Deseret Morning News

Deseret Morning News | 17 new patents granted: "Correlating genealogy records systems and methods. Bennett Cookson Jr., Kendall J. Jefferson, Grant Parkinson, Douglas T. Reid, Daren Thayne, all of Orem; Ken Boyer, Cedar Hills; Jerry Collings, American Fork; James Mark Hamilton, Provo; Michael J. Wolfgramm, Pleasant Grove. Assigned to The Generations Network Inc., Provo. Filed Dec. 29, 2003. Patent No. 7,249,129."
http://www.freepatentsonline.com/EP1550960.html

Abstract of EP1550960
A method of consolidating genealogy records includes partitioning the records using at least one index file to form one or more partitions, sorting the records in a partition based on a data element in the records, comparing records within a sort range, based on the comparison, identifying same person records, consolidating information in the same person records, receiving a request from a user to view at least a portion of the consolidated information for a particular group of same person records, and sending a file that includes the portion to the user.


2. The method of claim 1, wherein partitioning the records using at least one index file comprises using a surname index to identify records having the same surnames and grouping those records into a surname partition.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising using the surname index to identify records having similar surnames and grouping those records into the surname partition.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein using the surname index to identify records having similar surnames comprises using a phonetic algorithm to identify records having similar surnames.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the phonetic algorithm comprises double metaphone or SOUNDEX.

6. The method of any one of the claims 1 to 5, wherein sorting the records in a partition based on a data element in the records comprises sorting the records based on birth date and/or on a selection from the group consisting of name, death data, death place, and birth place.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein comparing records within a sort range comprises comparing records within a birth date range.

8. The method of any one of the claims 1 to 7, wherein identifying same person records comprises calculating a score that represents the likelihood that a pair of compared records represent the same person.

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising comparing records related to pairs of same person records.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein comparing records related to pairs of same person records comprises revising the score based on the comparison of related records.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein identifying same person records comprises comparing the score to a predetermined threshold and rejecting records as "same person" records if the score is below the threshold.

12. The method of any one of the claims 1 to 11, wherein the portion comprises a family tree based on consolidated information from a plurality of records.

13. A system for consolidating genealogy records, comprising: