Issue 29.10
Computers are an indispensable tool for genealogists, both for research and for tracking data. Information about billions of individuals and family trees is available online. Unfortunately, many of today’s computer software tools are too complicated to use and do not give a global view of your genealogy.
A new Windows™ genealogy program called BRANCHES uses an innovative approach to solving this problem. BRANCHES is like having Google Earth™ for your genealogy. You can see all the people and all the data in your database on one screen and then zoom down to see the detail, even a signature on a birth certificate. And you can also see all relationships.
Within just a few minutes, you can be doing everything in BRANCHES that you can do with other genealogy programs without reading lengthy manuals. You can add people and events, photos, videos and documents and manage all your data.
BRANCHES also has a Google-like search capability that allows you to search your entire data base for names, places and even text in notes and then highlight the individuals in the main pedigree. You can then zoom down into the place where that person is and see the information you searched for. BRANCHES also has a small mini map which shows you where in your tree you are looking, so you can never get lost.
BRANCHES is a full-featured desktop or laptop Windows application. The company says that they developed BRANCHES to make arduous tasks easy, and to put the fun back into genealogy. Because of it’s graphical nature, it is easy to learn and appeals to all ages. Yet it is powerful enough for the professional genealogist.
The company says that New Family Search capabilities are presently under development and will be released later this year.
The company that developed BRANCHES, Sherwood Electronics Laboratories, Inc. has been in business over 27 years and has developed numerous hardware and software products for the mainframe, mini and PC computer environments.
BRANCHES can be downloaded from the internet. The program costs $39.95 one time fee. There is also a 30 day free trial of the full version for those who would like to try it out before they buy. Go to the website, www.branchesgenealogy.com for more information.
Shanna Jones is a professional genealogist. For additional information, Shanna can be reached at (435) 628-4900 or shannasjones@msn.com.