These badges are all the rage just now and I rather like them. This was produced using an iPhone app, called ironically, Keep Calm!
A week or so ago Thomas at Geneabloggers resurrected the subject matter of the state of the genealogical community in his recent post Genealogy: A House Divided Door.
When Thomas mentioned it a few months ago, I read the post, and thought I would write something then everything kind of went mad….life happened and the post was not written. That does not mean I didn’t think about it or reflect upon it. I did, and with this follow up post I did the same, determined that I would respond, albeit, rather late.
For me this issue is broken down into several points –the opinions reflected here are mine, so if you don’t agree, play nice!
- Genealogy is about understanding your line of descent, and family history is about taking that line of descent and fleshing out the bones. Discovering through whatever sources possible what your ancestors did and when they did it. It is also good to understand the history of the time, which might indicate why they did, what they did.
- Genealogy is a the fastest growing hobby. I can’t give a source for that fact, because I didn’t know when I read it I was going to cite it!
- This is because the internet makes accessing data easier
- We can contact archives in a speedy manner and thus receive an email (hopefully) in response to our inquiry without the need to pay for postage. Remember those days of stamped addressed envelopes or international reply coupons?
- Genealogy has got on the television – shows like Who Do You Think You Are and Heir Hunter and now the new show hitting the US screens Genealogy Roadshow (very envious!). Those shows, rightly or wrongly make genealogy look easy. In someways they have to….the production team are making an hour program, incorporating research which took many hours, so sadly, we see a succession of snapshots in these programmes rather than the succession of historical research which took anything from the click of a button to many, many hours.
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| Image from https://www.evidenceexplained.com/ |
So, have we, with our need and urge for instant knowledge and gratification dumbed down genealogy?
Lets turn to Sources and the citations of such sources – Evidence Explained by Elizabeth Shown Mills.
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| Image from NGS |
Is Genealogy elitist? Perhaps and perhaps not. Societies, forums, books and alike exist to enable the coming together and the sharing of data, best practise and standards. What is the point of investing in hours of research, if once you are no more, your descendants can not make head or tail of it?
Qualifications – Do you need them? This is a tough question. Not necessarily is my answer, however, undertaking a type of course, whether that be a certificated course or simply for your pleasure will make you more knowledgeable. That knowledge will then enable you to join the dots when it comes to understanding things within our ancestors lives.
I have spent the last 20 odd years within pharmacy and management, and have qualifications that relate to that. I also have a diploma in Counselling and a history degree. In addition it makes me more informed and unless I tell you those things you won’t know, nor did the person who spoke with me last week, who attempted to indicate that they were more knowledgeable in the genealogical arena in an attempt at one-up- manship, but should I need to tell you? No. Just because I do not shout from the rooftops does not mean it isn’t so.
Genealogy is for everyone. We all have our families and line of descent. Our knowledge will make that genealogical journey more meaningful and worthwhile, but there is nothing that can’t be learnt reading a book, a blog or a journal. It is about taking part, being part of a friendly, (on the whole) group of people from across the globe. That interaction is possible because the Internet has revolutionised the way we can interact with each other and undertake genealogical research whether it is for ourselves or for paying clients.
As I said at the beginning, the opinions reflected here are mine, so if you don’t agree, keep calm!
Mentioned by Randy Seaver on Genea-Musings – Best of the Genea Blogs 1-7th September 2013
Julie Goucher ~ Anglers Rest 
Thanks for reading & commenting, I appreciate it.
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Julie,
I really like your closing paragraph. Genealogy is for everyone…
Thanks for sharing! Well stated.
😉
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