Cloud-Based Genealogy Tools
Photobucket is a free multimedia hosting website. It’s particularly useful for storing media such as photos or videos you want to embed on your genealogy blog or import into another program, such as Google Earth. Connect your account to Facebook and Twitter for effortless photo sharing, and don’t forget to download the Photobucket mobile app to access your account on the go.
SplashTop2 Remote Desktop ($4.99 for iPad, free for iPhone and Android) lets you remotely access your desktop computer from your mobile device. This app will revolutionize your “tablet life” by helping you retrieve and view files stored on your home computer while you’re researching on site at a library or archive. You even can use it to show the family photos on your hard drive to relatives at your next gathering. To use SplashTop, your home computer must be turned on, connected to the Internet and have the free SplashTop Streamer installed.
This cloud-based tool is ideal for anyone who’s a fan of using old-fashioned index cards for organization. Just set up a free account and you can manage your genealogy in a glance, without the lengthy email threads, hard-to-use spreadsheets, sticky notes and paper scraps. Trello is like Pinterest for personal organization: You can set up different “boards,” each of which holds a collection of cards containing your notes. For example, you could have one board for each surname you’re researching, another for a family history book project and one for each genealogy conference you attend. Trello is an ideal tool for collaboration, whether you’re working with a cousin or a genealogy society committee, because you can easily add members to a board for group projects.
uCreate is like a miniature whiteboard for your iPhone or iPad. It costs just 99 cents, and is ideal for brainstorming research tasks, diagramming confusing family connections, mind mapping your brick wall problems and jotting down ideas for your family history writing project. Choose from a variety of pen colors. Make a mistake? Simply use the digital eraser, just as you would on a regular whiteboard. When finished, easily save your creation to your device’s Camera Roll or Gallery, where you can share it via email or Facebook, or upload it to an Evernote Notebook. You even can play a quick game of Tic-Tac-Toe or Hangman inside the app.
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