GenSmarts Web Service FAQ

GenSmarts - tranditionally a PC only product (software that you purchase and install on your PC), is now also available as a service provided by genealogy websites. Listed below are the questions we're asked most often by current and prospective users of the service.

What does GenSmarts do?

GenSmarts develops a profile of your an ancestor based on where and when they lived, along with significant events in their life. This profile is then matched with GenSmarts inventory of known records to make predictions about the record trail your ancestors may have left behind. The logic behind each suggestion is fully explained. For suggestions that can be researched online, GenSmarts will provide a link for you, which typically takes you immediately to a search results screen at a genealogy website hosting tthe record in question.

Do I have to subscribe to Ancestry.com or other pay sites to make use of GenSmarts hints?

Absolutely not. GenSmarts has many more free sites in its inventory than pay sites, so there should be plenty of free hints in what GenSmarts produces. Many users who don't subscribe to pay sites use GenSmarts hints at a local library or Family History Center where they do have access to those pay sites.

What countries does GenSmarts support?

GenSmarts comes with a known records inventory that supports research for the USA, Canada, and the UK. There is also a little content for Australia. You can add your own known records inventory definitions for any country.

What ancestor data does GenSmarts use?

Aside from the obvious name and family relationship info, GenSmarts looks at the birth, death, census, marriage, and other events of an individual, and their immeidate family.

Does GenSmarts suggest things I've already recorded?

While it's easy to determine a suggestion that would result in data you don't have... it's hard to be certain from the data in your file if you've already recorded from a source we're suggesting. So we provide all the ideas we have for your reference. Any "duplicates" however, will be "lower priority" suggestions since they won't be supplying any "missing information" in your file.

How are the suggestions I get from the GenSmarts Web Service different than the suggestions I get from the PC version of the product?

The suggestions will be mostly the same. The PC edition scans all your ancestors at once, wheres as the service edition only looks at the person you're wanting hints for (and the immediate family around that person). Occasionally, that additional data may impact an estimate of a date or place, which in turn may generate a different hypothesis for a suggestion. The PC edition, with it's access to all hints for all your ancestors, can also produce more reports. For example, a list of all the things you should look up when you go to the Family History Library in Salt Lake City.