INTERNET GENEALOGY CLASS 5:
GENSMARTS
©2005
by Donald
R. Snow
Sections of the Class Notes
Return to the Class
Notes and Descriptions. This page was last updated 10 May
2005.
WELCOME AND WHAT THIS CLASS IS ALL ABOUT
ABOUT GENSMARTS
- Summary -- GenSmarts is a program
that reads and
analyzes your PAF (or other FH) database, does artificial
intelligence on it, and suggests places to look for more
information, showing you why it is suggesting what it suggests, what
that data would look like if you found it, and for web sites, taking
you there and
doing the search
- Commercial program -- $25
(downloaded), $35 (on CD), free for FHC's -- GenSmarts home
page is http://gensmarts.com/
- Can have your database running in both PAF and GenSmarts at the
same time, so when
you find something through GenSmarts you can enter it into your
database
-- can then have GenSmarts consider the new data in its analysis by
clicking
Refresh/Reopen
- What GenSmarts does
- Analyzes your database from PAF, Legacy, GEDCOM's,
and other programs, for
gaps in your data, things you have forgotten to check, and new ideas
- Shows why you would want to look at that record, e.g. because
you don't
have the parents'
birth places in your database and that census record would have them
- Can be run on databases WITHOUT being
connected to the
Internet -- only need Internet connection when you want to go to
the web sites to see what data they have for you -- but GenSmarts does
the analysis without being online
- When connected to the Internet, it can take you directly to
the site
and do the search without you typing it in
- Includes searches for things such as vital records, federal
censuses, state censuses, land records, and military records
- Prepares you for a genealogy trip since it shows what you can
find in various locations
- Lets you "surf the web" without having to type in the web
sites nor
the data -- you
just select the name and site and click and it takes you to the web
site and
enters the data from your database
- Lets you use it in "Kiosk mode" where you enter data directly
into
GenSmarts and it gives suggestions of where to find information on that
person -- very helpful when someone comes into the FHC asking how to
find information on a person -- the more data you enter about the
person and those near him, the better the suggestions will be since
they take into account other related people
MENU ITEMS ACROSS THE TOP
- FILE MENU -- has a File Open Wizard that guides
you through opening a new database or you can just tell it where to
find the database you want to open
- PRINT MENU -- can print list of people with suggestions to search
and in the detail that you want; can also print parts or all of the To
Do List of suggestions and in the detail that you want
- TOOLS MENU -- Settings is where you set the parameters the way
you want for analysis, folders to use, settings, and any paid
subscriptions to FH web sites you may have, e.g. Ancestry.com, the New
England Historic Genealogical Society, etc. -- when you list paid
subscriptions it makes suggestions for those, too
- Under Tools/Settings/Integration there are options to set IE
(Internet Explorer) with SmartLink or with SmartSearch -- the
difference is that with SmartLink it opens up the web site with the
name and information entered, but waits for you to click on search,
whereas with SmartSearch it enters the data and does the search,
too. If you elect to use another browser, e.g. Netscape, it only
goes to the site and waits for you to enter the data to search -- is
designed to work better with Internet Explorer.
- HELP MENU -- very helpful information screens that are worthwhile
going through to learn the details
TABS TO SELECT THE OPERATION YOU WANT
- MY GENEALOGY TAB – allows you to determine
information about your file, select “root” person(s), “tag” your direct
line ancestors in each "island" you have in your database -- also
allows you to select a particular person
you want to find data for in the Query Tab (see below)
- TO DO LIST TAB – shows what it suggests to search for
selected persons in your database -- many sources to search are online
- Various options of which persons to include and how to sort
the data, e.g. only work on direct ancestors, only show suggestions for
information that can be found online, or only those places that are
searchable online for free
- Narrative is shown at bottom of screen that tells why the
suggestion is being made, what format you will likely find in the
record, e.g. "This census record will contain the birth locations of
parents and will look like this."
- Can copy and paste into PAF running at same time
- RESEARCH LOCATIONS TAB – shows what
research locations, web sites, etc., are currently being used in the
analysis and what records you can find from that location, what persons
(and their RIN's) that these records would apply to
- Click on any location and you see a list of the data and
which individuals with their RIN's can be found there
- If location is a physical place, e.g. Allen County Public
Library, then you see the address
- If location is a web site, clicking on the www Link button
takes you to that web site
- For Heritage Quest Online if you have a Godfrey Memorial
Library (http://godfrey.org/),
Washington County
Library card (http://www.washco.lib.ut.us),
Provo Library Card (http://provocitylibrary.com/),
or some other library card that
allows you to use Heritage Quest Online, you can enter the URL,
e.g. ,
in the Subscriptions list and when it finds something to search there,
it will open up the web site and wait for you to enter your Library
card bar code.
- DATA CLEANUP TAB – shows how GenSmarts is interpreting your
places and estimating dates and places not completely clear in your
database
- LOCL: is the town level; DIV2: is the county level, DIV1: is
the state level (reminiscent of U.S. Cities Galore's list)
- Can Export the place list as a CSV file to the GenSmarts
folder -- click on Tools/Export Place Names -- can then load it into a
spreadsheet or word processor -- list shows every place in the
database, but has no RIN's associated with the places -- list can be
sorted by any column, e.g. cities, counties, states, etc. -- helpful to
find places needing corrections in your database
- QUERY TAB – can select anyone in your database by clicking on
their name in the My Genealogy File Tab and it puts all their info with
spouse and child in the Query form -- or can enter anyone there by hand
(see Kiosk Mode below)
- Click on Generate Suggestions to get suggestions to find
additional data for that person
MISCELLANEOUS
- 44-page pdf GenSmarts
Manual free for everyone at http://www.gensmarts.com/versionHistory.asp
-- can also download their free pdf file called Ambiguous Place Names
Report which shows U.S. cities with same name in two or more counties
in that state
- Each time you run GenSmarts it
checks with GenSmarts homepage to
update the program and/or get new searches to add to its database since
the
GenSmarts staff
is constantly adding new web sites, libraries, and databases
- You can suggest new web sites and databases for
the GenSmarts
people to consider for additions to searches -- their forum page at
http://www.gensmarts.com/forum/forum.asp?FORUM_ID=7 is a good
source of data sites that have been suggested for inclusion
- You can now add you own logic to check other books, libraries,
etc. -- see their 15-minute online video of how to do this at http://www.gensmarts.com/customAnalysis.asp
- Data files that GenSmarts produces stay on the
machine and do not transfer with your PAF database -- so if you run
the program on your database on another machine at a FHC, for example,
your previous selections of "Found", "Research", etc., will not be
there, but the suggestions it comes up with will be what you would have
got on the other machine
- Kiosk Mode allows you to type in data for an
individual and have it generate suggestions to check, e.g. when someone
needs suggestions of where to look and they don't have their data in a
database yet
CONCLUSION
- Requires that you have your FH data typed into a
computer program
- Very helpful program to suggest what to do and
where to find the genealogy data you need for your database
ASSIGNMENT
- Open your PAF database in GenSmarts and check
each of the menu items at the top of GenSmarts and set the parameters
the way you
want.
- Go to the My Genealogy Tab and
select yourself or a descendant as the “root” person and see all the
names that are your direct ancestors.
- Look at the To Do List Tab and click on various options for
sorting, etc., to see what happens. Note that your
direct ancestors (with the blue stars) are at the top of default
priority To Do List Tab.
- If you are connected to the Internet, click on a web site
suggestion in the To Do List and see how the search is done and see
what data it finds for you.
- Go to the My Genealogy Tab and select someone from your database
and double click on the name. Now go to the Query Tab and note
that that person's data has been entered into the search form there.
Click on the Generate Suggestions button and see what suggestions it
comes up with.
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Notes and Descriptions
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