13 May 2016

Over 47 million indexed names at the GENDEX Network

FamilySearch have updated the database from Canadian Headstones to contain 1,099,535 records. While that means a general search at FamilySearch will find those records it's not the complete Canadian Headstones database which now claims "over 1,450,000 gravestone photo records from across Canada."
And that pales in comparison to the 47,448,496 names indexed on another Canadian Headstones project I didn't know about, the GENDEX Network. So I asked some questions of project leader Jim McKane

When did the initiative/site start?
The first GenDex was created by Gene Stark in 1996. More currently Darrin Lythgoes creator of TNG (The Next Generation) Software for online familytrees operated a GenDex website which CanadianHeadstones took over.

At what rate is it growing?
Last November it was 45M and is now 47M

What's included . . .what type of record?
 A GenDex file is a text file which is created by a genealogy database program when you create the html files for a website. The GenDex file contains only the basic data about a person with the URL to the page in your website for each person. Therefore, it is a very small file which details all the information needed to index your website on GenDexNetwork.org. It ONLY contains the following: -
URL to each person on your website
First Name
Surname
Birth Date
Place of Birth
Death Date
Place of Death

Entries from a GenDex file look like this when viewed in a text editor: -
URL|SURNAME|First Name /Surname/|Birth Date|Place of Birth|Death Date|Place of Death|
I1726&tree=McKane|Mary Robena //|8 Jun 1905||27 Apr 1966||
I903&tree=McKane|ADAIR|Cecil /ADAIR/|10 Jan 1919|York, ON|22 May 1997| Grey, ON|

Not all Family Tree programs will create a GenDex file.

Why would people/organizations want their index included?
GenDex provides researchers with a quick index to ancestral names documented by the many family history websites on the Internet. We index names, birth dates, birth places, death dates and death places. Basic and Advanced search forms allow you to enter your criteria and, with the click of a button, you will be searching our database containing more than 30 million names. Those that meet your criteria are returned in a list. If you find persons of interest to you, a link will take you to their full data pages on one or more participating genealogy websites.

If you have your own family history website and want to index it with us, it could not be easier. On the GenDex home page, click on the green tab and you will find a simple form to help you upload your gendex file. No personal information is required. Your file will be imported into our database and will be among that those searched by visitors. Upload as many gendex files as you like, and refresh them whenever you wish by using the same form.

Why would they not?
Only those who want to "hide" their genealogy from fellow researchers would not wish to participate!

How is it funded now and in the future?
There is advertising via Adsense which is our only source of revenue to keep GenDexNetwork and CanadianHeadstones.com alive other than donations.

Thanks to Jim for the information. It's free so why not give it a try?


1 comment:

Gil Croome said...

The "network" part of the address is vital. Plain "GenDex" delivers you a dental X-ray website!