Computers have dramatically accelerated interest and growth in the
field of family history. New technology has changed the way we conduct
research and organize the results of our research, and in the way we
publish information and share it on a global scale. Whether using personal
computers or the online networks at libraries, family historians are
locating and accessing research materialswith a few keystrokes. Thousands
of reference works and other items that were previously hidden or
unaccessible are now identified and put within our reach. Technology and
a great surge of interest in the field have expedited the publication of
enormous databases of census records, vital records, military records,
cemetery records, and the like.
Word processing has saved researchers countless hours that would have
been wasted in transcribing original records and organizing materials.
Electronic scanning allows text, illustrations, and photographs to be
reproduced in almost any format. Desktop publishing has opened new
avenues for disseminating family information through personal letters,
newsletters, and books.
A wide variety of computer software that facilitates and enhances
genealogical research is available. For those who can_t even fathom doing
things "the old-fashioned way," such software offers endless
possibilities.
Raymond S. Wright, The Genealogist_s Handbook: Modern Methods for
Researching Family History (Chicago: The American Library Association,
1995), includes a chapter devoted to "Organizing Your Records with a
Computer." As Wright points out, not only can a personal computer make
organizing and maintaining family records a relatively simple activity,
but with a genealogy program you can "organize your forebears and
descendants into families and link them from one generation to the next
by showing from whom you and your direct ancestors descended."
Additionally, Wright notes: "Your computer can also connect with networks
or other computers through modems‹devices that connect computers to
telephone lines over which they transmit information."
Because new genealogical software programs regularly come on the market,
and those already in use are constantly being upgraded, it would be
inappropriate to endorse any particular computer products here. A good
way to stay informed of what is happening in this quickly changing arena
is to subscribe to a specialty publication such as Genealogical
Computing, published quarterly by Ancestry Incorporated (P.O. Box 476,
Salt Lake City, UT 84110). Another option is to participate in one of the
many computer interest groups associated with genealogical societies.
