SALT LAKE CITY — New and surprising ways — even confusing
ways — to access information are changing the way people do family
history. Alan
E. Mann, manager of Genealogical Community Services, told a session at
BYU's
Conference on Computerized Family History and Genealogy on April 26
about ten
new web services that are disrupting the normal ways of sharing
information and
how some of them may impact family history research:
1. QR CODES
__IMAGE1__QR codes, short for Quick Response codes, are like "a
bar code on steroids," Mann said. A QR code can contain a lot more
information in a patterned graphic — and they are can be scanned by
many cell
phones or smart phones. Somebody can point their phone at the QR code,
and the
phone could, for example, take them straight to a website.
Mann speculated that a QR code could be put on a headstone.
A visitor could point their phone at the code and be taken to a website
that
allowed them to see a pedigree chart, join the family organization and
get
alerts on Twitter about any family history research.
"That can be done now," Mann said.
2. CLOUD COMPUTING
Cloud computing is when hardware and software are accessed
via the Internet instead of being on a local computer. Instead of the
program
and data being on the computer, it is out there in the "clouds"
somewhere on the Internet. "It requires a mental adjustment," Mann
said.
Instead of people working on data in their computer and
keeping a safety backup of on the Internet, people will work on their
data on
the Internet and keep a safety backup on their computer.
Cloud computing will make it easier to collaborate and share
family history data.
"Stop thinking 'my computer, my website' and think 'our
computer, our website,'" Mann said. A person can work on a document and
give another person a password so they can access it as well.
3. REMOBO
Remobo.com creates a private network between computers via
the Internet. This lets people save documents on each other's computers
and
even run programs on other people's computers.
Mann gave a scenario where his cousin runs a different type
of genealogy software on his computer. Through remobo.com, Mann can
access that
program on his cousin's computer (although there might be some licensing
questions...).
Unlike Windows, Google's Chromium is an operating system
that is "in the cloud" rather than on a computer. Mann's computer
normally
takes about two minutes to be operation when he turns it on. Using a
Chromium-based
computer only takes two seconds. "It is a whole lot faster," Mann
said.
5. GOOGLE WAVE
"Google Wave is very hard to describe," Mann said.
"Right now I am using it, but I'm not getting much from it. It has a lot
more potential."
The basic idea is to allow users to write something once,
but not have to write it ever again — whether it is on a blog, a
website, an
email or social networking site. It enables people to update messages
sent to
other people. For example, if you sent an e-mail, you could still make
changes
to it. Somebody quotes your blog on their website — if you update your
website
it also updates the quote.
"What you really need to do if you are interested in
Wave, is ... watch the hour and twenty minute video
that tells you the whole thing," Mann said. "It's so a radical a
change, that most of us aren't using it to its full potential. We don't
quite
get it yet."
6. GOOGLE BUZZ
Google Buzz adds social networking to Google Wave. It also
allows users to access older technology such as e-mail. It also allows
ties into
websites like Facebook.
7. NEW TWITTER APPLICATIONS
Although Twitter.com has been around for awhile, Mann said
there are many new applications that are transforming it.
allows people to send tweets that nobody can see, that are private.
Later, they
can be stored as a personal diary or released to public view.Packrati.us integrates
Twitter with the Internet bookmark website delicious.com. Everytime a
URL is
tweeted, it is also added as a shared bookmark on Delicious.com.Twit2Tel is a free
voicemail account based on Twitter. It also allows users to telephone
any other
twitter account — without needing to know that accounts user's phone
number.
And it's free. "It works. I'm absolutely flabbergasted," Mann said.
Mann recommended looking at Twittamentary
to
understand Twitter better. (And, of course, anybody on Twitter would enjoy following Mormon Times' tweets.)
8. OFFISYNC
OffiSync is a Google application that expands the collaborative
document capabilities of Google Docs, an older service. "(Google Docs)
totally changed the way I work," Mann said. He said he has worked on a
spreadsheet simultaneously with a collaborator, using a chat window to
discuss
the work as they made changes.
"We've had as many as many as 35 people in 30 locations
all working on the same document at the same time," Mann said.
As the name implies, OffiSync allows users to use Google
Docs to collaborate in Microsoft Office programs like Word and Excel —
including
these programs' extensive formatting options.
9. HOOTSUITE
HootSuite is a social networking tool. Mann said it can
manage and integrate Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and other services into
one
log-in account. It has various ways to monitor, filter and arrange
information
from these different services. You can even change information
simultaneously
across the various services. "It pulls everything together from a
variety
of places," Mann said.
10. HULU
Hulu.com isn't terribly new, but it is an indication of
trends. It contains television programs, movies and other videos. It
also embeds commercials that can't be skipped — thus providing a revenue
stream for
its owners. It represents a way of accessing content. "If I want to
watch
a TV program, I want to watch it when I want to watch it," Mann said.
"Why
not do this with genealogical conference lectures?"
"Information is king," Mann said. "It is
changing the way we access things, making information more accessible"
New web services and changing how people access and share
information.
Mann said information sources are blending. Knowing the
source is important to judge its reliability. "But ... I just want all
of
this to come to me when I want it and how I want it."
E-mail: mdegroote@desnews.com