Eric,

Genealogy as a hobby can be relatively inexpensive, if all you want to do is 
add information to your family tree based on what others have posted on the 
Internet.  But we all know that most of that is not sourced and a great deal 
of it is incorrect.

Many of the Administrators of website (such as the USGENWEB sites) work full 
time jobs and have other obligations, so the websites are often not updated. 
But most have plenty of good information on them.  It isn't always easy to 
find people with computer knowledge to do the necessary website work.  I 
applaud all the site and list administrators who volunteer their precious 
time.

Few people want to spend the time to transcribe or abstract records.  I have 
spent the last 13+ years abstracting county court records, etc. for 
genealogical publications.  For the thousands of hours I have put to this 
task, it is beneficial for both myself and my publisher to receive some sort 
of monetary return.  No one who writes genealogy books makes money; they do 
so out of love for the subject.  But it is books such as this which are 
essential for a researcher and a mainstay for genealogical libraries and 
societies.  And those books are what people use to provide information to 
fellow researchers over the Internet.  I volunteer my time to do free 
look-ups for people in both my references and those of others which I have 
purchased, as do many authors.  Some authors refuse look-ups, expecting you 
to buy their books instead, which is their right to do so.  One of my 
published CD's is 2,000+ full sized pages long, two-column format, and took 
me more than six months to compile.  Do you feel that information should be 
posted for free on the Internet?  Would you be willing to work at such a 
task day after day and year after year and without some sort of small 
financial payback for your time just so others can pursue their hobby for 
free?  I don't believe many people would.

One disappointment for people who do free look-ups is the lack of response 
from the beneficiary of that information.  It amazes me how many people post 
queries on email groups and message boards and never bother to thank the 
individual making the effort to help them.  I've had people email me writing 
nothing more than, "send me all the information you have about the XXXX 
families."  They expect me to use my time, searching through dozens of 
references, to do their research for free.  People like that tend to put a 
damper on volunteering.

Don't get me wrong, it would be wonderful if there were more free 
information on the Internet.  But like anything else in life, if you can't 
afford to do it you might want to find a different hobby or barter your time 
with another researcher.  If you can afford to subscribe to the paid sites 
and find them beneficial, then continue to support those businesses putting 
in thousands of man hours and dollars to provide that information for all. 
If you have hours to spare and records to abstract, than your efforts will 
be more appreciated.  If you feel that a county you are interested in lacks 
volunteers, then contact the email and website administrator and ask them to 
put out a call for volunteers.  People often need that extra nudge to get 
them thinking in that direction.

I don't think genealogy is dead, just hitting a slight dip in the road.

I must take this opportunity to commend the Library of Virginia for its 
Interlibrary Loan program.  The microfilms of Virginia county court records 
have afforded me the ability to write genealogical publications for several 
counties in northern Virginia even though I live in New Mexico.  It is an 
inexpensive program for the consumer and one that is invaluable.  Thanks you 
Library of Virginia!

Pat Duncan
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-----Original Message----- 
From: Huffstutler, Eric S.
Sent: Friday, November 19, 2010 10:43 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [VA-HIST] Is Genealogy Dead?

See, I am not exactly fond of your response that genealogy is an
"expensive" hobby.  It use to be the #1 hobby in the world but now... I
seriously doubt it.  The more people participating the cheaper it should
be and the more information available for free.  But that is still
sidestepping the fact that yes, some people here, like on any forum, are
passionate with their hobby but doing so with blinders on.  A few people
on an isolated forum don't represent the general population.  How about
the person who works 9-5 weekdays and can't get to local or out of state
libraries? The elderly on fixed incomes?  The handicapped who is home
bound and doing this to pass time?  Are they to be excluded because you
say it is an "expensive" hobby?

Again, even as recent as 2002-2004, there was a lot of Internet
activity.  Prior to that a waiting list for people to host county
websites on RootsWeb GenWeb program.  Now you can't seem to give the
counties away to anyone who will keep it up to date let alone add new
content.  And yes, the volunteer sites I have already mentioned have
plenty of dead links for those who had good intensions but you can wait
until you are blue in the face for a response.  In fact, I am still
getting people asking questions to posts I placed online over 10-years
ago!  Of course I now have the answers or long moved on with that
branch.

But my focus is Volunteers either in offering lookups or hosting sites
adding information to "share" with others.  The core value of genealogy.

Eric

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