Monday, August 23, 2010

Mailbox Monday: Community Trees

FamilySearch Community Trees Dear Ancestry Insider,

I have done a lot with Beta, Pilot, nFS, Forums and Wiki. This Community Trees thing has generally puzzled me. I wish there were more blog posts and analysis of it online. I teach about family history, but I have avoided teaching about this because it seems too complex. For example, will it become part of the new version of FamilySearch.org? How? Will it be searchable under the Trees option on the homepage? That would make sense.

I can understand the usefulness of keeping source based trees separate from each other and from nFS because where the connections end and begin can signify that group as families coming from a specific record set. If I understand it correctly, the purpose is to provide an easier method of research, skipping the historical record stage for us because you are doing that part and documenting it. It is a lot like Extraction which was put into the IGI, but the sources are cited better and the people are more connected within sources right?

Please share everything you can about the project. I'd love to see a new blog post letting us know it is not dead. I have not seen one since November 2009.

Signed,

Enduring Legacy Genealogy

Dear ELG,

The Community Family Trees project is alive and kicking. FamilySearch’s Raymond Madsen made a presentation about it just last week at the FGS conference. Collection updates on the Community Trees website further indicate the living nature of the project. In this month alone there have been three new and two updated collections. (See more updates below.)

Madsen said when “many individuals whose ancestors come from a specific locality reconstitute all of the families for the whole area, they have created a Community Tree.” Such family reconstitution, as it is sometimes called, is much more advanced than extraction. Family reconstitution involves both extraction and matching multiple mentions of individuals across different records to reconstitute all familial relationships within a community.

As to when, how, or even if, Community Trees will be added to beta.familysearch.org, I don’t have an answer. Madsen mentioned the project currently uses third-party software for the website. Judging from the beta website’s inadequate handling of Ancestral File trees, I think it may be some time before the beta site will be able to host Community Trees.

It is funny that you should mention extraction and the IGI. Earlier this month I suggested to FamilySearch management that for many members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, family reconstitution would be an excellent successor. Most wish to be connected to their ancestors, but few possess the skills necessary to accurately match multiple mentions of ancestors across multiple records. I’m convinced that by the middle of the century, family reconstitution will be standard practice at FamilySearch.

Sincerely,
-- The Insider

Community Trees Updates

August 2010

England: Norfolk Visitations, 1563. UPDATED 11 Aug 2010

Pacific Islands: Tonga, Tongatapu, Matangiake: Oral History Project. New 5 August 2010

United States, Tennessee, Campbell County Community Tree. New 12 Aug 2010

United States: Utah: Greeks in the West. Updated 10 Aug 2010

United States: Wyoming, Lincoln County: Star Valley. New 5 August 2010

July 2010

Canada: New Brunswick: Southampton: Millville Communities Family Tree. UPDATED 30 July 2010

Canada: Nova Scotia: Antigonish Catholic Diocese. Updated 9 July 2010

Europe: Royal and Noble Houses (predominantly German). UPDATED 15 July 2010

India: Moga, Punjab District. UPDATE 16 July 2010

Wales: Medieval Records Primarily of Nobility and Gentry. Updated 15 July 2010

June 2010

Africa and Orient: Knowles Collection: Jews of Africa and the Orient. NEW 28 June 2010

Americas: Knowles Collection: Jews of the Americas. NEW 28 June 2010

British Isles: Knowles Collection: Jews of the British Isles. NEW 28 June 2010

Caribbean: Knowles Collection: Jews of the Caribbean. NEW 28 June 2010

England: London: Residents of London. UPDATED 10 June 2010

Europe: Knowles Collection. NEW 28 June 2010

Italy, Cosenza, Aiello Calabro. UPDATED 11 June 2010

Liechtenstein: Balzers, St. Nicholai. NEW 25 June 2010

Scotland: Fasti Ecclesiae Scoticanae. Updated 10 June 2010

Earlier 2010

British Isles: Peerage, Gentry and Colonial American Connections. UPDATED 2 April 2010

Canada: Quebec and Maritime Provinces. NEW 4 Mar 2010

Europe: Royal and Noble Houses (predominantly England and France). UPDATED 4 Mar 2010

Iceland: Iceland Historical Family Trees. UPDATED 9 Apr 2010

Pacific Islands: French Polynesia: Bora Bora island, Society Islands. January 2010

Pacific Islands: French Polynesia: Fatu Hiva island, Marquesas Islands. January 2010

Pacific Islands: French Polynesia: Hanaiapa Valley, Hiva Oa island, Marquesas Islands. January 2010

Pacific Islands: French Polynesia: Hao atoll and Amanu atoll, Tuamotu Archipelago. January 2010

Peru: Community Family Tree. Updated 23 Apr 2010

United States: Connecticut: Colonial Families 1650-1850. 15 Mar 2010

1 comment:

  1. I apologize for asking a question pertaining to this post at such a late date. I was wondering how family trees or community trees get put on this site.
    Can ordinary folk like you and I contribute to the Community Trees?

    ReplyDelete

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