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FamilySearch Wiki:Introduction: Difference between revisions
FamilySearch Wiki:Introduction (view source)
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:''Most of this information was presented at the BYU Computerized Genealogy conference in March 2008, and appears in the | :''Most of this information was presented at the BYU Computerized Genealogy conference in March 2008, and appears in the [[Media:FamilySearch_Wiki_vision_BYU_2008.doc|syllabus]]. A compressed version of the [[Media:BYU_2008_March-compressed.ppt|Powerpoint file]] is also available for download. Feel free to use it to tell your organization about FamilySearch Wiki!'' | ||
People seeking research advice have to search many sources to find it. FamilySearch Wiki is a Website where the community can write and update research advice for any locality. Here's an overview of our vision and an invitation to join us. | People seeking research advice have to search many sources to find it. FamilySearch Wiki is a Website where the community can write and update research advice for any locality. Here's an overview of our vision and an invitation to join us. | ||
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== Our mission and funding == | == Our mission and funding == | ||
The mission of the Family History Department of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) is to provide genealogical records and services to customers worldwide. Our services are free, as are most of our products -- including data sets online. We have occasionally offered products at cost, such as genealogical records on CD-ROM. We are funded by contributions from members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. We do not receive funds from any profit-making companies with whom we collaborate on projects. | The mission of the Family History Department of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) is to provide genealogical records and services to customers worldwide. Our services are free, as are most of our products -- including data sets online. We have occasionally offered products at cost, such as genealogical records on CD-ROM. We are funded by contributions from members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. We do not receive funds from any profit-making companies with whom we collaborate on projects. | ||
== Our customers -- and why serving every country is important == | == Our customers -- and why serving every country is important == | ||
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Some people are curious as to how there could be a demand for genealogical research support regarding a country where people live on a dollar a day. If residents there must focus their time and resources so heavily on mere survival, how could anyone there be doing genealogy? One of the answers lies in emigration. | Some people are curious as to how there could be a demand for genealogical research support regarding a country where people live on a dollar a day. If residents there must focus their time and resources so heavily on mere survival, how could anyone there be doing genealogy? One of the answers lies in emigration. | ||
When survival is tough in a country, people tend to emigrate to countries where life is easier. In countries where life is easier, people tend to have leisure time. Some choose to spend this time learning about their ancestors. Descendants of emigrants often become disconnected from their heritage and want to learn about their families. Thus, FamilySearch receives questions regarding genealogical research in even the poorest of countries -- including those where genealogy is an oral tradition rather than a process of documentation. | When survival is tough in a country, people tend to emigrate to countries where life is easier. In countries where life is easier, people tend to have leisure time. Some choose to spend this time learning about their ancestors. Descendants of emigrants often become disconnected from their heritage and want to learn about their families. Thus, FamilySearch receives questions regarding genealogical research in even the poorest of countries -- including those where genealogy is an oral tradition rather than a process of documentation. | ||
== Our employees and volunteers == | == Our employees and volunteers == | ||
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*Revise content more often to maintain its usefulness. (In 2007, most of our publications were at least five years old.) | *Revise content more often to maintain its usefulness. (In 2007, most of our publications were at least five years old.) | ||
*Increase the number of missionaries, volunteers, and family history consultants to accomodate patron demand. | *Increase the number of missionaries, volunteers, and family history consultants to accomodate patron demand. | ||
*Identify records worldwide. (The world is a big place. There is always room to improve the information we gather regarding local collections.)<br> | *Identify records worldwide. (The world is a big place. There is always room to improve the information we gather regarding local collections.)<br> | ||
*Provide local lessons. (FamilySearch generally provides only general lessons that work everywhere. But the best genealogy advice is specific and local!) | *Provide local lessons. (FamilySearch generally provides only general lessons that work everywhere. But the best genealogy advice is specific and local!) | ||
*Make content easy to find. (The Research Guidance tool on FamilySearch.org is hard to navigate. Our tools need to have search engines!) | *Make content easy to find. (The Research Guidance tool on FamilySearch.org is hard to navigate. Our tools need to have search engines!) | ||
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Firefox is a Web browser. It, too, was built by a volunteer community. It’s very stable, and its feature set tends to grow much faster than that of commercial browsers. In fact, Microsoft copies Firefox features when they release new versions of its browser, Internet Explorer. | Firefox is a Web browser. It, too, was built by a volunteer community. It’s very stable, and its feature set tends to grow much faster than that of commercial browsers. In fact, Microsoft copies Firefox features when they release new versions of its browser, Internet Explorer. | ||
So how does a volunteer community produce a product whose quality rivals or exceeds that of commercial products? The answer lies in the mantra often heard from Linux developers: “Many eyeballs make any bug shallow.” If enough people invest their time in contributing to a product, they tend to catch bugs early and fix them quickly. Community brings quality. A worldwide community, contributing information for which they are experts, can provide a repository of genealogical excellence and unrivaled information for the entire world. | So how does a volunteer community produce a product whose quality rivals or exceeds that of commercial products? The answer lies in the mantra often heard from Linux developers: “Many eyeballs make any bug shallow.” If enough people invest their time in contributing to a product, they tend to catch bugs early and fix them quickly. Community brings quality. A worldwide community, contributing information for which they are experts, can provide a repository of genealogical excellence and unrivaled information for the entire world. | ||
== One contributor makes a difference == | == One contributor makes a difference == | ||
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Probably the easiest way to contribute your knowledge is to add new information to an existing article. Find an article that deals with some type of information you’d use often, and then add to it. For instance, if you know a good Website for tombstone inscriptions in Pennsylvania, you can add the link to an existing article called Pennsylvania Cemetery Records. You can do it in only a couple minutes – it’s that simple! <!--{12057231920822} --> | Probably the easiest way to contribute your knowledge is to add new information to an existing article. Find an article that deals with some type of information you’d use often, and then add to it. For instance, if you know a good Website for tombstone inscriptions in Pennsylvania, you can add the link to an existing article called Pennsylvania Cemetery Records. You can do it in only a couple minutes – it’s that simple! <!--{12057231920822} --> | ||
== Why is FamilySearch "competing" with other organizations' similar Websites?<br> == | |||
==== We avoid duplication and welcome collaboration<br> ==== | |||
Some folks who hear about FamilySearch Wiki note that there are other valuable Websites which offer research advice. They ask, ''"Why are you competing with Site X? It's a good site. Why do you want to duplicate their work and dilute the efforts that are already being contributed to them?" '' <br> | |||
Part of the answer is that we ''don't'' want to duplicate sites that are offering quality research guidance. Wherever there is a site that offers current, clear, well-organized content that our customers value, our goal is to link to those sites from the wiki and drive customers to them. That said, some sites have great information for one area and obsolete information for another. Other sites have great navigation in one area, and confusing navigation in another. In these cases, we may choose to....<br> | |||
*partner with the other organization to help them revise their content;<br> | |||
*link to the other site's quality content but not to their obsolete content;<br> | |||
*create similar content for the area in question in a language not covered by the original site. <br> | |||
We welcome like-minded organizations to contact us if they'd like to collaborate. Such partnerships will more rapidly produce the information genealogists need. <br> | |||
==== Our content isn't new -- only the media is<br> ==== | |||
Another way to consider FamilySearch's "new entry" into this market is that FamilySearch isn't new to this domain at all. Our organization has provided research guidance to patrons since 1894 when we were known as the [http://www.gensocietyofutah.org/ Genealogical Society of Utah]. We've always striven to do our best to deliver "one-stop shopping" for genealogical advice. During the 100+ years of our existence, we've constantly worked to improve the media we use to deliver that advice, including a few major media changes in the last 15 years. In the 1980s, we published research advice on paper. In 1998, we switched to CD-ROM. In 1999, we switched to html. In 2008, in order to make the work collaborative and scalable, we switched to the wiki medium. <br> | |||
When you consider the organizations who offer genealogical research advice, then, FamilySearch is a relatively ancient player. And like any other service organization or publisher, we periodically swap out strategies and media to better serve our customers. Even the information we used to seed the wiki isn't new to the field. We published it on paper in 1997, on CD-ROMs in 1998, in html on the Web in 1999, and in Wiki code in 2008. The content we used to populate each medium was basically the same -- we just updated it as we went along. <br> | |||
== Subjects outside the wiki’s scope == | == Subjects outside the wiki’s scope == | ||