The BCG Genealogical Standards Manual to give cohesion and clarified form to the principles in consensual usage.
Ultimately, serious genealogical research exhibits a higher degree of demonstrated evidence than traditional academic history or even most legal standards.
Resources and Access
Meanwhile, relevant materials and sources of information were becoming easier to access. Before the availability of the Internet at the end of the twentieth century, researching ancestors in a distant area was a slow process. So often the answers to questions and contact with others were dependent on postal mail.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (popularly called Mormons) created the world-renowned Family History Library (FHL) in Salt Lake City, the repository for microfilm copies of millions of genealogical records from around the globe. Access to the FHL and to information and databases on its FamilySearch website is free. The FHL has Family History Centers in many countries where its microfilms can be borrowed. Their online catalogue facilitates preparation for ordering films or a research visit to Utah.
Similarly, government-affiliated repositories play an important role as custodians of source material relevant to genealogy. The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) in Washington, D.C., and Library and Archives Canada in Ottawa are constantly working to place online more descriptions of their massive collections of original documents and finding aids. Many useful microfilmed sources can be borrowed through public library systems. Digital images of their resources are coming online, sometimes in partnership with commercial concerns. Digitized historical books are now more common online with the cooperation of libraries and other resource centres.
Other public and private libraries also maintain major genealogy collections worth extended visits. A few in the United States are: the Allen County Public Library in Fort Wayne, Indiana; the Newberry Library in Chicago; the Daughters of the American Revolution Library in Washington, D.C.; and the Boston Public Library. Large genealogy societies have also made their library catalogues available online. Most are freely searchable but with hands-on access for members only. Societies are adapting to the Internet world by offering such online membership benefits. Researchers have information at their fingertips that only a few years ago would have taken much longer to find.
Personal websites and commercial services for genealogical consumption developed quickly along with the Internet — a phenomenon growing everywhere on the globe. Ancestry.com is a popular subscription-based service, although Footnote.com and WorldVitalRecords.com are just two others of the many currently online, providing searchable databases either free or by fee. Bear in mind that company and website names have been changing regularly in only the first few years of the twenty-first century because of corporate restructuring and mergers; doubtless more will occur as competition increases. Rootsweb.com was one of the earliest Internet presences and continues to host a multitude of mailing lists and message boards. Ancestry, Rootsweb, and Genealogy.com are among many sites and services that became part of The Generations Network corporation — most recently the corporate name reverted to Ancestry.com, the name of its flagship product.
Not to be overlooked is the online WorldGenWeb, developed as a network of country and regional volunteers who provide information about local resources.
Skillbuilding
Education for the ever-increasing numbers of novice genealogists became a demanding new reality, especially with the Internet’s new brand of curious beginner, who might appropriate derivative material on websites and databases as gospel truth without searching for or seeing original sources.
Beginners are often introduced to genealogy by filling out a chart with their known family names and dates. Discerning instructors are realizing that, even before this step, beginners need an understanding of how to evaluate and analyze the documents that produce those names and dates. Before attempting to fill out that chart, it’s better to know all about what evidence you are citing for each person’s data. Learning evaluation and analysis is most effective when discussing sources such as birth, marriage, and death records of family members personally known by the novice.
Skill is involved along every step of the family history path. Some of us may have an intuitive grasp of the investigative process, while others may need to work a little harder at it. Nevertheless, we all need support and confidence to attain a satisfactory level of competence. Attending conferences, seminars, workshops, and courses has already been mentioned as essential for self-growth. Now there is even more access to learning, from online articles to podcasts and videocasts.
And there are top-level opportunities for validating personal skills. From the American Society of Genealogists came the independent Board for Certification of Genealogists; from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints came their Accreditation Department, now the independent International Commission for the Accreditation of Professional Genealogists. While these bodies evaluate individuals who intend to pursue the professional, business side of genealogy, testing is not limited to “genealogists for hire.” Far from it. For example, the BCG encourages all serious family historians to challenge themselves and improve their skill levels and thus uphold the standards of the field as a whole.
The Genealogical Institute of the Maritimes, created in 1983, was a similar leader in Canada. The Bureau québécois d’attestation de compétence en généalogie, based in the city of Quebec, and the Saskatchewan Genealogical Society have also developed programs for their geographic areas. Testing organizations are listed in chapter 3, Learning and Practice.
All these opportunities address the growing desire to discover our personal historical roots — a desire that needs the accompanying awareness of sound research habits and skills. The application of widely acceptable principles in genealogical research and writing benefits all of us alike. Each of us has a family history that deserves the best effort we can put into it.
CHAPTER 2 Genealogical Research Standards
Q: Do I need to know about standards for my own researching? Will standards affect my family history?
A: Understanding the standards will help you meet your family history goals at an acknowledged level of competence. If you want to leave a legacy of substance when your days are done — a family history or a report or an article or notes that will endure — striving for standards ensures self-satisfaction as well as peer respect.
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