One Repository for One Family Tree

In the past years I have viewed the large quantities of genealogical data spread among multiple disparate sources with disapproval, and felt intimidated in beginning my own family history project. This problem seems to have arisen because the first software-based technologies for family history work were invented before the advent of the Internet. For instance, the church used to periodically distribute CDs containing their most up-to-date information to each ward and branch. Later the creation of PAF and the GEDCOM file format encouraged each person to maintain their own personal databases of family history, and as the Internet matured a host of different web sites have popped into existence with their own individual purposes, scopes, and information formats.

However, If we are to map the single family tree of human history from Adam to the present, we need to have one major repository for all genealogical data that is easy to use, explore, and contribute to. I believe the church has been tackling this problem for a while, and I hope that their new family history web service fulfills this requirement. If this new service succeeds in enabling most users to quickly comprehend accurately the current state of genealogical research in their families and know where they must begin to add to this body of knowledge, then it will become the greatest contribution so far in speeding along the work of redeeming the dead.