Book Review: Getting The Most Out Of RootsMagic 4
Don Bradbury browses the author's newly published manual for RootsMagic v4
| Product | Getting The Most Out Of RootsMagic 4 |
|---|---|
| Company | S&N Genealogy Ltd |
| Web | www.rootsmagic.co.uk www.genealogysupplies.com |
| Price | From £14.99 |
| We like | A comprehensive description of program operations and options |
| We don't like | Users will have to rely on video tutorials to keep abreast of future developments |
| Rating | 9/10 |
| Requirements |
We recently reviewed the new release 4 of RootsMagic, a powerful genealogy database that is certified to interface with online databases such as New FamilySearch and Ancestry.com, enabling data to be transferred directly to and from RootsMagic.
Apart from the online video tutorials, and the promise of more of these to come, new users of RootsMagic may well find the need for some guidance that's additional to the program's own help file. That's where Getting The Most Out Of RootsMagic 4 (GRM4) comes in.
Written by the author of the program himself, and with the usual outstanding simplicity of expression - not to mention the touches of humour - that we have come to expect from Bruce Buzbee, this manual covers most aspects of database creation and usage that will be found necessary. From setting up your first database, together with the program's sundry operational options, to data entry, use of the menus and the various data views, it covers many aspects that new users will welcome some comment upon. Presumed is a working knowledge of Windows, including the use of menus and dialogue boxes.
Update news
The latest news on program updates - of which the user should expect several in view of the rapidly evolving nature of online connectivity in particular - is presented at program startup by default. Such updates should be attended to without undue delay as sundry aspects of operation depend rather critically on having the latest incremental version of the program in use.
The new WebSearch view, in particular, is worth investigating, and GRM4 describes how this helps with your research. The book emphasises that subscriptions to these web sites, such as Ancestry.com, would have to be attended to as necessary, but thereafter their application is invaluable and the manual describes basic modes of operation.
The use of multiple databases is covered, as are the principles of drag-and-drop editing and relocation, data backup, database renaming, copying, and deleting. Linking and unlinking individuals is an integral part of such a program where data duplication is endemic and potentially complicating of data integrity; all this is described.
Adding Multimedia
The addition of multimedia to improve individual description and identity is covered, and the potentially vital aspects of making notational additions to add to the basic database entries is described, as is data editing and searching, particularly via the Internet.
The vital aspects of data sourcing are also covered, and the fact that without adequate source notation there is the danger of the user passing on a useless legacy to the next generation where much work may have to be repeated in order to justify the user's data integrity in the absence of such notation.
Mapping, Geocoding, and Gazetting are described, as are the use of Repositories and the usual forms of reporting such as charts, family group sheets, pedigree charts, and narrative reports. The multiplicity of reports formats gets coverage, as does the use of calendars, individual summaries, timelines, scrapbooks, photo trees and custom reports to the user's own specification.
Data sharing via such means as the universally employed GEDCOM format, and the application of that most innovative of additions, RootsMagic-To-Go, deserves and gets coverage, as does record and file merging, the use of research aids, the program's sundry tools, putting the user's family genealogical data on the Web, and the vital interfacing with New FamilySearch in particular.
Tools for problem solving, setting the Living Flag, colour coding of individuals, the relationship calculator, the soundex calculator, spell checker, search & replace and other important features are all adequately covered.
User's of RootsMagic v4 will probably value the free addition of GenSmarts, and the manual describes how to integrate this free add-on which describes how to make use of its research suggestions.
In conclusion
GRM4 is a comprehensive and easy to use manual for the user of RootsMagic version 4. It cannot, of course, cater for the rapidly developing future developments in program interfacing with online databases, and for these the user will have to rely on video tutorials being added to the few that have currently been released. GRM4 is a worthy buy for the user of RootsMagic v4, then, and is a recommended add-on to the user's library.
