A couple of weeks ago we introduced a high-level Genealogical Workflow. This is the first in a multi-part series of articles breaking down the workflow into the next level of detail. Whether you’re starting to research your ancestors for the first time, coming back to it after an extended pause or actively seeking out your ancestors, part of your work process (whether conscious or unconscious) will be deciding what to do.

Photo by doug88888

What are some signs that users have hit the ‘Decide What to Do’ phase? Perhaps the easiest way to know if they are in this phase is to listen to the questions they are asking (either explicitly or implicitly). Here are some of the most common questions asked when users are trying to decide what to do:

• What do I already know?
• What sources do I already have?
• What do my relatives know?
• What has already been done?
• Where do I start?
• Who can help me?

To successfully make it out of the ‘Decide What to Do’ phase, users need to answer the questions they are posing and then establish a goal and a plan of attack. Students of genealogy tend to make this a very formal process setting a specific research objective, identifying a research strategy and making a list of specific record sets to search. This approach to research is consistent regardless of who is doing the research. The level of formality varies greatly depending on the skill level and the complexity of the objective in mind. Novice users may not know to apply the rigor to document the objective, strategy and lists of sources to check. Expert users may choose on a simple problem not to document these things because they are capable of keeping it in their heads and may not even recognize that they are doing it (kind of like showing up to work safely without remembering the drive).

Novice users are likely to need help understanding the basics. They need strong direction in knowing what to do, what questions to ask and where the best places are to start trying to find new information. A few years ago, FamilySearch prototyped a system that was successful at helping novice users through the ‘Decide What to Do’ phase. (Check out the slides and abstract from a presentation by Grant Skousen) We built a system that posed questions that novice users might want to answer. The questions became the research objective; the system selected a research strategy and relevant records to be searched; and then guided the users through the process. The prototype was so effective that complete novices had usually outgrown the handholding in the prototype by the end of an hour of usability testing. Oh – they also found some ancestors.

Even though more experienced users are more likely to know the questions to ask to determine what to do, they still need support in the process. If their research takes them to a new place or time period, they may need coaching on research strategies. They will need guidance on what record sets are available and access to historical information. They may want help surveying work that has already been done. If they are coming back to their research after a break they may need help knowing what they were doing the last time they were working on the objective. They may also benefit from having access to experts on topics of interest.

The features needed to support users in the ‘Decide What to Do’ phase can be broken down into Directive, Coaching and Supportive features. Directive features tell users what they should do and may actually constrain them to certain strategies or paths. Directive features are more effective for novice users. Coaching features make suggestions but don’t constrain users. These features are best for moderately skilled users or advanced users stepping into a new research area. Supportive features can be thought of as a reference desk. These are helpful for moderate and advanced skilled users. Here’s a rough whack at what some of these features might be. This is not a list of what we are building, just a quick brainstorm on my part of how this phase of the workflow might be addressed.

Directive Features

• Task suggestion (suggests a broad range of tasks designed to engage users and deliver a quick win)
• Tree analysis (to determine the best place to start – more tightly constrained than the tree report listed under the Coaching Features)
• Question/Objective setting (tell users what questions they should be asking and then set an objective for them when they choose a question)
• Automatically select and execute a research strategy for users
• Automatically select records to be searched

Coaching Features

• Tree report with recommendations (analyze a tree and suggest places to work)
• Contact an expert (contact an expert for consultation on a subject)
• Find others working on similar objectives (find others working in similar locations, time periods or on the same surnames)
• Help requests (think Find-a-grave – users can ask someone else to do a task for them)

Supportive Features

• Strategy reference (a reference of research strategies)
• Historical reference (historical background for different places, cultures and times)
• Record catalog (catalog of available record sets)
• Record collection descriptions (description of record sets)
• Where I left off (a snapshot of what users were doing the last time they worked on an objective)

I’m sure that there are more features than these to be considered. I’m also sure that there are some very good features that have already been built by various vendors that help with the ‘Decide What to Do’ phase.

We’d love your help. Tell us what we’re missing. Point us to good examples of systems that already do this well.

The time has come to retire the very popular Family Tree project from FamilySearch Labs. Those that have been following FamilySearch Labs for a while recognize that the roots to the Family Tree project go back to the Pedigree Viewer project (also another Labs favorite). The fruits of the Family Tree project have made their way into the production site, new.familysearch.org. Now that the key features of the Family Tree are incorporated into new FamilySearch the time has come to retire the project.

The Pedigree Viewer was the precursor to the Family Tree project and was first introduced on FamilySearch Labs in September of 2006. At the time it was a revolutionary twist in the way people viewed family trees. There was not another family tree viewer like it. The Pedigree Viewer pre-dated Geni.com and any number of dynamic pedigree viewing knock-offs. The concept was simple take a Google Maps approach to displaying a pedigree. Overcome the problems people have keeping context when looking at their family tree. Make it fun to use. By the end of March 2007 the Pedigree Viewer had served its purpose. We had learned a ton and raised the bar on family tree interaction.

We suspended work on the Pedigree Viewer to move on to other prototypes (like the Life Browser) and then a few months later officially started the Family Tree Project releasing the first version to labs in December of 2007. The Family Tree project was intended to take the key learnings of the Pedigree Viewer project and build out a new faster, richer, easier to use interface for new FamilySearch. After almost two years of development, In November of 2009 the first features from the Family Tree project were released in new FamilySearch.

Now that most of the features from the Family Tree project have made their way into new FamilySearch and others are well under way, it is time to retire the project. At the beginning of February you will no longer be able to access the Family Tree project from FamilySearch Labs. We will move it down to the Retired Projects section of the FamilySearch Labs home page. While we won’t be able to keep the project functional like we have the Life Browser and the Pedigree Viewer, we will provide images of the application as a memorial to the great work of the team (and to help us remember what worked and what didn’t work in the project).

So as we say goodbye to our old friend we also want to thank all of you who have taken it for a test drive, suffered through version after version after version and above all sent us your feedback. We’ve received feedback from thousands over the past few years telling us what works and doesn’t work. We still don’t think we have it perfect but it is so much better than it would have been thanks to your help. Thank you!

Those of you that follow the blog or have seen the FamilySearch beta know that we’ve been putting a lot of effort into rebuilding the search part of FamilySearch. Just for fun, we thought it might be interesting to show you a few of the behind the scenes folks that are doing a great job bringing you a screaming fast and accurate search experience. (I must apologize ahead of time for the low volume in the video. This was also an experiment with my new iPhone 3GS video capabilities.)

In my last blog post I asked you to share what your major obstacles are in doing family history. I received responses as comments on the blog post, comments on Facebook and @replies on Twitter. Many of the comments clustered together. Others were expressed only once. The list below is an attempt to quickly summarize the responses and indicate their frequency.

• So few records available online/Access to records (4)
• Lack of citations (3)
• Cousins don’t feel same urgency to share photos/Desire to share (2)
• Don’t know where to start/what’s already been done (2)
• Not enough time (2)
• Preservation of records – protecting from fires, floods, etc. (1)
• Poor PAF Import to FS.org (1)
• Poor equipment in local Family History Center (1)
• Temple too far away (1)
• Hard to index records in another language (1)
• Hard to interpret records in another language (1)
• New duplicates showing after others import GEDCOMs into new.FamilySearch.org (1)
• Cost prohibitive (1)
• Hard to organize stuff (1)
• Hard to sort out the good info from the bad info (1)

One of the key tools we use as we try to find solutions to some of these problems is a process called Contextual Inquiry and Contextual Design (CI/CD). One of the many tools that come from this CI/CD process is called a consolidated workflow. Consolidated workflows are created by observing people and carefully documenting the process they go through to get the job done. The results of the observation are then combined or consolidated into one consolidated workflow. The genealogical workflow below is a high-level representation of the workflow we have observed as we’ve watched people all over the world doing genealogy.

I thought it would be interesting to try to correlate the issues mentioned above to where they fit in the overall genealogical workflow. Not everything fit on the map so I dropped a couple of things that don’t fit in the workflow but do fit in other parts of the overall picture. The numbers in the red circles on the image below represent the frequency that you expressed an obstacle in this area of the workflow.

So I have two questions for you:

1. Does the genealogical workflow make sense to you?
2. After seeing this view of the genealogical workflow, do any more obstacles come to mind?

Updated Trees

• British Isles Peerage, Gentry and Colonial American Connections
• Canada: New Brunswick, Millville
• England London Residence of London
• Europe Royal and Noble Houses (predominately England and France)
• Europe Royal and Noble Houses (predominately German)
• Pacific Islands: French Polynesia: Atuona Island
• Scotland Fasti Ecclesiae Scoticanae
• Wales Medieval Records Primarily of Nobility and Gentry

New Trees from the Pacific Islands

• Pacific Islands: French Polynesia: Hanaiapa Valley, Hiva Oa island, Marquesas Islands:
  Hanaiapa Valley on Hiva Oa island includes the villages of Hanapaaoa and Hanateku’ua, and the valleys of Hanaiapa, Hanapaaoa, Hanau’i, Hanatku’ua and Hanamenu. The database was compiled by Daniel Longstaff and is extracted from civil records of Hanaiapa (marriages 1891-1902 and deaths 1891-1926). There are gaps in the years covered by the records.

• Pacific Islands: French Polynesia: Hekeani, Hiva Oa island, Marquesas Islands:
  Hekeani Valley on Hiva Oa island includes the villages of Haneupe, Hanahehe, and Moea, and the valleys of Hanaupe, Hekeane, Hanahehe, Hanatea, Moea, and Ooa. The database was compiled by Daniel Longstreet and is extracted from civil records of Hekeani (marriages 1882-1896 and deaths 1882-1930).

• Pacific Islands: French Polynesia: Bora Bora island, Society Islands:
  Bora Bora is located in the Leeward group of the Society Islands. Bora Bora island is located about 140 miles north of Papeete. The principal settlement on Bora Bora is Vaitape, on the western side of the island. The database was compiled by Daniel Longstaff and is extracted from civil records of Bora Bora (marriages 1892-1900, deaths 1892-1941).

• Pacific Islands: French Polynesia:  Fatu Hiva island, Marquesas Islands:
  Fatu Hiva is the southernmost of the Marquesas Islands. Fatu Hiva civil records include the villages of Omoa, Ouia, and Hana Vave. The database was compiled by Daniel Longstaff and is extracted from civil records of Fatu Hiva (marriages 1889-1892, deaths 1886-1952).

• Pacific Islands: French Polynesia: Hao atoll and Amanu atoll, Tuamotu Archipelago:
  Hao, or Haorangi, is a large coral atoll in the central part of the Tuamotu Archipelago. Hao is located 575 miles east of Tahiti and is 34.5 miles in length. Amanu, also called Timanu or Karere, is a smaller atoll about 11 miles north of Hao. The database was compiled by Daniel Longstaff and is extracted from civil records of Hao and Amanu (marriages 1886-1900, deaths 1886-1957) with additions from other records.

I know the topic of obstacles in family history and genealogy isn’t new. It seems to be a rite of passage for genealogy bloggers. I don’t know what you did over the holidays. Hopefully you spent a lot of time with family and friends like I did. I also spent some time asking myself questions like this:

“I’ve been working at FamilySearch for almost six years. Lot’s of new innovations have happened in that time. Have we made any progress at overcoming the major obstacles of family history?”

Anyone else spend time over the holidays on that one?

Before I give you my take on the answer to that question (the first one, not the second), I’m curious what people think the current major obstacles are. I asked this question earlier today on Twitter and Facebook and here is a sampling of the responses I’ve received so far:

I’m curious, what are the major obstacles you experience when you work on your family history? Leave your thoughts in the comments below.

We have recently updated and added some community trees.

Updated

• British Isles: Peerage, Gentry and Colonial American Connections – New records and source citations added.
• Canada: New Brunswick: Southampton: Millville – Haines and Palmer genealogies added and merged with the existing tree.  A recent meeting with the Fredericton Genealogical Society in New Brunswick created interest in doing a project for the surrounding parishes of Bright and Queensbury.
• Scotland: Fasti Ecclesiae Scoticanae – Existing data received a second check and duplicate records were merged.
• Wales: Records Primarily of the Nobility and Gentry – New records and source citations added.

New

• Canada: Manitoba: Winnipegosis – Tree of those that lived in Winnipegosis and their descendants as far as can be identified.
• United States, Oregon, Hood River – Includes information on deceased individuals from histories of Hood River County, Oregon, the Hood River County portion of the 1860-1900 Wasco County, Oregon Census, and 1910-1930 Hood River County, Oregon Census. Available marriage and death records as well as information from other sources are included.

Hey everybody, we just rolled out an entirely new, rebuilt, souped-up, hot off the presses search feature in the FamilySearch beta! It isn’t perfect yet but we hope it is a step forward and would love to get your feedback. Give the updated FamilySearch beta a whirl and send us your feedback or leave a comment below. Let us know what you like and don’t like.

You may have noticed the Community Trees link that showed up on the FamilySearch Labs home page a few weeks ago. If you’re into family history you’ll probably want to check it out. The Community Trees project allows FamilySearch to publish lineage-linked genealogies that cover a specific place and time. These trees are a genealogists dream. If you’re lucky enough to be doing research in an area covered by one of these trees you’ve just struck it rich. Each tree is searchable with views of individuals, families, ancestors and descendants. They can be printed and usually can be downloaded in GEDCOM format (sometimes licensing requirements don’t allow us to offer GEDCOM downloads). Best of all, each tree is linked to all of the supporting sources.

Some of the trees are the result of a small, grass-roots effort of a village or township working together to form a family tree of all known residents in the community for a given time period. Other projects are the result of genealogical or historical societies working with FamilySearch to index multiple genealogical sources and link the resulting information into a lineage-linked genealogy. The Family Reconstitution team at FamilySearch has also contributed many of the projects. Some of these date back to medieval times. Many of the trees are a work in progress so watch for ongoing updates.

As you might expect, there is no information about living people in the public view of the trees. The trees can only be edited or corrected by the organization that contributed the tree. If you have questions, corrections or would like to help with one of the projects you can contact the organization via e-mail. Just click on the suggestions tab when you are viewing a tree and your comment will be sent to the group responsible for that particular tree.

Want to get started with Community Trees? Watch this getting started video or go to histfam.familysearch.org.

Do you have a tree you’d like to contribute? If you have a database you have created from original source material that you think would be a good addition to the Community Trees or if you’d just like to get involved, contact Raymond W. Madsen (madsenrw@familysearch.org).

We’ve been working hard on the FamilySearch Alpha. So hard in fact that with today’s updates we’ve switched the label to Beta. We expect that the project will be in a beta phase for an extended period of time until it is ready to replace the current FamilySearch.org web site. As with all beta systems there are some known and unknown glitches and some particular areas of focus that we’d like feedback on. Your feedback is critical to helping us improve so PLEASE click the feedback link and tell us what you like and don’t like. See the Feedback Needed section below for more information.

Here’s a quick overview of the FamilySearch Beta, what to expect in this release, what areas we’d really like to get feedback on some known issues, and what will be coming next.

What is the FamilySearch Beta?

The FamilySearch Beta is a project that will eventually replace the current www.FamilySearch.org website with a new site at the same address that integrates all of the new technologies and record sets we’ve been working on (like Record Search, Family Tree, Research Wiki, etc.) into one easy to use experience. Instead of using these tools individually, you will simply go to www.FamilySearch.org to work on your family history.

What to Expect in this Release

This is an early beta that will continue to evolve and expand until it is ready to replace www.familysearch.org. Not all features are implemented. You will discover that some links lead to pages that say this feature has not been implemented yet. You will also follow links to portions of the site that are still poorly integrated or in some cases, not integrated at all. This will change over time.

Feedback Needed

We are grateful for any feedback you’d like to share with us. Simply click the feedback link in the upper right hand corner of the FamilySearch Beta to share your thoughts. There are particular portions of the FamilySearch Beta where we could really use your feedback.

• Overall look and feel of the site
• Blog section
• Library section

Known Issues

• The search feature does not currently search Ancestral File, Pedigree Resource File, the International Genealogical Index or new FamilySearch. We anticipate adding the ability to search this content in the future.
• The Family History Center Locator is not yet implemented
• The Family History Library Catalog is not yet implemented
• The FamilySearch Wiki is not yet integrated although it can be accessed through the FamilySearch Beta through the Learning section

Coming Soon

• We will be adding new features monthly so be sure to come back often and see the site evolve.
• We are busy working on a major overhaul to search features of the site. Watch for a major upgrade to the search features around the beginning of the year.