The Future of Genealogy
How Technology is Changing the Way You Research Your Family History The future of genealogy is on my mind. Genealogy has been around for centuries, but the way you research your family history is changing all the time. In the past, it used to be a hobby primarily for middle-aged or retired individuals. People would…
How Technology is Changing the Way You Research Your Family History
The future of genealogy is on my mind. Genealogy has been around for centuries, but the way you research your family history is changing all the time. In the past, it used to be a hobby primarily for middle-aged or retired individuals. People would spend their days visiting the library, a historical society, or a museum, maybe even a cemetery, or join the town’s oldest resident for a glass of lemonade and a slice of pie to talk about the olden days. But not anymore. Thanks to advances in technology, there is now a wealth of information available online that has made it easier than ever for you to find your ancestors’ records and uncover their stories right from your own home. And thanks to a world pandemic, people of all ages joined in.
The Future of Genealogy and the Internet
The availability of online records is a testament to an industry that realizes the need to take an old-fashioned hobby and make it modern, and that mission is underway. The goal to ensure internet availability is also high on the priority lists. Education for more mature folks who did not grow up with computers is even on the rise. Once online, you can find census records, birth/death/marriage records, church records, immigration records, ledgers, journals, passport files, military records… The list goes on and on. While just about anything you can imagine can be found online, it’s essential to remember that it still represents a very small percentage of all the records available.
The Future of Genealogy After a World Pandemic
With the Covid crisis, the world changed. And in some ways, the genealogy hobby reemerged. With so many businesses closed to the public, libraries, and other repositories had a chance to think about how they were presenting to the public on a computer screen. It was an opportunity to fine-tune their online presence and, in many cases, finally develop one. Many repositories took time to digitize their holdings uninterrupted.
For me, one of the most valuable changes was the increased collaborations that started happening. With all of us getting crash courses in Zoom and FaceTime, people opened up and were open to having conversations with complete strangers. I was fortunate enough to connect with about a half dozen relatives during that time, and we all made great strides in your research by being able to collaborate and firm up our research for their branches.
The Future of Genealogy and DNA Testing Companies
DNA is the new cool kid on the block. Everybody is taking a DNA test. While most folks are casually taking them to learn if they really are Italian or half French, many of you are using them to confirm your family histories. There is no right or wrong reason to take a DNA test because whatever the reason, the answers are there.
DNA testing helps you identify your biological ancestors, migration patterns, and learn more about your ethnic heritage. It can also help you connect with long-lost relatives and learn about your family’s medical history. But I don’t think it will stop there. I know there is so much more possibility coming down the pike.
The Future of Genealogy Through DNA
In the future, DNA testing is likely to become even more affordable and innovative. New DNA testing technologies will be developed that can provide even more information about your ancestors and help you learn even more about where you came from and who. Just consider the possibilities!
You are already starting to see DNA testing advance quickly into your everyday life. DNA testing can be used to create personalized health profiles that can help you understand your risk for certain diseases and conditions. This information can be used to develop personalized treatment plans and prevent diseases from developing. You often hear or read about DNA testing being used to identify genes associated with certain diseases. This information can be used to develop treatments that can repair or replace damaged cells.
More on the Future of Genealogy
This world isn’t slowing down. We’ve never been more curious or willing to push the envelope. We’ve proven to be a world willing to adapt at a quick pace. Genealogy is just one aspect of where this world is going, but it’s the one I am curious about at the moment. Here are a couple other technologies coming at you in the near future.
Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Genealogy
Ai, or artificial intelligence, has come crashing on the scene. While Ai has been around since the 1950s and has been part of your daily life for at least the last decade, it is now talking to you! Ai is a large language model, meaning it has been trained with tons of data and can sort through that data and form reasonable-sounding responses. But hear me, and hear me loud, Ai is a doer and not a thinker. While much of what I have asked Ai to do has been adequate, if you try to access knowledge it has not been trained on, it will string together words that make perfect sense. And are a total hallucination. With that said, Ai is not being put back in the box. It is becoming a force you will have to learn to live with.
Ai is really good at analyzing data to identify patterns and connections. This will help you uncover new information about your ancestors that you would not have been able to find otherwise. Ai can also be used to identify patterns in data. This can help you find new connections between your ancestors and build a more complete picture of their family history. It will be used even more behind the scenes. Imagine transcribing documents, indexing databases, and searching for information for you, freeing you up to focus on the more creative and challenging tasks that you may be facing.
Virtual Reality and the Future of Genealogy
Virtual reality is really promising when it comes to genealogy and historical research. I envision it being a way to recreate our ancestors’ lives, conceptualize, if you will, what their world was like. But right now, virtual reality is more than playing a game with a pair of VR goggles on. Architects are not limited to just looking at a set of drawings. They can experience a 360-degree view of a building that hasn’t even been built yet. Pilots are in flight simulators more lifelike than ever before. Doctors are training with computer-generated patients and helping them prepare for complicated surgeries before walking into the OR.
When it comes to genealogy, you see a few possibilities on the horizon. One is already being implemented. Sanborn Maps are being turned into 3-D neighborhoods! Imagine virtually walking down the street where your grandparents lived and seeing the homes, the stores. Wow! What an incredible way to recreate a history that may have been bulldozed over.
MyHeritage has already introduced virtual reality experiences. One of the more popular is ‘Deep Story’. I am not be a fan. It creeps me out, for lack of a more professional phrase. But people love it! You upload a photo of your ancestor, customize the text, and it will talk to you! That’s a little too close to ghosts, so I’m out. But if things like that don’t bother you, it is an amazing tool to bring your ancestors to life.
Don’t Forget, Help Genealogists of Tomorrow
As I mentioned earlier, while so many records are online, we have to continue the work to get the records that are still sitting in boxes online too. Those of you who have loved genealogy up to this point also have the responsibility to share what you have and what you have learned.
Share!
Share your experience and your knowledge. That is what you are doing. By sharing things you have learned and resources you have discovered, you are giving them a head start. The same for your family research. You don’t have to reinvent the wheel. You can leave them your family research, and they can put it through their vetting process and build it out even more.
Consider joining a local genealogy or historical society and help them digitize records they have in their possession. They may also need help with transcribing records, indexing databases, or being available to answer research questions. You know when you do a search and you see a transcription of the record and not the actual record? Either a person did that, or AI. Here are a few organizations that welcome real live people to help with transcribing records:
- The National Archives- Citizen Archivist: Be the first to transcribe Revolutionary War Pension files. It has probably been many decades since someone has laid eyes on the original notes and signatures.
- Smithsonian Digital Volunteers: Transcription Center: Transcribe the notebooks from Williamina Fleming, who discovered over 310 variable stars, as well as discovering the first white dwarf? She is just one of the amazing women that made discoveries about the universe we live in.
- FamilySearch offers you a chance to improve place names and historical records. We have all been so frustrated when we locate a misspelling on a transcription that costs us hours of time trying to find it, with the correct spelling. Here’s your chance to improve upon it. [URL]
- Library of Congress– By The People: super easy to do. You can transcribe or review others’ transcriptions. [URL]
- Local genealogy or historical societies should be on your list. Call them up and see if they have any local projects you can work on. Or, if they know of any. Colleges, other libraries, museums…
In closing, you should feel that the future of genealogy is wide open. Thanks to advances in technology, you are now able to learn more about your family history than ever before. In the years to come, you can expect to see even more changes in the way you research your family history. Find. Keep. And share their stories.
