The Impact of the Collaboration between RootsMagic and MyHeritage

For some time now, I have been pointing out that the automated search functions of programs such as MyHeritage.com, Ancestry.com and FamilySearch.org Family Tree are a revolutionary step in family history research. These programs have the ability to produce accurate source hints, leaving the actual designation of the sources up to the individual user of the programs. I have also been pointing out that unless the desktop database programs negotiate a pathway to these automated sources, they will begin to lose market share as the overall online community realizes the advantages of these programs. I pointed to the fact that The Master Genealogist program had ceased to be available. The answer is that no matter how good the program, the new paradigm includes a pathway to automated searching.

As a clear message of this very obvious situation, RootsMagic.com and MyHeritage.com have announced a pathway so that RootsMagic users can utilize the advanced MyHeritage search functions. Here is a quote from the announcement as it appeared on the BusinessWire.com.

TEL AVIV, Israel & SPRINGVILLE, Utah--(BUSINESS WIRE)--MyHeritage, the popular family history network, and RootsMagic, Inc., today jointly announced that MyHeritage’s Smart Matching™ and Record Matching technologies have been integrated into RootsMagic’s latest version of its popular genealogy software. This enables RootsMagic users to discover the life stories of their ancestors thanks to highly accurate matching between their family trees and millions of family trees and billions of global historical records available on MyHeritage. 

RootsMagic, first released in 2003, is an award winning genealogy program for documenting and preserving family history. Its latest version 7, released this week, includes among its highlights a new feature named WebHints powered by MyHeritage matching technologies that transforms the program into a powerful research tool. WebHints also include hints from genealogy website FamilySearch for authenticated users. Information sent by RootsMagic to MyHeritage for matching is never collected or shared, and is deleted after matching to ensure the complete privacy of RootsMagic users and their data.

As noted, the RootsMagic program will also include hints from FamilySearch.org.

The impact of these new technologies is just now beginning to be felt. It is evident that as these technologies mature, entry into the documented world of family history will become much less labor intensive.