In recent communications regarding the RootsTech 2011 speaking schedule, Gordon Clarke pointed me to the following sessions of interest to BetterGEDCOM participants. Because of my speaking schedule, I'll only be able to attend the more lengthy Saturday Genealogical Data Standards session. I am currently pushing for the availability of virtual attendance from BetterGEDCOM activists.
APIs
Title: “Value and use of APIs”
Date/Time: CL070 Thursday 10th 3:00 PM
Moderator: AncestryInsider
Event Description: A panel of companies offering APIs will be available to take a few minutes to share there API offereings. A few questions will be asked the panelist by the Moderator, then any questions from the audience will be put to the panel to respond.
Confirmed Panelists: Kendall Hulet (Ancestry), Noah Tulak (Geni.com), Gordon Clarke (FamilySearch), Alan Eaton (One Great Family), Scott Huskey (Photoloom), Scott Mueller(AppleTree), Dovy Paukstys (SharingTime)
Buzzy Questions:
· What is the value of Application Program Interfaces?
· Do you have a preferences regarding SOAP, REST, or other protocols?
· What do you think about XML, JSON, or AMF?
· What should an API provider offer? ( sample code, discussion boards, support)
· What structure do you like for API documentation?
· Whats the difference between proprietary and open APIs?
· Can the industry benefit from common APIs?
SOURCES
Title: “How should we handle sources”
Date/Time: CL001 Thursday 10th 4:15 PM
Moderator: tbd
Event Description: Open discussion is invited about from genealogist, software vendors, and users about the value of sources, how to best to obtain evidence, save it and share them. Ground-rules for the open-meeting and consensus building will be explained before the discussion begins.
Confirmed Participants: many bloggers, software vendors, and website providers
Buzzy Questions:
· What is the definition of and the difference between a Source and a Citation?
· What are the pros and cons of source templates and wizards?
· How should the “Genealogical Proof Standard” be used?
· What is the value of linking to an online representation of a source?
· How important is indexing (transcribing) sources?
· Should source images be made available without indexes?
IDENTITY
Title: “How do we define a Person”
Date/Time: CL071 Friday 11th 1:45 PM
Moderator: Phil Windley ( Kynetx.com president and former UTAH CIO
Event Description: Open discussion is invited from genealogist, software vendors, social media advocates and users about the identity of a person, how do you describe, share, and protect privacy of an individual whether living or dead. Ground-rules for the open-meeting and consensus building will be explained before the discussion begins.
Confirmed Participants: many bloggers, software vendors, social media developers and website providers
Buzzy Questions:
· What are the commonalities between the identity of an internet person and a genealogical person?
· How should we profile a contributor?
· Can or should Open Connect be used for the genealogical industry?
· How can you communicate with a person without knowing their identity?
· What is different about profiling and protecting the identity of a living person and a deceased person?
· Is a person public identity what has been recorded about the persons activity?
· How can information about a person be aggregated? And shared?
· What rights or control should a person and the decendants have regarding the person history
STANDARDS
Title: “Genealogical Data Standards”
Date/Time: CL072 Saturday 10th 9:45 AM to 12:00 PM
Moderator: AncestryInsider
Event Description: Open discussion is invited from genealogist, software vendors, and users about the need for standards for saving and sharing genealogical information about persons, families, events, places, citations, sources, unique identifiers, persistent urls, etc. Focus will be more on the standardization/consensus building process than reaching any detail conclusions. Genealogical Ground-rules for the open-meeting and consensus building will be explained before the discussion begins.
Confirmed Participants: many bloggers, software vendors, and website providers
Buzzy Questions:
· How are standards formed? (popularity or standards bodies)
· Do we have Person focus OR records focus OR both?
· What’s the difference between a data model and a file format?
· Why do we need standardize file formats?
· What are the concerns about models for person? Family relationships? Events? Sources?
· What are the pros and cons of getting support by major software/website vendors?
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