Re: The Family Tree File (FTW Format)

-----Original Message-----
From: Nathan Rosenshein [mailto:nrosen@total.net]
Sent: Sunday, February 12, 2006 9:00 AM
To: Reuven Chaim Klein
Subject: Re: The Family Tree File (FTW Format)


Let me tell you from experience (15 years of research, 4200 relatives)
that the best way to expand your knowledge and your family tree is
by building the tree horizontally.

The more you speak to people, the more relatives you will find who have
already done some work, or who know something or who know somebody who
has done some work.

I have gotten great information over the years, much of it from
unexpected sources. I am active online, I research the Yad Vashem
database, I speak to dozens of relatives, especially the older ones as
they will not be around forever, I write to many many possible leads,
I research seforim and books, and when I have to be a nudnik, then
so be it.

Those people that are actually interested and are willing to actually do
something useful are one in a hundred. But to find them takes a lot of
legwork....

good luck...keep me posted...

nr








Reuven Chaim Klein wrote:

> Money and Time are the two things that I don't have much of. Probably around
> Pesach time I will have more time to do things on the computer for a few
> weeks, but before and after, I barely have time to check my email. I have to
> think about this better before embarking on such a major prjoect, I hadn't
> realized what it would entail when I first proposed it. I think that my main
> goal right now is to spread my tree vertically rather than horizontally.
> Meaning, I'd like to find out more about my ansectors than about my distant
> cousins. I have a Kabala that my family is descendant from various prominent
> people, but I've yet to trace the exact root:
> Included in my father's side are Noam Elimelech, ReMa and Rav Sholom
> Shachna, TaZ and BaCh, etc... There's even an entire other side to my family
> tree, my maternal family, which I've never even started to look into yet.
> (My mom's father says that our family is somehow closely related to the
> Skverer Rebbe's, but he/we don't know exactly how, but I would like to.) I
> don't know.
>
> Gut Voch,
>
>
> =====
> Reuven Chaim Klein
> http://www.myhomeloancompany.com
> Vice President
> AIM/AOL Screename: IAmRachack (Add|IM)
>
> (Attention: Usually I can only check my email on Friday Afternoon and Motzei
> Shabbos.)
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Nathan Rosenshein [mailto:nrosen@total.net]
> Sent: Sunday, February 05, 2006 11:35 PM
> To: Reuven Chaim Klein
> Subject: Re: The Family Tree File (FTW Format)
>
>
> shalom reuven,
>
> a project of this magnitude will require an investment of time on both
> our parts, perhaps money as well....I am willing. Are you?
>
> Having said that, let me say that my busy season starts now and ends in
> early May. So the time part may be postponed by necessity until then....
>
> Here are some thoughts.
>
> We have common elements on the greenberger, klein, appeldorf, beinhorn,
> rosenshein and other branches. However, were we to give up our own trees
> and merge our two trees into one common tree (the klein-rosenshein tree,
> for the sake of a simple name) I think we would then find that we have
> each inherited many non-relatives.
> What I suggest is as follows:
>
> 1- each keep our own tree and each keep adding to our own databases
> based on our best research abilities
>
> 2- develop or buy software that would permit us to periodically
> merge our two trees into one consolidated tree, which would then
> be uploaded to our web site. This "merging and uploading" process
> could be performed weekly, for example.
> Whether family tree maker 2006 could do this or not- I have no idea.
> I guess that in order to do such a process, we would somehow have to
> upload our files to the site in ftw format, so as not to lose the
> pictures that I have accumulated. We need to see if this idea makes
> sense because my ftw file is very large.
>
>
> 3- to clarify.....the consolidated tree would not itself be modified
> by anyone...only our individual trees would be worked on by you and i
> respectively. The consolidated tree would be used solely for the purpose
> of display online.
>
>
> 4- develop a way to incorporate confidentiality for living relatives
> in terms of birth years and/or other sensitive information.
>
>
> 5- develop a strategy for encouraging people to complete an online
> submission if they have additional information
>
>
> 6- I collect photos, stories, etc. as well as information. Hopefully,
> we can encourage submission of these types of materials as well.
>
>
>
> 7- Ultimately, I would like to publish some sort of book with our
> family information ...I guess this is a discussion in itself and
> not for this moment.....
>
>
> 8- In terms of formats for online family trees, I am no expert in this
> area. I do know that one of my distant relatives, eliyahu hershfeld, has
> his branch of our tree online, and you may have seen it. I dont think
> its the most user-friendly program that he is using, but he seems to
> think highly of it. Further research needed.
>
>
> 9-Before getting into the project, it would be good to determine
> how much annual time and money this project will cost.
> The gemara teaches us that he who prepares on erev shabbos is ready for
> shabbos. So, we should prepare ad=nd be ready with the required
> information so that we may, IY"H, proceed.
>
>
> so, those are my thoughts....look forward to hearing your thoughts....
>
> be well
>
>
> reb nosson
>
>
>
>
>
> Reuven Chaim Klein wrote:
>
>>I got Family Tree Maker 2006 last night and imported my family tree. You
>>and I merged some time ago, but you've probably done much more research
>>since then, I've added barely anything, so I'm sending you a copy of my
>>FTW file. You should please merge it with your own, and then send me
>>back the resulting file. One problem is that both of us spell names
>>differently, so we will have to figure how to work with that (i.e. you
>>write "Bear" and I write "Ber", etc...). I just archived my research
>>from 2005 (which pales in comparison to 2004) and I plan to re-do my
>>site sometime soon to be more family-tree oriented probably using one of
>>those two engines whichi I discussed with you before.
>>
>>Any ideas?
>>
>>Kol Tuv,
>>
>
> Reuven Chaim Klein
>
> http://www.myhomeloancompany.com
>
>>Vice President
>>AIM/AOL Screename: IAmRachack (Add
>>|IM
>>>
> website!>)
>
>>
>>(Attention: Usually I can only check my email on Friday Afternoon and
>>Motzei Shabbos.)
>
>
>