{"id":301,"date":"2016-10-10T19:57:56","date_gmt":"2016-10-10T19:57:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.genealogyatheart.com\/?p=301"},"modified":"2016-10-10T19:57:56","modified_gmt":"2016-10-10T19:57:56","slug":"three-thoughts-about-genealogists-recent-comments","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.genealogyatheart.com\/?p=301","title":{"rendered":"Three Thoughts About Genealogists’ Recent Comments"},"content":{"rendered":"

Originally published \u00a0on genealogyatheart.blogspot.com on 24 Apr 2016.<\/p>\n

Over the last 6 weeks I\u2019ve spoken with several other professional genealogists and three conversations are continuing to resonate in my mind.\u00a0 This is a matter of opinion and as I highly value these individuals knowledge, experience and practice, I want to share their views because I see the world a little differently.<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. \u201cNo tree containing over 2000 individuals can be accurate.\u201d<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0Hmm, accuracy in identity of the folks we include in our tree is paramount.\u00a0\u00a0If we don\u2019t have the evidence to support that the \u201cJohn Doe\u201d we have is the father of our \u201cAdam Doe\u201d than we are barking up the wrong tree.\u00a0\u00a0The repercussions are serious \u2013 wasted time, the error keeps being repeated ad nauseam by others who don’t check sources and we\u2019re not adhering to the standards.\u00a0\u00a0That being said, I don\u2019t believe there is a finite number that insures accuracy and when the number is reached, it\u2019s over. Genealogy is not a game to win; it’s not “I got more peeps than you do!” \u00a0Genealogy is quality. \u00a0 As genealogists we need to be open and accepting that our work can radically change direction at any time.\u00a0\u00a0As one of my relatives likes to kid me, \u201cSo, you really can guarantee that gggggrandma\u2019s children were biologically ggggggrandpas?\u201d\u00a0\u00a0No, but that\u2019s where dna can help.\u00a0\u00a0We need to use all the tools available and dna is definitely one where I need more training and experience.\u00a0\u00a0Learning and growing are important in every field.\u00a0\u00a0Setting a threshold is not.<\/li>\n
  2. \u201cI stopped working on my own tree 10 years ago because there was nothing else to be found.<\/strong>\u201d\u00a0 I totally understand that when one begins to take paying clients time is limited on personal tree research.\u00a0I feel that pain! \u00a0My New Jersey to Ohio Coles keep popping up but I put them aside for everybody else. \u00a0I don\u2019t believe, though, \u00a0there is ever a time when one can say there is no more information to be found.\u00a0 We don\u2019t know if there\u2019s a record or photo in someone\u2019s attic, basement, garage, antique store, historical museum or even misfiled in the National Archives.\u00a0 If you don\u2019t look I can guarantee you won\u2019t find anything! \u00a0I\u2019m still hopeful that someday the misfiled Pennsylvania probate records I\u2019m searching for will be discovered.\u00a0 That newly found document could alter the line so I keep open the fact that my tree is never done and there is always something out there waiting to be discovered.<\/li>\n
  3. \u201cI make my online tree private so only serious genealogists will contact me for specific information.\u201d\u00a0<\/strong> Perhaps my background in the education field and my early experiences in genealogy influence me to share openly.\u00a0 My view is that serious genealogists most likely already have what you have.\u00a0 If they don\u2019t, they will have no qualms about reaching out to you to collaborate, irregardless of whether your tree is public or private.\u00a0 For those that aren\u2019t \u201cserious,\u201d everyone must start somewhere and if your work is well documented then I\u2019d rather have a newbie take off and run with my work than not.\u00a0 Making a contact can be intimidating to some; I don\u2019t want anyone to have to reinvent the wheel. \u00a0I understand that much time, effort and possibly cost was involved in accumulating your research. \u00a0If you want to recoup some of your investment then publish your work. Creating an e-book is easy and inexpensive.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Happy Hunting and now I’m back to Spring Cleaning!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Originally published \u00a0on genealogyatheart.blogspot.com on 24 Apr 2016. Over the last 6 weeks I\u2019ve spoken with several other professional genealogists and three conversations are continuing to resonate in my mind.\u00a0 This is a matter of opinion and as I highly value these individuals knowledge, experience and practice, I want to share their views because I … Continue reading “Three Thoughts About Genealogists’ Recent Comments”<\/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":[12],"tags":[284,283],"class_list":["post-301","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-trends-and-musings","tag-inaccurate-trees","tag-private-family-tree"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogyatheart.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/301","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=301"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogyatheart.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/301\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":302,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogyatheart.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/301\/revisions\/302"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogyatheart.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=301"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogyatheart.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=301"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogyatheart.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=301"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}