Home RootsTech: Genealogy Gets Wired to the Gills

RootsTech: Genealogy Gets Wired to the Gills

The conference attendees crowded the hall of the Salt Palace to listen to a librarian who specializes in genealogy talk about online tools like the Internet Archive, Flickr and StoryCorps. There was hardly a seat free in a hall that held several thousand. Par for the course for a tech conference. So far.

What sets this conference apart is the average age, which can’t have been below sixty, and the nature of the listeners, the overwhelming majority of whom are not developers or tech marketers, but genealogists.

Genealogy, or family history research, is an enterprise that used to primarily feature such cutting edge technology as ledgers and later – gasp! – microfiche, has now firmly landed in the 21st century. RootsTech, sponsored by FamilySearch, is one of the first conferences dedicated to the the application of online technology to historical family research.

Putting their technology where their conference is, RootsTech is streaming its keynotes online and the flood of family history bloggers are tweeting it with the #rootstech hashtag. Talks include the use of cloud computing in family research and use of media sharing sites to preserve individual family history.

Sessions move from very soft tech, like which genealogical websites to use for what, to very hard, including an examination of the the mobile web and “Bringing Distributed Version Control to Arbitrary Object Graphs.”

Perhaps the most interesting undertaking is a programming contest. Programmers were invited to use the FamilySearch API to create a genealogical tool. The winners will receive a small cash prize.

Taking place in Salt Lake City, the conference is leveraging the Latter Day Saints’ long-standing love-affair with family research. As far as genealogy goes, the church serves the function that Nike does in sports products in the Northwest, as a center-of-gravity and attractant. The area’s genealogical libraries are legendary and were among the first targets of FamilySearch’s move online beginning in 1989, 104 years after the company’s beginning as the Genealogical Society of Utah. It currently has a vast database that includes over a billion names in its searchable database.

In the next day or two I’ll examine the API contests’ contestants and winners and talk to its CEO about the technological future of our families’ pasts.

Salt Palace photo by Jingles the Pirate. Yep.

Editor’s disclosure: RootsTech covered Mr. Hopkins’ airfare and hotel.

About ReadWrite’s Editorial Process

The ReadWrite Editorial policy involves closely monitoring the tech industry for major developments, new product launches, AI breakthroughs, video game releases and other newsworthy events. Editors assign relevant stories to staff writers or freelance contributors with expertise in each particular topic area. Before publication, articles go through a rigorous round of editing for accuracy, clarity, and to ensure adherence to ReadWrite's style guidelines.

Get the biggest tech headlines of the day delivered to your inbox

    By signing up, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy. Unsubscribe anytime.

    Tech News

    Explore the latest in tech with our Tech News. We cut through the noise for concise, relevant updates, keeping you informed about the rapidly evolving tech landscape with curated content that separates signal from noise.

    In-Depth Tech Stories

    Explore tech impact in In-Depth Stories. Narrative data journalism offers comprehensive analyses, revealing stories behind data. Understand industry trends for a deeper perspective on tech's intricate relationships with society.

    Expert Reviews

    Empower decisions with Expert Reviews, merging industry expertise and insightful analysis. Delve into tech intricacies, get the best deals, and stay ahead with our trustworthy guide to navigating the ever-changing tech market.