03 February 2012

RootsTech 2012

Oh, how I wish I was in Salt Lake City right now. There it is, I said it.

Following the conference via live feeds and social media has been the next best thing. Picked up several things today, and can't wait to get started on them. Here's a few of the highlights, and some items I definitely need to learn more about.


  1. Metadata. Whoa.
  2. historical-data.org
  3. "Data doesn't sit." If you took 400 disks and copied the data onto 400 duplicated discs... 1 would fail every day, and at least 1 identical set would fail every week. How are you storing your data? 
  4. Solid state drives... the future of data storage, with no moving parts? 
  5. For now, we have cloud computing. 
  6. Using the Google toolbar... I will certainly have to use this schematic more.  http://www.makeuseof.com/pages/best-google-search-tips-pdf
  7. Did you know you can upload a picture into Google search, and it will find similar images? Try it. Go to Google Images, and in the search bar, there is a small icon of a camera. Use it to upload an image and search. See what happens. 
  8. Use the "terrain view" in Google Maps to see the geographical area of where you are researching... may have been easier for them to go one county over to get married, etc., if there were major obstacles in the way.
  9. Evernote downloaded today. 
  10. Mozy installed today.
  11. Looking for an app that will work with my laptop to record interviews then transcribe them for me. Unless of course, I can get a smart phone that will do it for me... 
  12. Josh Coates, keynote speaker this morning, was very fun. Best presentation so far for me. Frantically scribbling notes and "tweeting" and trying to stay in my chair from laughing so hard at the same time. Tricky stuff. (You can see the details of the conference at www.rootstech.org.)
  13. Can't wait to register for 2013. 
  14. Four sessions streamed tomorrow, two of which (at least) I will miss due to other commitments. Certainly going to go back and watch those later in the day. 
A long day, immersed in genealogy, learning, networking and a great deal of mental processing. Ideas were popping in my head so fast, I could barely keep up. The list of bullet points to work on is long, but I'm very much looking forward to it. This is one of the most exciting avenues of our industry, and I'm looking forward to learning more. 

Oh, and "Who Do You Think You Are?" episode 1, season 3, was pretty good tonight, too. 

4 comments:

  1. For as techy as I sometimes think I am, I feel like a lot of the stuff people are blogging about on the conference is going over my head making me feel very 'un-techy'.
    Regards,
    Theresa (Tangled Trees)

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    1. There were definately moments I was in a total daze... but after some reading and reviewing the notes, I feel pretty good about it all. The biggest thing for me, I think, was the metadata concept and historical-data.org. Confusing, but very exciting once you get the concepts down. If you didn't get the chance, watch the videos on the rootstech.org site. Good stuff, truly. I always thought of myself as "techy" too, but now I want to be "Super-Techy"!!!

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  2. I like your notes. I think it's interesting how two people can listen to the same thing and come away with two different sets of notes. I missed some of the things you caught. Thanks for sharing.

    Welcome to GeneaBloggers.

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    1. Thank you, Nancy! Happy to be with GeneaBloggers now, feels like an accomplishment. Happy blogging!

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