As of 20 October 1999, more than two million names have been uploaded to the new RootsWeb WorldConnect Project (BETA) in the form of GEDCOM files. Many users have said that the upload software used in the WorldConnect project is, by far, the fastest and most fully featured of its kind. What this means to us is that more and more folks will be uploading those GEDCOM files every day, expanding the possibility of finding a WORLDCONNECTion in logarithmic proportions.

The GEDCOM File format was developed by the Family History Department of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) to provide a flexible, uniform format for exchanging computerized genealogical data. GEDCOM is an acronym for GEnealogical Data Communication. The files have the computer program extension ".ged".

Its purpose is to foster sharing of genealogical information and the development of a wide range of inter-operable software products to assist genealogists, historians, and other researchers. The GEDCOM file format is normally ASCII text. It consists of a pre-determined set of fields or tags which identify the software, family, individual, birth and death dates, and so on.

Most popular genealogy programs for personal computers can import and export GEDCOM files. This is by far the simplest method of getting genealogy data online. It normally wouldn't be viewable by a browser so folks with computers had to download it and then import it into their genealogy software to use it.

Now, however, they are not only viewable but searchable online; a boon to computer users, and a terrific new power tool for Net4TV users as well. According to Randy Winch, the project developer, a plan is in effect to allow online entry of your family data which will make the site fully usable by WebTV users by early next year.

You can search the names already uploaded or upload you own GEDCOM at WorldConnect or use this form below.

For a look inside a GEDCOM file, consider GEDCOM 101.

Unfortunately, the standard is by no means standard. Genealogy software companies have implemented their own tags in GEDCOM files much the same way that Internet browsers support proprietary HTML tags. Dick Eastman, author of the book YOUR ROOTS: Total Genealogy Planning On Your Computer, discusses the history of GEDCOM files in more detail in his About GEDCOM.

The official documentation on GEDCOM published by the LDS Church, who holds the copyright, can be viewed at GEDCOM 5.5.