I have been using various computer software and imaging systems to organize my family history information since the mid-90’s.  Back then of course the tools of choice were an early edition of Family Tree Maker, a microfilm machine, and a flat-bed scanner.  The biggest technical challenge was finding the right balance of scanner settings to get a good enough image scan without filling up my hard drive.  Since then, a lot has changed and over the years I have been building the GenealogyWiki.org web site as a tool that I can use to collaborate with others to build my family tree.

I recently received an invitation to the 2012 Roots Tech conference and being into technology (AKA a computer geek), I thought it would be a great experience.  I have always been interested in the technology behind genealogy research from imaging tools like Book Scanners to genetic analysis so, I am excited for the opportunity to see what is out there.

The conference begins February 3rd and more details can be found at the Roots Tech website.

Throughout my life I have always thought of my Baublitz family name as special. After all very few have had the privilege of having it. :-)  Invariably three or four times a year I meet someone who asks me if I am related to another Baublitz that they knew years ago.  When they ask, I run through the long list of family members in my head and rarely come up with a connection.  After some time of this, I wondered that if there are so few of us how can I not be related.  My theory is that I am related, but the connection was probably made in the mid-1800’s.

Being someone who enjoys a challenging puzzle, I thought that it would be fun to see how all of the Baublitzes relate.  Having done some basic research over the years, my guess is that fewer than 1,000 people with that last name have ever lived.  If there are so few of us, then it should be easy to find how we are all related.  After all, there should be very little “noise” in the data.  I mean if you run a search for the name Smith, where do you start?  To me, the challenge seems easily solvable.

The key to solving this puzzle is collaboration.  I need a way to easily share my research, thoughts and notes with other family members so that we can all work together to create a single version of the Baublitz family history.  For example, it would be much easier for me to ask family members to go to a website and contribute the pieces of information they know instead of calling each one of them up and asking them if they have the information that I am missing.  It would also provide a way for everyone to easily keep an eye on the progress of the project.

I have experimented with several of the popular genealogy tools, but found that they lack the deep collaboration features that are really needed for this challenge.  Being a computer geek, I decided that the best approach would be to build a custom solution that would include the necessary collaborative features.  The result is a GenealogyWiki.org.  While I built the website with the intent of solving the Baublitz family puzzle, there is no reason you cannot also utilize it to solve your own family puzzle.  So go ahead and give it a try and post you thoughts and ideas below.