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What does the growth at OneGreatFamily mean to
you? |
OneGreatFamily to Accelerate Growth,
Provide More Value
OneGreatFamily
continues to have an increasingly large impact on
the lives of genealogists. Genealogists and casual
family researchers would find little value in
OneGreatFamily if the service were not growing in
terms of names, members, and subscribers.
OneGreatFamily is now looking at opportunities to
push its growth rate even faster.
What does growth mean to you?
The growth of OneGreatFamily means that more
people than ever are working on YOUR ancestral
lines. The growth in data and membership will lead
to new opportunities for collaboration and to have
your family tree grow through the automated
matching and merging process. Some people think
their families are somehow orphaned from the human
family and that nobody else has an interest in
their genealogy. Although these notions are
common, they are rarely true. The real challenge
is taking a family line back far enough to find a
point where it ties in to the research of others.
As OneGreatFamily continues to grow, the
likelihood of someone researching more recent
generations of your family tree increases.
Growth in subscription revenue leads to new
functionality that will help you find ALL of your
ancestors. OneGreatFamily is working on tools and
features that will help you find your ancestors
more easily. Current development is focused on
standards for names, dates, and places, which will
further reduce duplication within OneGreatFamily
and make finding your ancestors easier than ever.
OneGreatFamily is also working on ways to further
improve the speed and performance of its service
and ways to simplify the Genealogy Browser for
those who are new to OneGreatFamily.
What challenges are created by
growth?
Although everyone benefits from the growth of
OneGreatFamily, this growth brings with it certain
challenges as well. As OneGreatFamily extends its
reach, more people who are new to genealogy will
begin using the service. OneGreatFamily is
committed to supporting each of its members, which
means the customer support and technical support
resources must also increase. Training people on
how to use OneGreatFamily is a challenge that
OneGreatFamily is currently trying to address.
Growth also means the technology supporting
OneGreatFamily must also be scaled to meet the
needs of a growing number of records and
members.
Fortunately, OneGreatFamily has a growing
number of subscribers who are helping to fund the
growth of this extraordinary service. The more
OneGreatFamily grows, the more success its members
will have in finding their ancestors and
connecting their family lines with the rest of the
human family tree.
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Lisa Lights the Way |
Recording Dates from
Gravestonesby Lisa South, Certified
Genealogist My husband and I have trekked
many graveyards locating and recording information
found on tombstones. We've done it at night with
flashlights. We've done it with babes in arms and
we've done it at the risk of having to buy out all
the Chigger-rid the local stores had in stock -
and it's always been worth it! Many
graveyards have been canvassed and the information
has been put on the internet. This is a real boon
to genealogists; yet, if at all possible, it is
still better if you can actually go to the
cemetery yourself. When someone else copies the
information from a tombstone, there is always the
possibility of error. Also the way the tombstones
are laid out is often a clue to family
relationships. When you copy information from
cemetery headstones, you should always also
include a simple map or description indicating the
physical placement of the graves. Another good
reason to visit the cemetery yourself is that it
gives you the opportunity to copy information from
the tombstones close to the one you've been
looking for, especially if it appears to be a
family plot. This information can give you clues
about family relationships which you may have been
missing.
You can extract the information from a
gravestone, but of course that makes the document
less valuable because it is a copy. Photographs of
the tombstone are considered an original of the
source (for information about evaluating a source
see "How to Evaluate Genealogy Documents" in OGF
archives). You should never put anything on the
stone that could damage it, nor should you try to
dig out the letters to make them clearer. Before
taking the picture you can wash it off with water
and if necessary brush gently with a soft brush.
Many sites will suggest that you put shaving cream
on the tombstone and scrap it off with a soft
scraper before taking a picture. Although this
does make the stone much easier to read, shaving
creams contain chemicals that will damage the
stone. Even if you wipe or rinse off the cream,
harmful residue may still remain.
Some people like to make grave rubbings of the
tombstone. There are many places where grave
rubbings are illegal and you could receive a stiff
fine, so be sure to make inquiries. A good grade
of paper large enough to cover the tombstone, 100%
cotton rag drafting vellum, or butcher paper all
work well. You can rub with a lumber crayon from a
lumber yard, brass rubbing wax or even a large 1st
grader's crayon.
The first step in tombstone rubbing is to brush
the stone. Using a soft bristle brush, gently
brush away anything that would interfere with the
rubbing. Do not scrub! Place paper over tombstone,
having two people is the easiest - one to hold the
paper in place and one to make the rubbing. You
can also make one large rubberband out of regular
rubber bands (the way you did when you were a kid)
and hold the paper on the tombstone with the
"giant" rubber band. Rub carefully so that you do
not tear the paper or damage the tombstone. After
completing the rubbing and removing it from the
stone, you can spray the paper with a spray
fixative to prevent it from blurring.
ALWAYS treat the grave with respect and
completely clean up the area before leaving.
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Technical Support: Printing Reports from
OneGreatFamily |
How do I print out my family tree
using OneGreatFamily?
Genealogists have
always craved and appreciated ways to share their
research with others. Printing has often filled
that need. Printing is also a great way to backup
and record your genealogy. For many of us, our
progress isn't realized until we have successfully
printed hard copies of records, pedigrees,
pictures, and other genealogical data. Sharing and
reviewing printed documents has always been one of
the best parts of genealogy. We hope this
information will help you when exploring all of
the printing options offered with OneGreatFamily.
Printing at OneGreatFamily:
To print your Pedigree (Starfield), follow
these steps:
1. Move the Zoom Toolbar until the Starfield
has reached your desired size to be
printed.
Note: For more advanced
Starfield size options including Font Size and
Magnify, select User Preferences from the File
menu. Click on the Settings tab, and change the
Computer Expertise Level from Beginner to
Advanced. Font and Magnify Toolbars will appear
next to the Zoom Toolbar.
2. To view the actual size of the print,
select "Print Preview" from the File menu. This
will show you how big your print will actually
be. If you are not satisfied with the size,
adjust the Zoom again.
3. When you are satisfied with the size of
your Starfield pedigree, select "Print" from the
File menu.
4. A popup box will appear. Select "Pedigree
Wall Chart (as shown in the Starfield View)".
You will also see that you have the option to
print a Family Record Form and a Pedigree 5
Generation Chart (more about this in next week's
newsletter).
5. Next you will choose which printer you
want to use, the number of copies you want
printed, and the layout of the print. Once all
the criteria meet your specifications, click the
Print button.
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One Great Genealogy Site
Award |
 
Ancestral and Family Tree
Quilts
Ancestral
and Family Tree Quilts: Proudly display your
family's history with our exquisite,
hand-stitched, genealogy quilts and wallhangings.
Don't keep your family names in a book... show off
all of your hard work. Bring your ancestral charts
to life!
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Get FREE Time on
OneGreatFamily.com |
Want some FREE
time?Current subscribers can earn
additional free time by referring others to
OneGreatFamily.com. OneGreatFamily needs your help
in growing the largest single family tree in the
world. You can get free subscription time on
OneGreatFamily by referring others to this unique
service. When anyone you refer to OneGreatFamily
subscribes to our service and enters your
username, you get an additional free month.
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Last Week at
OneGreatFamily428,262 people
were added into the OneGreatFamily tree. 252,690
new connections between family trees were found by
our automated search system.
Having
Success?OneGreatFamily wants to hear from
you. Please send us your success stories and your
recommendations for new features. Submit
your story Send us
your wish list |
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