Today's technological lament relates to databases, particularly the one that I inherited as Membership Chair for the Rhode Island Genealogical Society.(http://www.rigensoc.org/) While having some modicum of skill in computers, (ie. I have one and use it for all sorts of things genealogically and life related) I agreed to perform the often underrated, but important job of maintaining the membership rolls for a society with almost 600 members. How hard could it be? For me, nearly impossible without significant help (thank you, Sarah) and a year to practice and perfect.manipulating data in a new, for me, way.
For years as a scientist, I used statistical packages of various kinds (most of which I am now hopelessly outdated on using) to analyze biological data of various kinds. I once analyzed wing and femur length in thousands of flies the size of a grain of sand. I could spit out all kinds of relevant statistics for backwards stepwise regressions of ant load carriage (don't ask, but it was published if you're incredibly curious). But nothing prepared me for figuring out the vagaries of MS Access. What is a relational database, anyway? (Don't actually answer that, it was a rhetorical question).
As the Membership Chair, I not only had to use it, but update it and massage it to give me the information that I need for various tasks. It was NOT easy, and if you don't have a good memory (which I don't) or incredibly detailed descriptions of the various queries, tables, forms and reports, you can easily get confused and use the wrong query to spit out the wrong information. I have made many mistakes along the way, dropping 40 members off a mailing list, randomly losing people's records (being a dumb box of switches, with the computer, you have to be VERY specific about what you ask for!) and various other glitches and malfunctions that I would say are mostly due to operator error.
So I'm declaring war on our Access database. I want to eliminate it, deactivate it, kill it off in some fashion. I know that there MUST be a better way, to securely maintain and backup our information, and also to allow our members to update some of their own information themselves as well as allow them more direct contact with the society and amongst themselves. I am looking at some integrated online membership website services which do membership and accounting type things, particularly Member Manager, and I put it out into the blogosphere as a question for comments and suggestions. Got databases?
Thursday, September 22, 2011
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
More than one new thing a day ...
I just got back from the Federation of Genealogical Societies (http://www.fgs.org/) conference in Springfield, Illinois. Before I left, I had successfully managed to update my website without too much trauma to it, or too much drama for myself. There's more to do, but I hit the highlights in terms of the revisions I wanted to make. I definitely learned a few new "somethings" undertaking my own updates and the trip to Springfield provided a lot of opportunities to learn new things, as well! Probably a great many more than just one per day.
One of the benefits of learning something new is that you then have a new skill, and you can then use that new skill to support the genealogical society of your choice. One of the genealogical societies of my choice is the Rhode Island Genealogical Society (http://www.rigensoc.org/). I live in Rhode Island now, and when I moved "back home" one of the first things that I did was to become a member. I had very little in the way of Rhode Island roots since many of my families are late nineteenth and early twentieth century immigrants, and the older RI families seem to have more interested members within the society. But the programming and publications are great, and of course, it's a great way to meet other genealogists.
But times are changing, and, slowly, so are the genealogical societies. FGS has some great new initiatives for societies to take advantage of, including radio broadcasts, blogs and website reviews. One of the biggest challenges that I see for many genealogical societies, including my home organization, is that technology seems hard. It isn't necessarily hard, but it seems daunting, like my experience with updating my own website. I procrastinated because I worried that it wouldn't go well, but a little bit of research, a little bit of help, and I was on my way. And so it is for our genealogical societies. "But we've always done things this way!" just doesn't work in appealing to who may be intrigued about genealogy due to the mainstream success of "Who Do You Think You Are?" and the mass marketing of Ancestry.com. Learning to do things in new ways to appeal to younger members seems hard, often because younger people are technologically savvy from birth, whereas the people who are often heavily invested in the management of societies are older, established members who may or may not still be in the work force and keeping up with technological advances through their jobs. I read recently that this year's college freshman were born the same year as the internet. Yup, for us old paper and pen genealogists, it's a whole, new ballgame, and we, as genealogical societies, need to learn something new everyday if we want to thrive, and not just survive.
So, as I learn something new, I often wonder not only how it might apply to my own business and research, but also to my genealogical society. We always need to be asking, is something that I have learned a skill needed by my society? It could be anything from marketing, graphic design, website development, databases, word processing, accounting or indexing. The best way to help your home society is by offering those skills to bring everyone into the twenty-first century. Of course, some of us are still getting into the late twentieth century, but that's another story for another day.
One of the benefits of learning something new is that you then have a new skill, and you can then use that new skill to support the genealogical society of your choice. One of the genealogical societies of my choice is the Rhode Island Genealogical Society (http://www.rigensoc.org/). I live in Rhode Island now, and when I moved "back home" one of the first things that I did was to become a member. I had very little in the way of Rhode Island roots since many of my families are late nineteenth and early twentieth century immigrants, and the older RI families seem to have more interested members within the society. But the programming and publications are great, and of course, it's a great way to meet other genealogists.
But times are changing, and, slowly, so are the genealogical societies. FGS has some great new initiatives for societies to take advantage of, including radio broadcasts, blogs and website reviews. One of the biggest challenges that I see for many genealogical societies, including my home organization, is that technology seems hard. It isn't necessarily hard, but it seems daunting, like my experience with updating my own website. I procrastinated because I worried that it wouldn't go well, but a little bit of research, a little bit of help, and I was on my way. And so it is for our genealogical societies. "But we've always done things this way!" just doesn't work in appealing to who may be intrigued about genealogy due to the mainstream success of "Who Do You Think You Are?" and the mass marketing of Ancestry.com. Learning to do things in new ways to appeal to younger members seems hard, often because younger people are technologically savvy from birth, whereas the people who are often heavily invested in the management of societies are older, established members who may or may not still be in the work force and keeping up with technological advances through their jobs. I read recently that this year's college freshman were born the same year as the internet. Yup, for us old paper and pen genealogists, it's a whole, new ballgame, and we, as genealogical societies, need to learn something new everyday if we want to thrive, and not just survive.
So, as I learn something new, I often wonder not only how it might apply to my own business and research, but also to my genealogical society. We always need to be asking, is something that I have learned a skill needed by my society? It could be anything from marketing, graphic design, website development, databases, word processing, accounting or indexing. The best way to help your home society is by offering those skills to bring everyone into the twenty-first century. Of course, some of us are still getting into the late twentieth century, but that's another story for another day.
Thursday, September 1, 2011
Webmaster, say it isn't so!
What sorts of things do I need to learn for my genealogy business? Being in business for myself (and by myself), I have to know accounting, marketing, time management, in addition to the regular genealogical skills of researching, writing and lecturing. Small business owners wear ALL the hats, as they say. For my volunteer positions as Membership Chair for the Rhode Island Genealogical Society and Editor of the American-French Genealogical Society's journal Je Me Souviens, I need to know Access (I learned that last year, and that's a whole other blog post), Word, and a bunch of other stuff that doesn't have much to do with genealogical research, specifically, but helps in our technology-based world. And it always feels like I should know how to do more, especially related to the technological aspects of genealogy, software, databases and web stuff. Since it seems that everything these days is online, and that one of the first things that people do when they have a new business is set up a website, I should probably know something about it. And, as usual, I know just enough to be dangerous. Happily, I got on the Internet back in the early 90's, and really love using it, but I've never felt the inclination to be a webmaster or administrator or whatever the savvy computer people are called these days. But as a genealogist and small business person, I should know SOME things.
I do have a website. I had a graphic designer set up my website for me (see www.shelleemorehead.com), and I really love it. He had done some work for my husband's company, which I liked, and thought that he could do the materials for my business as well. I liked the concept he came up with, and the results are great. It does what I need it to do for me, I like the layout and the images are from my own photos. It provides basic information about what I do, how to contact me, and what's happening in terms of my lecturing and publications. It's not fancy, but it links to the Association for Professional Genealogists website and the Genealogical Speakers Guild website (http://www.apgen.org and http://www.genealogicalspeakersguild.org/). I'd like to link to this blog, but at this point, I'd have to email the "web guy" to do it for me. Does that mean that in order to be able to update my website, I always need someone to do it for me? Do I need to learn how to program in HTML?
I sure hope the world doesn't come to the point of me having to program anything or learn HTML. That would be disastrous all around, but it seems a waste to have to call the web designer every month (and be charged for his time) to have simple updates made to the pages, like changing text and adding links. The result of me not knowing how to do the basics for my own website is that I don't update it as often as I should (monthly seems reasonable, as my speaking schedule changes, or as I add new lectures) or it costs my business money for what should be simple changes. And what about being to add tidbits about my personal research, such as family stories, photos or pedigrees? Can I do that myself, now that I've got it all set up? Or is that beyond me? I hope not! I like to think, even a Luddite like myself, can learn something new.
Unfortunately, the first, and last, time I tried to update my website on my own was the week before the NERGC 2011 conference in Springfield, MA last April. I wanted to put the lectures that I was going to be giving on my site, as well as add that I had spoken at the New England Family History Conference in Franklin. Let's just say, it didn't work out very well. I managed to somehow delete my entire homepage, and have the third page on the first page AND the third page. It was something about saving the whole thing before you make changes and upload it. Oops. A panicked email to my "web guy" (thank you Ryan, you're a life saver!) resulted in the fix and updates that I needed, but it can't be THAT hard, can it?
We'll soon find out. I've been hankering for a challenge, Hurricane Irene wasn't enough for me this week, so today, or at least in the next few days, I'm going to update my own website. I suggest that anyone who hasn't visited it yet, check it out before I "update" it. And when I get back from the FGS conference in Springfield, Illinois next week, I'll let you know if I've had to have my "web guy" save my website. Again.
I do have a website. I had a graphic designer set up my website for me (see www.shelleemorehead.com), and I really love it. He had done some work for my husband's company, which I liked, and thought that he could do the materials for my business as well. I liked the concept he came up with, and the results are great. It does what I need it to do for me, I like the layout and the images are from my own photos. It provides basic information about what I do, how to contact me, and what's happening in terms of my lecturing and publications. It's not fancy, but it links to the Association for Professional Genealogists website and the Genealogical Speakers Guild website (http://www.apgen.org and http://www.genealogicalspeakersguild.org/). I'd like to link to this blog, but at this point, I'd have to email the "web guy" to do it for me. Does that mean that in order to be able to update my website, I always need someone to do it for me? Do I need to learn how to program in HTML?
I sure hope the world doesn't come to the point of me having to program anything or learn HTML. That would be disastrous all around, but it seems a waste to have to call the web designer every month (and be charged for his time) to have simple updates made to the pages, like changing text and adding links. The result of me not knowing how to do the basics for my own website is that I don't update it as often as I should (monthly seems reasonable, as my speaking schedule changes, or as I add new lectures) or it costs my business money for what should be simple changes. And what about being to add tidbits about my personal research, such as family stories, photos or pedigrees? Can I do that myself, now that I've got it all set up? Or is that beyond me? I hope not! I like to think, even a Luddite like myself, can learn something new.
Unfortunately, the first, and last, time I tried to update my website on my own was the week before the NERGC 2011 conference in Springfield, MA last April. I wanted to put the lectures that I was going to be giving on my site, as well as add that I had spoken at the New England Family History Conference in Franklin. Let's just say, it didn't work out very well. I managed to somehow delete my entire homepage, and have the third page on the first page AND the third page. It was something about saving the whole thing before you make changes and upload it. Oops. A panicked email to my "web guy" (thank you Ryan, you're a life saver!) resulted in the fix and updates that I needed, but it can't be THAT hard, can it?
We'll soon find out. I've been hankering for a challenge, Hurricane Irene wasn't enough for me this week, so today, or at least in the next few days, I'm going to update my own website. I suggest that anyone who hasn't visited it yet, check it out before I "update" it. And when I get back from the FGS conference in Springfield, Illinois next week, I'll let you know if I've had to have my "web guy" save my website. Again.
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
Technology that saved a marriage...
Well, not quite saved my marriage, but did make discussions about our household much easier. I'm an academic. The better part of my life has been spent in classrooms, libraries and laboratories. And the people who inhabit the hallowed halls of the Ivory Tower are, well, lets just say for now that they are bibliophiles. Growing up, I dreamed that one day, I would have a house with a library, floor to ceiling books, rows and rows and shelves and shelves of books.
But, being an academic also means that you're a nomad, going from here to there, to this school, that post doc, and that coveted faculty position (of course, I bailed before then, but you get the idea). And in the course of years of study, I accumulated books. Guide books, travel books, text books, weird, tall and small books. About 40 boxes of books. And I don't just read for work, I read for fun! So then there are all the trade paperbacks, hardcover fiction I couldn't live without, more stacks and stacks covering a great many surfaces in our home. I would spend hours of my free time (that was before I had kids) browsing used bookstores, just browsing, picking up a classic I hadn't read here, or a cute gift book there. The buck a bag used books sales at the university, where I could pick up obscure 70's craft books, art books, history books... You get the idea.
And then we moved. My husband and I moved when we first got married, and many of my books were in my office, so it wasn't too bad. But then I jumped out of the tower, and towed all my precious books home with me. And we had to buy bookshelves, because a recovering academic has to be surrounded by her ridiculous library. And then we moved. And then we moved again, swearing each time, that we weren't going to move all those books again. But we did.
We were at a bit of a crossroads. My husband asking me, "What are you going to do with all these books?" My reply, "I can't get rid of them!!" spoken with an appropriate degree of horror in my voice. There were many discussions about which ones to keep, where to put them, building onto the house to house them (but of course we couldn't afford that, since I was no longer gainfully employed). My dreams of "doing something" with them.
Suddenly, there was this wonderful new piece of technology. Like a light shining in the darkness of my library (which was in the basement in boxes, because there wasn't room in the living space of the house), the device I never could have imagined would change my life. My Kindle.
Yes, I am an e-book addict. I talked my husband into one for a birthday present (back when they weren't as inexpensive as they are now). And you know what? I started getting rid of books. Text books sent to third world countries through a library program, paperbacks to Goodwill and friends to read. Over time, I would still browse bookstores but only buy a "real book" if it wasn't available for my Kindle. And then I started my genealogy business. Ah, the glories of Google Books (http://books.google.com/), Project Gutenberg (http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Main_Page), and Library Archives (http://www.archive.org/), all wonderful sources of FREE books, about all kinds of things; esoteric topics, history, geology, things I didn't even know that I wanted to know more about. And now, I can "buy" all the books I want, and my hubby will never know. The number of bookcases in our house is dwindling, though it will never be completely gone (some things just aren't the same in digital versions, or aren't currently available. Now, I can travel and have almost my entire library with me (in my purse, of course, which drives my mother nuts, an added bonus)! No more schlepping 4 paperbacks on vacation, because I like to read in airports! No more trying to make the volume of books "blend" with the house decor! No more arguments about the need for an addition just for the books!
Ah, my Kindle, my favorite technological friend. And maybe yours too!
But, being an academic also means that you're a nomad, going from here to there, to this school, that post doc, and that coveted faculty position (of course, I bailed before then, but you get the idea). And in the course of years of study, I accumulated books. Guide books, travel books, text books, weird, tall and small books. About 40 boxes of books. And I don't just read for work, I read for fun! So then there are all the trade paperbacks, hardcover fiction I couldn't live without, more stacks and stacks covering a great many surfaces in our home. I would spend hours of my free time (that was before I had kids) browsing used bookstores, just browsing, picking up a classic I hadn't read here, or a cute gift book there. The buck a bag used books sales at the university, where I could pick up obscure 70's craft books, art books, history books... You get the idea.
And then we moved. My husband and I moved when we first got married, and many of my books were in my office, so it wasn't too bad. But then I jumped out of the tower, and towed all my precious books home with me. And we had to buy bookshelves, because a recovering academic has to be surrounded by her ridiculous library. And then we moved. And then we moved again, swearing each time, that we weren't going to move all those books again. But we did.
We were at a bit of a crossroads. My husband asking me, "What are you going to do with all these books?" My reply, "I can't get rid of them!!" spoken with an appropriate degree of horror in my voice. There were many discussions about which ones to keep, where to put them, building onto the house to house them (but of course we couldn't afford that, since I was no longer gainfully employed). My dreams of "doing something" with them.
Suddenly, there was this wonderful new piece of technology. Like a light shining in the darkness of my library (which was in the basement in boxes, because there wasn't room in the living space of the house), the device I never could have imagined would change my life. My Kindle.
Yes, I am an e-book addict. I talked my husband into one for a birthday present (back when they weren't as inexpensive as they are now). And you know what? I started getting rid of books. Text books sent to third world countries through a library program, paperbacks to Goodwill and friends to read. Over time, I would still browse bookstores but only buy a "real book" if it wasn't available for my Kindle. And then I started my genealogy business. Ah, the glories of Google Books (http://books.google.com/), Project Gutenberg (http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Main_Page), and Library Archives (http://www.archive.org/), all wonderful sources of FREE books, about all kinds of things; esoteric topics, history, geology, things I didn't even know that I wanted to know more about. And now, I can "buy" all the books I want, and my hubby will never know. The number of bookcases in our house is dwindling, though it will never be completely gone (some things just aren't the same in digital versions, or aren't currently available. Now, I can travel and have almost my entire library with me (in my purse, of course, which drives my mother nuts, an added bonus)! No more schlepping 4 paperbacks on vacation, because I like to read in airports! No more trying to make the volume of books "blend" with the house decor! No more arguments about the need for an addition just for the books!
Ah, my Kindle, my favorite technological friend. And maybe yours too!
Friday, August 5, 2011
Faded Scars
I always tease people I meet at genealogical conferences by telling them that I'm a luddite. Not everyone knows what exactly that is, but basically, it's someone who isn't interested in technology or fears the effects of technology on their lives. You can look it up on Wikipedia (I figured out what a "wiki" is last week). Some people are cutting edge adopters. They are always the people waiting in long lines to get the latest version of this software or that phone or some other fancy new gadget. Others are bleeding edge adopters; they're getting the materials hot off the manufacturing line or online or whereever people go to get technology that hasn't been released to the general public yet. I always say I'm a faded scar adopter. After the technology has been cut, and bled, and following a few years of recovery (or use, to work out the kinks), then, maybe, I'll think about adopting it for my own use. A faded scar adopter.
While I was in academia, I had to be up on the latest and greatest, all these fancy things that would "make life easier." It was a job necessity to keep up with whatever new thing the university was using, like the Internet back in 1993, or some new online software package to keep track of grades. Since leaving the Ivory Tower, I've let myself lapse into being a grumpy reluctant technology user. I've never wanted to be a techie, but in genealogy, like in academia, it seems that being up on the latest and greatest is a prerequisite. Granted, I do use a computer, and I have a website (see www.shelleemorehead.com), but in general, someone has to convince me that using this latest software or signing up for this latest service is a necessity for my life and my business. That it WILL actually make my life easier, and allow me to do my job better.
I guess it might be best to say that I'm not against all technology, but I do not want to use technology for technology's sake. I want to use tools that the development of technology makes available to me, not be used by the technology itself. I have enough demands on my time that I don't have time to waste playing with the "latest and greatest." If a technology has a steep learning curve, or is more work to use than I can derive a benefit from, then, no thanks, I'll pass. This blog (I learned what a blog is last week, too) is for me to talk about the technology that I may have been sceptical of at first, but am convinced of it's benefit to me and my business. Hopefully, this isn't just a big waste of my time, like some other technology that I can name.
We'll see how it goes, and I'll let you know what I learn, because you really can learn something new every day!
While I was in academia, I had to be up on the latest and greatest, all these fancy things that would "make life easier." It was a job necessity to keep up with whatever new thing the university was using, like the Internet back in 1993, or some new online software package to keep track of grades. Since leaving the Ivory Tower, I've let myself lapse into being a grumpy reluctant technology user. I've never wanted to be a techie, but in genealogy, like in academia, it seems that being up on the latest and greatest is a prerequisite. Granted, I do use a computer, and I have a website (see www.shelleemorehead.com), but in general, someone has to convince me that using this latest software or signing up for this latest service is a necessity for my life and my business. That it WILL actually make my life easier, and allow me to do my job better.
I guess it might be best to say that I'm not against all technology, but I do not want to use technology for technology's sake. I want to use tools that the development of technology makes available to me, not be used by the technology itself. I have enough demands on my time that I don't have time to waste playing with the "latest and greatest." If a technology has a steep learning curve, or is more work to use than I can derive a benefit from, then, no thanks, I'll pass. This blog (I learned what a blog is last week, too) is for me to talk about the technology that I may have been sceptical of at first, but am convinced of it's benefit to me and my business. Hopefully, this isn't just a big waste of my time, like some other technology that I can name.
We'll see how it goes, and I'll let you know what I learn, because you really can learn something new every day!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)