The recent (Feb. 2-4, 2012) RootsTech genealogy conference in Utah was a mega-success with 4,300 attending genealogy’s version of COMDEX (the large computer trade shows).
I had a terrific time meeting the participants and talking with them about genealogy in general—and GenealogyBank in particular.
In addition to the audience, one of the most exciting things about the RootsTech conference was all the incredible announcements about cutting-edge breakthroughs in genealogy tools.
The key announcement for me at RootsTech this year was made by Jay Verkler (outgoing FamilySearch CEO) about the ongoing “New” GEDCOMX record genealogy tool that will carefully record all genealogical information about a person and then find and attach itself—along with photos and documents—to that person in the family tree of all GEDCOMX-compliant sites.
The final details of how these new fortified, individual GEDCOMX records will work is being thought through, but look for them to have three key parts:
- Exchange Standard (what GEDCOM does now) so that the records can migrate to any family tree site.
- API Standards for pulling data from multiple sources.
- Repository of Data (all uploaded documents, photos, media, etc.).
This is huge.
This is the genealogy tool our community has needed.
These individual “Packaged Data” units will carry all the data about a person—the core genealogical facts, photos and video clips—with the GEDCOM ability to plug in and find itself on a family tree, or the ability to create itself as a new twig on the family trees on all GEDCOMX-compliant websites.
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