Against my better judgment, I'm going to step in . . . and probably step in it as well. This is coming from my perspective as someone who has entered the genealogy field "professionally" over the past five years. I do agree that there needs to be a firm foundation upon which one should build their reputation and career. I don't always agree that there is "one true path" to doing this. I always want to be a better genealogist and I am willing to work on my craft to do this. Keep in mind this is coming from me - some would say I've built a fairly successful business and reputation and many feel I haven't "paid my dues" or that I've come to this "too quickly" - believe me I hear it behind my back and to my face and I just let it fall away. I've become comfortable being misunderstood, talked down to etc. Basically I'm too busy making things and doing work to care. Validation is for parking. What have I learned the most over these past five years? 1. There Is Nothing Original. "There is nothing new under the sun." (Ecclesiastes 1:9) Everything is basically a remix of what already is - I curate the information I find and add my touch to it. I am a remix of my parents, and hopefully the best parts. This doesn't mean I take content from others - I let the work of others inspire me. I give credit where I can and I understand what copyright is as well as trademark. 2. Fake It 'Til You Make It. This will probably cause the most consternation, gnashing of teeth and pulling of hair here, but it holds true at least for me. I don't mean to say that someone should misrepresent themselves as a CG when they aren't. Or that they are expert in an area of genealogy when they aren't. "Dress for the job you want, not the job you have." My resource for many of my ideas in the genealogy field is "Steal Like an Artist" by Austin Kleon which speaks to creativity in a digital world but in general serves as my inspiration. I strongly suggest it for anyone who is looking to forge their own path in any established profession. http://www.austinkleon.com/2011/03/30/how-to-steal-like-an-artist-and-9-othe r-things-nobody-told-me/ Just some food for thought - I'm not trying to stir the pot here, just wanting to offer a different perspective. As I leave I want to make it clear: I believe in the solid work that many before me have put into developing the Genealogy Proof Standard and other touchstones that should guide all genealogists. I just see things differently when it comes to how to a) attract new people to the genealogy and family history field and b) how people can share their family history research. Solid research will always rule and will always sustain. I don't seek to change that. Thomas MacEntee Founder, High-Definition Genealogy http://hidefgen.com +1 (773) 661-3080 -----Original Message----- From: transitional-genealogists-forum-bounces@rootsweb.com [mailto:transitional-genealogists-forum-bounces@rootsweb.com] On Behalf Of Dee Dee King, Certified Genealogist Sent: Thursday, January 31, 2013 8:11 AM To: Transitional-Genealogists-Forum@rootsweb.com Subject: Re: [TGF] When is a phrase copyrighted? I hope that Elizabeth doesn't mind my piggy-backing on her statement in this thread to make some parallel observations. [In general, NOT in response to Margie.] <<----- Original Message ----- From: "eshown" <eshown@comcast.net> If we feel that we are having to make an awful lot of attributions in our presentation, then our inner-self is likely telling us that we need to use fewer ideas from other speakers and use more material of our own development.>> This statement applies on a broader scale. We all have to start somewhere, whether writing articles, teaching, or offering services. To be the most successful, we should offer our own ideas, knowledge, experiences, lessons learned, discoveries, unique qualifications, the applied knowledge we learned in our education from other sources. I think it's a pretty correct observation that the interest in professional genealogy has been a head-long rush in the past few years. A correlation has been that some folks have also been in a head-long rush to establish themselves. These old saws probably sound corny - You have to start at the bottom, you have you pay your dues, you have to work your way up. But in life they are pretty much true. As entrepreneurs, we don't have a supervisor's annual performance report that evaluates our progress. We probably don't participate in team discussions about how our products or services can be improved. We probably don't have a vetting process for what we write about ourselves or our products and services. If we don't find outside sources to help us with these things, then we have to step back, take a third-party stance, and really scrutinize what we're putting out there. We have to ask ourselves the hard questions. If I read a bunch of books/articles/blogs/journals, combine the thoughts/words of the other authors and re-word them, am I reeeeallly ready to write about the subject? If I take a class on a subject that is new to me, and took very good notes, am I reeeeallly ready to go offer my services teaching that subject? If I am trying to build a client base and I see services or specialties for which I have no education or experience, is it reeeeallly OK to tell folks I am qualified, a leader, the client's best resource? An example - If we must visit websites of established professionals and plagiarize their descriptions of their services in order to tell our potential clients what services we want to offer, then we don't have enough experience or knowledge about the service to offer it. If we cannot define the service or specialty in our own words, if we cannot use our own knowledge and experience to describe how we will provide that service/specialty to our clients, are we reeeeallly ready? IMHO, not paying enough attention to these questions can come back to bite us. All of us want to be on a fast track to establishing our careers. BUT - we have to be aware of the mine fields if we rush head-long without those honest appraisals. Otherwise, we risk a cloud of doubt on our honesty and integrity, alienation of colleagues and clients, possibly ruining a potential career. best regards, Dee The Transitional Genealogists List was created to provide a supportive environment for genealogists to learn best practices as they transition to professional level work. Please respect the kind intentions of this list. ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to TRANSITIONAL-GENEALOGISTS-FORUM-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message

Tom, Thanks for the link to the Steal Like an Artist site. I see more commonalities than I do differences between his Good Theft vs. Bad Theft visual and Elizabeth Shown Mills' recent Quick Lesson 15 on plagiarism. Connie Sheets Phoenix