Copyright – Julie Goucher 2019

Today’s tip is quite simple.

Join the Guild of One-Name Studies or Renew your membership.

Long before I was a Trustee of the Guild I was a member, joining the Guild in 2002. I immediately registered the surname of Orlando. I have written quite a lot about my Orlando study and do not regret the registration of the surname.

When I joined the Guild, the concept of “on-line” was new and the ability to be online and research has aided my research tremendously. I began researching in the late 1980’s – it took me three years to gather the Orlando references from the GRO indexes for England and Wales. Now I can download the same material in about 3 minutes!

Times change and studies, like all our research evolves as we become more experienced and creative in what we want to achieve. As researchers with a study, there is no pressure to become global, no pressure to adopt a particular way of working. There are many advantages for joining the Guild, connecting with others and sharing information, experience and support. The biggest benefit though is the friendships we make along the way with other members.