[File created 26 November 1989]

    
              Computers: Changing the Face of Genealogy

                         By Richard A. Pence


       (C) COPYRIGHT 1989, Richard A. Pence. All rights reserved.     
    
        Permission granted for posting on local bulletin boards, 
        provided no charge is made for access. Users may make 
        personal copies. ANY OTHER PUBLICATION OF THIS MATERIAL 
        WITHOUT PERMISSION IS PROHIBITED. Much of this material 
        originally appeared in the MONITOR, journal of the 
        Capital PC User Group, Volume 8, No. 11, November, 1989. 


Since the splash made by Alex Haley's "Roots" a dozen years ago, genealogy - 
the search for one's ancestors - has been the nation's fastest-growing hobby. 
If it's not today's most popular, it certainly ranks right up there with the 
other perennial favorites: collecting stamps or coins - or personal computing. 

And, for the past several years, the hottest thing in genealogy circles has 
been the joining of seemingly disparate avocations: genealogy AND personal 
computers. 

While a few isolated genealogists began experimenting with using  "home" 
computers to organize their data as soon as these machines came on the market, 
the lack of good software (and adequate experience) made for rough going. It 
wasn't until 1981 that "genealogical computing" really got its start. 

That year saw three significant events: A major article on personal computers 
in the staid National Genealogical Society Quarterly, the appearance of the 
first sales booth featuring personal computers and genealogical software at the 
Society's annual conference, and the launching by Paul Andereck (a former 
Fairfax resident) of a bimonthly journal called, naturally, "Genealogical 
Computing." 

Early the next year, the society authorized the formation of a computer 
interest group (called NGS/CIG), which launched its own bimonthly newsletter, 
the DIGEST. 

Now the "genealogical computing" world is awash with a bewildering myriad of 
programs, dozens (if not hundreds) of computer interest groups fostered by 
genealogical societies or genealogy interest groups fostered by computer 
organizations, and is tied together by more than 200 electronic genealogical 
bulletin boards. 


                              Growing Amid Debate

To many, the marriage of computers and genealogy was one made in heaven. The 
aptitudes of the computer, such as storing and organizing large amounts of data 
and its willingness to do repetitive tasks such as generating traditional 
genealogical forms (ancestral charts or "family group sheets") were just the 
ticket. 

To others, especially those who have worked long and hard to raise the 
professionalism and quality of genealogical research far above hearsay and 
guesswork, it was the devil's own invention. 

Even today, there is a continuing and sometimes sharp debate between the 
genealogical "scholars" and genealogical "computerists." The scholars are 
convinced that the main contribution of computers will be to flood the world 
with machine-generated pedigrees that are dubiously researched and poorly 
documented - a mountain of "trash genealogy." The computerists see a wonderful 
new research and record-keeping tool and plunge head-long into technology, 
spurred by dreams of on-line access to such staple research sources as U.S. 
census records or even a gigantic "linked" database of "the family of man." 

Nevertheless, the impact of computers was unmistakable at this year's NGS 
conference in St. Paul. A computer learning center played to day-long full 
houses with hands-on computer trials, training sessions and software and 
hardware demonstrations. A "serious" genealogist was even spotted at a luncheon 
sponsored by the NGS/CIG! 

And, say computer genealogists, the best may yet be coming! 


                             A Language of Its Own

In these few years computer genealogy has developed to where it even has its 
own jargon - a language sometimes unintelligible to either genealogists or 
computerists. 

Witness this message, recently spotted on a genealogy bulletin board: 

   From:    New User 
   To:      All 
   Subject: Help 

   A recent message said: 

      > Ok. I got the tafel. You will have to call
      > ROOTS-BBS direct and request a matching report
      > yourself through the TMS menus and call back
      > subsequently to download the report. 

   I am fairly new at genealogy and I have seen some things come 
   up that I don't understand. Could you PLEASE tell me what a 
   tafel is, what ROOTS-BBS is and what TMS means? 

This jargon, as we shall see, represents an excellent example of how genealogy 
has been adapted to computers and vice versa. 


                             Genealogical Software

The world of genealogical database software can generally be described as the 
"big three" commercial programs, plus a large handful of fine shareware 
programs (see list at end of article), all of which can make the job of 
organizing and reproducing genealogical information much easier - but none of 
which meet every need. Most top-of-the-line products are in the IBM and 
compatible sphere. 

That the programs are less than perfect isn't surprising when you consider the 
complexity of the prospective database. Try to visualize what is needed by 
considering what the upper parameters of such a database might be: 

What's the maximum number of marriages an individual can have? How many 
children are the most you will encounter? How would you handle two or more 
conflicting dates for a given event? How many given names should be allowed 
for? What about name changes? Calendar changes? Illegitimacies? Adoptions? 
Surname spelling variations? How many places of residence should you provide 
for? How many footnotes should you have for each piece of data? How many 
biographical details (church preference, military service, occupation, etc.) 
should be included? 

Take the following real or imagined person, used by one computer genealogy 
interest group as part of an adequacy test for genealogical software: 
       
   This individual was known by a number of names in his life. 
   When he was born in St. Petersbourg, Russia, on Feb. 29, 
   1900, Julian, he was known to his parents in Hebrew as jhdtm, 
   for which the English equivalent would be Mordachai. At that 
   time, his family had no surname. After the revolution of 
   1917, the new Russian government gave him a new name, Mikhail 
   Benesovich (by requiring surnames), a new birthdate, March 17, 
   1900 (by switching to the Gregorian calendar) and a new 
   birthplace, Petrograd (by renaming the place). By the time he 
   came to America via Liverpool and Toronto in 1926, the place 
   had been renamed again, this time to Leningard. In America, 
   he was naturalized in 1935 with the name Marcus A. Bench. 
   The A didn't stand for anything, but he thought it looked 
   good. He was known to family and friends as "Micky." When he 
   died in St. Petersburg, FL, on Feb. 29, 1984, his tombstone 
   carried his name as Mark Bench. 

That's enough to challenge the most proficient programmer. Given the 
complexity, the result is nearly always some sort of compromise in program 
creation and execution, since there's a virtually unending stream of unexpected 
exceptions.  


                        The Mormon Church and Computers

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (commonly called the Mormon or 
LDS Church) in Salt Lake City has emerged as a leader in the computerization of 
genealogical records and data. At the risk of over-simplification, a belief 
among adherents is that ancestors must be identified and baptized into the 
church and this doctrine has been a driving force in placing the church at the 
leading edge in using computers in genealogy. 

It has computerized (on one of the world's largest and fastest mainframes) the 
International Genealogical Index (IGI), a collection of 121 million event-
related records (e.g., a birth date and parents for an individual or the 
marriage of one couple). The IGI is indexed alphabetically by surname within 
states and generally only available at libraries on microfiche. However, you 
can now access this database and extract information to a floppy at special PCs 
in the church's main library in Salt Lake City. The IGI has been put on compact 
disk and is being distributed for testing to selected stake (local) centers. 
Later sales to individuals are expected, with the price of search software plus 
the CD expected to be about $60. 

The church continues to test and add to a mainframe database it calls the 
Family Ancestral File. This is a linked (parents-to-child, husband-to-wife) 
database primarily built from FGS forms submitted by church members or others. 
This database eventually will have records on tens of millions of individuals. 
Access likely will be limited to on-line or CD-ROM searching at the Salt Lake 
City Library, at least until data integrity can be assured. CD-ROM should 
eventually reach stake libraries. 

To aid members and to provide a means of simplifying data input to the Family 
Ancestral File, the church has developed and marketed Personal Ancestral File 
(commonly called PAF), a genealogical database program. Files generated by PAF 
can be put on a floppy and submitted to Salt Lake City for direct absorption 
(after stringent validity checks) into the Family Ancestral File. 

The cost of PAF is only $35, one reason why it is the most-used genealogy 
software package available. PAF, along with Family Roots by Quinsept, Inc., and 
Roots III by Commsoft, Inc., are known as "the big three" and account for the 
bulk of the sales of commercial genealogical software. All are excellently 
supported. (Addresses in list.) 

The LDS Church has also developed GEDCOM (for GEnealogy Data COMmunications), a 
specification designed to allow interchange of data between dissimilar systems, 
usually electronically. The GEDCOM specification relies on a series of 
heirarchical "tags" that identify various events and "levels" beneath these 
events. For example: 

   INDI    Identifies an individual
   BIRT    Identifies a birth event
   DATE    Identifies date information to which it is 
           subordinate
   PLAC    Identifies a place to which it is subordinate

An example of the hierarchical levels:

0 INDI [data]
  1 BIRT [data]
    2 DATE [data]
    2 PLAC [data]

A 0 level "closer tag" ends that record and begins another. 

All "serious" genealogical software packages have utilities which support this 
specification (at least to the degree that they will IMPORT data from other 
systems) and there are a growing number of user-created utilities that will 
allow transfer of data between most of the more popular commercial or shareware 
programs, as well as for creating ASCII files for importation into generic 
database programs. Support for GEDCOM has become a major criteria among 
genealogical software shoppers. 

Both Roots and Family Roots (as well as PAF) have GEDCOM utilities and both 
have utilities that are approved by the Mormon Church for data submissions to 
the Family Ancestral File. 

Some proficient computer genealogists use two or three programs and freely move 
data back and forth to take advantage of various special features (e.g., easier 
data entry or record updating in one program, better or easier form generation 
in another). 

However, the GEDCOM specification is not yet a "final product." It exists in 
its "pure" specification form and in "implemented" forms - and the latter are 
not always fully compatible. Sofware differs in the kinds of data included and 
swapping databases can result in field losses. But complete specifications are 
available to developers for $5 and almost all are climbing on the bandwagon. 


                               The BBS Connection

The "National Genealogy Conference" is now among the top half-dozen most 
popular "echoes" on the Fido bulletin board network. (Echoes are topic-specific 
forums shipped via least-cost phone lines to distribution points, then to 
participating boards.) More than 200 BBSs, including many in the DC area (see 
list at end of article), carry this conference and there are an average of 
about 100 new messages a day. [See Appendix A for help in using the Genealogy 
Conference.] 

In recent months, the "National" in the conference name belies its scope. 
Besides a host of Canadian boards, there are regularly participating boards in 
England and Scotland and off-and-on participation by BBSs in Australia, New 
Zealand, Holland, Belgium and Sweden. Links are being put together to France 
and, possibly, South Africa (which already has its own BBS genealogy 
conference). As a consequence, the conference now is usually called "the 
Genealogy Conference." 

Most of the messages in the conference are of the "query" type ("Looking for 
information on parents of John Doe, b Anytown, US, in 1814") or seek advice on 
how or where to research a particular problem ("Does anyone know if marriage 
records for Blank County, US, exist? Where can I write if they do?"). These are 
spiced with about equal numbers of perplexed beginners trying to find out 
what's going on (in either genealogy or computing) and accomplished veterans 
swapping inside tips on how certain software can accomplish wondrous things or 
imparting their experience to newcomers. 

Considering that genealogists who use computers comprise a small subset of 
genealogists, those with modems an even smaller subset - and still smaller is 
the group that has access to a local genealogy BBS - the success rate of 
fruitful information exchanges is remarkable. The conference is replete with 
the cry of "bingo," signifying a genealogical find. Even more worthwhile are 
the knowledgeable responses to research problems. 

The very success and popularity of the echo has spawned other echoes. The 
first of these was the Jewish Genealogy Conference, which caters to the 
specialized nature of that research. In the past few months, software-specific 
conferences have been started. Already there are sophisticated message 
exchanges among the users of PAF, Roots III, Family Roots, Family Edge (a 
popular shareware program which also has a commercial incarnation) and Family 
Ties (see list). Usually the software developer or a technical specialist for 
the company is a regular participant on these echoes. 

There are also specialized echoes for North Carolina genealogy, Georgia 
genealogy, Spanish genealogy, genealogy classifieds, one which concentrates on 
pioneers who used the Oregon Trail in their westward travels, one for missing 
persons and one for adoptees. Genealogy system operators keep it all going by 
swapping messages in their own private echo. 

Often the BBSs which carry these echoes do so only as a service to one of many 
specialized user groups, but there are several dozen boards which exist 
primarily for genealogists. Examples of the latter are the Commsoft BBS in 
Mountain View, CA, and ROOTS-BBS in San Francisco. 

Commsoft BBS, operated by the publishers of Roots III software, was started by 
its president, Howard Nurse. Howard's successful regular exchange of messages 
with Down-East Roots in Rye, NH, marked the beginning of the genealogy echo in 
1985. ROOTS-BBS, operated by Brian Mavrogeorge, is likely the oldest operating 
genealogy BBS. Mavrogeorge now serves as editor of the NGS/CIG DIGEST 
(published in the DC area), a task he accomplishes via a modem hookup to the 
NGS - a testament to how much computers are "infiltrating" genealogy. 

Two local BBSs are strictly "genealogy boards": NGS/CIG BBS, operated by the 
National Genealogical Society's Computer Interest Group, and CPAFUG BBS, 
operated by the Capital Personal Ancestral File Users Group. A wide variety of 
genealogical shareware, utilities and research aids can be downloaded from 
these and other area bulletin boards (see list). Membership is not necessary to 
use these two boards, but it does upgrade your access. 


The Electronic Future

Remember "tafel" and "TMS," those befuddling terms in the message quoted 
earlier? To computer genealogists with modems, these are easily recognized - 
and in them lies the potential for a great explosion of information swapping. 

Genealogists, by nature and tradition, are like computer hobbyists: They are a 
sharing bunch. A researcher seldom worries about what is being given away in 
that big package of records being sent to a fellow researcher - even though its 
contents may have taken years of work in libraries and archives or hacking 
through over-grown cemeteries. 

Genealogists also operate on the "there's-a-pony-in-there-somewhere" theory: 
Somewhere there's someone who has that one bit of elusive information needed to 
solve a genealogical puzzle that's been festering for years. 

A common way of trying to find that person or information is to post 
genealogical queries in the more popular or localized genealogical publications 
or to enroll in surname-match programs operated by businesses or individuals. 
The advent of the computer and BBS networks is revolutionizing this kind of 
match-making. 

In 1985 Paul Andereck noted the growing number of genealogical databases and 
said that users needed a shorthand way to describe what was in those databases 
so they could more easily share information. He put forward the concept of 
"tiny tafels," now commonly called tafels or TTs by computer genealogists. 

The expression "tiny tafel" was derived from the word "ahnentafel," which is a 
list of ancestors or - literally from the German - an "ancestor table." In an 
ahnentafel, a person is assigned the number 1, his father the number 2, his 
mother number 3, his paternal grandfather number 4, and so on as far back as 
you can go. The numbering system allows a person (or a computer) to readily 
identify the relationships for two individuals from their assigned numbers. 

A tiny tafel, then, is a compact way of describing a family database so that 
the information can be scanned visually or by a computer. Acting on Paul's 
idea, Commsoft's Howard Nurse developed the first set of specifications for a 
tiny tafel, relying on a method called "soundex coding." This coding system was 
used to overcome the vagaries of surname spellings during indexing of U.S. 
census records during the 1930s. 

In short, a soundex code consists of the first letter of the surname, plus 
three numbers that represent the SOUNDs of the succeeding letters. In it, 
vowels aren't coded, sound-alike letters are assigned the same number according 
to a value table, and double letters or side-by-side sound-alikes are coded 
only once. Thus, the soundex code P520 (for Pence) would locate not only 
surnames spelled that way, but those which may have been misspelled as Pens, 
Penns, Pense, Penz, Pans or many other variations. 

Information on soundex codes and programs for coding surnames can be found on 
almost any bulletin board which caters to genealogists. These programs 
represent one of the most basic types of software for genealogy. (Try GENKIT15, 
freeware which has a soundex coder and a number of other genealogy utilities, 
including a day/age finder.) 

Commsoft's TT specification calls for information lines (name, address, etc.), 
plus any number of data lines. The data consists of a soundex code, year of 
birth of the earliest ancestor in a line, year of birth of the latest 
descendant in the line, the family surname and the places of both births. A "Z" 
line before the data tells how many lines of data will follow, and a "W" line 
at the end closes the TT and tells when it was created. Thus, a valid TT could 
consist of just a few lines, as in this example: 

   N Richard A. Pence
   A 3211 Adams Court
   A Fairfax, VA 22030
   Z 2 
   P520 1740 1900*PENCE/Shenandoah Co. VA/Warren Co. IN
   S354 1630 1910*STANLEY/Topsfield MA/Brown Co. SD
   W 1 May 1988 

The asterisk is an expression of relative interest, one of several 
possibilities. Optional information, such as phone number, genealogy program 
used, hardware used, BBSs frequented, etc., can be added in additional "header" 
lines with appropriate initial code letters. You can have as many data lines as 
you wish, so long as the "Z" line reflects the correct number. 

Complete specifications for TTs can be found on genealogy bulletin boards in a 
file generally called TTSPEC.TXT. Using these specs, you can create a TT with a 
word processor. Most major genealogical software will generate a tafel from 
information in a family database file, and a stand-alone tafel generator is 
also available, usually under the name TTGEN12.ARC. 

Following general acceptance of these specifications, Commsoft developed a 
program called the Tafel Matching System (TMS). This software will machine-read 
a submitted TT, compare it with other tafels in its files and generate a report 
of names and addresses of the submitters of other tafels which contain matches 
- that is, those which contain the same soundex code. A list of matches is part 
of the report. 

Best of all, the system will pass the report on to a succession of similarly 
equipped computers. You can enter your TT in the appropriate area of a local 
BBS, request a matching report, then sit back and await the results. The 
initial board scans for soundex matches, generates a matching report and ships 
the tafel and report to the next BBS, where another scan is made and the report 
expanded. In a week or two, the final report is back at the originating board 
and you are automatically notified the next time you call. 

Right now, at least a dozen genealogical BBSs - with hundreds of tafels - are 
participating in a carefully established - and quickly growing - round-robin. 
Commsoft makes the TMS software available free to any bulletin board 
participating in the National Genealogy Conference, provided no charge is made 
for its use. The TMS is available locally on the CPAFUG BBS. There is a help 
file for new users. 

Admittedly, a tafel is less than precise and the system often generates a 
bundle of false leads. But as users gain knowledge of how to taylor their 
tafels to more precisely define their research needs and as the number of 
participants increase, the system is bound to improve. Even now it can 
effortlessly accomplish the equivalent of several Saturdays at the library 
poring through genealogical "swap" publications! 


                                  What's Next?

Even with the revolutions already underway, computer genealogists are panting 
for the future. Some day, they hope, the LDS Church will open its vast 
computerized databases to wider remote access. Seemingly, things are headed 
that way - but only one agonizingly deliberate step at a time, with checks and 
double checks to make sure that no gigantic goofs are committed. 

There are other possibilities, too. For example, the entire 1860 U.S. index for 
the state of Illinois has been loaded into the mainframe computer of a 
cooperating university. It's available principally on microfiche, but selected 
portions (one surname or soundex code, for instance) can be loaded onto floppy 
disks and transferred to individual family databases with a little 
manipulation. Right now, though, the price for getting data on floppies 
includes a rather hefty set-up fee and is probably more than most hobbyists are 
willing to pay. 

The notable thing about this project, though, ia that the input was 
accomplished under direction of a historical society by volunteers using PCs. 
It could serve as a model for computerizing other census records using armies 
of eager PC volunteers. A missing ingredient for many state or local groups is 
the mainframe needed to handle the full database. And there are questions about 
ownership of and access to such databases. 

Here in Washington, the National Archives has embarked on experimental programs 
involving scanning and computerizing many of the old records entrusted to it. 
Such scanning doesn't make the document contents a part of a database, but 
computer-aided enhancements can make badly faded documents legible. Also, 
there's less worry about long-term preservation. Another dream of genealogists 
is on-line access to the vast Archives resources. 

Meanwhile, computer genealogists are already using their "toys" to do much more 
than store and manipulate their family databases. They use them to communicate, 
to organize research needs for field trips, to answer correspondence, to 
analyze problems - and to help with their income taxes. 


                 Are You Ready to Be a "Computer Genealogist"? 

Perhaps genealogy is something you're interested in as one more use for your 
computer. For starters, you may be cut out for it. It appears that both 
computers and genealogy require similar inclinations. Inquisitiveness and a 
knack for analyzing and solving problems are just a couple. (Stubborness is 
another.) 

Whether your computer is ready is another matter. Keep in mind the complexity 
of what needs to be done. A genealogical database is far from simple and it 
takes a lot of software and hardware power to usefully manipulate it. Growing 
numbers of genealogists are finding their first computer isn't really up to 
handling today's memory-gulping software and their expanding databases. 

The First Law of Genealogical Computing is: "Memory and disk space are just 
like money: Plenty is never enough." 

An XT-type machine is likely adequate, but an AT-type 286 will save a lot of 
time if you have a large family database. A hard disk (the bigger the better) 
is almost a must and you'll want 640k for the better programs (extended 
databases may need more). Color support is common in genealogy programs and 
some users like graphics for maps or other diagrams. A new and growing facet of 
genealogical computing is scanning and storing original source material or old 
photos. You'll probably want a modem (at least 2400 baud). And, of course, a 
printer to suit your fancy. With a program such as Roots III, for instance, you 
can generate a quality genealogical book on a laser printer - complete with 
table of contents, text, charts, footnotes and index. 

Surveys show that computer genealogists usually have about $3,000 tied up in 
hardware. The amount has stayed the same over the years, but the power it buys 
has greatly increased. 

Thousands of genealogists are getting by on much less, but this usually means 
splitting the database and intricately juggling floppy disks or long periods of 
waiting for data to be manipulated or reports to be created. 

One last thought: If you think your computer swallows up huge hunks of your 
free time, stay away from genealogy. It's as bad or worse. Looking at it from 
the other side of the fence is the Second Law of Genealogical Computing: 

"The time saved by computerizing genealogical records is equal to or less than 
the time spent monkeying around with the machine." 

As Andereck once put it, "Who with a computer has time to do genealogy?" 

                    -------------------------

                           Popular Genealogy Programs 

Choosing a genealogy program is a lot like choosing a restaurant: An awful lot 
depends on what you want. Below are listed some of the more popular commercial 
and shareware genealogy programs. All have special features that endear them to 
their users and most will do much of what you need done. All of the following 
shareware programs and demos of some of the commercial programs are available 
from several local BBSs. 

BROTHER'S KEEPER - Shareware by John Steed, 6907 Childsdale Rd, Rockford, MI 
49341; $25 registration. Latest version is 4.5.

FAMILY EDGE - Shareware ($10 registration and $5 for disks, s&h if ordered by 
mail) and commercial version ($99) available  from Carl York, 150 E 30th St 
#2E, NYC, NY 10016. Shareware data limited to one disk. 

FAMILY HISTORY SYSTEM - Shareware from Philip E. Brown, 834 Bahama Dr, 
Tallahassee, FL 32301; $35 registration. Disks with either interpreted or 
compiled basic versions of the programs available for $6 each (two disks) from 
Brown. 

FAMILY ROOTS - Commercial program for IBM and compatibles from Quinsept, 20 
Grassland St, PO Box 216, Lexington, MA 02173, Steve Vorenberg, president; 617-
641-2930 (MA or foreign) or 800-637-ROOT (elsewhere in U.S.); $185. MasterCard, 
Visa and AmEx. Works with one or more disk drives and with hard disks. Trial 
disk and guide, $9.50; full manual (no disk), $18.50. Quinsept BBS on line 6pm-
8am at 617-641-1080. Versions available for Apple, Commodore, TRS, CP/M, 
others. Macintosh version, not a port, being released in increments. Specify 
computer type, disk type, model, etc. 

FAMILY TIES - Shareware by E. Neil Wagstaff of Computer Services, 1050 E 800 S, 
Provo, UT 84801; 801-377-2100; registration $50; versions for DOS and CP/M 
available. Order blank and latest shareware version (1.19a) available on 
FAMTIES BBS, 801-374-8080. A demo/tutorial file and an IBM evaluation copy may 
be downloaded by anyone. VISA or MC ($2 fee); allow personal checks 14 days to 
clear; COD via UPS or USPS ($2 fee); shipped next day when ordered by certified 
check or MO. FAMILY TIES II, a major upgrade, is a commercial product and not 
available as shareware. Commercial version available from dealers or Wagstaff 
for $139.50. A port of the DOS program is available for the Mac. 

GENEALOGY ON DISPLAY - Shareware by Melvin Duke, P.O. Box 20836, San Jose, CA 
95160, phone 408-268-6637; $35 contribution suggested; basic program for IBM 
and compatibles. NOTES AND SOURCES, also by Duke, allows additional 
documentation for data in GoD. Both programs available on many BBSs; lates 
version is 5.x.

PERSONAL ANCESTRAL FILE - Commercial program from the Church of Jesus Christ of 
Latter-day Saints, Salt Lake Distribution Center, 1999 W 1700 S, Salt Lake 
City, UT 84104; $35. Specify MS-DOS (Stock # PBGS 1642 for 5', PBGS 1788 for 
3'), Apple (PBGS 1653) or Mac (PBGS 161A). Sales tax required from many states. 
Make check payable to "Corporation of the President." Toll-free orders: 800-
537-5950. Visa or MasterCard. New version (2.2) expected in December, For 
information, write the church in care of Family History Department, Ancestral 
File Unit 2WW, 50 E N Temple St, Lake City, UT 84150, phone 801-240-2584. 
Technical support, 801-240-2585. BBS, 801-240-3909. 

ROOTS III - Commercial program from Commsoft, Inc., 2257 Old Middlefield Way, 
Mountain View, CA 94043, Howard Nurse, president; for DOS computers, at least 
512k RAM and hard disk recommended; $250 plus CA tax and $7 s&h. Toll-free 
number (outside CA, inc. HI and VI but not AK) 800-32-ROOTS; normal business 
line, 415-967-1900; tech support, 415-967-3678; BBS, 415-967-6730.Often called 
the "Cadillac of genealogy programs." Demo disk and sample book, $10 (plus CA 
tax and s&h), deductible when program ordered directly from Commsoft. Visa, 
MasterCard, AmEx or personal checks. Supports GEDCOM and the Lotus-Intel-
Microsoft (LIM) expanded memory standard, which is required for databases 
larger than about 3,000 individuals. Users get newsletter, ROOTS RAP. Updated
version being shipped December.

                              -----

                         Area Genealogy Bulletin Boards

Two local bulletin boards are devoted exclusively to genealogy: 

The NGS/CIG BBS, operated by the National Genealogical Society, Arlington; 703-
528-2612, Don Wilson, sysop (9600 Baud ONLY: 703-528-8570). Part of the Fido 
network; carries all available genealogy echoes and has a wide range of 
genealogical shareware programs and utilities available. SEARCH.ARC or .ZIP is 
a beginner's guide to genealogy and other help files are available. Recently 
upgraded to two lines on new equipment. 

CPAFUG BBS,operated by the Capital PAF Users' Group, Columbia; 301-290-9530 
(long distance from DC), 301-989-8960 (DC local call), Barbara Bennett, sysop. 
Fido network; specializes in PAF help and utilities, but has other utilities 
and programs available. Carries the PAF echo and the Jewish Genealogy echo in 
addition to the National Genealogy Conference. 

Following are other area BBSs which carry the National Genealogy Conference 
echo. These are not limited just to genealogy, but they may carry some of the 
other genealogy echoes and have genealogy files available. 

    Alexandria VA       Write Only Memory   703-548-7849  Joe Salemi    24
    Chevy Chase MD      Chips & Dip         301-588-9465  Richard Klein 24
    Chevy Chase MD      Mystery Board       301-588-8142  Richard Klein 96
    Crofton MD          TCS                 301-261-3877  Pat McDonald  96
    Columbia MD         No Place Like Home  301-730-9069  Mark Oberg    24
    Columbia MD         No Place Like Home  301-506-6450  Mark Oberg    24
    Falls Church VA     GreyEagle           703-534-0177  Ken Taylor    24
    Falls Church VA     Pedaler's Palace    703-532-3051  Dan Garnitz   24
    Falls Church VA     Pedaler's Palace    703-538-6540  Dan Garnitz   24
    Gaithersburg MD     3 Winks             301-670-9621  Stan Staten   24
    Gaithersburg MD     3 Winks             301-590-0629  Stan Staten   24
    Herndon VA          Zephyr              703-620-5418  Miles Hoover  96
    Manassas VA         Wheels and Spokes   703-335-9064  Carl Rehling  24
    Pikesville MD       Nerve Center        301-655-4708  Alan Hess     96
    Seabrook MD         BUG                 301-794-9036  Chris Stevens 24
    Washington DC       Typographer's       202-265-9872  Mark VanOrder 24

Some calls may be long distance from certain local exchanges. A complete list of U.S. and other genealogy BBSs is available on 
the NGS/CIG BBS as GBBS??.TXT or GBBS??.ZIP (where ?? is the number of the 
latest version. In fact, it's best to check this list often, as it changes 
frequently.

                              -----

                         On-Line Subscription Services

GEnie Genealogical RoundTable - Phone 1-800-638-9636 for info. Address: GE 
Consumer Services, 401 North Washington St, Rockville, MD 20850. Melvyn Magree 
is RoundTable sysop. 

CompuServe Genealogy Forum - For info call 1-800-848-8990; in OH, 614-457-8650. 
Address: 5000 Arlington Centre Boulevard, P.O. Box 20212, Columbus, OH 43220. 
Forum sysop is Richard Eastman. Type GO ROOTS<cr> after you access CompuServe. 

                              -----

                      Area Computer/Genealogy User Groups

CPAFUG - The Capital PAF User Group meets at 1pm 3rd Sa each month at the 
Washington Stake Family History Center, 10000 Stoneybrook Dr, Kensington. For 
all Personal Ancestral File users; not associated with LDS Church. Membership 
$15 ($20 overseas), includes newsletter, ABT-PAF. CPAFUG, P.O. Box 177, Bowie, 
MD 20715. Information: 
     
NGS/CIG - National Genealogical Society/Computer Interest Group, 4527 17th 
Street North, Arlington, VA 22207; 703-525-0050. Dues $5/yr, includes 
subscription to bi-monthly newsletter, NGS/CIG DIGEST; members must first join 
NGS ($30/yr). Meets 10am 3rd Sa each month (except Dec.) in the Fifth Floor 
Theater, National Archives, 8th & Pennsylvania, N.W., DC. Meetings open to all. 

QUINSEPT USER GROUP - Quinsept User Group Newsletter, Bob Mitchell, editor, 102 
Broadfield Ln, Spotsylvania, VA 22553; 703-898-7767. (Family Roots software.) 
Bi-monthly, national; price not given in newsletter. 

RUG - ARLINGTON, VA - Roots Users Group of Arlington. Usually meets 1st Tues. 
each month at Kenmore Junior High School, 200 S Carlin Springs Rd, Arlington, 
VA. Dues, $10/yr (includes newsletter), send to Robert Williams, Treasurer, 
2606 S Hayes St, Arlington, VA 22202. For additional information, contact John 
A. Wiegard, President, 3605 Lakota Rd, Arlington, VA 22303, phone 703-960-3547. 

                             ------

                        Other Genealogy/Computer Sources

HEARTHSTONE BOOKSHOP - 8405-H Richmond Highway, Alexandria (Potomac Square 
Shopping Center, U.S. Rt. 1); phone 703-360-6900; hours 10am-5pm M-Sa, closed 
Su. Caters to genealogists and local historians; handles genealogy software, 
generally not available through regular software outlets. 

GENEALOGICAL COMPUTING - Now a quarterly published by Ancestry, Inc., 250 S 400 
E, Suite 110, Salt Lake City, UT 84111. Subscriptions $25/yr ($30 in Canada, 
Mexico; $35 overseas). Usually about 48 pages, with reviews, updates, tips. 

                           ----------

CPCUG Member Richard A. Pence, a DC-based association executive, writer and 
editor, has been "computing his family tree" since 1978. His main 
computer/genealogy interest is building a dBase database of all U.S. Pence 
families. He is co-author (with Paul Andereck) of Computer Genealogy (Ancestry, 
Inc., Salt Lake City, 1985), is a past editor of the NGS/CIG newsletter, and 
was the founding sysop of the NGS/CIG BBS. Dick can be reached through that BBS 
or found ensconced in front of his AT clone almost any weekend. Call 703-591-
4243 (Fairfax). 
