Storing Your Family Tree in the Cloud Hope N. Tillman & Walt Howe Essex Society of Genealogists, Lynnfield, Massachusetts May 16, 2015

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1 Storing Your Family Tree in the Cloud Hope N. Tillman & Walt Howe Essex Society of Genealogists, Lynnfield, Massachusetts May 16, 2015

2 Storing on Paper

3 Storing on Local Device

4 Storing in the Cloud

5 Storing Your Family History in the Cloud

6 Cloud Storage 1. Use multiple approaches and make multiple copies. LOCKSS 2. Take into consideration privacy and security. 3. Sharing works both ways you give and you receive. 4. Review your cloud use goals and needs regularly.

7 Principles to Keep in Mind Accessibility Access to the content by yourself and anyone else you want to see it whenever you/they want it. Permanence Short and long range For online- is the best company today going to be the best company in 5 years or even be around in 5 years. Correction handling Once something is in print or online, is it easy to make corrections? Who controls the ability to make those corrections? You want the control for your content in most cases.

Permanence Short and long range For online- is the best company today going to be the best company in 5 years or even

8 Topics to be Covered Today

9 What is the Cloud? A major advantage of the cloud is that you can work with the same tool on multiple devices so that it is available wherever you are. Pick trustworthy repositories. Take into consideration privacy and security, asking these questions: -Are you protecting the privacy of living people? -Are you sharing all that you can? The cloud is a metaphor. The content you put in the cloud is on large computer storage facilities. They are not in the sky. The premises of the cloud: 1. secure storage; only you can access it. 2. contents are retrievable whenever you need it. 3. contents will live there permanently or at least as long as you pay for it. It should NEVER be your only storage location.

-Are you sharing all that you can? The cloud is a metaphor. The content you put in the cloud is on large computer storage facilities. They are not in the sky.

10 What would you want to put in the Cloud?

11 What would you want to put in the Cloud? 1. Data from your genealogy software 2. Original images 3. Scanned Images 4. Original documents (including transcriptions) 5. Scanned documents (including scrapbooks, storytelling) 6. s 7. Audio files 8. Videos 9. Research logs 10. Internet bookmarks 11. What else?

Original documents (including transcriptions) 5.

12 Considerations Ask the same questions as anything else that fits in your personal preservation plan! LOCKSS! What do you want to save in the cloud? s from relatives with facts and stories to capture in your genealogy s with attachments of documents/pictures/videos Thread of correspondence Where? Print Mail software archive Exported out of mail software into folders on your computer that you backup Evernote or OneNote or similar How will you save them? Print Digital Be conscious of format you use to save

Emails from relatives with facts and stories to capture in your genealogy Emails with attachments of documents/pictures/videos

13 Photograph and Video Considerations Ask the same questions as anything else that fits in your personal preservation plan! LOCKSS! What do you want to save in the cloud? Photographs: Family photographs, documents, such as deeds, etc. Videos: Family important events, marriages, weddings, graduations, performances, first steps Why scan or photograph? To improve quality of existing photographs as well as preserve/share Extract stills of videos to get images of otherwise uncaptured people How will you save them? How many versions of photographs to save? How many formats/versions of video clips to save? Keep up with changing technologies (e.g., Super 8 to Digital) What software will you use to edit? Always edit a copy not the original

To improve quality of existing photographs as well as preserve/share Extract stills of videos to get images of otherwise uncaptured people How will you save them?

14 Cloud Services for Backup or Organizing

15 Dropbox For Short Term Storage Free, Compare price for increased space with others For Sharing with Relatives Convenient interactivity

16 Evernote for Organizing/Sharing

17 Balancing Privacy and Sharing Are you protecting the privacy of living relatives? Be sure you do not share content protected by someone else s copyright Are you sharing all that you can? Are you sharing with everyone you want to reach?

18 Copyright versus Creative Commons Licensing Information or data is not copyrighted. It is ok to gather/store materials for personal/research use. Copyright restrictions come into play when collaborating/sharing via the cloud. Copyright use Just because you can, you may not have the right to share copyrighted materials need owner s permission Ownership and rights apply to all media Small extracts and links generally acceptable Attribution essential when okay to use

Copyright restrictions come into play when collaborating/sharing via the cloud.

19 Creative Commons licensing allows authors to specific rights they wish to retain Licensing

20 The Internet Archive You can put in the Internet Archive any materials you wish to share freely (only those you have the right to share). Use a Creative Commons license with what you upload Set up an account by getting a virtual library card. Read the upload FAQ (in the About)

21 Internet Archive

22 Cloud Services for Sharing/Collaboration Your Genealogy Software as Pathway to the Web Automatic transfer to the cloud with software such as Family Tree Maker, Family Search, Family Tree Builder (to reside on their website Ancestry, MyHeritage, FamilySearch) Save as static web-ready files on your own computer with software such as RootsMagic and Legacy or GEDCOM converter and export to your own website (need total rebuild whenever want to make changes) Save as GEDCOM to use with CloudWikis or Your Own Website (e.g. TNG sites) (easy update and replace)

23 Repositories: Ancestry

24 Repositories: MyHeritage.com Founded in 2005 Compares itself to Ancestry Family Tree Builder software is similar to Family Tree Maker Subscription based services and records are still in their infancy but growing

25 Repositories: FamilySearch.org Use to share your family tree Resource for content

26 Use of Genealogy Software to Publish Your Own Web Site RootsMagic Example

28 Your own website Advantages of using your own website You are free to do it however you want (but do follow standards) Very accessible Can be easy to make corrections Follow NGS standards for publishing web pages on the Internet Not likely to live longer than you do - Consider Data of the Dead

30 Wiki Repositories WikiTree We Relate Benefits Encourage collaboration Encourage good genealogy practices Balance privacy and collaboration Free and user driven Sources Revision history

31 Wikitree.com WikiTree mission is to connect the world on a single family tree that's free and accessible to everyone. Uses Wikipedia philosophy but has its own software.

32 WeRelate.Org By contributing to WeRelate you are helping to build a unified family tree containing the best information from all contributors. Uses Wikipedia standards. Affiliated with Wikimedia

33 Social Networking Examples of communities on the web Facebook Societies (MSOG) Surname Facebook Pages like The Descendants of Deacon Samuel Chapin DNA connections Gedmatch pages Rootsweb Parts of Rootsweb are still active but site as a whole has much less traffic Great for leads Make connections with relatives & others with kindred interest Always check for sources of what is being shared Before posting consider privacy and security concerns

34 Social Publishing Lulu.com Kindle Direct Publishing Scribd or Smashwords blurb or blog2print for compiling a blog into a book/ebook A moving target market shakeout is inevitable For authors: Keep in mind that with these publishers, YOU are the editor. Share your family history with relatives and others with kindred interest. Consider privacy and security concerns For readers: Check for reliable sources if you are the reader.

35 Cloud Tools for DNA and Genealogy All three major players enable collaboration: Ancestry, Family Tree DNA, 23 and Me Tool to share DNA results, no matter which of the three major services you have used for your DNA test. To participate you need to contribute a DNA test result number and upload a GEDCOM of some branch of your family.

36 Change is constant Do not preserve online solely to get rid of paper; all media complement one another. Remember: LOCKSS Formats keep changing and no stability is expected in the future. Revisit/refresh media regularly How will you point future generations to family videos on YouTube today? Follow standards as they evolve in technology as well as genealogy. Change without standards is chaos. Questions and answers keep changing Players will change How will social media impact marketplace? Will Ancestry and FamilySearch continue as the big players? Nothing is permanent but change (Heraclitus, 4 th century BC)

37 Stay tuned Sharing works both ways you give and you receive. Use multiple approaches and make multiple copies Consider privacy and security Protect the living while they are alive How much protection do you want to retain if your goal is to make the info findable by future generations? Review your cloud use goals and needs regularly.

38 Q&A Feel free to contact us. Hope N. Tillman Walt Howe Slides can be found at

302. Online Family Trees

302. Online Family Trees By Lesly Klippel The proliferation of web sites that enable you to upload your family history makes keeping your family tree on the Internet very popular, safe and convenient.