Going Digital - How Do I ?

[newbeginings]

Hello All, I am and I am not a beginner.  I have a fair amount of paper based research done in the 1970s and 1980s which I am resurrecting and dragging into the 21st Century.

What is the best way to do this.  My families are mainly Scottish, but with links to Burma, Jamaica, USA and Australia in the days of the British Empire, with branches still in these countries.  Would this impact on my choice of which website to use - Ancestry or another ?  For recording my own tree would I be better to use a stand alone ?  Two people have mentioned Family Tree Maker - is this current, or was it popular a while ago and people still use it ?

Really appreciate some help here !

[Guy Etchells]

Hello All, I am and I am not a beginner.  I have a fair amount of paper based research done in the 1970s and 1980s which I am resurrecting and dragging into the 21st Century.

I do not really understand what you mean by “dragging into the 21st century”, your paper research from the 1970s & 1980s if carefully done is as valid today as it was then. Furthermore it will last thousands of years longer than the majority of digital records created today.
Experienced “digital” family historians recommend a paper back up of digital work as an archive of last resort.

What is the best way to do this.  My families are mainly Scottish, but with links to Burma, Jamaica, USA and Australia in the days of the British Empire, with branches still in these countries.  Would this impact on my choice of which website to use - Ancestry or another ?

To a degree yes, most Scottish records are held on the Scottish Government website, but apart from that instance the big online providers hold various amounts of records from different countries with Findmypast & Ancestry leading the way.
However before subscribing to any subscription website I would suggest exhausting the holdings of the many free record providers such as familysearch. After exhausting the holdings for those websites or while using them keep a look-out for “free weekends” or “free trail” options for the subscription websites, these happen quite frequently and may allow you to exhaust their holdings without subscribing.

For recording my own tree would I be better to use a stand alone?  Two people have mentioned Family Tree Maker - is this current, or was it popular a while ago and people still use it ?

Really appreciate some help here !

Without doubt the best way to record your family tree is on your own computer at home. There are numerous reasons for this but the main ones are control and safety.
A number of websites “allow” third parties to change or add records to trees hosted on their websites, this allows years of painstaking accurate work to be trashed in seconds, never host your tree on a site which allows others to amend the tree.
I would suggest if you want an internet tree host it on your own website or a site like tribal roots and never on a site like Ancestry.

Cheers
Guy

[newbeginings]

Thanks Guy.  At one stage in my life I was an auditor, and am very much aware of the problem of 'the answer is a computer, now what's the question ?'  I am sure that my records are robust, and I share your concerns re others editing, but equally if there are others working on the same lines it makes sense to 'compare and contrast' for accuracy, and of course now it seems to be so much easier to access foreign records that there are parts of the pedigree which now open up to practical access perhaps.

I do feel that I'm new to this online game and will take all help I can get on that front !

[KGarrad]

I keep my tree on a PC at home, on RootsMagic.
But I also keep a copy on Ancestry.

While I understand Guy's concerns, I don't share them?
All the data on my tree is publicly available; and I simply ignore other's trees

I also make extensive use of FamilySearch, FreeBMD and other free sites.
Ancestry is available at my local library, and FindMyPast is available in my local records office. SO I can glean information from them, and add the data to my tree at home.

[newbeginings]

I keep my tree on a PC at home, on RootsMagic.

I presume you would recommend this ? How did you come across it ?

I also make extensive use of FamilySearch, FreeBMD and other free sites.

That's my sort of thing ! What other free sites are there, and/or how do I find them ?

I've seen others worrying about the cost of Scotland's People - since I'm based in Edinburgh I'm going into the office soon, and hope that I will be able to access records old style - never took official copies but did own transcripts .

[KGarrad]

I keep my tree on a PC at home, on RootsMagic.

I presume you would recommend this ? How did you come across it ?

I looked at what was available (it was some years ago!) and liked the look of RootsMagic, and the reports available.
I have always worked in IT, so evaluating software was pretty normal for me
Other packages are available - they are nearly all equally good?

I also make extensive use of FamilySearch, FreeBMD and other free sites.

That's my sort of thing ! What other free sites are there, and/or how do I find them ?

FreeBMD is based on England/Wales records - they have sister sites in FreeReg (Parish Registers) and FreeCen (Censuses).
More and more counties have records on offer - have a look at GenUKI.org.uk to see if anything is available for your counties.
Cornwall-OPC-Database, LancashireBMD are other sites I have used a lot.
Joining a Family History Society can prove useful
[/quote]

I've seen others worrying about the cost of Scotland's People - since I'm based in Edinburgh I'm going into the office soon, and hope that I will be able to access records old style - never took official copies but did own transcripts .

I don't have any Scottish family, so can't really comment there.

There are generally useful links on each of the County Boards in the RootsChat Forum.
Worth taking a look to see what is available.

[newbeginings]

Thanks, that's really helpful.  My other half works in IT - but embedded stuff - trying to get him engaged in this !!!!

[Pheno]

My understanding is that a tree held on family search - which is now the basis for the tree facility on Find My Past, is available to all to view and make changes, something I would not want.

However, a tree held on Ancestry can be either public or private.  A private tree allows you to open it up only to those you want to see it and even then you can give them view only permission or the ability to edit and change.

No doubt others will correct me if I am wrong.

Pheno

[KGarrad]

Thanks, that's really helpful.  My other half works in IT - but embedded stuff - trying to get him engaged in this !!!!

Convince him!
1. Software Evaluation.
2. Data Extraction
3. Data Analysis - adding 2 + 2 to make 22!