tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1527613590529958801.post7036949490597383420..comments2024-03-21T19:08:05.737-07:00Comments on Genealogy's Star: What is genealogy?James Tannerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02989059644120454647noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1527613590529958801.post-84248661524186005402014-08-28T16:47:29.503-07:002014-08-28T16:47:29.503-07:00Thanks for your very comprehensive and insightful ...Thanks for your very comprehensive and insightful comment. However, from other comments, there are certainly those who would disagree with both of us. Thanks again. James Tannerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02989059644120454647noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1527613590529958801.post-42513429644944044522014-08-28T16:35:27.517-07:002014-08-28T16:35:27.517-07:00As a fairly new researcher, your exploration of th...As a fairly new researcher, your exploration of the question of "genealogist" versus "hobbiest" is right on target. In reading the blog, a couple of thoughts come to mind. First, there has been a major shift in the world (in almost every field) where "experts" are suspect, the process of gaining knowledge is valued over the transmission of knowledge, and there is a much larger tolerance for "making it up" as you go along. Wikipedia is an example - articles with errors are put online, corrected by the community, authors are pushed to add citations, and over time the rough posting is polished. Very different from the Encyclopedia that we had on the shelves - purchased by parents on a monthly payment basis - with an annual update provided by the company! As family records have moved online - the messiness of this new point of view has followed. It is a very different way of thinking about the identification, accumulation, and transmission of knowledge/facts.<br /><br />Second, I can't imagine how any person could stop any other person from pursuing family research in any fashion they want, or calling themselves a genealogist. The astronomers don't ask the backyard hobbiests to turn in their telescopes- the geologists don't outlaw the stone collector-etc. I think the idea of "professionalization" or the implementation of standards can come in to play when a person is hired to do family research for another person. The transaction moves research from a personal hobby to a commodity where some quality assurances make sense. Certification with related "letters behind your name" becomes a short-hand for the consumer of genealogy consulting to have some way to judge quality. The rest of us are just amateur genealogists- or poor genealogists-or crazy genealogists - or simply folks interested in our own families. Perhaps there could be some way on the jointly developed family trees to further refine who/how changes are made - in the meantime, I think the best strategy is to encourage hobbiests (non-professionals) to pursue "good" genealogy practice...teach, inspire, help, share, assume good will....and for those who are upset by the messy state of current joint trees to keep their own family research out of the hands of "the commons". Stay engaged in polishing the information on the joint family tree, but don't subject your research to what might be the uninformed changes suggested by others. Isn't it a great problem that there is so much interest in family history - there are enough people to have divergent views! It's good for everyone.<br /><br />Thanks for raising this issue for discussion. <br />KathyAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com