I’ve been using Rootsmagic for a number of years, but just upgraded to the newest version earlier this month. I immediately fell in love with two of the new features.
Research logs are an ongoing battle for me….lately I’ve had great success with OneNote, and for my major, probably-taking-to-me-grave, brickwalls, I’m using Word. But for all the everyday, run of the mill work on whichever ancestor catch’s my fancy when I find myself looking for a change of pace, Rootsmagic’s new Research Log seems to be the ticket.
I did a little work on locating the birth of a potential son of a revolutionary patriot, and recorded the research as I went in the new section of the person’s individual screen. Here’s what it looks like:
| Birth of Thomas Hawes Jr | ||||
| For: Thomas HAWES | ||||
| Objective | ||||
| Is Thomas Hawes Jr the son of the patriot Thomas Hawes? | ||||
| Date | Goal | Source | Repository | Result |
| 31 Jan 2012 | Proof of birth | Ancestry | Searched Ancestry.com for birth records for Thomas Hawes, 1787 Vassalboro | Search produced several family trees, but nothing sourced. There are no online records for Vassalboro. |
| 31 Jan 2012 | Proof of birth | Familysearch | Searched Familysearch.org for Thomas Hawes, born 1787 Vassalboro | No online records available for Vassalboro |
| 31 Jan 2012 | Birth record | American Ancestors | Searched database for any record of Thomas Hawes born Maine around 1787 | No record in the database. |
| 1 Feb 2012 | Birth record | Vassalboro Town Clerk | Town Clerk, 207-872-2826 | The town clerk has no records as early as 1787. Suggested I contact State Archives |
| 1 Feb 2012 | Birth record | Maine State Archives | http://www.maine.gov/sos/arc/ | The Archives’ website provides no online access to early Vassalboro records, but suggested that the FHL had filmed everything in the 1950s. |
| 19 Feb 2012 | Birth of Thomas Hawes Jr in Vassalboro | Ordered FHL film of early Vassalboro births on 1 Feb 2012. | FHL film 883,739 Vassalboro, Kennebec, Maine computer printout ; births or christenings, 1763-1875 Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Genealogical Department |
there was no birth of Thomas Hawes, son of anyone, in 1787 in Vassalboro. There were a few Hawes christenings, but they were in the early 1800s. |
It looks nicer when printed directly from Rootsmagic5, or when imported into a Word document, but you get the idea.
The other feature I’m already in love with is the new Time Line/Chronology report. Laying facts out in a timeline is one of my favorite tools for helping solve problems in my research. Before this upgrade, I had to rely on Excel, or Word, and the process was time consuming and static. This new feature allows me to include any number of people in the timeline and prints the citations as footnotes or endnotes. LOVE IT!!!!!!!!!! Here’s a sample. Again, it looks a little wonky on the blog, but in Rootsmagic5 and Word the results are beautiful.
I’ve no doubt there are a myriad of wonderful enhancements in this new release, but I’m so excited about these two reports, I couldn’t wait to share 
|
Date |
Event | Person | Place | |
|
|
||||
|
1850 |
Census7 | Sumner HAWES | living with parents and siblings; China, Kennebec, Maine | |
|
14 Sep 1853 |
Marriage14 | Sumner HAWES and Sarah Jane FREEMAN | China, Kennebec, Maine | |
|
Ca 1856 |
Birth15 | Laura A. HAWES | Maine | |
|
6 Nov 1856 |
Death15 | Laura A. HAWES | Maine | |
|
2 Oct 1857 |
Birth16–17 | Franklin H. HAWES | China, Kennebec, Maine | |
|
1860 |
Census18 | Thomas HAWES | living with son Sumner; China, Kennebec, Maine | |
|
1860 |
Census3 | Sumner HAWES | China, Kennebec, Maine | |
|
1860 |
Census3 | Franklin H. HAWES | China, Kennebec, Maine | |
|
Ca 1862 |
Birth19 | Wilson H. HAWES | Maine | |
|
Ca 1862 |
Birth19 | Willis C HAWES | Maine | |
|
Bef Jun 1863 |
Military20 | Sumner HAWES | 19th Maine Regiment. He was discharged before June 1863 when he filled out the draft registration; Maine | |
|
12 Oct 1865 |
Tax21 | Sumner HAWES | taxed $1.25 on 2 cattle and 9 sheep ; China, Kennebec, Maine | |
|
1870 |
Census22 | Thomas HAWES | living with son Sumner; China, Kennebec, Maine | |
|
1870 |
Census (fam)22 | Sumner HAWES and Sarah Jane FREEMAN | China, Kennebec, Maine | |
|
27 Dec 1874 |
Death5 | Thomas HAWES | China, Kennebec, Maine | |
|
12 Aug 1879 |
Birth23–25 | John Franklin HAWES | Maine | |
|
1880 |
Occupation8 | Sumner HAWES | farmer; China, Kennebec, Maine | |
|
1880 |
Census26 | John Franklin HAWES | Vasselboro, Kennebec, Maine |
Technology Tuesday is a daily blogging prompt sponsered by Geneabloggers
Bruce certainly did a superb job with RM 5.0. I think my favorite features are the new timeline report and media handling/tagging. Substantial improvements! I’m also using the research log as well, coupled with Excel and Evernote. Now, I will be a very happy camper with RM’s iPad app is finally released!
Thanks for the comment Lauren. I have a Samsung tablet and would love to see an app for that in the future as well!