Robert Raymond and David E. Rencher were listed in the syllabus as the presenters for this session. Alan Mann also helped and I think (if my memory is correct) that actually there were four men from Family Search who participated. All four had computers and were connected to the Internet. They also had cell phones and used them during the presentation to call four other people. One was at the Family History Library. One was at a court house in Alabama, if I remember correctly, and the others were at two different cemeteries in Alabama.
They used a blog to co-ordinate the research, but did not show it. They projected the results on a screen for the audience. We also saw the research questions and I was impressed when two people in the audience found information using their cell phones. A great deal of evidence was collected in a short period of time. It was transmitted digitally so we could all see it. Family Search Wiki has more information about this session at Doing Research in Real Time. You may need to register with Family Search to access this web page. I personally do not understand all the technology involved in this presentation, but I was impressed.
In their summary they wrote: "The desired outcome for this presentation is that you will take away the knowledge that research can be conducted in dramatically different ways than you may be used to doing. More people can participate, producing more artifacts and results in less time, making your valuable research time more productive."
With me, and I think with the rest of the audience, this goal was achieved. I want to use some of these new ways of doing research.
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