GLX Use Cases

GENEALOGIX is designed to be flexible and extensible beyond traditional genealogy. Here are real-world use cases demonstrating how GLX adapts to different research domains.

Traditional Genealogy

Family History Research

Scenario: Documenting multi-generational family trees with complete source citations.

Key Features Used:

• Standard person, event, and relationship types
• Evidence chains from repositories to assertions
• Git version control for collaborative family research
• GEDCOM import for existing data

Example Types:

# Standard vocabularies (illustrative listing — see the vocabulary files for the full YAML shape)
event_types:        birth, death, marriage, baptism, burial
relationship_types: parent_child, marriage, sibling

Perfect For:

• Personal family history projects
• Multi-generational family trees
• Collaborative family research teams
• Surname studies and one-name studies

---

Biographical Research

Academic and Professional Biographies

Scenario: Documenting the lives and careers of scholars, artists, or professionals with emphasis on achievements and collaborations.

Key Features Used:

• Custom relationship types for professional connections
• Custom event types for career milestones
• Flexible property fields for publications, awards, etc.

Custom Vocabularies:

# vocabularies/event-types.glx
event_types:
  publication:
    label: "Publication"
    description: "Published work (book, article, etc.)"

  award_received:
    label: "Award Received"
    description: "Academic or professional award"

  appointment:
    label: "Appointment"
    description: "Professional appointment or position"

# vocabularies/relationship-types.glx
relationship_types:
  doctoral_advisor:
    label: "Doctoral Advisor"
    description: "PhD thesis advisor"

  collaborator:
    label: "Research Collaborator"
    description: "Co-author or research partner"

  mentor:
    label: "Mentor"
    description: "Professional or academic mentor"

Perfect For:

• Academic biography projects
• Artist biographies and career documentation
• Professional networks and collaborations
• Scientific communities and research teams

---

Local and Community History

Town and Community Records

Scenario: Documenting the people and institutions of a specific geographic community over time.

Key Features Used:

• Place hierarchy for community geography
• Custom event types for civic participation
• Custom relationship types for community roles
• Git collaboration for local history societies

Custom Vocabularies:

# vocabularies/event-types.glx
event_types:
  town_meeting:
    label: "Town Meeting"
    description: "Participation in town meeting"

  election:
    label: "Election"
    description: "Election to public office"

  property_transaction:
    label: "Property Transaction"
    description: "Land purchase or sale"

# vocabularies/relationship-types.glx
relationship_types:
  town_selectman:
    label: "Town Selectman"
    description: "Elected town official"

  church_member:
    label: "Church Member"
    description: "Membership in religious congregation"

  business_partner:
    label: "Business Partner"
    description: "Commercial partnership"

Perfect For:

• Local history societies
• Town and county histories
• Church and religious community records
• Institutional histories

---

Maritime History

Naval Careers and Sea Voyages

Scenario: Tracking sailors, naval officers, and maritime events with emphasis on ships and voyages.

Key Features Used:

• Custom event types for maritime activities
• Custom properties for ship information
• Place hierarchy for ports and ocean routes
• Evidence from ship manifests and naval records

Custom Vocabularies:

# vocabularies/event-types.glx
event_types:
  ship_departure:
    label: "Ship Departure"
    description: "Departure on a sea voyage"
    gedcom: "EMIG"

  port_arrival:
    label: "Port Arrival"
    description: "Arrival at a port"
    gedcom: "IMMI"

  shipwreck:
    label: "Shipwreck"
    description: "Vessel lost at sea"

  naval_commission:
    label: "Naval Commission"
    description: "Commission as naval officer"

# vocabularies/participant-roles.glx
participant_roles:
  ship_captain:
    label: "Ship Captain"
    description: "Master of a vessel"

  crew_member:
    label: "Crew Member"
    description: "Member of ship's crew"

Perfect For:

• Maritime genealogy research
• Naval history projects
• Immigration and emigration studies
• Ship and crew histories

---

Enslaved Persons Research

Documenting Enslaved Communities

Scenario: Respectfully documenting the lives of enslaved persons with sensitivity to historical trauma.

Key Features Used:

• Custom event types for enslavement-specific events
• Properties for ownership documentation (ethical considerations)
• Evidence chains from plantation records, sale documents, etc.
• Git version control for collaborative ethical research

Custom Vocabularies:

# vocabularies/event-types.glx
event_types:
  manumission:
    label: "Manumission"
    description: "Legal grant of freedom"
    gedcom: "EVEN"

  sale:
    label: "Sale"
    description: "Record of person being sold"
    gedcom: "EVEN"

  escaped:
    label: "Escaped"
    description: "Escape from enslavement"
    gedcom: "EVEN"

# vocabularies/relationship-types.glx
relationship_types:
  enslaved_by:
    label: "Enslaved By"
    description: "Person held in slavery by another"

Ethical Considerations:

• Use respectful language in all descriptions
• Document sources with complete provenance
• Include agency and resistance when documented
• Collaborate with descendant communities

Perfect For:

• Descendant family research
• Historical reconciliation projects
• Academic slavery studies
• Museum and archive documentation

---

Prosopography

Collective Biography of Groups

Scenario: Systematic study of a defined group of people (e.g., members of parliament, university students, guild members).

Key Features Used:

• Standardized property fields across all persons
• Custom event types for group-specific milestones
• Custom relationship types for group membership
• Git version control for team-based data entry

Custom Vocabularies:

# vocabularies/event-types.glx
event_types:
  matriculation:
    label: "Matriculation"
    description: "University enrollment"

  guild_admission:
    label: "Guild Admission"
    description: "Admission to professional guild"

  elected_to_parliament:
    label: "Elected to Parliament"
    description: "Election to legislative body"

# vocabularies/relationship-types.glx
relationship_types:
  guild_member:
    label: "Guild Member"
    description: "Member of professional guild"

  fellow_student:
    label: "Fellow Student"
    description: "Studied at same institution"

Perfect For:

• Parliamentary history databases
• University alumni projects
• Professional guild records
• Elite network analysis

---

Historical Demography

Population Studies and Census Analysis

Scenario: Large-scale population data analysis from census records, vital records, and parish registers.

Key Features Used:

• Standard event and person types
• Multi-file organization for large datasets
• Git version control for collaborative data entry
• Validation for data quality assurance

Event Participant Properties:

# events/event-1851-census.glx
# Note: `occupation`, `household_number`, and `literacy` are not in the standard
# event_properties vocabulary (`occupation` is a person property). Add them to
# your archive's `event-properties.glx` to silence the unknown-property
# warnings, or omit them.
events:
  event-1851-census-district12:
    type: census
    date: "1851-03-30"
    place: place-leeds-yorkshire
    participants:
      - person: person-john-doe
        role: subject
        properties:
          age_at_event: "32"
          occupation: "Agricultural Labourer"
          household_number: "15"
          literacy: "can read and write"
      - person: person-mary-doe
        role: subject
        properties:
          age_at_event: "28"
          occupation: "Domestic Duties"
          household_number: "15"

Perfect For:

• Census transcription projects
• Vital records databases
• Parish register analysis
• Population migration studies

---

Religious and Institutional Records

Church and Monastery Records

Scenario: Documenting clergy, religious communities, and church membership with emphasis on institutional relationships.

Key Features Used:

• Custom event types for religious milestones
• Custom relationship types for religious roles
• Place hierarchy for church geography
• Evidence from church records and archives

Custom Vocabularies:

# vocabularies/event-types.glx
event_types:
  ordination:
    label: "Ordination"
    description: "Ordination as clergy"

  investiture:
    label: "Investiture"
    description: "Formal installation in religious office"

  pilgrimage:
    label: "Pilgrimage"
    description: "Religious journey to holy site"

  taking_vows:
    label: "Taking Vows"
    description: "Monastic profession"

# vocabularies/relationship-types.glx
relationship_types:
  clergy:
    label: "Clergy"
    description: "Ordained minister or priest"

  parishioner:
    label: "Parishioner"
    description: "Member of parish"

  monastery_member:
    label: "Monastery Member"
    description: "Member of monastic community"

Perfect For:

• Church history projects
• Clerical biographies
• Monastery and convent records
• Religious community histories

---

Getting Started with Your Use Case

1. Start with Standard Vocabularies

glx init my-research-project
# Generates standard genealogy vocabularies

2. Identify Custom Types Needed

Review your research domain and list:

• Event types not in standard vocabulary
• Relationship types specific to your domain
• Participant roles unique to your research

3. Extend Vocabularies Gradually

Add custom types as you encounter them:

# vocabularies/event-types.glx
event_types:
  # Keep standard types
  birth:
    label: "Birth"
    gedcom: "BIRT"

  # Add your custom types
  your_custom_event:
    label: "Your Custom Event"
    description: "Clear description for your team"

4. Validate Regularly

glx validate
# Ensures all used types are properly defined

5. Document Your Decisions

Create a vocabularies/README.md explaining:

• Why each custom type was added
• When to use each type
• Examples of proper usage

---

Need Help?

• Best Practices Guide - Vocabulary design guidelines
• Core Concepts - Repository-owned vocabularies
• GitHub Discussions - Share your use case

Have a unique use case? Share it with the community! GLX is designed to be infinitely extensible.