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Electronic Publishing
Tara D. Fields
March 9, 2002
*At the end of this document you will find URLs for the software mentioned in this article.
At some point in nearly every genealogist or historian's career, they will wonder if they should publish their family history. Many already share their work with close family members but find that it can be difficult to share the information with their more distant relatives. Organizing and mailing paperwork takes time and money. Publishing a book takes even more money. In addition, the work necessary to keep the material updated on paper can be daunting to the average hobbyist.
Electronic publishing is the answer for many people – professionals and hobbyists alike. Electronic publishing will allow you complete control over your information. You can share your data with just a few close relatives, with all your cousins, or with the whole world. You can make the necessary changes whenever you need or want to make them. Even better, it can be relatively inexpensive.
Who Is It For?
As with traditional publishing, it is important to know who will be your target audience. Generally, your audience will be primarily made up of serious family genealogists, curious family members who just want to know the famous people they are related to J, and historians, and who may not be related to you but who are curious about their local history.
If your information consists of general historical data than a basic word processing document or basic web page would be adequate for most people. However, if you want to publish not only history but genealogy data, than a more planned approach will be needed.
Even to the experienced genealogist, a family tree can be a very confusing tree. Filled with twists and turns, dead ends, and numerous dates – many of them conflicting - it's no wonder the eyes of the "lay" person will glaze over when a genealogist starts talking about their family tree!
When planning on how to share your family history, Rule #1 is to KEEP IT SIMPLE! Remember, most of the people who will be reading your information will either be new to genealogy or at least new to your family line.
Genealogy Software
If you will be including a lot of genealogy information in your published family tree, you may want to consider some type of genealogy software. Programs such as Family Tree Maker or Family Reunion can make sorting out your tree a breeze (well, nearly)! While all genealogy software includes places for names and basic dates, many will also include fields for other important dates such as marriage, baptism, burial, etc. In addition to these features, some will allow you to include medical information and even photos. But most importantly, these programs can keep track of the relationships between your ancestors.
GEDCOMs (making them)
Genealogy program files can be shared in their native format. However, another format may be needed to share this information with those people who are using a genealogy program different from yours. A format common to all genealogy programs is the GEDCOM. GEDCOM stands for GEnealogy Data COMmunications. The GEDCOM is a standardized format that will allow the exchange of data among different software programs, operating systems, and computer types (PC, MAC). You can export your family database as a GEDCOM, give it to a relative on a CD, floppy disk or you can send it through e-mail, and they will be able to import it into their software – regardless of their genealogy program. The only drawback to this method is that you will lose some fields of data that are not standard between the programs. While birth, death, and marriage dates will all be included in the GEDCOM, some program specific data, such as photos, will not be included in the GEDCOM. This can actually be good, as it will keep the file small enough to be easily transported.
Putting Your History on the Web
Regardless of which program you use to create your family history, if you wish to make your data accessible to everyone you can possibly reach without having to mess with floppies and e-mailing large files, you can build a personal web site. Web pages are written in a programming language called HTML (Hyper-TextMarkup Language). If you are industrious enough to learn the HTML codes you can write a web page in any simple text program and send the finished pages to a web server via FTP (File Transfer Protocol). FTP is the program used to send files from your computer to your web server on the Internet. But why worry about all that? There are many programs that will allow you to create web pages without having to know how to either write in HTML or use FTP.
Today's web authoring software, such as NetObjects Fusion or Microsoft Frontpage, uses a process called WYSIWYG – What You See Is WhatYou Get. These programs allow you to drag and drop photos, text, and other objects onto your web page without having to know any code. You put it where you want it on the page and the software puts in the necessary HTML codes in the background. When you get ready to publish the pages most of these programs have built-in FTP software. You tell the software to publish your site, it asks you what your FTP server is (where web pages are stored on the Internet), and it does the rest. (You can get the name of your FTP server by contacting your ISP.)
Most ISPs (Internet Service Providers) include a small amount of web page space with their basic accounts. Those that don't often will include the space for a small extra monthly charge. If your ISP does not provide web page space, maybe you need more space than what they are willing to provide, or web space through your ISP is simply too expensive, an option open to most people is to own their own domain. This is easier than it may seem! For a yearly fee of about $35 you can register a domain with the name of your choosing. I own two domains – www.camdencounty.org and www.camden411.com .
Once the domain name has been registered, you will need to contact a company to host the web site. Some people refer to this as "parking" the web site. This company would actually provide the web space you will be using. Your web hosting company may even register your domain for you – saving you the extra paperwork. Some companies charge extra for this service while others only charge the usual fee of $35 per year. So be sure to shop around! These days web space is pretty cheap – less than $10 a month for 70 Megs of space is not uncommon. As web pages are just basically text files, you can fit a lot of information in 70 Megs. Photos will generally take up more space than web pages. A major benefit to owning your own domain is that if you move and/or change your ISP your web address won't change. Your visitors can have uninterrupted access to your web site for as long as you own the domain.
GEDCOMs On-Line
GEDCOMs can also be put on-line. You can put the entire file on the Internet so that visitors can download it and import it into their own genealogy software. Another option is to use one of the many freeware or shareware programs that will take the GEDCOM file and convert it into hyper-linked web pages. My own personal recommendation is GED2WWW (see address at the end) simply because this program is very easy to use, makes small HTML pages, and will allow you to suppress information on living individuals.
The drawback to web pages is that if you are particular about the layout of the page – how the photos are presented, how the text looks, than you may not be happy with how your web page looks to visitors. While it may look great on your computer, it may display improperly on differing or older web browsers or on smaller or larger monitors. There are a large number of factors that can cause your web page to look distorted – too many to list here. Most people do the best to make their web pages as good as possible for most people; however, nothing is perfect.
Adobe Acrobat (PDF)
If you want to get as close to perfect as you possibly can, than an Adobe PDF file may be right for you. PDF stands for "Portable Document Format". While you have to buy this software to create a PDF, friends and family can acquire a copy of the "reader" for free. The reader can be downloaded from Adobe's web site on the Internet. In addition, many Windows users will already have it as it often comes bundled with other software. Newer versions of Windows have it bundled with the operating system. When the full version of Adobe Acrobat is installed on your computer, it will integrate itself into Microsoft Word – the most common word processor currently on the market. Family history files can be created in MS Word and saved as an Adobe PDF file. You can then send this file to family members, or you can put it on the Internet, and feel confident that it will be properly viewed by anyone with the Adobe Acrobat reader (regardless of reader version, operating system, or whether the computer is a PC or a MAC). Adobe Acrobat files can also be created to include hyperlinks – like on web pages – as well as bookmark files so that readers can easily jump to different sections of the document. This option is great for those relatives who are not on the Internet.
Photos and Scanning
Photos are a great addition to any family history. A computer photo scanner can be purchased at a reasonable price either on-line, at a computer store, or even at the local K-Mart or Wal-Mart. If most of what you will be doing is going to be computer-based, than a scanner for under $100 will work just fine. However, if you wish to scan photos with the intention of restoring them or printing them, it will be well worth the investment to purchase a higher quality scanner. Most computer monitors cannot project a very high quality image when compared to a printed photo. As a result, a high quality scanner is not necessary for computer-based work. When a photo is printed you will notice a difference in quality. If you wish to put a lot of new photos on-line, a digital camera could be a good investment. Digital cameras can be very expensive; however, if your goal were to put photos on the web, than an inexpensive digital camera would be suitable. As with scanners, the higher quality images that expensive cameras can take would be wasted on the web. In addition, digital cameras will save you money in the long run. There is no film to buy, no developing to pay for – or to wait for. Just buy a couple sets of good quality rechargeable batteries as these cameras can go through batteries quickly.
Scanners can also be used to scan in text documents. The scanned document can then be converted into a format that programs such as Microsoft Word can import. This will allow you to easily edit and print portions of documents that might otherwise take you a long time to re-type. However, the software used to convert an image to text, called OCR (Optical Character Recognition), is prone to mistakes. Anything that has been scanned should be re-checked for errors. In addition, the original document generally needs to be a clear print. Most handwritten materials will not be suitable for running through OCR software. Handwritten materials can still be scanned and simply presented as a photo representation of the document.
Security is often a concern with genealogists. It is important to recognize the limitations of all of these options to 100% safeguard your data and/or the privacy of those whose information is contained within. Microsoft Word documents and Adobe PDF files can all be password protected. While this may bring some small comfort, please do the safest thing and simply do not include sensitive information such as social security numbers, home addresses, or home phone numbers of anyone listed in your files. I set up a PO Box so that visitors to my web site would have an alternative to e-mail without compromising my, or my family's, physical safety.
Knowing the Copyright Laws are important whether you are doing traditional publishing or electronic publishing. The same copyright rules apply to both types of publishing. Always assume that, unless proven otherwise, all material you read on the Internet is copyrighted. Your data will be copyrighted, as well, by default. All material created privately, and originally, after April 1, 1989 is copyrighted and protected. A notice to that effect is not necessary but it certainly won't hurt. However, copyright laws do not cover hard facts or ideas. HOW this information is presented can be copyrighted, so when using this type of material make sure to put it in your own words. For example, you can copyright the layout, style, etc. of your cemetery survey book; however, you cannot copyright the birth and death dates of those people listed in the book.
It is vital that your own sources be included with all material you share. In addition, give people an easy way to cite your information. Give them a name and a reliable way to contact you. Make it clear whether or not your information can be shared and under what circumstanced (non-profit use only, for example). If your information is not properly cited than you will probably get a lot of e-mails from people asking you where you got your information and whether or not you can prove your data. Also, please keep your information updated. Let people know when the last update was. If the data becomes outdated, and you do not wish to keep it updated, then remove it from the Internet.
Because of some questions I was asked at the Historical Conference in Woodbine on March 9, 2002, I decided to add a bit of information about my own computer setup. Included is a brief explanation of my choice of options.
I built my own computer. This way I am able to control everything that goes into it. It consists of the following:
Hardware Inside:
Hardware Outside:
If you are going to be printing photos, I generally recommend that your scanner and printer be of the same brand. You will be less likely to experience conflicts. In addition, your colors between what is scanned and what is printed are more likely to match.
When printing photos, use the proper paper for your printer! If you have an Epson printer, than use Epson paper! If you have an HP, then use HP paper. In my own experience I have tried different types of paper in my own Epson and have found that it really does make a difference when you use the brands that were made for other printers – such as HP and Kodak paper. Generally, the print quality was lower when I used non-Epson paper. In addition, if you can get "Premium" paper – like with the Epson brand – than by all means spend the extra money and get the better paper. You really do get what you pay for. Premium paper tends to be thicker, will last longer, will print nicer, and the colors will blend better.
Main Software Used:
Internet:
I hope this article has given you a basic understanding of your electronic publishing options. Be sure to visit the web sites listed at the end of this document – they will provide you with much more information on many subjects related to electronic publishing. Regardless of which option you pick, it's important to take some basic steps before publishing your work. As you probably will not have an editor it's up to you to make any spelling and/or grammar corrections. If there are many mistakes in the document the reader may question whether or not dates and facts can be trusted. Let a friend or family member go over your work after you feel it is completed. Sometimes you need a "new eye" to catch the mistakes you may have overlooked. Just remember to keep it simple, know your audience, and know your copyright laws!
Tara D. Fields
March 9, 2002
PO Box 509
Kingsland, GA 31548
http://www.camdencounty.org
tutcher@camdencounty.org
Disclaimer: I do not gain anything by listing these web sites. It's not my intention to promote one company over another; however, these are the web sites and software programs with which I am familiar.
Additional Resources:
Copyright Explained:
Glossary of Genealogical Terms:
Internet Web Sites About Electronic Publishing:
Web Design Books:
General Genealogy Web Sites:
Software Web Sites:
Web Domain Hosting:
Domain Registration: