When you run up against a rude person you do two things. 1) You thank them for the help they have given you. 2) You thank them for trying to discourage your efforts! Dr. Bill Bill@Dr-Fox.Com WebSite {http://www.dr-fox.com} ----- Original Message ----- From: <JDKSheesley@aol.com> To: <NEWGEN-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Friday, October 06, 2000 10:33 PM Subject: [NEWGEN] The future of genealogy? : : --part1_84.baaeeb4.270ff3a3_boundary : Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" : Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit : : Thanks for your input! : I'm a "newcomer" almost a yr. old in this "hobby". : I have used the Internet as well as record offices and State Historical : Society. : Via Internet I have received family history (2 surnames) going back to the : 1600's, one of which I don't need to verify as the gentlemen who sent the : information also mailed copies of census and church records (in German with : the translation). : The other one I have been in the process of verifying what I received via : pension file/military file/ census etc. : My problem is that some of the so-called experts at the State Historical : Society are extremely RUDE to us newcomers! I would love to continue with it : and perhaps even become certified someday but with those folks' behavior, : it's discouraging! : To quote the wise: "The only dumb question is one not asked!" : Kathy : : --part1_84.baaeeb4.270ff3a3_boundary : Content-Type: message/rfc822 : Content-Disposition: inline : : Return-Path: <NEWGEN-L-request@rootsweb.com> : Received: from rly-yb05.mx.aol.com (rly-yb05.mail.aol.com [172.18.146.5]) by air-yb01.mail.aol.com (v76_r1.8) with ESMTP; Fri, 06 Oct 2000 19:44:13 -0400 : Received: from lists6.rootsweb.com (lists6.rootsweb.com [63.92.80.125]) by rly-yb05.mx.aol.com (v75_b3.9) with ESMTP; Fri, 06 Oct 2000 19:43:55 -0400 : Received: (from slist@localhost) : by lists6.rootsweb.com (8.10.1/8.10.1) id e96NdJt28557; : Fri, 6 Oct 2000 16:39:19 -0700 : Resent-Date: Fri, 6 Oct 2000 16:39:19 -0700 : X-Original-Sender: roystock@compuserve.com Fri Oct 6 16:39:19 2000 : Date: Fri, 6 Oct 2000 19:38:57 -0400 : From: Roy Stockdill <roystock@compuserve.com> : Sender: Roy Stockdill <roystock@compuserve.com> : Old-To: NEWGEN <NEWGEN-L@rootsweb.com> : Message-ID: <200010061939_MC2-B604-D573@compuserve.com> : MIME-Version: 1.0 : Content-Type: text/plain; : charset=ISO-8859-1 : Content-Disposition: inline : X-MIME-Autoconverted: from quoted-printable to 8bit by lists6.rootsweb.com id e96NdJm28529 : Subject: [NEWGEN] The future of genealogy? : Resent-Message-ID: <fNbyKB.A.B-G.nKm35@lists6.rootsweb.com> : To: NEWGEN-L@rootsweb.com : Resent-From: NEWGEN-L@rootsweb.com : X-Mailing-List: <NEWGEN-L@rootsweb.com> archive/latest/23767 : X-Loop: NEWGEN-L@rootsweb.com : Precedence: list : Resent-Sender: NEWGEN-L-request@rootsweb.com : Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable : X-MIME-Autoconverted: from 8bit to quoted-printable by lists6.rootsweb.com id e96NdJt28557 : X-Mailer: Unknown : : SINCE Dr Bill has once again indicated that this list is, metaphorically : speaking, on its last legs, he is obviously trying to stir us into some : kind of activity to save it! Well, here is my attempt to get a bit of : debate - and controversy - going. : : May I make the observation that, much as I love the inception and advance : of Internet genealogy, I fear it, too. Why? Because those of us who are : traditional, longtime genealogists and family historians (i.e. from that : remote time before computers were invented!) can see that along with its : undoubted benefits it is bringing also a tide of - dare I say it? - garbage : and thoroughly bad research to our great hobby. Those of us who learnt : genealogy the old-fashioned way, i.e. from books written by real experts : and then from years of hard-nosed practice out there in the field, see a : lack of discipline and understanding of even the most fundamental knowledge : of research techniques that is quite alarming. : : It is patently obvious to me that there are people on this list, and other : lists, who have never even attempted to read a book on how to trace your : ancestry and pedigree. There seems to be a naive belief among so many : newcomers that all you have to do is log on to the Internet, press a few : keys and, hey presto, you can have your family tree back to William the : Conqueror by teatime! It is not so. True genealogy is only learnt from : years of experience of sitting in Record Offices poring over dusty old : documents and patiently trying to piece together the very fragmented pieces : of an enormous jigsaw puzzle. It demands time, patience, discipline, and an : ability to grasp facts and to filter the truth from the specious, the : reality from the wishful thinking and the patently bogus. : : A sensible approach to online genealogy demands that the practitioner at : least does a little homework first before launching themselves into the big : wide world of the Internet. Otherwise, to give an analogy, it is like : trying to drive a Formula One racing car before you have learnt to ride a : bicycle. I find it hard to credit some of the questions I see asked in : genealogy mailing lists. Some exhibit such a degree of ignorance - : especially of geography and the nature of research - that one wonders how : the questioner can possibly ever assemble sufficient knowledge to even : begin to tackle their family tree. They will proceed in ignorance and with : more hope than knowledge. And what, then, at the end of it? They will : upload onto the Internet, there for all time, data and information which is : a mixture of spurious guesswork and blatant untruths. This dubious data : will be downloaded by others, equally ignorant, and thus be perpetuated for : future generations to misapply even further. May I give an example? The : Broderbund World Family Tree CDs are riddled with pedigrees that are a : joke! I have personally noted on some of them a number of American families : claiming descent from a non-existent daughter of William the Conqueror!!! : : This, of course, is nothing new. Fraudulent pedigrees existed in 19th and : early 20th century editions of such supposedly respectable works as Burke's : Peerage. But at least these were ultimately exposed by proper researchers : and consigned to the dustbin of genealogy. However, the Internet is such a : vast and rapidly self-perpetuating world that I fear in the future such : bogus pedigrees will simply not be spotted, and there will be too many of : them to quash. : : I am moved to ask how many newcomers to genealogy have ever read a decent : book on the subject, or actually been to a real record office and : researched in real documents? Or do they take it all entirely from the : Internet? May I make the very vital point that even if all the genealogical : records in the entire world are eventually available on the Internet, there : will ALWAYS be a need to check with the original sources? Why? Because : virtually every time a record is copied and distributed, it is degraded a : little in transcription. You simply cannot trust any work which somebody : else has put out. You MUST always check yourself with the original sources. : How many people, for instance, attempt to build a family tree entirely from : the IGI - probably the most fundamental mistake of all. : : Yes, the Internet is a great and wonderful tool, but it is that only - a : tool, no more. References and records you find on the Internet must be used : as a guide to steer you towards further research in the REAL records. : Remember this and you won't go far wrong. : : Discuss for homework tonight!!!!! : : Roy Stockdill : Editor, The Journal of One-Name Studies : The Stockdill Family History Society (Guild of One-Name Studies, FedFHS) =20 : STOCKDILL PREST YELLOW BOLTON WORSNOP : GIBSON MIDGLEY BRACEWELL SHACKLETON BRADLEY MOODY in Yorkshire North & : West Ridings : MEAD YOUNG in Somerset, Wiltshire & Gloucestershire : Web page of the Stockdill Family History Society:- =20 : http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/roystock : =94Never ask a man if he comes from Yorkshire. If he does he will tell you. : If he does not, why humiliate him?" - Canon Sydney Smith (scholar and : humorist 1771-1845) : : : : =3D=3D=3D=3D NEWGEN Mailing List =3D=3D=3D=3D : BE SURE TO SHARE WITH THE OTHER LIST MEMBERS ANY SIGNIFICANT : (OR INSIGNIFICANT) FIND YOU HAVE MADE. IT HELPS OTHERS TO PRESS ON : WITH THEIR OWN SEARCH. : : : --part1_84.baaeeb4.270ff3a3_boundary-- : : : ==== NEWGEN Mailing List ==== : INVITE YOUR NEIGHBORS AND FRIENDS TO JOIN THE NEWGEN LIST : NEWGEN-L-REQUEST@ROOTSWEB.COM (FOR LIST) : MEWGEN-D-REQUEST@ROOTSWEB.COM (FOR DIGEST)