The future of genealogy

[wivenhoe]

Keep going, keep going with your research.

Increasingly, there are areas of social history and public health that are using intergenerational studies for research.

Your good family history work, well researched, fully referenced, will provide information that is beyond the resources that an academic researcher can hope to access eg funding for assistants.

How aspirational were the family?.

To what extent did they look for, and avail themselves of opportunities?.

Were they involved in community activities?

Was religion important to them or were they willing to step away for the sake of chances in life?

How did the family manage life's problems....personal, financial?

Did they do it better than those around them?

What did they die of?..........did they have access to medical care?

When you have constructed the family tree, now go for the branches and leaves ie the minutiae, the trivial, the mundane.....everything.

When we do good family history work, well researched, fully referenced, we are a research assistant, adding to a pool of information. We might not see the application of the information in our life time, but it will be used.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-08-25/the-health-effects-of-convict-transportation-to-tasmania/6720312

[mrcakey]

I keep an extensive day to day diary and regularly take advantage of Facebook and Twitter's "download my data" functionality. I take loads of photos. I index everything. If a future genealogist has any interest in me, I've made as much available as I possibly can.

Maybe it's up to us as genealogists to encourage others to do the same?

[Guy Etchells]

The following is a quote from "The Madness of Crowds" by Louise Penny, a Canadian author.

Reine-Marie Gamache, an archivist, is going through a box of possessions that she has been asked to sort and classify.  Please note, in my own mind, I have added the word "genealogists"...you will see where when you read it.

"...And there were letters. Lots of them.

"Taking out a pile and smoothing them on her lap, Reine-Marie picked up the top one and wondered, not for the first time, what the next general of archivists and biographers would do. No one wrote letters anymore. No one had printed photographs and albums for historians, or even family members, to pore over. Everything was in a cloud and needed a password...".

Discuss.

I agree with the sentiments behind Reine-Marie's thoughts, in today's world few people save piles of papers and letters, many "courting" couples don't even send each others letters even when they live some distance from each other as they can Whats app or Zoom call each other instead, very little is recorded on paper in favour of messaging and websites.
This is a two edged sword on one side there is the possibility that the internet company will archive all the messages and websites, but will they be indexed and/or accessible to future generations?
The other side is most people believe the internet companies automatically archivee everything and do not even think for a minute about whether it will be accessible in the future.
I suggest that every serious family historian or genealogist publish their finding in a stem book or family tree book and donate at least one copy of it to the copyright library (legal deposit library) of their country.

The UK legal deposit library is the British Library, London but there are actually six more in the UK.
The National Library of Scotland, The National Library of Wales, The Bodleian Library University of Oxford, Cambridge University Library and The Library of Trinity College Dublin.

If such a deposit is done then future generations of your family will be able to access the work you have done recording your family history.

Cheers
Guy

[Viktoria]

Just a small addition to a very interesting topic, my daughter was obviously ill, strange symptoms which were getting dangerous ,she had to call two people on a couple of occasions ,one to drive her home and one her vehicle.
Pins and needles in limbs, unclear thinking etc etc.
Various tests and always her Dad and I with her for the above reasons.

At one the Dr, called me in ,” Have there been any incidents of sudden death of young people in your family attributable to Cardiac arrest ?”
My answer was no but there were young deaths ,from Pernicious Anaemia, in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s and  a middle aged woman.
I explained all I had found out from family stories backed up by Death Certs .
Both sides of my family ,mother’sisters and father’s grandmother ,cousins etc.
That saved a test called I think The Schilling Test ,to see the abnormal shape of red blood cells in P.A, which cause clotting and difficulties in the small capilliaries .
Not much really ,but oral tradition backed by documents got things moving very quickly , not so for my rellies sadly .
Incidentally it was  RootsChatters  who traced that great grandmother when she put a false name in the 1891 census !
For which I am still truly grateful !

Viktoria.

[edmac]

I suggest that every serious family historian or genealogist publish their finding in a stem book or family tree book and donate at least one copy of it to the copyright library (legal deposit library) of their country.

The UK legal deposit library is the British Library, London but there are actually six more in the UK.
The National Library of Scotland, The National Library of Wales, The Bodleian Library University of Oxford, Cambridge University Library and The Library of Trinity College Dublin.

If such a deposit is done then future generations of your family will be able to access the work you have done recording your family history.

Guy, in practical terms, are you suggesting a published book?.  I may be wrong but surely the depositories you mention will require an ISBN to include a book on their catalogue?  I actually produced a descendant chart(list) and had it published on Amazon, bought sufficient copies for the relatives at a reunion, and then withdrew it from public sale because it included living people. To be honest it did not occur to me to send to the British libary!!  Mea culpa, must do better next time.

[Guy Etchells]

I suggest that every serious family historian or genealogist publish their finding in a stem book or family tree book and donate at least one copy of it to the copyright library (legal deposit library) of their country.

The UK legal deposit library is the British Library, London but there are actually six more in the UK.
The National Library of Scotland, The National Library of Wales, The Bodleian Library University of Oxford, Cambridge University Library and The Library of Trinity College Dublin.

If such a deposit is done then future generations of your family will be able to access the work you have done recording your family history.

Guy, in practical terms, are you suggesting a published book?.  I may be wrong but surely the depositories you mention will require an ISBN to include a book on their catalogue?  I actually produced a descendant chart(list) and had it published on Amazon, bought sufficient copies for the relatives at a reunion, and then withdrew it from public sale because it included living people. To be honest it did not occur to me to send to the British libary!!  Mea culpa, must do better next time.

Sorry but you are wrong, a book does not require an ISBN as the British Library states "If your publications do not have an ISBN or ISSN, you still need to deposit them.

The requirement to deposit an item does not depend on its having been allocated an International Standard Book Number (ISBN) or Serial Number (ISSN), but on whether or not it can be considered to have been published. A work is said to have been published when copies of it are issued to the public.

The place of publication or printing, the nature of the imprint and size of distribution are immaterial. It is the act of issuing or distributing to the public in the United Kingdom which renders a work liable for deposit."

Full details at http://www.rootschat.com/links/01rkp/

Incidentally the mailing address of the legal Deposit Office is:-

Legal Deposit Office
The British Library
Boston Spa
Wetherby
West Yorkshire LS23 7BY

Full details on the website, url listed above, those who offer charts etc., online may be advised to take a look also.
Cheers
Guy

[Andrew Tarr]

I keep an extensive day to day diary and regularly take advantage of Facebook and Twitter's "download my data" functionality. I take loads of photos. I index everything. If a future genealogist has any interest in me, I've made as much available as I possibly can.

Maybe it's up to us as genealogists to encourage others to do the same?

But remember that we are advised to be suspicious, and to verify any facts provided by others.  So you could just leave it up to them, giving them the most satisfaction ? 

[edmac]

I suggest that every serious family historian or genealogist publish their finding in a stem book or family tree book and donate at least one copy of it to the copyright library (legal deposit library) of their country.

The UK legal deposit library is the British Library, London but there are actually six more in the UK.
The National Library of Scotland, The National Library of Wales, The Bodleian Library University of Oxford, Cambridge University Library and The Library of Trinity College Dublin.

If such a deposit is done then future generations of your family will be able to access the work you have done recording your family history.

Guy, in practical terms, are you suggesting a published book?.  I may be wrong but surely the depositories you mention will require an ISBN to include a book on their catalogue?  I actually produced a descendant chart(list) and had it published on Amazon, bought sufficient copies for the relatives at a reunion, and then withdrew it from public sale because it included living people. To be honest it did not occur to me to send to the British libary!!  Mea culpa, must do better next time.

Sorry but you are wrong, a book does not require an ISBN as the British Library states "If your publications do not have an ISBN or ISSN, you still need to deposit them.

The requirement to deposit an item does not depend on its having been allocated an International Standard Book Number (ISBN) or Serial Number (ISSN), but on whether or not it can be considered to have been published. A work is said to have been published when copies of it are issued to the public.

The place of publication or printing, the nature of the imprint and size of distribution are immaterial. It is the act of issuing or distributing to the public in the United Kingdom which renders a work liable for deposit."

Full details at http://www.rootschat.com/links/01rkp/

Incidentally the mailing address of the legal Deposit Office is:-

Legal Deposit Office
The British Library
Boston Spa
Wetherby
West Yorkshire LS23 7BY

Full details on the website, url listed above, those who offer charts etc., online may be advised to take a look also.
Cheers
Guy

Unfortunately Guy I have suffered for many years as a pedant;-)
 Is there a definition of "issued to the publ;ic" ? Were my copies given away at a family reunion issued to the public and therefore requiring a deposit?  This is not a subject I have studied. I have known of the Legal deposit Office, obviously for many years but thought it only referred to "published Books".  I always stand to be corrected.    regards  Ed>

cheesrs  Edc

[Guy Etchells]

Unfortunately Guy I have suffered for many years as a pedant;-)
 Is there a definition of "issued to the publ;ic" ? Were my copies given away at a family reunion issued to the public and therefore requiring a deposit?  This is not a subject I have studied. I have known of the Legal deposit Office, obviously for many years but thought it only referred to "published Books".  I always stand to be corrected.    regards  Ed>

cheesrs  Edc

I would say yes, as it does not mention selling but instead issued, but until that was decided in a court it would be open to interpretation.
There is also a bit about depositing print even if you publish the same content in digital format could that include websites?  "You need to deposit print content until you have successfully registered for depositing digitally and the British Library or another deposit library has confirmed that your digital content can be processed and preserved."
Cheers
Guy