STEPHEN PACE wrote in a message to MODERATOR:
SP> I am interested in the Tiny Tafels, but don't have any idea where to
SP> start.  Can you send me some information?
Here's a little quick information about Tiny Tafels that might help to get 
you started.  I would recommend obtaining one of the programs listed at the 
end of this message to help in generating a Tiny Tafel (TT). I believe 
Brother's Keeper will generate a TT if I remember correctly. It's been a 
while since I used it.
         A Tiny Tafel is simply a representation of your research data
  in a form that can be easily scanned by computer or eye and which
  will reveal considerable information concerning how much actual data
  you currently have.  It also does it in a condensed form and doesn't
  take a lot of room doing it, hence the "Tiny" portion of the Tafel.
  Tafel is a shortening of Ahnentafel (sp) which loosely means family
  history.  It was first defined by Paul Andereck in an article titled
  Tiny-Tafel for Database Scope Indexing in the April/May/June issue of
  Genealogical Computing for 1986.  It was refined and formalized by
  COMMSOFT Corp.  and presented as a specification for their Tafel
  Matching System.
         Loosely, a TT will contain the originators information (for
  contact purposes, etc) followed by surname information.  That info is
  key to the TT in that it is presented in a specific manner.  On each
  line will be a soundex code for the surname, the earliest ancestor
  birth year, the latest descendent birth year, an interest flag
  denoting interest level, the surname itself, and lastly place names
  of the earliest and latest surname known locations.  WOW.  What a
  mouthful.  This info was taken from a widely circulated text file
  called TTSPEC.ZIP.  I do think there have been some modifications of
  this spec for use with the Tafel Matching System but the above will
  serve you just fine for use with the Tiny Tafel Database Fidonet ECHO.
          NOTE:  You should include some indication as to where you would
 like to be contacted.  The S line would be an appropriate place for
 this information.  Hopefully this will help prevent improper messages
 in the GENDATA area.
         There are several programs that can help you in Tiny Tafel
  creation and they are:
         GED2TTH1.ZIP    by Andy Kopenhaver
         PAFTT.ZIP       Generate Tiny Tafels from PAF files.
         TTED22.ZIP      by Chris Long (will also do matching on TT 
rchives).
         TTGEN206.ZIP    by Tom Douglas
         TTSPEC.ZIP      The above mentioned text file.
  These files should be available on any well stocked genealogy
  oriented BBS system.
Michael Kirst
Moderator - Tiny Tafel Database echo (GENDATA)
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