Friday, January 28, 2011

The Inside Scoop on RootsTech Open Panel Discussions

The Inside scoop on RootsTech open panel discussions
Image: renjith krishnan / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Since the RootsTech website doesn't have the skinny, you're lucky you read the Ancestry Insider. Five open discussions or panel discussions are included in the RootsTech schedule. These ought to add some pizazz to your conference experience. Audience participation is a must.

 

Exploring Cemetery Solutions

Thursday 10th 11:00 AM

A panel of companies offering current or future cemetery solutions will take a few minutes to share their offerings. The moderator will then put questions to the panelists, mixing audience questions with his own, such as:

  • How is cemetery data common with genealogical source data?
  • How should volunteers transcribe tomb stones?
  • How can cemetery data be associated with Family Trees?
  • What role should geo-coding play in cemetery surveys?
  • Can smart phones be used to digitize and transcribe tomb stones?

LEVEL: All Levels
TRACK: Interactive Open Discussions
MODERATOR: Gordon Clarke
PANELISTS:

 


 

Value and Use of APIs

Thursday 10th 3:00 PM

A panel of companies offering APIs will take a few minutes to share there API offerings. The totally awesome moderator will then put questions to the panelists, mixing audience questions with his own, such as:

  • What is the value of Application Program Interfaces?
  • Do you have a preferences regarding SOAP, REST, or other protocols?
  • What do you think about XML, JSON, or AMF?
  • What should an API provider offer? ( sample code, discussion boards, support)
  • What structure do you like for API documentation?
  • Whats the difference between proprietary and open APIs?
  • Can the industry benefit from common APIs?

LEVEL: Technical Users and Programmers
TRACK: Interactive Open Discussions
MODERATOR: Ancestry Insider
PANELISTS:

 


 

How Should We Handle Sources

Thursday 10th 4:15 PM

Open discussion is invited from genealogists, software vendors, and users about the value of sources, how to best obtain evidence, and how to best save and share it. Ground-rules for the open-meeting and consensus building will be explained as the discussion begins. Possible discussion questions:

  • What is the definition of and the difference between a source and a citation?
  • What are the pros and cons of source templates and wizards?
  • How should the "Genealogical Proof Standard" be used?
  • What is the value of linking to an online representation of a source?
  • How important is indexing (transcribing) sources?
  • Should source images be made available without indexes?

LEVEL: All Levels
TRACK: Interactive Open Discussions
MODERATOR: Rick Laxman

 


 

How Do We Define a Person

Friday 11th 1:45 PM

Open discussion is invited among genealogists, software vendors, social media advocates and users about how to identity and describe a person, living or dead, and how do you share information and protect privacy. Ground-rules for the open-meeting and consensus building will be explained before the discussion begins. Possible discussion questions:

  • What are the commonalities between the identity of an internet person and a genealogical person?
  • How should we profile a contributor?
  • Can or should Open Connect be used for the genealogical industry?
  • How can you communicate with a person without knowing their identity?
  • What is different about profiling and protecting the identity of a living person and a deceased person?
  • What rights or controls should a person and the descendants have regarding the person’s history ?

LEVEL: Technical Users and Programmers
TRACK: Interactive Open Discussions
MODERATOR: Phil Windley

 


 

Genealogical data standards

Saturday 12th 9:45 AM to 12:00 PM (2 hours)

Open discussion is invited from genealogists, software vendors, and users about the need for standards for saving and sharing genealogical information about persons, families, events, places, citations, sources, unique identifiers, persistent URLs, etc. Focus will be more on the standardization/consensus building process than reaching any detail conclusions. Ground-rules for the open-meeting and consensus building will be explained as the discussion begins. Possible discussion questions:

  • How are standards formed? (popularity or standards bodies)
  • Do we have person focus OR records focus OR both?
  • What's the difference between a data model and a file format?
  • Why do we need standardize file formats?
  • What are the concerns about models for persons? Family relationships? Events? Sources?
  • What are the pros and cons of getting support by major software/website vendors?

LEVEL: All Levels
TRACK: Interactive Open Discussions
MODERATOR: Ancestry Insider

 


I think a casual glance at the moderators will disclose the source of my inside information. These should be fun. I hope to see you there!

3 comments:

  1. Thanks for the insider 'skinny'! Looking forward to meeting you in person...do you look anything like your profile pic?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Your blogs are very informative. Thanks for devoting the time to write them.
    I understand you have an inside track to access Ron Tanner. Would you please ask him if he would be the Key Note Speaker at The Logan Utah Family History Center sponsored Conference on October 15th in Logan, Utah? The theme is "With help, I Can Find Them" Last year we had 426 attendees and expect that many or more will attend this year. I think Ron's presentation style of "wrapping serious information in mock-seriousness" to take a quote from one of your blogs is absolutely marvelous. I attended two of Ron's presentations last April at the NGS Convention in Salt Lake City and was thoroughly informed in an entertaining manner.
    Thanks!
    Derwin Merrill

    ReplyDelete
  3. Derwin,

    Please make your request to AncestryInsider@gmail.com

    -- The Insider

    ReplyDelete

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