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101 Best Family History Web Sites
By Melanie Rigney
Genealogy Software
www.gensoftsb.com www.familystorehouse.com ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/Brothers_Keeper www.familysearch.org/OtherResources/paf4/ www.gedcom.com
Genealogy Software Springboard lets genealogists review the myriad software programs that are out there. Bear in mind that people's opinions often reflect how much they paid for the software and their own research needs. Still, thousands of genealogists have weighed in here, and their opinions are worth a read before you buy.
One-stop shopping for genealogy software, antique maps, forms, charts and more, generally at competitive prices. There also are catalogs for other areas of interest to some genealogists, including religions, scrapbooks and keepsakes.
Brother's Keeper is among the most popular genealogy programs today and one big reason why is its price. You can download this Windows shareware free; for a manual, you need to register and pay $49. The shareware is supposed to be updated every two weeks. Each database you create can hold up to 1 million names, and photos can be attached to people. One downside: You can print only four to six generations per page.
The Personal Ancestral File software from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is one of the most widely used programs, since church members are among the most dedicated genealogists. PAF may be downloaded free, or the church plans to sell the software on CD for a "nominal price."
Sean Adams says he's working to create a custom database format and the necessary tools to use the Web to interface with GEDCOM files, the universal exchange format for genealogy computer files. It's a work in progress, but he's posted a sample of one of his grandfather's files.
Melanie Rigney is the editor of Writer's Digest magazine www.writersdigest.com and a long-time family history researcher.
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