My Wish List for Family History

If you have been working on researching your family for a while, you probably have some things that you would like to see. I have several items on my wish list some of which might happen and some may never happen. I thought now that another year is ending, I would list some of the things I had on my virtual wish list.

1. The biggest challenge to the advancement of genealogical research is the ability to easily share information between both online family trees and those in desktop programs. The old GEDCOM standard has become rickety with age and is no longer adequate (if it ever was). I would like to see some kind of standards that would allow the transfer of data from one program to another. Some progress has been made between specific websites, but we really need to be able to synchronize our data from all the places it might reside.

2. As a subset on my wish list, I would like to see several changes to the FamilySearch.org website and particularly the Family Tree.

• First and foremost, I would like to see some kind of rating system for the accuracy of the entries and for the validity of the sources. For example, if there are few or no supporting sources the overall individual entry could have a "one-star" rating.  If the information available is supported by sources and has a logical conclusion, the entry could get a "four-star" or even a "five-star" rating. Individual sources could also be starred in the same manner. This would give users of the Family Tree an idea of what the community thought of the validity of the entries. 
• Second, I would like to see an expansion of the red Data Problems icons. It would also be nice if there were a link to show us what items are presently considered problems. Right now, if an entry is not standardized, it is marked as a Data Problem. I would suggest that this category be given its own color. 
• Third, I would like to see a formal arbitration system to resolve conflicts about entries with some restrictions made on people who fail to cooperate. For example, if a person is making unsupported and obviously inaccurate changes and refuses to acknowledge any email or message requests to explain why the changes are being made, there should be some arbitration available to resolve the issue. If the person fails to respond to arbitration, I would suggest their ability to make changes to the Family Tree be curtailed. 
• Following up on the previous wish, I would like to see some lines where there are extensive changes be subject to some sort of application to make a change situation. For example, the Mayflower passengers are like revolving doors. Why not have a procedure where any changes had to be proposed with supporting sources and then the change could only be made if a certain number of other users voted for the change.
• Next, I would think it would be helpful if warning messages could be implemented for entering common date errors such as parents' vs children's' ages etc.  

3. Overall, I would like to see some additional emphasis on the Temple and Family History Consultant calling. Now that many of us will not be able to use any part of the Sunday School hour in the "Old Block" schedule for family history, there should be some guidelines as to when this activity might continue. Left up to the individual Wards, this will likely just never be scheduled. 

4. I would also like to see some more specific activities in the Family Discovery Center that lead people to investigate the entries in their portion of the Family Tree. Perhaps activities that show what is presently in the Family Tree and suggesting ways, like adding Record Hints, that could help correct and add to the existing information. 

5. I think the maintenance and operation of the family history centers located in areas where there are a large number of members (such as Utah Valley) could be consolidated into fewer and larger facilities. A good example is the Sandy Family History Center in Sandy, Utah. If there is going to be a limited availability the local Stake Family History Centers on Sunday, then why not consolidate multiple Stake Family History Centers into one larger center with Family Discovery options?

Well, my wish list could go on and on. Perhaps you have your own wish list. You could leave a comment with some of the things you would like to see. I am well aware of GetSatisfaction for FamilySearch and I am aware that many suggestions there are considered by FamilySearch. Please don't complain that I am not a "regular"  on GetSatisfaction, I really do about as much as I can. By the way, there are currently 5,463 Family Tree topics on that website. There used to be a link to the website from FamilySearch.org, but that has disappeared as have the forums and other discussion venues.