Who Was That Person?

In my last post I mentioned re-inventing the Rec2Gen site as a place for genealogical and historical memorabilia. Immediately thereafter i got distracted by other projects so that went on the back-burner. It will get done eventually, but not yet.

I have now removed completely the Erie County site. In retrospect it was doomed to failure, but I never bothered to analyze the potential at the beginning. It included a big city (Buffalo) so I figured there would be plenty of interest — but after a full year or operation I had only two free subscribers. Where did I go wrong?

My previous experience with a genealogical site was my Irish DigDat (for Digital Data) site. Begun in March 2003, that site has had over 17,000 people join at the free level. Now I never expected a Buffalo NY site could match that kind of response, but somehow I thought it might be 10% or even 5% as much, which would be sufficient.

After all, Buffalo had a population of about 350,000 in 1900. The population of Ireland in 1901 was just over 3.2 million, so Buffalo had roughly 10% as many people as all of Ireland. That ignores the very different historical trends however. Buffalo had grown up from essentially nothing in 1800. Ireland had been experiencing a long and consistent decline in numbers, due primarily to emigration. In 1880/1881 the population of Buffalo was only about 4% that of Ireland, and in 1840/1841 Buffalo had only 2/10 of one percent of the population in Ireland.

Beyond the sheer numbers, the dynamics were quite distinct as well. Buffalo records are for the most part well preserved and readily available, so people searching Buffalo ancestry tend to complete their research in a fairly limited time span. Irish research is never-ending, there are too few records, too widely dispersed. And it goes much further back than just the 19th century. So people who joined DigDat nine years ago are still returning to the site and comparing information there to new clues discovered elsewhere. Very few people who did Buffalo research nine years ago need to continue working on lines there.

I have learned my lesson. Hopefully my other projects will attract a wider audience. ClassyArts.com, for example, is fast becoming the best source for information on historic photographers. Several thousand photographs are available, but the heart of the project is the database of photographer names, locations and dates — which now has almost 90,000 records, and continues to grow.

My new project is AmTiquing — a site where people interested in antiques and collectibles can share information, plus a directory of antiques and collectibles dealers. That is certainly a large target audience, but it is also a competitive arena. I think there is room for a site such as I have envisioned, where people share their expertise and finds, or offer items for sale. Because it is such a broad subject area, a key value of my site will be the ability for people to personalize it to a very narrow and specific interest area, so they do not need to wade through the tons of material on subjects that do not interest them to find the gems they seek.

Well, the previous idea for Rec2Gen did not generate much reaction from the genealogical community, so I guess either they were not ready for it, or I failed to properly represent it. Anyhow, the Erie County sample site will remain online with ads for a while, to see if it can earn its keep that way — otherwise it will be removed.

The main Rec2Gen site has been rededicated to memorabilia and photographs. That was a small part of the original concept. Perhaps that original idea was too ambitious, so now the site will just be devoted to photographs, ephemera, advertisements, postcards and similar materials from before 1950 that mention people by name. Most will also include an exact location.

A rough draft of the concept is online, using the material that was already a part of the original site. I’ll post another message here when the reworked site is complete.

Not a lot accomplished this past week, as I’ve turned most of my time toward another project. In fact, I think I am going to dispense with the weekly reports for this, and to to monthly statements. That does not mean ‘nothing’ will be happening — just that the pace after 3-1/2 months will be transitioning into slow and steady growth. The initial development phase is complete.

There are still a few programming goals that need to be met, but there is never any great urgency in genealogy. I have also been meaning to add advertisements to the site, so that it can earn it’s keep.

Since we are only a week away from the end of this month, and the busy holiday season is upon us, the monthly reports will begin in January 2011, when we will report December progress.

Here is our summary of data entry progress for the past week:

Erie County NY Genealogy – rec2gen site
Week 14 ending Monday 22 Nov 2010
# Sources Listed: 150
# Articles: 1
# Places: 269
# Images: 12
# Scraps: 70
# Names in Db: 14,903 (303 increase)
# Factoids: 41,415 (635 increase)

Did not report progress last week because I bought a new computer, and switching from the old to the new resulted in several days of chaos. Obviously, it also reduced the amount of productive work done too. Hopefully it will pay-off in the long run, with increased productivity, though so far things are slower rather than faster with the new computer. The computer itself is faster, but I’m slower.

The old computer was a desk-top model, and this new one is a lap-top — and although the keyboard if nearly as large as on the desktop, there are some differences that take time to get used to. I taught myself to type as a teenager, using my Mom’s antique Underwood clunker. When I began typing on a computer keyboard in the 1970s, I found it easier to use the left shift key for all the letters, rather than switch back and forth — I could type faster by doing it ‘wrong’ so for the past 35 years that is what I have done. Now, however, I find with this ever so slightly more cramped keyboard that I keep hitting the caps-lock key when I try to use the left shift key to capitalize letters typed with the left hand. So I’m having to re-learn to type correctly, hence I’m a bit slower.

My wife and I will be able to spend more time on the beach now though, since I can get some work done while there. That should make up for any other inconveniences.

Here is our summary of data entry progress for the past two weeks:

Erie County NY Genealogy – rec2gen site
Week 13 ending Monday 15 Nov 2010
# Sources Listed: 150
# Articles: 1
# Places: 269
# Images: 12
# Scraps: 70
# Names in Db: 14,600 (1,477 increase)
# Factoids: 40,780 (3,943 increase)

Did not spend much time on the Erie County site this week, had other things going on that kept me from the computer much of the week. Fun things, like time on the beach (I live just a couple miles from the ocean). All work and no play, as the cliche goes.

Still, managed to add over a thousand more names to the database, mostly from that 1870 Buffalo City Directory — up to the names beginning with ‘G’ now. Each name entered generates one to three associated ‘factoids’ — always the person is living 1870, usually with a specific address. That is one fact. The occupation is listed on about 90% of the names, so a second fact is generated, giving the person’s occupation in 1870. And a great many of the listings include a business name or address, so the third fact in those cases is that the person was working for a particular organization, or was self-employed. Sometimes the directory does not make clear the distinction between self-employed and those working for others, so we make an educated guess, based on the appearance of the listing and kind of occupation — not perfect, but that is why the results are treated as ‘factoids’ rather than absolute facts.

The next big part of the site development that still needs programming will allow members to submit attestations: statements that will change (correct) data, or that will combine two database records into one, because they refer to the same person. The new derivative record will include the combined information from both original records. The original is retained, so it possible to trace back, to see where particular details came from. This combined record can itself be combined with other records, to build up a complete picture of the information available on an individual.

To be really effective, members will also be able (eventually, more programming required…) to enter information from records not yet in the database, for their own ancestors. Then, using the attestations, they will be able to combine all the information into a single record – with each detail traceable to its source. That is how genealogy should be done — too many programs and sites allow sloppy documentation to mar the reliability of their information.

Here is our summary of data entry progress for the past week:

Erie County NY Genealogy – rec2gen site
Week 11 ending Monday 1 Nov 2010
# Sources Listed: 150
# Articles: 1
# Places: 269
# Images: 12
# Scraps: 70
# Names in Db: 13,123 (1,042 increase)
# Factoids: 36,837 (3,247 increase)