{"id":288,"date":"2016-10-10T19:47:58","date_gmt":"2016-10-10T19:47:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.genealogyatheart.com\/?p=288"},"modified":"2016-10-10T19:47:58","modified_gmt":"2016-10-10T19:47:58","slug":"when-seeking-out-records-suggestion-for-reaching-colleagues-who-care","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.genealogyatheart.com\/?p=288","title":{"rendered":"When Seeking Out Records &#8211; Suggestion for Reaching Colleagues Who Care"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Originally published on genealogyatheart.blogspot.com on 3 Apr 2016.<\/p>\n<p>This is a story of extremes; the indifferent vs. the passionate.\u00a0 Being almost done with my Kinship Determination Paper\u2019s research I have encountered a full range of people personalities in my quest for obtaining information.\u00a0 I\u2019m trying to understand why some clerks, researchers, \u201cprofessional\u201d genealogists, historians, ministers and distant family members are so nonhelpful and others go above and beyond.\u00a0 In the future, how do I insure that I contact those that care and avoid those that don\u2019t?<\/p>\n<p>As a child, I loved <em>Highlight\u2019s Magazine for Children<\/em>.\u00a0 We couldn\u2019t afford a subscription so I looked forward to having my mom read it to me when we visited the doctor or dentist.\u00a0 The \u201cGoofus and Gallant\u201d feature always made me laugh.\u00a0 Maybe it was how my mom read them but I really wanted to be like Gallant!\u00a0 Then there was the \u201cDo Bee or Don\u2019t Bee\u201d segment on Romper Room.\u00a0 I identified with the Do Bee.<\/p>\n<p>In reflection of the past five months I think I\u2019ve been in contact with half Do Bees and half Don\u2019ts.\u00a0 My findings don\u2019t appear to have anything to do with area density; rural or urban doesn\u2019t seem to be a factor at all!\u00a0 It seems that locales in economic distress exhibit the least desire to be of help.\u00a0 Maybe it\u2019s because the employees are stressed due to over work because of unfilled positions or limited resources.\u00a0 Perhaps it\u2019s the overall mood of the community.\u00a0 Or they can\u2019t focus on the past as it\u2019s so difficult dealing with the present.\u00a0 The topic would make an excellent\u00a0 dissertation for someone to investigate!<\/p>\n<p>In the past week I\u2019ve joked about the following situations I encountered but mind you, I\u2019ve used gallow humor to deal with the frustration:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>No one answers the phone in the probate department of a Midwest county office; repeated calls made at various times over several days.\u00a0 Are they all dead?!\u00a0 Called the operator who responded, \u201cI know, I\u2019ll transfer you.\u201d\u00a0 No voice mail, no email.<\/li>\n<li>Emailed a question through a city\u2019s website link, \u201cAsk a Librarian.\u201d\u00a0 No response.\u00a0 Called a few days later, phone out of service.\u00a0 Looked online for a new number and none found.\u00a0 411 has the number I tried so I reported it out of service.\u00a0 I emailed another library the original question.\u00a0 Got cc\u2019d on the forward and then got a response from who the email was forwarded to.\u00a0 Response said, \u201cYou are welcome to visit [name of library] and look through these volumes.\u00a0 We ask folks to make an appointment so that I will be sure to be here (I\u2019m the only full-time staffer here). \u201c \u00a0I responded that I couldn\u2019t come as I live far away and I just needed direction on where the record I was searching might be found so I could arrange for a look up.\u00a0 The response was, \u201cOh, ok.\u00a0 The &#8230;(first facility I had emailed but gotten no response from)\u2026 has the information.\u00a0 Unfortunately, it\u2019s closed these days but plans to reopen at some point.\u201d\u00a0 The person did do a look up and in one volume negative evidence was uncovered so I still needed to check other sources.\u00a0 Called the city to find out when the library will reopen.\u00a0 Was told there is no known date.\u00a0 It\u2019s a budget problem and not mold, mildew, fire, water, or a gas leak issue.\u00a0 I\u2019ve had to revise travel plans in the past due to all the above concerns except budget.\u00a0 That\u2019s a new one for me and will certainly make for an interesting footnote!\u00a0 Going to have to check out <em data-blogger-escaped-style=\"text-indent: -0.25in;\">Evidence Explained<\/em> for help on that citation.<\/li>\n<li>Tried to email a city department but the form filler didn\u2019t work.\u00a0 Copied the email address and tried to send from my personal email \u2013 returned as undeliverable.\u00a0 Looked up a different department, no email address.\u00a0 Emailed the webmaster about the problems and asked that my request be forwarded to the appropriate departments.\u00a0 Got a response, \u201cok.\u201d\u00a0 No apology, no thanks for letting us know there\u2019s a problem with our website, no nothing, which means I never heard from any of the departments who I asked that the email be forwarded to. \u00a0I&#8217;m thinking it&#8217;s because there is no email.<\/li>\n<li>Spoke with a clerk in a county records department about obtaining a deed.\u00a0 My only question was, \u201cDoes your office house records from 1920?\u201d\u00a0 I was expecting a yes, no or maybe so answer.\u00a0 I got, \u201cI\u2019ll transfer you.\u201d\u00a0 Ok, a new take on \u201cmaybe so.\u201d\u00a0 Asked the same question to the next clerk.\u00a0 Got, \u201cI\u2019ll transfer you.\u201d\u00a0 Was transferred back to the original clerk.\u00a0 Clearly frustrated, she said that I should just come in and ask that question.\u00a0 Huh?\u00a0 Like I\u2019m going to get the answer in person and not on the phone?!\u00a0 I told her why I couldn\u2019t come.\u00a0 She said, \u201cWell, find someone to come in for you.\u201d\u00a0 I asked for a recommendation since I don\u2019t live in the area.\u00a0 She responded, \u201cI don\u2019t know, maybe a title company\u201d and hung up. \u00a0I\u2019m thinking that the department should stop paying for phone service as a way to balance their budget since the employee will only speak to people face-to-face.\u00a0 Would skype count ?\u00a0 Perhaps the probate office figured this out already and stopped paying for phone service which would explain why no one answers that phone.<\/li>\n<li>Received a letter in the mail from a state archivist (not the same state as the above) that said, \u201cUnfortunately, we do not provide copies of county records\u2026You will want to contact (the county) to obtain a copy.\u201d\u00a0 Clearly the archivist cannot comprehend what the request was \u2013 it stated that the county has lost the record.\u00a0 I\u2019m fairly certain the record was microfilmed and that\u2019s why I contacted the state archives.\u00a0 At least my check was returned.\u00a0 Maybe I should donate it to the city with the budget problems.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Since I want to remain a \u201cGallant Do Bee\u201d I\u2019m thankful this week for:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The State Archivist (of a different state) who remembered that I had emailed a question a few weeks ago, found something recently while assisting someone else and emailed me the new information.\u00a0 Wow, now that\u2019s service!<\/li>\n<li>Same situation happened with a county probate office \u2013 the individual I had been in contact with several weeks ago just happened to find something that she thought might be helpful.\u00a0 It was regarding guardianship of a collateral line I was working on and yes, it was valuable, just like her!<\/li>\n<li>The small town library that did several look ups, then scanned and sent the findings at no charge.\u00a0 I sent a donation as I was so impressed with their helpful, dedicated staff.<\/li>\n<li>\u00a0A county archivist who answered all my questions on the phone, made several suggestions and asked for a copy of the paper when I\u2019m done so their collection can grow.\u00a0 This individual demonstrated passion about her community and plans for the future. A winning combination!<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Here\u2019s my plan on how to not waste time with the losers and connect with the colleagues who care \u2013 I started a database of my contacts that were most helpful.\u00a0 It has name, position, contact method (phone\/email), and date of contact.\u00a0 I thought about making a Goofus list, too, but decided against it.\u00a0 I\u2019m going to hope that maybe those negative folks were just having a bad day, week or month and not a lifetime. Personnel changes could also occur and I want to continue doing &#8220;reasonably exhaustive research&#8221; which means I just may have to recontact the same resource locations again in the future.\u00a0I also wrote thank you notes to those that were so helpful and asked if I could have their supervisor&#8217;s name to let that person know how valuable the employee was. \u00a0Kindness is contagious and I want it passed on!<\/p>\n<p>I<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Originally published on genealogyatheart.blogspot.com on 3 Apr 2016. This is a story of extremes; the indifferent vs. the passionate.\u00a0 Being almost done with my Kinship Determination Paper\u2019s research I have encountered a full range of people personalities in my quest for obtaining information.\u00a0 I\u2019m trying to understand why some clerks, researchers, \u201cprofessional\u201d genealogists, historians, ministers &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.genealogyatheart.com\/?p=288\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;When Seeking Out Records &#8211; Suggestion for Reaching Colleagues Who Care&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[263,197],"class_list":["post-288","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-professional-genealogists","tag-appreciation","tag-genealogical-kindness"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogyatheart.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/288","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogyatheart.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogyatheart.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogyatheart.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogyatheart.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=288"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogyatheart.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/288\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":289,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogyatheart.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/288\/revisions\/289"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogyatheart.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=288"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogyatheart.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=288"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogyatheart.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=288"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}