August 30, 2023
So you have been researching your family history. You've gathered documents, photos, and other data, saving things here and there. Saving your information to hard drives, flash drives, or cloud services are great options. But what if you want to create charts or see all your information together in a more dynamic way?
When I first started doing genealogy research over 20 years ago, my software engineer husband gifted me a genealogy software application on CD-ROM so that I could have a place to store my data as I gathered it. I have used it ever since. I appreciate having a central hub for organizing my data and using the application in tandem with Ancestry to gather more information about the people in my family tree. It also provides different ways to view my information, like various charts and reports, so that I can see what information might be missing or share my findings with others.
In this day and age of online trees and cloud services, why would someone want to use a genealogy program? Things an app can offer:
- Organize and store data safely
- Maintain a copy of your genealogy that you control
- Create charts/reports that can be shared with others
- Provide access to family tree data even when offline
- Import/export data using GEDCOM (a file format specific to genealogical data)
Each genealogy software application offers different features. Some options include:
- Free or paid – there is something out there for almost every budget
- PC, Mac, iOS, or Android – there is an app for every operating system
- Availability of different languages – English is not the only option!
- Photo editing options
- Mapping tools – see where your ancestor lived or where their journey took them
- Capability to sync data with websites like Ancestry, Family Search, or MyHeritage
- Hints for possible record matches
- Create web pages from your data
- DNA test tracking
Search the web and see which program might work for you. Whatever your budget or genealogical needs, there is something out there for you!
Jennifer C.
Midwest Genealogy Center
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