belong to Jesus Christ owing to the fact that Christianity is the world’s biggest religion with the most followers. Jesus Christ’s genealogy can be found in the New Testament of the Holy Bible.
Nowadays, genealogy has become a common household name as common as hobbies like gardening or stamp collecting.
Technology has been biggest factor that made genealogy popular in many households. A genealogy software collects, stores, sorts and processes data for analyses. The software automates the generation of pedigree charts which is very time consuming when done manually especially if there are hundreds of names and related data to enter.
The basic data needed by the genealogy software produce pedigree charts or family tree are: name, birthdate, mother, father, gender (for general tree); names, date, place, date of divorce (for marriage); and name, date, place, widow/widower (for death).
Of course, many other related information can be entered for processing. Some software have features for specific religions and related information. Other have intensive features for geographic locations and migration patterns. Some even have features for modern trends like same sex marriage and children of wedlocks.
As science is rapidly progressing, there are already many people advocating for the integration of genealogical DNA test results.
Sharing data across multiple computer platforms have become easier with specific formats tailored to genealogical data. The GEDCOM (GEnealogical Data COMmunication) is a popular specific developed by the The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. This specification converts genealogical data into plain text format for portability. There are plenty of downloadable tools that convert GEDCOM data into HTML format for easy publishing as web pages on the internet.
The popular genealogy for Windows include Brother's Keeper, GRAMPS, RootsMagic, SmartGenealogy, Family Tree Maker, LifeLines, Legacy Family Tree, The Master Genealogist and Personal Ancestral File. For Macintosh, the popular software include Lifelines and iFamilyforTiger.
Genealogy website can easily found on the internet. One most of these websites, one can create an account and enter basic information about his pedigree chart or family tree. He can promote his family tree to relative and friend who will then add more names into the twig and branches of the tree. As more relatives and friends spread the word about the tree, the probability of more data being added becomes exponential high. In the end, the family tree grows and one can already make analyses and historical stories about his family. He can even find have a family tree that connects to different people from different countries and races.
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Do you want to know exactly who your ancestors were: where they lived; what they did for a living; whether that story of highwaymen, criminals and corrupt relatives is factual, or a figment of Grandma's over-active imagination? |
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