I’m thrilled to welcome Circlemender Jean Wilcox Hibben to The Skeleton Whisperer Blog! Her article first appeared in the Aunty Jeff column of the Informer of the Jefferson County New York Genealogical Society in July 2018.
Q: Do I need a genealogy software program on my computer or just use Ancestry for my Family Tree?
A lot depends on what you want to do with the information. If your sole goal is to find other people who are researching the same individuals, then you may be content with an online tree. However, if you want to be certain you have easy access to your family tree (that is, even when there is no Internet available), you are concerned about people “stealing” your work/relatives or be certain your sources are very clearly defined, that makes an Ancestry (or any other website) family tree insufficient. Of course, you can make your tree “private” on Ancestry, but that sort of defeats the purpose of finding others researching the same lines. Yes, a person can request to “see” your tree, but often those researchers, especially if in a hurry to find an answer, won’t take that time. So, let’s look at WHY you want to use genealogy software.
Genealogy software is designed to be used on a computer but NOT be available to anyone and everyone (unless you choose to share it). This means that you can include private stories about people on your tree without concern that someone will take issue. It also means that you can include living people (your children and grandchildren, their spouses, etc.) allowing you to use that information to keep track of birthdays, anniversaries, even residences. Many use genealogy software to create a “birthday and anniversary calendar” (built into most genealogy software) so they can keep track of all those events (of course, once family members realize you have that information at your fingertips, be aware that you will become the family resource for such data and you may be spending a lot of time answering questions about these things . . . or you can create the calendar to give as a gift to all your living relatives!). Another reason the software is a good idea is that sometimes you might want to view the tree where an Internet connection is not available (e.g., a cemetery, a hotel without WiFi or that charges for that service, etc.). It is easy to keep the software tree updated, with the most recent information you find (if it’s on your laptop, you can add data where you sit in a repository or a grandaunt’s living room), and will also allow you to include the sources (some software even tells you how to write the source so that you don’t forget something important, like a page number or date).
Even with genealogy software, you can keep your online tree. It’s easy to keep it updated with “cross-over” tools – some software will give you the ability to copy information from what you have recorded in your off-line tree onto your Ancestry or FamilySearch tree and vice versa (though everything may not transfer smoothly since we are talking about correlating two different programs written by different people or entities).
So, do you need both formats to preserve your family tree? No, but if you want to access something and can’t because a website is down, there is no Internet available, or you forgot your password, you may start kicking yourself! And the software program also provides you with your own backup plus control over how things are recorded. Check out the different programs (some have free, minimized downloads so you can play with them before buying). Make sure you are comfortable with whatever program you select (including how to get help, enter data, and whatever else is important for you to become master of your own family – well, at least the dead folks).
