Family Origins 5.0 |
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by Chuck Horowitz |
Parsons Technology has done it again. They have produced a genealogy program, Family Origins 5.0, which is both easy to use for the novice and powerful enough for most "Genealogists."
The program creates a database using the Windows interface which will be familiar to a novice user. The menu to enter family history, information and data is straightforward, friendly and easily understood. You don't have to "know" genealogy to successfully record your family's "pedigree" (history). You enter data and notes and the program creates your family history database with links among various family members. You can link a photograph or other images to individuals contained in the database and print these images.
All the data you can find out about an individual ancestor can be put into Family Origins. I like the idea that most of the data I want to store can go into its own, specific area (field) and I don't have to put it into a separate notes field. This allows you to get at the family data more readily. Family Origins also has areas that allow you to document the source of your information. (A "must" if you ever want to join ancestral organizations, such as the DAR, SAR, SRT, DRT, SCV, etc.)
You can print family-group sheets along with the images that you have linked. Four, five or six generation Pedigree charts can be printed for the person that you highlight. This can be done as a single chart or as cascading charts. In addition, you can print descendant charts and ancestor charts. Of course, custom reports can be generated when you get the experience with the program and have sufficient data entered.
Under the heading of miscellaneous reports the program allows you to print lists of unlinked individuals, duplicate lists (duplicate records in the database), number of years between births (used to find the correct entry in duplicate testing), statistics for individuals, notes and sources and blank Family Group sheets or Pedigree charts.
The program lets you merge records as a method of eliminating duplicates. The combining of the records enables you to keep all of the data.
You can import form PAF (Personal Ancestral Files) if you have started entering your data in this program. Family Origins imports and exports GedCom (Genealogical Data Communication) files. "GedCom" is an electronic format common to most family history/genealogy programs and this allows you to share your family data with friends who may not have the same software. For more info go to http://www.parsonstech.com/genealogy.
Chuck Horowitz is a HAL-PC member and in the Genealogical SIG.
E-mail me at webmaster@hal-pc.org with any comments you have and tell me what you want to see here.
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