Image created by Melody McKay Burton for Guild of One-Name Study 2019 from Surname Research Guide

Today we look at three of the seven elements of one-name studies that feature on the 7 steps image here – there is a great deal of overlap between the three elements and these are easily achieved when considered together.

Before we start, lets just look at a few considerations, as these might affect how you achieve these elements:

• What are the aims of your study?
• What do you want to happen to your research after you have joined your ancestors?
• How can you share your research?:
  • with Guild members
  • with other researchers
  • with others, who may be curious and not genealogists or researchers

There are a number of options available and it is perfectly acceptable to use a mixture of those provisions available. I am aware that I am a Guild Trustee and Pharos Tutor, but before I was either of those, I was a genealogist and a surname researcher. There are lots of things that I wish I had known in the beginning and even now, I tweak my process and work method. Evolving our research is good practice and indicates our individual growth and awareness.

PROFILE PAGE – Members of the Guild benefit from having a profile page if they have registered a surname – here is mine for the Orlando study It is two years old and needs an update in places. The profile page is a platform that you can use to share material about your study. It can be updated as often as you would like and members can add images, text and even presentations if they wish. It is essentially YOUR space to publicise your study. I have set the profile to be retained by the Guild in the event that I cease being a Guild member.

WEBSITE – Members of the Guild with a registered study can apply to have a website hosted by the Guild free of charge. There are a few options available and you can read about those HERE. For those who have looked at my websites will see that I have elected to have my studies hosted by the Guild and when I join my ancestors the material will be preserved for others, whether they are actively researching the specific surname or whether they have taken their own research a step further and developed their own study.

Both of my sites are under construction and use TNG populated by uploading a GEDCOM file. The only cost I incurred beyond my annual membership was a one-off cost of a TNG licence of around $32 (USD).

• BUTCHER study
• ORLANDO study

BLOG – The latest part of the Guild’s suite of member provisions is having a blog hosted by the Guild using the WordPress structure. Essentially it is pretty much like this one, though this one is not hosted by the Guild currently. The provision is free of charge to members and the details are HERE.

All of these elements as I am sure you can see enable the publicising of a study, publishing of a study and preservation of it. There are a few other considerations which I have outlined here:

• Some members go a step further and create a book, generated from their genealogical software.
• Some might create a preservation such I have done and give that to genealogical groups or add to their profile. 
• Some might choose to add their information to the Guild indexes as a way of publicising their study, as all additions are linked back to the member – A search for Butcher in the marriages of the world index which is public generated these results as you can see not all entries are mine, meaning I can connect with other members and swap information.
• Some members might choose to provide a copy of their work to genealogical organisations where perhaps their surname is the commonly found, indeed they may choose to do this for several organisations – I plan to give a copy of my research to the Society of Genealogists in London in digital format for example.
• Some members might choose to deposit their work in the Guild of One-Name Studies library and Archive. 

We are limited by our imaginations in how we tackle these elements, but however we choose to do it, make sure that your work does not end up in a recycling bin. A few years ago a student of the Introduction to One-Name Studies course passed away aged in their mid 50’s they had not left any instructions for their work and with the click of a finger the material was gone which is tragic. Please do not think that you cannot deposit incomplete work, you can. If we leave it until it is “complete” we may never do it, as a study is never really complete.