Oops... My email went out without my signature. I wasn't trying to be anonymous! Here it is, signed. I finally managed to find Sharon Tate Moody's blog post, and have read only a handful of other blogs and emails about it. I want to make only a few observations. - All great music was once new. All genealogists were once beginners. Beginners learn. - Some beginners eventually become great genealogists, but not all aspire to such heights. That is o.k. - Bad genealogists and good genealogists have equal access to the Internet. Fact and fiction reproduce equally fast on the Internet. User beware. Tony Proctor said, "The industry should be able to help solve these issues but we're very fragmented." This points up another interesting reality. That is, genealogy is both a hobby and a profession. That is, people enjoy genealogy at very different levels. This is somewhat unusual -- for example, medicine and law do not invite people to engage in medicine or law as a hobby. In addition, genealogy has become an "industry" of sorts, which is to say, a constellation of firms sell services to genealogists -- both hobbyists and professionals. These firms are in it to make money, not to police the field. Their goal is to sell, not regulate. Should someone regulate? Actually, the field already has some effective self-regulation: certification, accreditation, codes of ethics. Is this enough? Good question. J. H. ("Jay") Fonkert, CG View my speaking calendar at: _http://www.genealogicalspeakersguild.org/calendar_view.php_ (http://www.genealogicalspeakersguild.org/calendar_view.php) _http://www.fourgenerationsgenealogy.wordpress.com_ (http://www.fourgenerationsgenealogy.wordpress.com/) _http://fourgenerationsgenealogy.blogspot.com/_ (http://fourgenerationsgenealogy.blogspot.com/) Saint Paul, MN Director, Association of Professional Genealogists professional profile at _www.apgen.org_ (http://www.apgen.org)/) *"CG" & "Certified Genealogist" are service marks of the Board for Certification of Genealogists, and are used by authorized associates following periodic, peer-reviewed competency evaluations. Certificate No. 965, issued 11 May 2012, expires 11 May 2017. In a message dated 11/23/2012 4:31:40 A.M. Central Standard Time, tony@proctor.net writes: That sort of attitude (in the articles) smacks of elitism Kathy. It's not good. However, I find myself in the centre of things on a number of fronts. I was a beginner once, and (embarrassed) didn't cite my sources. A light came on one day and I realised that was a big mistake so I had to re-trace my steps and correct everything. The point being that we were most of us there once. However, I also believe the atrocious standard of some online trees is diluting the reputation of genealogy, and making is less of a science than other forms of micro-history. Criticising individuals is not the way to solve that situation though. The fault lies in other areas such as lack of easily accessible education for newbies, lack of support for sources+citations by content providers, lack of a reliable standard for sharing more than just names+dates+places, and the encouragement of blatant copy-and-paste from other trees. OK, you might be preparing to counter some of those. For instance, many Web sites and books try to educate, but most people who are just starting will be unaware of them. They see the advertisements for the likes of ancestry and maybe buy genealogy magazines from their newsagent. Some magazines are better than others but I know that most are reluctant to approach anything with a vaguely technical vein to it. The information on the Internet is there but there's probably too much of it, and its uncoordinated and opinionated content would give most newbies "information overload". The industry should be able to help solve these issues but we're very fragmented - especially across the globe. Commercial and "philosophical" self-interests make it very hard to unite us. It's probably unrelated to your original post but there's a different type of perceived elitism between traditional genealogists and the professional software people. I do hope the perception is not too grounded in reality because synergy between those disciplines is the way of the future. It is not productive for software people to criticise genealogists for their lack of understanding about issues with storage, data modelling, globalisation, standards, etc. Nor is it productive for genealogists to criticise software people for their lack of knowledge about research methodology or real-life scenarios. In reality there are many people who have a foot in both camps. Tony Proctor (Organising member of FHISO) ----- Original Message ----- From: "Kathy Gunter Sullivan, CG" <sully1@carolina.rr.com> To: "TGF" <transitional-genealogists-forum@rootsweb.com> Sent: Friday, November 23, 2012 1:58 AM Subject: [TGF] Bad Karma >I cannot comment at the /Tampa Bay/ website > <http://www2.tbo.com/lifestyles/life/2012/nov/18/banewso8-drive-by-genealogists-should-learn-a-few-ar-567094/> > because I do not do Facebook. Some bloggers have picked up the article > and made it a "cause" in bloggers' world. > > <http://wetree.blogspot.com/2012/11/time-to-pop-cap-in-term-drive-by.html> > <http://mmgenealogy.blogspot.com/2012/11/grand-theft-genealogy.html> > <http://sherifenley.blogspot.com/2012/11/ketchup-and-thanksgiving-this-is-not.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+blogsp ot%2FrwzNy+%28THE++EDUCATED++GENEALOGIST%29> > > The slammed author attempts to point out and educate about problems > with evidence evaluation. Hyperbole--exaggeration to create emphasis > or effect--is employed by many authors and bloggers to make a point is > not a bad thing. In this instance it is inflated on flogs (oops, > blogs) as if it is a personal attack on "hobbiests" [/sic]/ and > Ancestry.com--neither of which were mentioned in the author's article. > And as if "license" was a serious proposition. There was no personal > attack upon anyone in the author's article despite the prevailing > crowd mentality of the commentators (a few of whom admit they have not > even read the article). > > Not everything about is "you" (whoever you are). There is no > common-sense reason to take every comment by an author or a blogger as > a personal affront. > > Kathy Gunter Sullivan > 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 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