Family Genealogy Digitization

What it addresses

The genealogy existed only as physical copies after the computer used to author the book was lost, and no relatives seemed likely to carry on the work, putting the family history at risk of being lost forever.

Shared over time

Each entry reflects what was shared on that date. Details may have changed since then.

1. Nov 10, 2026

   Family Genealogy Digitization

   A digitized archive of a family genealogy book compiled in the 1990s that traces the family back to the 1600s. Roughly 280 scanned pages were transcribed using Claude, which spawned subagents to transcribe the text and flag illegible passages for rescan. The project has produced a digital PDF of the book, an mdbook site, a GEDCOM export, and an interactive website for browsing the family tree, with plans to extend the records using information from relatives on both sides of the family.

   Problem: The genealogy existed only as physical copies after the computer used to author the book was lost, and no relatives seemed likely to carry on the work, putting the family history at risk of being lost forever.

   Posted by @dgunay · Original comment ↗

   “so I took my copy and digitized it. I first scanned all ~280 pages with the Google Drive mobile app document scanner. I fed that into Claude and asked it to begin a transcription effort. It launched a swarm of subagents to transcribe as much of it as it could, going back to me to retake bad images and clarify illegible text. Once I had it fully transcribed, I had it create a digital PDF version of the book, an mdbook site, a GEDCOM export, and now I'm having it build a website to interactively browse the family tree.”