MULTIMEDIA AND GENEALOGICAL SOFTWARE

There are an increasing number of software titles on both the Mac and Windows platforms which serve as data bases or presentation programs for genealogical and/or family history material. Some are very good, some mediocre, and some just plain hokey.

In genealogy, the standard format is GEDCOM, a data base developed by the Church of Latter Day Saints and put out in both Mac and Windows Personal Ancestral File versions.

Most of the family history data bases export genealogical data in GEDCOM format.

In my opinion, one of the best of the genealogy and family history data bases is REUNION (Mac and Windows) by Leister Productions, PO Box 289, Mechanicsburg, PA 17055 (717- 697-1378), but here are other good ones as well.

So, why not just use one of these programs for an oral history or family history CD archive? One reason is that none of them is a cross-platform standard, meaning that there's no assurance that they will be around 10-20 years from now; another is that they are proprietary applications and formats, and that can get you into the tricky issue of licensing and copyrights.

 

COPYRIGHT ISSUES

Copyright and licensing issues would preclude or make impractical the reproduction and distribution of proprietary software applications. Not that you shouldn't use them, indeed a genealogical data base can be as important a tool as Photoshop for digitizing data in a standard format (a GEDCOM file or a JPEG file). However, just as you are restricted by copyright from including the Adobe Photoshop application on your CD without a license, neither can you include proprietary genealogy and family history software.

Care should also be taken with the content of documents placed on the CD. Make sure that you have the rights or permission to use all texts, graphics, and audio or movie files. Become familiar with the basics of copyright law (there are sites on the web).

Also, check with family members if at all in doubt about your right to use family documents. In other words, don't include Aunt Tilly's love letters even if she is dead already; get permission from her rich adopted son in Rio.

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