Airtable and GDAT

 Genimate Sharon left this comment on a recent post of mine.

Jill

Do you prefer Airtable to the Genealogical DNA Analysis Tool for managing your DNA kits? Or do they have different purposes? What are your other uses for Airtable?

I realised that it would probably be better to respond here in a post where I can share images than to write a lengthy comment on my earlier post

Firstly I need to point out that although I have been using DNA as a genealogy research tool for around 9 years I still class myself as a basic user. I am not particularly interested in the science behind my DNA matches, my focus is on making connections.

My uses of Airtable and GDAT are for different purposes.

I use Airtable to maintain records of the DNA matches for all the kits I manage and GDAT for chromosome analysis of matches. It's taking me a while to get my head around GDAT, I am currently using it just for my matches and (if I ever get competent) will use it for the other kits I manage.

I had previously used spreadsheets to keep track of all my matches but, after seeing two demonstrations of Airtable at Rootstech 2021: https://www.familysearch.org/rootstech/rtc2021/session/how-to-use-airtable-for-a-dna-research-log and https://www.familysearch.org/rootstech/rtc2021/session/airtable-organizing-your-research-with-a-relational-database, I went exploring. 

I realised that I could link various sheets together and this would mean that I could remove some data from my Excel spreadsheets (tables on Airtable) to secondary sheets (tables) linked back to primary sheet (table). On Airtable one can have Workspaces that store Bases which can contain multiple Tables.

The following image shows what my homepage looks like on Airtable. One can have multiple Workspaces - I just have one.

The Bases in my Airtable Workspace

In my DNA Management - JPC Base I track matches for the seven kits I manage that share my ancestors. Within this base I have four tables that are related to the primary table.

The Fields I have on JPC Matches are: Kit Name, Surname, Forename, Kit Manager, Line (4 grandparents), DNA Painted, GDAT, Test Site, Columns for each match, % of Aboriginalty, Relationship to me, Match line. this next image shows part of the setup.

Further fields to the right of this image are match location, notes, and a link to the Match Details table.

You will note plenty of empty spaces as each cell is not pertinent to each tester. This is a work in progress where I add every match I find for those seven people. Each test one person does has a separate record.

I love that I can set up Multiple Select Fields for easy data entry which I use for Line, Testing Company, DNA Painted and GDAT.

Multiple select fields save typing

The possibilities for use of this program are endless. setup is easy, data entry uncomplicated and there are so many means of sorting, sifting and analysing data. There are many templates available in the Airtable community that one can use and modify to a situation.

Another way I use Airtable is to keep track of my genimates. Over the years I have met so many folk in person and online. It's good to be able to quickly find their details when my poor old memory fails. 

My Genimates base has these tables.

Genimates has details of the people I have met, Terms manages my Geneadictionary entries (which links back to Genimates), Blogs has details of various blogs (links to Genimates and Societies), Websites has details of various websites (links to Genimates and Societies), Societies/Hosts (links to Blogs, Websites and Presentations) and Presentations manages my gigs and links back to Societies/Hosts.

After playing around with Airtable for a couple of months I took out a subscription because some of my bases grew to be too large (more than 1200 records) to be covered by a free account. I also wanted the flexibility to create more bases than allowed in a free account. I have read of other genies (watch the two videos from Rootstech) who use a free Airtable account successfully for their projects.

I plan on using GDAT for chromosome analysis. The GDAT website says "Genealogical DNA Analysis Tool (GDAT) is an app that utilizes autosomal DNA to aid in the research of family trees. The app houses a database of the autosomal data downloaded from various testing companies and provides analysis tools for family history research." 

While it's a challenge for this old girl I understand that GDAT is the gold standard for chromosome analysis. I have managed to download my matches from several other sites to GDAT and am slowly getting to know the product. I would love to have someone to hold my hand on this journey. 

Three Rabbit Holes today

My annual subscription to MyHeritage runs out today so I am madly going through the DNA matches for the accounts I manage there before my access expires. I will probably resubscribe some time in the future when there is a decent offer but I cannot justify the AU $349‎  fee to extend my subscription now.

I am able to use the MyHeritage  subs at a local library or a genealogy society to search the MyHeritage record sets from home so I can't see the value investing in a premium subscription.

My Rabbit Holes of choice today are those MyHeritage Matches, DNAPainter to paint them and the Airtable database I use to track them.

Too much learning

 There is a big online genealogy conference happening in Australia this week and I am not in attendance.

Over the past months I've had many opportunities to participate in online educational activities via Zoom and other mediums, I am still wading through the sessions from the recent RootstechConnect. That's a lot of learning! Another issue is that I am missing my genimates and hanging out for a face to face event so I have applied my geneafunds to attend History in Paradise, a face to face event on Norfolk Island in August.

My main problem is that I need time to apply some of the learning I have done during Covid times so, while many of my genimates are learning new tricks, I have been been playing catchup.

Recently my desktop genealogy software, Family Historian, had an update so I after downloading the update I have been working on my database while evaluating and updating some of my records. A catalyst for this was the presentation I gave at the SAG last weekend extolling the virtues of  the program. 

Several genimates, including Nicole Dyer at RootstechConnect, have been speaking in glowing terms about Airtable so I decided to investigate that tool. I spent considerable time creating quite a large base (database) with Airtable and was quite pleased with the result. When I returned to the program the next day I had a warning that my base was too big and that I would need to upgrade to a paid account.   

The problem was that I had too many records in my base. One is allowed to have many bases but each base is limited in the number of records it can hold. I removed some eggs from my basket and created an extra couple of bases to hold the sheets I had removed from the initial base so today I am within the limits for a free membership.

I want to play around a bit more before I decide to embrace this program. I like having the ability to link records in different sheets but as my bases grow (the first one is still close to the limit) I will need a paid account which will allow 5,000 records in each base. Another issue I am mulling over is that Airtable bases cannot be accessed offline. While I am usually online on both my phone and laptop will there be times like when on a longhaul flight, that I will want access. 

Next on my homework list is investigating the stories on The Colonial Frontier Massacres, Australia Map and Database.