brightsolid brings a family of innovation to FHISO Founding Members
brightsolid to collaborate in FHISO’s Creation of Data Standards for Family HistoryDUNDEE, SCT (UK) and Chandler, AZ (USA) – Dec. 17, 2012 – brightsolid group and Family History Information Standards Organisation, Inc. (FHISO) announced today that the brightsolid group has finalised its plans to become a founding member of the organisation. As part of this process, brightsolid has designated organisational member representatives, including D. Joshua Taylor and Elaine Collins. The brightsolid representatives will work with other FHISO members from the global genealogical community in the development of standards for the digital representation and sharing of family history and genealogical information.
"FHISO allows for an important dialogue between technologists and genealogists”, said D. Joshua Taylor, Business Development Manager of North America for brightsolid, “brightsolid is happy to join this vital conversation and to collaborate with the global family history community.”
"We’re thrilled to know that Chris van der Kuyl and brightsolid are supporting FHISO. We have watched this team grow and succeed. It is an honour to welcome this diversified, world-class innovator and content provider to FHISO”, said Robert Burkhead, acting FHISO Chairman.
Since 1994, brightsolid group has been delivering online innovation and pioneering the expansion of the genealogy market with leading family history websites including the global network of findmypast sites plus ScotlandsPeople.gov.uk, GenesReunited.co.uk, and britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk, together servicing over 18 million registered customers worldwide. The sites connect people via their innovative family history software and deliver access to over a billion records dating as far back as 1200. Family historians can search for their ancestors among global collections, relating primarily to people with UK and Irish ancestry, of military records, census, migration, occupation directories, newspapers, as well as birth, marriage and death records. To learn more, visit the brightsolid website, http://www.brightsolid.com/.
FHISO is a standards-developing organisation bringing the international family history and genealogical community together in a transparent, self-governing forum for the purpose of developing information standards to solve today’s interoperability issues. To learn more about FHISO or become an enquiring member, visit http://fhiso.org/.
Contacts
brightsolid Data Enquiries: Elaine Collins, ecollins@brightsolid.com
FHISO General Enquiries, enquiries@fhiso.org; Membership enquiries, membership@fhiso.org; FHISO Media Relations, Anthony C. Proctor (acproctor@fhiso.org)
Federation of Family History Societies to be FHISO Founding Member
Lutterworth, Leicestershire (UK) and Gilbert, AZ (USA) — December 4, 2012 — The Federation of Family History Societies (FFHS) and Family History Information Standards Organisation, Inc. (FHISO) announced today that the The Federation of Family History Societies has finalised its plans to become a founding member of the organisation. As part of this process, FFHS has designated Malcolm Austen as its key organisational member representative. Malcolm will participate with other FHISO members from the global genealogical community in the development of standards for the digital representation and sharing of family history and genealogical information.
“As family historians embrace the digital age and new technology transforms the way we research, discover and collate information about our ancestors, it is vitally important that we ensure that we adhere to the highest standards available when accessing and sharing data online. We are already seeing some of the problems emerging - incorrect citation of primary sources, confusion about where information was originally created, and issues around referencing personal archives that have been made available on the internet. The Federation of Family History Societies is therefore proud to be one of the founder members of FHISO, and will assist its work in creating the much-needed standards for genealogical data around the world”, said Dr. Nick Barratt, FFHS President.
"We are a community of diverse practitioners and interests. Recognising the needs and devising solutions for our community is not a job for the few, but the many. It is an honour to welcome the Federation of Family History Societies to FHISO. Already instrumental in uniting more than 160 member societies in the United Kingdom and around the globe, FFHS brings vision and experience to FHISO. Our future is today better and brighter for their commitment", said acting FHISO Chairman, Robert Burkhead.
The Federation of Family History Societies (FFHS) is an educational charity formed in 1974. Over the years, membership has grown to over 160 societies throughout the world, including national, regional and one-name groups. The Federation provides eduational opportunities and administers both the Elizabeth Simpson and Geoff Riggs awards. The Federation publishes the FFHS Ezine. FFHS has a long history of providing an authentic, audible, and respected voice for the many thousands of individual family historians. To learn more about FFHS, please visit the organisation’s website, http://www.ffhs.org.uk/index.php.
FHISO is a standards-developing organisation bringing the international family history and genealogical community together in a transparent, self-governing forum for the purpose of developing information standards to solve today’s interoperability issues. To learn more about FHISO, visit http://fhiso.org/.
Please join us in welcoming the Federation of Family History Societies and Malcolm Austen to FHISO!
CONTACTS:
Federation of Family History Societies, it.coordinator@ffhs.org.uk
FHISO General Enquiries, enquiries@fhiso.org; Membership enquiries, membership@fhiso.org; FHISO Media Relations, Anthony C. Proctor (acproctor@fhiso.org)
Federation of Genealogical Societies to be FHISO Founding Member
Austin, TX and Gilbert, AZ — October 29, 2012 — The Federation of Genealogical Societies (FGS) and Family History Information Standards Organisation, Inc. (FHISO) announced today that the Federation of Genealogical Societies has finalized its plans to become a founding member of the organization. As part of this process, FGS has designated Drew Smith as its key organizational member representative. Drew will participate with other FHISO members from the global genealogical community in the development of standards for the digital representation and sharing of family history and genealogical information.
"After RootsTech 2011, the Federation of Genealogical Societies launched a Technology Initiative and committed itself to serving as a technological role model for its member societies. By becoming a founding member of FHISO, FGS provides yet another example of this leadership role in an area of technology that significantly impacts the lives of genealogists,” said Drew Smith, an FGS Director and FGS Representative to FHISO.
“One of the things that distinguishes modern standards development is the diversity of interests that drive the multi-stakeholder model. FGS’s hundreds of member organizations extend across interests and borders. With today’s announcement, FGS has shown the leadership that will help make that modern model possible for all of us,” said Robert Burkhead, acting FHISO Chairman.
The Federation of Genealogical Societies (FGS) was founded in 1976 and represents the members of hundreds of genealogical societies. FGS links the genealogical community by helping genealogical societies strengthen and grow through resources available online, FGS Forum magazine (filled with articles pertaining to society management and genealogical news), and Society Strategy Series papers, covering topics about effectively operating a genealogical society. FGS also links the genealogical community through its annual conference -- four days of excellent lectures, including one full day devoted to society management topics. To learn more about the FGS, visit http://www.fgs.org.
FHISO is a standards-developing organization bringing the international family history and genealogical community together in a transparent, self-governing forum for the purpose of developing information standards to solve today’s interoperability issues. To learn more about FHISO, visit http://fhiso.org/.
Please join us in welcoming the Federation of Genealogical Societies and Drew Smith to FHISO!
CONTACTS:
Federation of Genealogical Societies, Drew Smith, drewsmithtpa@gmail.com
FHISO General Enquiries, enquiries@fhiso.org; Membership enquiries, membership@fhiso.org; FHISO Media Relations, Anthony C. Proctor (acproctor@fhiso.org)
Coret Genealogie brengt leiderschap, ervaring in de ‘FHISO Founding Member’ groep
Den Haag (Nederland) en Gilbert, AZ (USA) — 11 oktober 2012 — Coret Genealogie en Family History Information Standards Organisation, Inc. (FHISO) hebben vandaag aangekondigd dat Coret Genealogie zijn plannen heeft afgerond om stichtend lid van de organisatie te worden. Als onderdeel van dit proces heeft Coret Genealogie zijn oprichter, Bob Coret, aangewezen om de organisatie als lid te vertegenwoordigen. Bob zal, samen met andere FHISO leden uit de wereldwijde genealogische gemeenschap, participeren in de ontwikkeling van standaarden voor de digitale representatie en het delen van familiegeschiedenis en genealogische informatie.
"Ik ben ervan overtuigd dat de genealogische gemeenschap als geheel – organisaties met en zonder winstoogmerk, collega’s en concurrenten, ontwikkelaars en eindgebruikers – profijt hebben van standaarden. FHISO biedt ons de mogelijkheid om het inzicht van alle internationale genealogische spelers te combineren bij het ontwikkelen van standaarden op het vlak van familiegeschiedenis”, zei Bob Coret, oprichter van Coret Genealogie.
“Coret Genealogie bouwt sinds 2003 gereedschap en netwerken in de Nederlandse genealogische gemeenschap. Of het nu gaat om inhoud of verbindingen, we hebben allemaal voordeel van Bob Coret’s ervaring en inzicht. Dat Bob zich vanuit Nederland aansluit bevordert het wereldwijde netwerk van technologen en genealogen die samenwerken om FHISO’s onafhankelijke en zelfbesturende operatie mogelijk te maken”, zei Robert Burkhead, waarnemend voorzitter van FHISO.
Het Nederlandse bedrijf Coret Genealogie biedt een variëteit aan webgebaseerd genealogie gereedschap. Genealogie Online publiceert stambomen en door vrijwilligers gescande bronnen. De website fungeert ook als een onderzoeksgereedschap, door suggesties te geven aan deelnemende genealogen omtrent online beschikbare bronnen die gerelateerd zijn aan het eigen genealogische onderzoek en omtrent overeenkomsten tussen gepubliceerde stambomen. Stamboom Forum is een sociaal netwerk voor genealogen. Deze website faciliteert de uitwisseling van kennis en diensten in de Nederlandstalige genealogische gemeenschap. Het brengt ook genealogen met elkaar in contact, op basis van de familienamen die zij onderzoeken of het genealogische evenement dat zij bezoeken. Voor meer informatie over de hulpmiddelen die Coret Genealogie levert, bezoek http://genealogie.coret.org/
FHISO is een standaards ontwikkelende organisatie die de internationale familiegeschiedenis en genealogie gemeenschap samenbrengt in een transparant, zelfbesturend forum om informatiestandaarden te ontwikkelen om de huidige interoperabiliteitsproblemen op te lossen. Voor meer informatie over FHISO, bezoek http://fhiso.org/.
Wij nodigen u uit om Coret Genealogie en haar oprichter, Bob Coret, te verwelkomen bij FHISO!
Contactpersonen:
Coret Genealogie (Dutch and English), genealogie@coret.org
FHISO General Enquiries, enquiries@fhiso.org; Membership enquiries, membership@fhiso.org; FHISO Media Relations, Anthony C. Proctor (acproctor@fhiso.org)
Coret Genealogie brings leadership, experience to FHISO Founding Member roster
The Hague (Netherlands) and Gilbert, AZ (USA) — October 11, 2012 — Coret Genealogie and Family History Information Standards Organisation, Inc. (FHISO) announced today that Coret Genealogie has finalised its plans to become a founding member of the organisation. As part of this process, Coret Genealogie has designated its founder, Bob Coret, to be an organisational member representative. Bob will participate with other FHISO members from the global genealogical community in the development of standards for the digital representation and sharing of family history and genealogical information.
"I am convinced that the genealogical community as a whole—profit and non-profit organisations, colleagues and competitors, developers and end-users—benefit from standards. FHISO provides the opportunity for us to combine the insight of all international genealogical players in the development of standards to support family history”, said Bob Coret, founder of Coret Genealogie.
“Coret Genealogie has been building tools and networks in the Dutch genealogical community since 2003. Whether the subject is content or connections, we all benefit from Bob Coret’s first hand experience and insight. That Bob joins us from the Netherlands furthers the world-wide network of technologists and genealogists uniting to make FHISO’s independent and self-governing operations a reality”, said Robert Burkhead, acting FHISO Chairman.
The Dutch company Coret Genealogie provides a range of web-based genealogy tools. Genealogie Online publishes family trees and scanned materials by volunteers. The website also acts as a research tool—offering suggestions to participating genealogists about online sources related to their genealogical research and between genealogist’s published trees. Stamboom Forum is a social network for genealogists. This website facilitates the exchange of knowledge and services in the Dutch speaking genealogical community. It also brings genealogists in contact with each other, based on the family names they research or the genealogical fair they visit. For more information about all tools provided by Coret Genealogie, please visit http://genealogie.coret.org/en/.
FHISO is a standards-developing organisation bringing the international family history and genealogical community together in a transparent, self-governing forum for the purpose of developing information standards to solve today’s interoperability issues. To learn more aboutFHISO, visit http://fhiso.org/.
Please join us in welcoming Coret Genealogie and its founder, Bob Coret, to FHISO!
CONTACTS:
Coret Genealogie (Dutch and English), genealogie@coret.org
FHISO General Enquiries, enquiries@fhiso.org; Membership enquiries, membership@fhiso.org; FHISO Media Relations, Anthony C. Proctor (acproctor@fhiso.org)
Calico Pie Limited leads the UK as a Founding Member of FHISO
London (United Kingdom) and Gilbert, AZ (USA) — September 24, 2012 — Calico Pie Limited and Family History Information Standards Organisation, Inc. (FHISO) announced today that Calico Pie has finalised its plans to become a founding member of the organisation. As part of this process, Calico Pie has designated its founder, Simon Orde, to be an organisational member representative. Simon will participate with other FHISO members from the global genealogical community in the development of standards for the digital representation and sharing of family history and genealogical information.
“Open standards make possible products and applications that even the creators of the standards themselves could never have imagined. Family Historian was originally built around one standard GEDCOM that has been hugely important for genealogy. We look forward to the opportunities and possibilities that future standards will bring. The emergence of FHISO is exactly what the genealogy world needs, and we are delighted and excited to be part of it”, said Calico Pie’s managing director, Simon Orde.
“Developing international standards requires a supporting network of vendors and users that extends across the globe. Thanks to the leadership of Calico Pie and Simon Orde, our world community became better connected today in a big way. This announcement is good news for Family Historian users and genealogists everywhere”, said FHISO Organiser, Tony Proctor (UK and Ireland).
Simon Orde founded London-based Calico Pie Limited in 1995. Its award-winning product, Family Historian, is the United Kingdom's leading genealogy software program. Ease of use, integrated visuals and graphics, emphasis on getting the most out of the data and bringing a balance to pre-configured and user-customisable features are just some of the goals and philosophy behind the development effort. In January 2012, Family Historian 4 was honored with the “Best Buy” award from Which? Computing. To learn more about Calico Pie and Family Historian or to take the latest release, Family Historian 5, on a test drive, visit the company website, http://www.family-historian.co.uk/.
FHISO is a standards-developing organisation bringing the international family history and genealogical community together in a transparent, self-governing forum for the purpose of developing information standards to solve today’s interoperability issues. To learn more about FHISO, visit http://fhiso.org/.
Please join us in welcoming Calico Pie and its founder, Simon Orde, to FHISO!
CONTACTS:
Calico Pie / Family Historian, info@family-historian.co.uk
FHISO General Enquiries, enquiries@fhiso.org; Membership enquiries, membership@fhiso.org; FHISO Media Relations, Anthony C. Proctor (acproctor@fhiso.org)
ourFamily•ology adds another dimension to the list of FHISO Founding Members
Franklin Lakes, NJ and Gilbert, AZ — September 21, 2012 — ourFamily•ology, Inc. and Family History Information Standards Organisation, Inc. (FHISO) announced today that ourFamily•ology has finalized its plans to become a founding member of the organization. As part of this process, ourFamily•ology has designated its founder, Brandy Sacco, as an organizational member representative. Brandy will participate with other FHISO members from the global genealogical community in the development of standards for the digital representation and sharing of family history and genealogical information.
“FHISO offers the best hope for a community-driven genealogy standard. Finally, we’ll have a place where genealogists and technologists world-wide come together to discuss the new tools and technologies that we want and need,” said Brandy Sacco, ourFamily•ology Founder.
“Our community thrives on functionality and sharing. Innovative developers like Brandy Sacco deserve support from a modern, participatory standard development organization. Tools to help users build reliable family trees, enabling sensible privacy controls and soon to be released advanced media tagging features are examples of user functionality that Brandy has developed for ourFamily•ology. With innovators like Brandy Sacco participating in FHISO, just imagine what we’ll be able to accomplish,” said Robert Burkhead, FHISO Chairman.
ourFamily•ology provides web-based genealogy tools to inspire hobbyists and advanced users alike to build reliable family trees that can be shared with family and friends. The innovative Progress Rating Chart allows users to visualize their progress and see the big picture. Searching and adding genealogical records from FamilySearch is a snap. Soon to be released media tagging and flexible privacy controls will make it possible for users to securely share and collaborate in exciting new ways. Website resources provide tips and insights that explain what genealogy is, how to find documents, how to conduct research, and more. As part of its core mission, ourFamily•ology believes in being a part of the genealogy community and staying abreast of new developments. For more information about ourFamily•ology or to subscribe for a free trial, please visit http://www.Family-Genealogy.com.
FHISO is a standards-developing organization bringing the international family history and genealogical community together in a transparent, self-governing forum for the purpose of developing information standards to solve today’s interoperability issues. To learn more about FHISO, visit http://fhiso.org/.
Please join us in welcoming ourFamily•ology and its founder, Brandy Sacco to FHISO!
CONTACTS: ourFamily•ology, support@ourFamilyology.com
FHISO General Enquiries, enquiries@fhiso.org; Membership enquiries, membership@fhiso.org; FHISO Media Relations, Anthony C. Proctor (acproctor@fhiso.org)
WikiTree joins the growing list of FHISO Founding Members
Croton-on-Hudson, NY and Gilbert, AZ — August 15, 2012 — WikiTree.com and Family History Information Standards Organisation, Inc. (FHISO) announced today that WikiTree has finalized its plans to become a founding member of the organization. As part of this process, WikiTree has designated its founder, Chris Whitten, as an organizational member representative. Chris will participate with other FHISO members from the global genealogical community in the development of standards for the digital representation and sharing of family history and genealogical information.
"Although the mission of the WikiTree community is to grow a worldwide family tree, only a fraction of the world's genealogical information will ever be organized and stored on WikiTree.com. The worldwide tree is something much larger and greater than any one forum or organization. That's what makes universal standards so important. Information on WikiTree needs to fluidly connect with information elsewhere. When the FHISO team invited WikiTree to join as a founding member, I jumped at the opportunity," said WikiTree founder, Chris Whitten.
"WikiTree is a dynamic, innovative platform where community members work together to connect our ancestral families. This sense of community spirit is also important to FHISO’s development. Today’s announcement represents the innovators of one community, WikiTree, supporting the development of another, FHISO. Our many thanks to Chris Whitten for helping FHISO connect with another important market sector,” said Robert Burkhead (USA), member of the FHISO organizing team.
WikiTree is a community of member volunteers collaborating to develop a single world tree. By design, WikiTree sets out to balance the interests of privacy and so that everyone can share the same family tree. This dynamic, innovative approach to family history began in 2008 and has been growing ever since. Members of the WikiTree community agree to an “Honor Code” in their joint work. Chris Whitten, WikiTree founder, has made a pledge to keep the platform free. To learn more about WikiTree, visit the company website, http://www.wikitree.com/ .
FHISO is a standards-developing organization bringing the international family history and genealogical community together in a transparent, democratic forum for the purpose of developing information standards to solve today’s interoperability issues. To learn more about FHISO, visit http://fhiso.org/ .
Please join us in welcoming WikiTree and Chris Whitten to FHISO!
CONTACTS:
WikiTree.com, info@wikitree.com
FHISO General Enquiries, enquiries@fhiso.org; Membership enquiries, membership@fhiso.org; FHISO Media Relations, Anthony C. Proctor (acproctor@fhiso.org)
RootsMagic, Inc. to collaborate within FHISO about community standards
Gilbert, AZ, USA—July 27, 2012—Family History Information Standards Organisation, Inc. (FHISO) announced today that RootsMagic, Inc., has finalized its plans to become a founding member of the organisation. As a founding member, RootsMagic will designate organisational member representatives to participate with other FHISO members from the global genealogical community in the development of standards for the digital representation and sharing of family history and genealogical information.
"Most of us just want it to work. Within FHISO, everyone’s needs will be considered. Things will just work for more of us, more of the time. We’ll get there, thanks to support from leaders like Bruce Buzbee and Michael Booth of RootsMagic. Today’s announcement is good news for genealogists and innovators around the globe,” says FHISO Board Member, Geir Thorud (Norway).
For over 20 years, RootsMagic, Inc., has been creating family history software, starting with the popular Family Origins and continuing with RootsMagic, the award-winning genealogy software which makes researching, organizing, and sharing family history fun and easy. Over the years RootsMagic has released other programs to help people preserve and share their family history. Personal Historian helps users write and preserve their life stories. Family Atlas makes creating custom family maps fun and easy. And Family Reunion Organizer takes the headaches out of planning those important get-togethers. For more information about the RootsMagic family of products, visit the company website, http://www.rootsmagic.com/ .
FHISO is a standards-developing organisation bringing the international family history and genealogical community together in a transparent, democratic forum for the purpose of developing information standards to solve today’s interoperability issues. To learn more aboutFHISO, visit http://fhiso.org/ .
Please join us in welcoming RootsMagic and their member representatives to FHISO!
CONTACTS:
General enquiries – enquiries@fhiso.org
Membership enquiries – membership@fhiso.org
FHISO Media Relations - Anthony C. Proctor (acproctor@fhiso.org).
Ancestry.com set to collaborate about community standards
Gilbert, AZ USA—May 17, 2012—Family History Information Standards Organisation, Inc. (FHISO) announced today that Ancestry.com, Inc. has finalized its plans to become a founding member of the organisation. FHISO is a newly-formed international organisation created to develop standards for the digital representation of family history and genealogical information. As a founding member, Ancestry.com will designate five organisational member representatives to participate with other FHISO members from the global genealogical community.
Ancestry.com is the world's largest online family history resource, with 1.9 million paying subscribers. More than 10 billion records have been added to the site in the past 15 years. Ancestry users have created more than 34 million family trees containing approximately 4 billion profiles. In addition to its flagship site, Ancestry.com offers several localized Web sites designed to empower people to discover, preserve and share their family history.
FHISO is a standards-setting organisation bringing the international family history and genealogical community together in a transparent, democratic forum for the purpose of developing information standards to solve today’s interoperability issues. To learn more about FHISO, visit our website, http://fhiso.org/ .
Please join us in welcoming Ancestry.com and their member representatives to FHISO!
CONTACT:
Anthony C. Proctor, FHISO Media Relations (acproctor at fhiso.org)
Robert M. Burkhead, FHISO Acting Chair (rmburkhead at fhiso.org)
Andrew G. Hatchett III, FHISO Acting Secretary (agh3rd at fhiso.org)
FHISO receives inaugural year financial pledge from Andrew G Hatchett III
Gilbert, AZ USA—April 26, 2012 — Family History Information Standards Organisation, Inc. (FHISO) today announces it has received an inaugural year (2012) financial pledge from Andrew G Hatchett III that will help with specific start-up costs and certain on-going monthly operating expenses.
An amateur genealogist for more than 50 years, Andy served in the United States Air Force and has experience in business, office management, sales and quality control. He retired from Laboratory Corporation of America in 2001 and has since been a beta tester for several software companies. Andy joined BetterGEDCOM in February 2011; in November of that year, he became part of the group organizing FHISO. He currently serves as FHISO’s acting secretary.
FHISO is a standards-setting organisation bringing the international family history and genealogical community together in a transparent, democratic forum for the purpose of developing information standards to solve today’s interoperability issues. To learn more about FHISO, visit our website, http://fhiso.org/ .
Please join us in thanking Andy for his support, and let’s all wish him a Happy Birthday!
CONTACT:
Anthony C. Proctor, FHISO Media Relations
Robert M. Burkhead, FHISO Acting Chair
Andrew G. Hatchett III, FHISO Acting Secretary
FHISO receives start-up grant from Megan Smolenyak2
Gilbert, AZ USA—April 18, 2012—Family History Information Standards Organisation, Inc. (FHISO) today announced that it has received a grant from Megan Smolenyak Smolenyak’s Honoring Our Ancestors Genealogical Grants. The funding will be used to help with the expense of incorporation and start-up.
Megan Smolenyak is a genealogist, author and popular speaker. Her most recent book, Hey, America, Your Roots Are Showing was released in January of this year. She earlier wrote, Who Do You Think You Are?: The Essential Guide to Tracing Your Family History. Megan also conducts forensic research for the U.S. Army, coroners, NCIS and the FBI. To learn more about Megan, visit her website, http://www.honoringourancestors.com .
FHISO is a standards-setting organisation bringing the international family history and genealogical community together in a transparent, democratic forum for the purpose of developing information standards to solve today’s interoperability issues. To learn more about FHISO, visit our website, http://fhiso.org/ .
Please join us in thanking Megan!
CONTACT:
Anthony C. Proctor, FHISO Media Relations (acproctor@fhiso.org)
Robert M. Burkhead, FHISO Acting Chair (rmburkhead@fhiso.org)
Andrew G. Hatchett III, FHISO Acting Secretary (agh3rd@fhiso.org)
FHISO and BetterGEDCOM in the news. (2012-04-10)
"If we’re to become better genealogists, then we need a better storage format.” So writes our own A. C. "Tony" Proctor in “Building a BetterGEDCOM:
Building a Better World,” an article appearing in the current (April 2012) issue of Your Family History.
Tony's article introduces FHISO and touches on many BetterGEDCOM discussion topics, including the need for a new format to be "flexible and
accommodating " toward the definition of the family unit. By golly, he managed to highlight both "E&C" and Elizabeth Shown Mills in the same article!
Great job, Tony.
Visit the
Your Family History
website where you can subscribe or obtain more copies of the edition: http://www.your-familyhistory.com/. Alternatively, FHISO have permission to post a PDF version of the full article at: http://fhiso.org/blog/
The following is a recompiled post, originally dated 2012-03-03.
FHISO is a standards-setting organization, and both technical and non-technical folks working (long and hard) to make this a reality. Those of us on the Developing the Organization (DTO) are (really, really) thankful for the mentoring and assistance being received--it's coming from within and beyond the BetterGEDCOM membership. We could use more help, including technical assistance, in the work to ...
(a) build and/or arrange tools to support an extendable collaboration infrastructure (working groups, project teams, technical standing committees, etc.). The tools must support a speedy process, and thus aid in a range of circumstance (static, real-time and asynchronous).
(b) hands-on assistance to develop materials that seed an initial set of working groups and project teams. In support of same, some particular work with the BetterGEDCOM Requirements Catalog is needed.
(c) website design and development,
(d) writers/content creators and, as appropriate, translators,
(e) graphic design/promotional materials suitable for independent presentation to vendors, family historians and genealogical organizations around the globe,
(f) technical tools and other assistance supporting outreach,
(g) nonprofit accounting, membership and database infrastructure,
(h) legal support to finalize things like the privacy policy and terms of use ...
One community, one standard.
We've got to work together “for the common good.”[1] Let’s develop the potential of FHISO as a community-owned, standards-setting organization and realize the benefits. If you can help, please contact us at fhiso *AT* fhiso *DOT* org.
We thank you all for your continued support.
[1] Dr. Bill (William L.) Smith, “FHISO: One community, one standard--feels good to me; to you?” _Examiner.com_ (http://www.examiner.com/genealogy-in-springfield-mo/fhiso-one-community-one-standard-feels-good-to-me-to-you: published 1 March 2012)
http://www.geneamusings.com/2012/07/whither-fhiso-and-gedcom-x-observations.html
Louis
Does the use of the word 'exchanging' really mean only exchanging their stuff internally with some of their other stuff?
I think not.
But it could be for exchanging internally and externally, from FamilySearch, with no thought of other programs, individuals or needs.
Thank you for posting the Anonymous.
Good job. --GeneJ
I'm sorry my answers have been unhelpful.
Honestly, what else would they say? Methinks I smell a wee whiff of hubris, don't you? Are you familiar with the term "overhanging the market"?
I appreciate the time spent in your in depth responses.
Sounds like it to me.
the announcer is a market leader in the adjacent space;
the new product is not ready for release at the time of the announcement;
the market is new and standards are not yet clearly defined;
the goal is to forestall competitor growth by encouraging customers to wait for the new product.
Hmm, good point ttwetmore
"Honestly, what else would they say? Methinks I smell a wee whiff of hubris, don't you? Are you familiar with the term "overhanging the market"?"
A 'wee whiff'...That has to be the understatement of the century!
;)
the announcer is a market leader in the adjacent space;
the new product is not ready for release at the time of the announcement;
the market is new and standards are not yet clearly defined;
the goal is to forestall competitor growth by encouraging customers to wait for the new product."
Wonderful. I was just googling trying to find such a succinct definition. In the telecommunications world this used to be an illegal practice. When I worked at Bell Labs for AT&T, Network Systems, and Lucent, every public statement we made about our products and plans had to be vetted by our lawyers looking for breaches in this practice. Much of Microsoft's wealth is based on their constant use of this practice. However, in this day and age no one even worries about it anymore. We all promise the world and rarely deliver.
https://bettergedcom.wikispaces.com/message/view/FHISO+News/55444010?o=20#55473136
Could you share more about your observation of "minimal input?"
FHISO hasn't made its enquiring member roster public, but we have good support, including good support internationally and in the US.
Adrian
I think GEDCOM X is developed a bit backwards: first they code, then they put it into diagrams and maybe then into plain language. Requirements aren't formulated in detail. This leads to a lot of trial and error and reworking, but still, things get done.
BetterGEDCOM does it in a more traditional way: first a lot of brainstorming, then setting down the requirements, then discussing each of them. And there we are, a bit stuck, I feel.
We have a few models to look at and discuss, but we are not working much on _the_ BG model.
Github is a good tool for developing code, maybe we could use it with plain text to develop a "unified" standard with the best ideas of every model? What are the best ideas of each model? (If anyone wants to answer that, I guess a new thread is in order...)
Have you considered that is only seems that way? In other words, does it seem that Ryan works from code to plain language because that is the way it is they are exposing it?
As far as I know, most of the standards materials and work goes on behind the closed door. Do we know which developers had the early hand in developing the requirements? Maybe Tom knows?
If I were a commercial organisation then I would have to "address" GEDCOM-X in one of my releases, otherwise it would be commercial suicide, but I could not embrace its data model internally. I would have to continue using my proprietary one (STEMMA in my case).
So, will the industry be any better off by virtue of GEDCOM-X? No! Data sharing will be just as messed up as before.
Only a community standard can reduce the industry fragmentation, and consolidate our requirements.
Tony
Gene then asked "Have you considered that is only seems that way? In other words, does it seem that Ryan works from code to plain language because that is the way it is they are exposing it?"
A reasonable question, Gene - but I've actually read Ryan (I think it was him) being quite open that they were coding FIRST and then coming up with the supporting designs, etc. And it seemed that the reason (the only reason?) that they were coming up with the supporting designs was to enable the outside world to comment on what they had produced. Which is an eminently sensible thing to want to do, of course, but it puts the rest of us in catch-up mode, only able to comment on the bits that they've got round to back-translating.
Adrian
"Have you considered that is only seems that way? In other words, does it seem that Ryan works from code to plain language because that is the way it is they are exposing it? "
Ryan himself admitted in an early post on either issue tracker or somewhere on the GEDCOM X site that he indeed works from code to plain text.
"Right now, everything at GEDCOM X is out in the open."
Hardly! Everything that FS wants made public about GEDCOM X is out in the open but...
The actual decisions, exactly how and why they are made, and exactly who makes them is *not* public.
The truth is that no matter how accommodating Ryan, Troy, and the others are about accepting suggestions ( and both Ryan and Troy have been *very accomodating), the fact is that it is ONLY FS personnel that can actually make concrete decisions about what goes into or is left out of GEDCOM X.
Why anyone would support anything from anybody when they do not have an actual role in the decision making process concerning that thing is completely beyond me.
Andy
This is the interesting bit for me. FS may well be the x-hundred pound gorilla in the room, but if no-one else picks up GEDCOMX, then it's as dead as GEDCOM 6 was. And BetterGEDCOM is. And why _should_ these guys pick up G-X? The last time I tried to find my way round the models, they didn't offer much that was new in _genealogical_ terms to anyone adopting them, so where's the incentive to embark on a huge investment? I really hope there's a good reason for them to go forward, but at the moment I feel like this is an eternal triangle of end-users wanting change, IT geeks like ourselves creating proposals and software suppliers. We need all three, and one lot aren't actually - so far as I can see - committing because there's no good reason for them to do so. If this sounds cynical, I'm sorry - it's actually meant to be realistic. I've made major changes to systems in my time, but I've always had good reason to do so. I'm still waiting for the killer-reason to get the software suppliers on board.
I'm obviously not an authority on the deeper goals of GEDCOM-X, but I can summarize my between the lines opinions. Whether I truly have any insights I will leave to your judgement.
I do not believe that GEDCOM-X is consciously targeting the exchange of data between the ecosystem formed by the desktop genealogical applications. I have the impression that GEDCOM-X is dedicated to two different internal applications.
1. Application one -- Managing their on-line trees with their own data and with data provided by users. For this they are designing the GEDCOM-X Conclusion Model. That model features two main object types, the Person and the Relationship. There is no Family object, places are not first class objects. The only Relationships of interest are parent/child and spouse/spouse. They have another model, the Source Metadata Model for holding source information that the conclusion objects may refer to.
2. Application two -- Managing the digitization of their massive collection of record data. The LDS is going through two evolutions, first from their master catalog of microfilms, thence to digital images taken from the microfilms, and thence to digital text indexes and fuller extractions taken the digital images. The GEDCOM-X Record Model is being designed to be the digital text format for the ultimate extracted records, replacing what used to be called SORD. The Record Model also uses the Source Metadata Model for holding its source information.
Presumably the Conclusion Model could be a replacement for GEDCOM, though without a Family record there might be great objection.
To fully support the research process I have argued on the GEDCOM-X issues list, that the two models should be combined, which can lead to the multi-level persona/person model I have always advocated (and that many object to).
Thank you for sharing your insight.
I appreciate that only a few BetterGEDCOM member are authorities on the goals of GEDCOM X; questionable even they have the authority to share more than the company line. --GeneJ
And again I ask "what this reply has to do with having five Ancestry.com representatives with FHSIO".
I understand Ancestry's position and internal best option, but having 5 representatives a majority does not make. Looking at the structure of FHISO, (which I may add appears unmanageable to fill all the roles, given the minimal input by all across genealogy), if there are 5 other companies, each with 5 reps, and who knows how many individuals, they will be a small voice in the standard setting proces.
Tom, if GEDCOM X is only intended for their internal use then why promoted it as a 'standard' for the general community -which they clearly do on the GEDCOM X Home Page.
[QUOTE]
GEDCOM X defines an open data model and an open serialization format for exchanging the components of the genealogical proof standard.
[END QUOTE]
[QUOTE]
The intent of GEDCOM X is to define a standard for modeling and exchanging the components of the research process that comprise the genealogical proof standard:
Search Reliable Sources
Cite Each Source
Analyze Sources, Information, and Evidence
Resolve Conflicts
Make a Soundly-Reasoned Conclusion
[END QUOTE]
Does the use of the word 'exchanging' really mean only exchanging their stuff internally with some of their other stuff?
I think not.
I agree with you:
I do not believe that GEDCOM-X is consciously targeting the exchange of data between the ecosystem formed by the desktop genealogical applications.
If I were to ask what GEDCOM-X is for, I guess the question Anonymous asks on DearMYRTLE (http://blog.dearmyrtle.com/2012/07/follow-up-fhiso-or-gedcom-x.html) would some it up for me:
"Is GEDCOM-X meant to be a transfer method between programs and individuals for the purpose of easy sharing OR a method of programs and on-line sites to 'link' into the FS Tree."
To anyone who has spent many years in the technical world, and been involved with the development of major real world standards, the answer is fairly obvious. Ancestry.com and FamilySearch are the big gorillas. They each have their own internal data standards, and they will not change them (it would cost them zillions of dollars to do so) for any new standard that is not based on their own internal formats and internal needs. Just think Microsoft. Microsoft played lip service to standards for decades but always turned around and did exactly what they wanted to. They would put new extensions onto fully agreed upon standards, or simply write their own, and because they were so big, if you wanted to play, you had to do it there way. Exactly the same can be said about FamilySearch and Ancestry.com.
I am surprised that FHISO had the naiveté to entertain the idea that FamilySearch would open up their standards to the community. Anyone who knows about the hierarchy of the LDS should have known that the elders would not allow such a thing. Any hint of ceding control to an outside organization is impossible. But what is actually very encouraging about the current GEDCOM-X process is that FamilySearch has opened up their issue tracking system, which is proving to hold a number of great conversations about genealogical data models, and that Family Search is taking those conversations seriously. A number of outsiders, myself included, have raised issues and made suggestions that have been taken to heart and have caused changes. Many of the conversations have echoed the same conversations that used to occur on B-GEDCOM, but on the GEDCOM-X side there is an organization and an authority that can make the final decisions on topics and move on to others.
With GEDCOM-X on the horizon, and with B-GEDCOM on the ropes, can FHISO be relevant? If GEDCOM-X proves sufficient to solve most of the problems of sharing data that are inherent with original GEDCOM, then it's not at all clear, is it?
I was a little sceptical as to the reason for the post at first, given the background of Myrt, but after the post re her affiliation, and re-reading in that context, I would consider you has explained the user requirement very well.
Thank you. Myrt has been passionate about this issue as long as I have known her.
Her post was very direct. It reflects, I believe, her work over so many years with all ranges of genealogists and her love of technology.
Again, thank you. --GeneJ
The organizers have posted a response to Randy's blog article. You can read it here:
http://www.geneamusings.com/2012/07/whither-fhiso-and-gedcom-x-observations.html
The posting only slightly extends the information posted earlier today on the FHISO Open Discussion page here on the wiki.
http://bettergedcom.wikispaces.com/FHISO+Open+Discussion
Sorry for being obtuse. Ancestry.com will come to any standards effort with vested interests, and they will either not agree to any standards that do not meet those interests, or they will ignore any standards that do not meet them, and simply continue with their business as usual. This is the nature of the standards beast. My allusion to Microsoft was intended to underscore the point. It should be intuitively obvious that Ancestry.com has no financial incentive for supporting a new genealogical standard, and great financial disadvantage for having to adopt new standards. It seems it must be up to me to once again to take on the bad boy role and point out these politically inconvenient facts.
Maybe you need to have been involved with standards efforts that involve large organizations to appreciate this. Standards bodies are among the most politically and selfishly motivated bodies that there are, with many hidden agendas coming from the participants. I worked in the telecommunications world for over 20 years, most of that time at Bell Labs, and I was involved with many standards activities with the giants of the telecomm industry. We're talking serious standards here, with committees flying to Geneva to meet with their international partners, etc, etc. Not sure where the allusions to "ethics" and "best efforts" come from. Participants often become the best of personal friends, go out boozing together in the evenings, but are cutthroat proponents for their own companies by day.
I believe FHSIO should start by concentrating on the world of genealogical desktop applications, in the world of Mom-and-Pops, where there truly is some financial incentive to form a new standard, and try to extend GEDCOM in such a way that it is possible to foster better sharing between those apps. This was the problem that B-GEDCOM started out to solve. If B-GEDCOM then becomes a well established lingua franca then the larger organizations will be much more inclined to provide their support. Until then B-GEDCOM and FHSIO are akin to bothersome gnats to the giants.
Sorry if I continue to bug all the non-tekkies on this list. I don't wish to make anyone angry, but there is a layer of technical knowledge and realism that is simply missing from the B-GEDCOM and FHSIO discussions.
I try to keep up with the discussions on the issues at Github.
I am impressed with how many good people are contributing, how many good ideas there are, and how open Ryan is. He really gives the impression that he wants the best possible result, and not one that only suits FamilySearch internally. He (and others) have changed big parts of their initial code when others pointed out better ways. I hope he has the full backing of the FamilySearch organization.
GEDCOM X already has people from outside the US participating, and they are getting heard. Also, it looks as if a big part (maybe half?) of active people are from outside the LDS or FS. And it also looks as if all of them are also active as genealogists.
It's true that there are no people taking part who are "only users". The way that GEDCOM X is developed is making it hard for people (like me) who are not programmers but still could contribute if the models wouldn't be very deeply hidden in code, or the first test files unreadable for humans... But even there, I'm hopeful: it looks as if the exchange files will be a lot better readable in the next version. And maybe then some of the other "users-but-technically-inclined" can contribute a bit as well.
But even now, I'm optimistic that GEDCOM X has a good chance, because of the good and open discussions there, with smart people who have their own ideas but are also willing to compromise.
You can look at their models without having to dive down into code. Frankly, I completely shy away from looking at their code as it does not reflect the latest thinking. If you wander around on their web site long enough you will come across some model diagrams and some documentation that describes the components.
More to write, but I'm curious as to why you would write, "I believe FHSIO should start by concentrating on the world of genealogical desktop applications, in the world of Mom-and-Pops, where there truly is some financial incentive to form a new standard, and try to extend GEDCOM in such a way that it is possible to foster better sharing between those apps."
Where do these applications fall in terms of GEDCOM X? I though GEDCOM X was supposed to replace GEDCOM?
Any insight you can provide would be appreciated.--GeneJ
You can read his article here:
http://www.geneamusings.com/2012/07/follow-up-friday-whither-fhiso-and.html
In a summation, he writes, "The money quote, for me, is about the contact with the ANSI organization and communicating with genealogy vendors.
Right now, everything at GEDCOM X is out in the open. It's all in the Github project, and anyone can download it, make changes, upload again. It is also allowed to take the stuff from there and build something else from it (i.e. "fork" it).
I haven't seen a specific license yet. Is there one? If it's some GPL or similar open license, or CC, that would be amazing.
So could FHISO take a fork of GEDCOM X if it wanted to make it an independent standard?
Of course, FS is the 900 pound gorilla, and if they wanted to go closed-source again and announce their own thing then they could do it. And then there would be competing flavors of the same standard. But I don't see why FS would want to do something like that, it makes no sense. FS seem to be interested in developing a standard that is good for them and for their customers. If they wanted something that's only useful for them, then they would only work on the separate "record model".
B-GEDCOM seems kaput. There are a few postings now and again, but nothing serious is being done. I would say that B-GEDCOM is in a holding pattern awaiting FHISO to reach critical mass. It was fascinating to read the criticisms levied at B-GEDCOM because developers are involved! The users were responsible for a long and excellent list of B-GEDCOM requirements. Once requirements exist one would hope that developers would be involved to design to those requirements. It seems that you and I must apologize because we are developers who takes the requirements seriously and are helping to design a model that meets them! One must wonder how many more ways B-GEDCOM will find to shoot itself in the foot!
FHISO remains a mystery to me. I have no idea what it will be able to do. With FamilySearch coming out with a new GEDCOM I would expect that FHISO is struggling to find a raison d'être. With five members from Ancestry.com, I would think that nothing that is not fully endorsed and already decided by Ancestry.com could come from FHISO. FHISO may end up taking fait accompli standards like GEDCOM-X and promulgating them as officially endorsed FHISO standards. There is much precedence for this in the standards world, and it would probably be a good model for them to work under.
"With five members from Ancestry.com, I would think that nothing that is not fully endorsed and already decided by Ancestry.com could come from FHISO."
Why on earth would you think that? The final standards published by FHISO will be approved by member wide balloting. I can't see how 5 votes out of the total membership could play a determining role in the outcome of any vote on that standard.
Adrian
There are guidelines that provide a framework in which community standards organizations may operate. While there are probably better terms, I'll suggest key words "ethics" and "best outcomes."
Among these is "lack of dominance"; another, is "balance of interests."
Given this ethics and best outcomes frame work, and what we already know about the interest expressed in FHISO, I'm comfortable with Andy's reaction. --GeneJ
I am guessing that this comment "It was fascinating to read the criticisms levied at B-GEDCOM because developers are involved!" was directed at me. It is / was wonderful to have developers involved from the get-go. However, YOU, TOM, didn't want to hear from End Users. I pulled completely away from this project because of many of YOUR comments.
I am only sorry that, it appears, that you took the developers involvement as being negative. That was NOT my intent, is that is what you were referring to.
Russ
http://blog.dearmyrtle.com/2012/07/whose-sandbox-is-it-anyway.html
Thank you. What was your reaction to Myrt's post? --GJ