[Genealib] GEDCOM in the Library

[Brannan, Joyce A.]

A GEDCOM program cannot be used as it is.  It is a condensed program designed for easy transfer of data between computers.  It must be uploaded into a genealogy program.  I use, and we have on all the computers in our computer lab, the free Personal Ancestry File (PAF) from 
http://www.familysearch.org.  If you want to use it on all your computers in the library, I think you need to ask permission.  I like PAF.  It is easy to use, and will do anything anyone wants short of formating for publishing a book.  The PAF and GEDCOMs have changed over the years, but it is easy to update, if you check on a regular basis and don't let too many years go between updating.  I had one person come in with an old 5 1/4 inch floppy that she had worked on 20 years ago.  We did find someone who could do a conversion for her.
 
Personally, I would not keep anything on GEDCOM.  I would transfer it to a regular genealogy program as soon as I could.
 
Joyce A. Brannan
Julia Tutwiler Library 
University of West Alabama
Livingston, AL 35470

 
________________________________

From: genealib-bounces at mailman.acomp.usf.edu on behalf of Jane
Sent: Tue 6/10/2008 9:53 AM
To: genealib at mailman.acomp.usf.edu
Subject: [Genealib] GEDCOM in the Library


We recently received a manuscript collection (handed over across the reference desk) including a cd with a GEDCOM file. Does anyone have similar disks and how do you handle reading and maintaining them?  As it stands, we do not have any genealogy programs on the Library computers.  If we add a program somewhere and transfer the file, which would be best (easiest to use and update as time goes by)?
On a related note -- has the GEDCOM file type changed over the years?  Or are we ok keeping the data as a gedcom??
 
Thanks for any ideas.
 
Jane Pearson
 
 
 
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