I was reminded recently of an oversight on my part. A while back my old laptop died and when I moved the Genealogy data over I had not yet tacked the problem of what to do with some research data sent to me by genealogist, Deb Wake. Most of her data was in the form of scans of historical documents. At the time, I had not enough disk space on the web server to host those images, and converting them to text was a sticky problem.
Well, not long ago, I shelled out some significant money for a subscription to a premium online image gallery service, known as SmugMug. That is now integrated into the web site, and allows me to host a virtually unlimited number of images. Now those old storage limits are no longer an issue and I can host much more information and photos than before. If anything, I look forward to the challenges of what to do with it all. That assumes of course that people actually submit material and photos to the website, which happens not nearly as often as I would like, but I am learning to be patient.
The Research from Deb Wake is now hosted in the Descendants of George Zimmerman Image Galleries, and I will be working on the Mary McCormick's partial transcription of John Carpenter's Will.
I also want to thank our esteemed cousin, Sandy Kassen, who reminded me that these documents existed in my repository, but had not yet been made available online. I would like to assure her and everyone else that was an oversight only. I now have everything posted.
I will comb though that old laptop hard drive and see if there might be a sliver of data still unhosted, but I have shared everything I have. That is my intention, and that is the purpose of this project.
Thank you all for your support.
: Joseph W. Carpenter
Tuesday, November 7, 2006
Friday, November 3, 2006
Reality Check: Time, Quality, and Money... Pick Two
I recently received a message from a woman in the family who is frustrated that on the Articles page there are references to material that has not yet been posted. Specifically, the items listed as "Pennsylvania German Pioneers" under "Research from Deb Wake" on the Articles page.
Her question was, "While we really appreciate all of your technical information, it boiled down to the question of why should people send on manuscripts, etc., to you, when you have several that we'd like to see, i.e. Pennsylvania Germans, that you don't copy onto the site. ... We understand that there is a huge technical knowledge for putting together a family site, but unless the earliest entries are addressed, for the rest of the family searching the site, it becomes a "who cares?", since earlier entries were never printed. "
I can imagine how some things might seem to move slowly with regards to this website. I am doing most of this work alone, and it is done after hours for the most part.
So, I will just say that I have posted EVERYTHING that I have in my possession, with this one oversight, which I will now correct. The purpose of this website is to share everything that people choose to submit. There should be no doubts that everything that is sent to me will be shared in a reasonable time, considering the constraints of my life, and the technical limitations imposed by the Internet itself.
The material from Deb Wake had quite frankly fallen off of my personal radar, so I am actually glad for the reminder. It is to Deb Wake that I owe an apology for the oversight.
The question posed by our frustrated cousin does also bring up the larger question, which is... How does this web site work?
The non-technical answer to "How does this web site work?," goes to the three variables that drive any project: Time, Money and Quality. Anyone who works with these variables can tell you that of the three, you get to pick just two.
This information our cousin asked about was sent to me on CD a long while back by Deb Wake. When she sent it, eighteen months ago, it was not even possible to post that much data on the website. We simply did not have the technical capacity to do it.
At the end of Summer 2006, I started a paid subcription to the SmugMug Online Image Gallery service and now I can host images there. It works great and has unlimited capacity. I have also purchased other tool since those early days to help me host this website, because I am committed to the rightness of this project.
Other real life variables are the fact that my previous laptop expired, and we had the long run up to the 2006 Reunion in Kentucky. There was enough work to keep me busy for months, and so the question of what to do with Deb's research got put on a back burner.
When I redesigned the website the last time, around early September ... lets see... about 45 days ago... these inactive references to "Research from Deb Wake" were posted as dead links to server as a reminder to myself that I needed to get that research posted. It fell on to the, "When I get a chance," list. Even at that time; however, it was not technically possible to publish all of those images.
Time passes... And now I do have that SmugMug service at my disposal, and now I can post those images where they can be enjoyed by the entire family.
Those of you who know me, you know that I never accept "Busy" as a reason, and I consider it a poor excuse. People who tell you they are "too busy" are really just telling you that other things are more important to them. The point is that I will never tell you I did not get something done because I was too busy. But I will tell you that I am a busy man, and projects like the family web site get relegated to the back burner often. I do need to sleep occasionally.
The web site and the genealogy projects in general tend to run hot and cold. When they are hot, there is plenty to keep me busy and inspire the creative juices.
When they are cold, which is most of the time, long months go by with nothing new coming in. Sometimes it makes me wonder if this site is still appreciated at all. Cost is relative. When things are busy, then I feel good about this site and my resolve is firmed up. When things are slow, I sometimes wonder if I should scale it back. Some of my more ambitious ideas for collecting and sharing family history could not be realized unless I knew that a significant portion of the family would help support me. In terms of sharing stories, research and photographs, and also in terms of the occasional donation to help keep the lights on.
If I were actually getting paid to do this work, then the subject matter experts (that being you) would submit new material more often and the updates would be more timely, just like all the other professional websites out there. But this web site gets new materials infrequently, and the work is done by just little old me. Well, not so little actually, but definitely this web site is the work of just one man. Plus, I am the only one paying the bills, so unless you want to ante up to help keep the lights on, then you can just sit tight until I get around to it. Or a Round Tuit if you have one, because I lost mine. :o)
So, please be patient. In fact, you have no other option unless you want to submit to the "who cares" camp, as mentioned by our frustrated cousin, and just not visit the website anymore. New information will get posted -- all of it -- and that will get done as time permits.
If I happen to succumb to my human side and forget to do something, I will appreciate a kindly reminder. Kind words will be met with a helpful attitude.
Look forward now, to the resumption of work on the Research from Deb Wake, now that it has come to my attention again. For that reminder, I gratefully thank my esteemed cousin.
Yours in kinship,
: Joseph W. Carpenter
: Your friendly neighborhood webmaster
Her question was, "While we really appreciate all of your technical information, it boiled down to the question of why should people send on manuscripts, etc., to you, when you have several that we'd like to see, i.e. Pennsylvania Germans, that you don't copy onto the site. ... We understand that there is a huge technical knowledge for putting together a family site, but unless the earliest entries are addressed, for the rest of the family searching the site, it becomes a "who cares?", since earlier entries were never printed. "
I can imagine how some things might seem to move slowly with regards to this website. I am doing most of this work alone, and it is done after hours for the most part.
So, I will just say that I have posted EVERYTHING that I have in my possession, with this one oversight, which I will now correct. The purpose of this website is to share everything that people choose to submit. There should be no doubts that everything that is sent to me will be shared in a reasonable time, considering the constraints of my life, and the technical limitations imposed by the Internet itself.
The material from Deb Wake had quite frankly fallen off of my personal radar, so I am actually glad for the reminder. It is to Deb Wake that I owe an apology for the oversight.
The question posed by our frustrated cousin does also bring up the larger question, which is... How does this web site work?
The non-technical answer to "How does this web site work?," goes to the three variables that drive any project: Time, Money and Quality. Anyone who works with these variables can tell you that of the three, you get to pick just two.
This information our cousin asked about was sent to me on CD a long while back by Deb Wake. When she sent it, eighteen months ago, it was not even possible to post that much data on the website. We simply did not have the technical capacity to do it.
At the end of Summer 2006, I started a paid subcription to the SmugMug Online Image Gallery service and now I can host images there. It works great and has unlimited capacity. I have also purchased other tool since those early days to help me host this website, because I am committed to the rightness of this project.
Other real life variables are the fact that my previous laptop expired, and we had the long run up to the 2006 Reunion in Kentucky. There was enough work to keep me busy for months, and so the question of what to do with Deb's research got put on a back burner.
When I redesigned the website the last time, around early September ... lets see... about 45 days ago... these inactive references to "Research from Deb Wake" were posted as dead links to server as a reminder to myself that I needed to get that research posted. It fell on to the, "When I get a chance," list. Even at that time; however, it was not technically possible to publish all of those images.
Time passes... And now I do have that SmugMug service at my disposal, and now I can post those images where they can be enjoyed by the entire family.
Those of you who know me, you know that I never accept "Busy" as a reason, and I consider it a poor excuse. People who tell you they are "too busy" are really just telling you that other things are more important to them. The point is that I will never tell you I did not get something done because I was too busy. But I will tell you that I am a busy man, and projects like the family web site get relegated to the back burner often. I do need to sleep occasionally.
The web site and the genealogy projects in general tend to run hot and cold. When they are hot, there is plenty to keep me busy and inspire the creative juices.
When they are cold, which is most of the time, long months go by with nothing new coming in. Sometimes it makes me wonder if this site is still appreciated at all. Cost is relative. When things are busy, then I feel good about this site and my resolve is firmed up. When things are slow, I sometimes wonder if I should scale it back. Some of my more ambitious ideas for collecting and sharing family history could not be realized unless I knew that a significant portion of the family would help support me. In terms of sharing stories, research and photographs, and also in terms of the occasional donation to help keep the lights on.
If I were actually getting paid to do this work, then the subject matter experts (that being you) would submit new material more often and the updates would be more timely, just like all the other professional websites out there. But this web site gets new materials infrequently, and the work is done by just little old me. Well, not so little actually, but definitely this web site is the work of just one man. Plus, I am the only one paying the bills, so unless you want to ante up to help keep the lights on, then you can just sit tight until I get around to it. Or a Round Tuit if you have one, because I lost mine. :o)
So, please be patient. In fact, you have no other option unless you want to submit to the "who cares" camp, as mentioned by our frustrated cousin, and just not visit the website anymore. New information will get posted -- all of it -- and that will get done as time permits.
If I happen to succumb to my human side and forget to do something, I will appreciate a kindly reminder. Kind words will be met with a helpful attitude.
Look forward now, to the resumption of work on the Research from Deb Wake, now that it has come to my attention again. For that reminder, I gratefully thank my esteemed cousin.
Yours in kinship,
: Joseph W. Carpenter
: Your friendly neighborhood webmaster
Wednesday, November 1, 2006
Reunion2006 Group Photo posted to Image Gallery
With the kind permission of the photographer, Chris Floyd, I have posted the Reunion2006 group photograph. I have disabled ordering the photograph from here, because by rights any new prints should be ordered through Chris. If you are interested in ordering printed copies of this photograph, contact me through the website and I will put you in touch with the appropriate people.
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