If I read your posting correctly, you basically feel that genealogy is dying hobby because some people have stopped posting their family trees on the Internet and older free genealogy sites are not being maintained.  You also feel that one is “paying through the nose to subscribe to Ancestry which in itself is now becoming outdated as no new Family Trees seem to be posted-uploaded” even though it costs less the $13 per month to access Ancestry, which is probably less than many people pay for one meal out.  Is one to assume that you are only interested in Family Trees that individuals have uploaded to the sight, especially considering that a fair number of those trees are the continued practice of copying incorrect, unsourced information from other trees?  Yet Ancestry and other paid sites also provides numerous scanned and indexed records which they must pay to have produced for display on their site.  Considering the volume of business Ancestry does, genealogy does not seem to be a dying hobby.

Free sites are wonderful and important to everyone doing genealogy. Providing the website is generally not free and many man hours are required to maintain and update the sites. Having hosted some GenWeb county sites, you know first hand that it took several hours of your time each month to maintain the site.  Users of those sites were no doubt grateful for your efforts, but many people just can’t spare that kind of time to take on a similar venture.  And one reason those county sites are available for free is that Ancestry provides the server space without charge, using funds from its subscription service to cover the costs.

Check out state libraries to see if they have an Interlibrary Loan program.  Although usually not a free service, the nominal fee charged to have books or microfilm delivered to your local library for a two week loan is far cheaper than traveling to that state.  I have praised the Library of Virginia before, and I will do so again, for their outstanding ILL program of original county records.  Although I live 2,000 miles from Virginia, I can still access original records with ease.

Contact local genealogical and historical societies to see if they have any programs which would be beneficial to out of state researchers.  If you have ideas to help them provide sources on the Internet, make suggestions and work with them to see if in todays economic climate such things are possible.

Continue to post queries on county and surname email lists and Rootsweb and GenForum sites. It lets people know you are still searching and may have found new leads since your much earlier posting.

But please, don’t suggest that people who have spent hour upon hour and countless dollars of their own money researching their lines should be eager to display their work on the Internet “all in the spirit of sharing information even if it means no strings attached ... It’s a family thing.”  Many generously do so, but it is understandable that abuse of their work leaves many not so inclined.

Pat Duncan
[log in to unmask]
Author of Loudoun County, Virginia genealogical references



From: Huffstutler, Eric S. 
Sent: Thursday, March 15, 2012 8:43 AM
To: [log in to unmask] 
Subject: [VA-HIST] Genealgy Future

I kind of brought this up a while back and now experiencing the same
problem but even more so and want people's input.

I have been doing online research for my family since 1986.  I even was
host to emails during the old BBS days and web host to a couple of
Rootsweb GenWeb counties.

Now the old RAOGK website is dead and a generic form started on Facebook
that doesn't have the same impact or offerings as in the past for out of
state volunteer lookups.

I am finding that more and more old established genealogy websites have
become outdated (I just ran across one that shows its last update was in
2004!).  Various surname and county lists and forums are rarely visited
or posted to.  I looked at Burke County, GA list on Genealogy.com and
saw a post I made nearly 9-years ago only half way down the first page.
Links are no longer working, volunteer email addresses have changed, and
there just doesn't seem to be any substitute sites.  In other words
trying to do research online as in years past is almost futile.

Has the hobby become out of favor to a point of no longer supporting
these once valuable information sharing sites?  Outside of paying
through the nose to subscribe to Ancestry which in itself is now
becoming outdated as no new Family Trees seem to be posted-uploaded, are
there other online options for help when one can not travel?

Eric 
 

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