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→The Power of Community and the Web 2.0: Tools to Foster Collaboration and Community
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'''Syllabus for class taught by [[User:GreeneJR|Jim Greene]], Product Manager for FamilySearch.org, presented at [[FamilySearch Presentations at NGS 2010|NGS Conference 2010]].''' | '''Syllabus for class taught by [[User:GreeneJR|Jim Greene]], Product Manager for FamilySearch.org, presented at [[FamilySearch Presentations at NGS 2010|NGS Conference 2010]].''' | ||
== The Power of Community and the Web 2.0 | == The Power of Community and the Web 2.0 == | ||
=== Tools to Foster Collaboration and Community === | |||
Community, Wiki, Forums, Blogs, Facebook, Twitter, Crowd-sourcing, social networks. All are popular buzzwords in business today. What do they mean? Are there ways to apply these new tools and ideas to genealogy? This presentation will show how these new tools can make large projects, which were once impossible, possible. While technology is providing equal online access to vital data, new community tools allow us to use all of this data in an organized way. When you leave this presentation you should have a resolve to be a part of the online genealogical community, and take with you at least two or three new tools and techniques to try out to help you accomplish your genealogical goals. | Community, Wiki, Forums, Blogs, Facebook, Twitter, Crowd-sourcing, social networks. All are popular buzzwords in business today. What do they mean? Are there ways to apply these new tools and ideas to genealogy? This presentation will show how these new tools can make large projects, which were once impossible, possible. While technology is providing equal online access to vital data, new community tools allow us to use all of this data in an organized way. When you leave this presentation you should have a resolve to be a part of the online genealogical community, and take with you at least two or three new tools and techniques to try out to help you accomplish your genealogical goals. | ||
=== | === Community and Genealogy === | ||
==== Accomplishing the Impossible ==== | ==== Accomplishing the Impossible ==== | ||
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There have always been projects that were just too big to ever accomplish them, that is, until new tools and techniques were invented. Consider the engineering marvels that have come into being by perfecting manufacturing techniques and tools: the automobile, the airplane, the personal computer. Now consider the genealogical tasks that for centuries have been considered impossible, and think about the advances that can come simply by having equal and immediate access to all of the records ever kept. Obviously, this record utopia does not now exist, and in order to make it exist it will take countless hours of work. But that is precisely what a community is good at. The Egyptians discovered that a community of slaves could build pyramids of mind-boggling magnitude. We are now discovering that computerized tools can take the slavery out of modern monumental tasks and allow our current community to accomplish projects that dwarf the pyramids, all from the comfort of our own homes. The combining of powerful computers, new easy-to-use software tools, and hundreds of thousands of willing volunteers has made us realize that the once impossible is now very possible. This marriage of tools and humans is called the genealogical community, or for our purposes “The Community.” Here is what the power of the community can do: | There have always been projects that were just too big to ever accomplish them, that is, until new tools and techniques were invented. Consider the engineering marvels that have come into being by perfecting manufacturing techniques and tools: the automobile, the airplane, the personal computer. Now consider the genealogical tasks that for centuries have been considered impossible, and think about the advances that can come simply by having equal and immediate access to all of the records ever kept. Obviously, this record utopia does not now exist, and in order to make it exist it will take countless hours of work. But that is precisely what a community is good at. The Egyptians discovered that a community of slaves could build pyramids of mind-boggling magnitude. We are now discovering that computerized tools can take the slavery out of modern monumental tasks and allow our current community to accomplish projects that dwarf the pyramids, all from the comfort of our own homes. The combining of powerful computers, new easy-to-use software tools, and hundreds of thousands of willing volunteers has made us realize that the once impossible is now very possible. This marriage of tools and humans is called the genealogical community, or for our purposes “The Community.” Here is what the power of the community can do: | ||
*Index millions of rolls of microfilm with billions of pieces of information for easy, instantaneous retrieval, in just | *Index millions of rolls of microfilm with billions of pieces of information for easy, instantaneous retrieval, in just a few years. | ||
*Allow new records to immediately be digitized and indexed for instantaneous search and retrieval. | *Allow new records to immediately be digitized and indexed for instantaneous search and retrieval. | ||
*Connect descendants to pictures of ancestors’ tombstones within hours without having to leave the house. | *Connect descendants to pictures of ancestors’ tombstones within hours without having to leave the house. | ||
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*Have the combined knowledge and experience of all of our brains able to be tapped easily and quickly. | *Have the combined knowledge and experience of all of our brains able to be tapped easily and quickly. | ||
=== | === Tools for Genealogy === | ||
==== Understanding What the Tools Are ==== | ==== Understanding What the Tools Are ==== | ||
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| People with poor writing skills.<br>People with little expertise. | | People with poor writing skills.<br>People with little expertise. | ||
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| Common Pedigree or | | Common Pedigree or Tree | ||
| Repository for facts and conclusions about people, and information storage about people. | | Repository for facts and conclusions about people, and information storage about people. | ||
| Family-based research = Everyone. | | Family-based research = Everyone. | ||
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=== | === Reasons to be an Active Community Member === | ||
Up to this point, we have discussed some of the wonderful monumental genealogical tasks that can be accomplished with focused, driving communities. You will know more about and understand the most common and useful community tools. You will have examples of others who are using these tools. The only thing that is left is to give you some reasons why you would want to consider becoming a member of the modern genealogical community and a reason to begin to use these tools. Here is why: | Up to this point, we have discussed some of the wonderful monumental genealogical tasks that can be accomplished with focused, driving communities. You will know more about and understand the most common and useful community tools. You will have examples of others who are using these tools. The only thing that is left is to give you some reasons why you would want to consider becoming a member of the modern genealogical community and a reason to begin to use these tools. Here is why: | ||