tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1527613590529958801.post6791224346708780790..comments2024-03-21T19:08:05.737-07:00Comments on Genealogy's Star: Well Said Tom, Here's My ResponseJames Tannerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02989059644120454647noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1527613590529958801.post-44303302778532574752011-12-19T00:39:59.961-07:002011-12-19T00:39:59.961-07:00[Originally posted at http://bit.ly/tnjK6i ]
Micha...[Originally posted at http://bit.ly/tnjK6i ]<br />Michael,<br /><br />I've read your recent posts with great interest and concerns. You are raising some good issues and I'm trying to figure where this is all going. I'll take it a chunk at a time.<br /><br />You challenge James Tanner's assertion that historically there hasn't been a 'genealogy community' [see http://bit.ly/tAegMA and http://bit.ly/uEpTa9 . You counter him with a listing of seven well known genealogy societies; the earliest founded in 1845 and the most recent in 1979. Communities may be thought of as different from societies, but are they?<br /><br />One society, from your list, that stood out for me was the 'The Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society (est. 1977)'. Was this a society addressing the needs of a 'community' that was denied access to those listed 'societies' for over 132 years?<br /><br />My concerns also extend to the 'hundreds of local, county, state, or regional historical and genealogical societies throughout the world' that you mention. Are they all welcoming the burgeoning genealogy community with its persons of color, new immigrants, gays, lesbians, trans-gendered, alternative life-styled, and blended families? Are their doors opened to these relatively new communities? For the record, since 1977, I have personally been welcomed and rebuffed by many a genealogy society. For the record, if my people were welcomed into the societies there wouldn't necessarily be a need for the creation of any of the many ethnic-specific genealogy societies, forums, exhibitions, and organizations. If those early societies all were open to everyone, can you imagine how awesome the genealogy community would be? And that's the offline or real world. <br /><br />Now, to the online genealogy community. Thanks to the internet, the genealogy communities are, as you suggest, much larger in terms of participants. Perhaps a little more democratic and open, but early on it was still necessary for the creation of a AfriGeneas.com and other ethnic-specific genealogy societies, forums, exhibitions, and organizations. How different are the the online genealogy societies and communities from the offline ones? Are all communities being acknowledged?<br /><br />Michael, you say "Without the genealogy community of the past, we would not have the online genealogy community." My concern is that the gatekeepers of the genealogy community of the past are the gatekeepers of the online genealogy community today. Meet the new boss - same as the old boss type jam.<br /><br />I don't know if James Tanner was trying to call out the gatekeepers, or if he was even thinking that deeply about it. We can thank RootsTech for getting us rapping though. Mr. MacEntee, who got the party started [see http://bit.ly/vCyljY , ain't no gatekeeper, but he is a keen observer of the human (genealogy) condition and got Rootstech to listen to reason. We have to thank Thomas for getting us rappin'.<br /><br />Michael, thank you for pushing the conversation to another level. We need to go there. On your blog, at http://michaelhait.wordpress.com , you have a post titled "The Genealogy Paradigm Shift: Are bloggers the new “experts". This begs the question; are bloggers the new gatekeepers? As an African ancestored genealogist, I'm going going to watch this conversation closely. There are considerably talented ethnic-specific genealogists and historians that need to be included in this elite group. As new folks get bitten by the genealogy and family history bug, they need to be, at the minimum, informed that there are experts from their culture that they can connect with and are part of the genealogy consortium. <br /><br />So, it is vitally important to know who the gatekeepers are. Rootstech, for one, cannot be a gatekeeper. They don't have folks' interest at heart. They showed their hand.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1527613590529958801.post-48623636771309431952011-12-15T04:23:02.876-07:002011-12-15T04:23:02.876-07:00I like your take on this James, but if you are tal...I like your take on this James, but if you are talking about change .... you seem to short change Facebook. Don't! <br /><br />I have some who follow my blog. I have some who follow me on Facebook. Some do both. <br /><br />They are equally important. Bloggers do NOT have a corner on importance in genealogy.<br /><br />Bobby Zimmerman was right!<br /><br />ScottScott Phillipshttp://www.facebook.com/OnwardToOurPastnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1527613590529958801.post-35625564503082217412011-12-14T22:36:32.460-07:002011-12-14T22:36:32.460-07:00Well stated, all around, Jame. Thanks for this blo...Well stated, all around, Jame. Thanks for this blog post. I read it! ;-)Dr. Bill (William L.) Smithhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04857619677138020430noreply@blogger.com