“Dragon is the world’s best-selling speech recognition software. It turns your talk into text and can make virtually any computer task easier and faster. From capturing ideas and creating documents, to email and searching the web, to using simple voice commands to control many of the popular programs you use every day at home, work – and beyond.”. When I heard this, I knew it would be great program to use in genealogical research and story writing. I was very excited when the Dragon representatives agreed to donate to the Second Life – Association of Professional Genealogists door prize! I wanted to learn more about this product.

• There is a PC and a MAC version
• Accuracy - With up to 99% accuracy, Dragon understands you so you get your words on the screen the way you intended
• User Friendly
• Dictate documents, spreadsheets and presentations
• Search the Web, post to Facebook and Twitter, navigate and control your PC & applications – all by voice
• Use with GmailTM and Hotmail® — two of the most popular web-based email applications
• Capture notes using a digital voice recorder or a compatible iOS device for later transcription at your PC.
• Free Dragon Remote Mic app turns your iOS or Android device into a wireless mic
• Wideband Bluetooth support provides higher wireless accuracuy
• Smart Format Rules means Dragon adapts to your preferences for how words, phrases or numbers are formatted
• Compatible with most Windows operating systems

Dragon also had demonstrative videos to help learn this product.

• Interactive Tutorial
• Correction & Editing
• Using Gmail & Hotmail
• General Dictation
• Creating Commands
• Smart Format Rules

As I read online some review of genealogists who use this product, the one thing they do caution about is the need to edit after use to make sure names were spelled correctly. One example given was the name Shepherd vs Sheppard. I am sure words that sound similar could cause similar issues. So, I do recommend you check your work for spellings and sentence struction, especially as the product is getting use to your particular voice patterns. I can see the value in this product for those who have trouble typing or other health issues, especially in arthritic conditions.

I am planning on writing a book on my family history in the future. I think that Dragon would be a great asset to me; being able to speak my thoughts vs typing them out would be much easier to organize my thoughts and get the words out there. After reading the reviews, I feel this product would be a great product to use in doing your family history. I look forward to discussing this further with the winner of the door prize that will be presented soon at the Second Life- APG. I hope I can write a follow up article on the ways she utilized Dragon in her family history research!