I can see and understand what you say. I have been doing this via Internet
for over 20 years (started with Fidonet), ran a couple of GenWeb county
sites years past, and help others when I can as I go to the state library.
But for newcomers it may seem to be a closed fisted group of people no
matter how many lists they find (many dead). I even saw this happen years
ago as people became stingy with their research and stongheaded about their
info being the gospel. After that people went underground but then a new
group emerged and now seems to have disappeared. I had wondered if the
various state laws limiting documents have hampered the interest. I know I
relied on them a lot and being able to simply walk to or have someone go to
a courthouse and opening a book to get what I needed.
But what I find disheartening is that GenWeb (rootsweb) county sites have
changed coordinator hands so much that many sites have become useless - only
a bunch of links to other sites or books to buy rather than posted
information. That the sites can be outdated as much as 5-years. And like
you said, volunteers have become scarce and sites dedicated to them doesn't
even take the time to remove dead links or seek out new ones wasting
people's time. I am not alone when it comes to limited income or ability to
travel and obtain information especially when you still work a 9-5 job.
That is when you have to depend on volunteers to help.
Eric
----- Original Message -----
From: "Excalibur131" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Monday, July 14, 2008 10:09 PM
Subject: Re: [VA-ROOTS] Has Genealogy Become Obsolete?
> Eric, let me start by saying that genealogy is not dying out, taking a
> backseat, becoming obsolete, etc. I'm probably going to get wrapped around
> the axle here, but there are a variety of reasons why you might think
> genealogy is on a downhill slide.
>
> Lists, such as those on Ancestry.com and Genealogy.com, are sometimes
> cyclic. They run hot for months on end, then seem to just stop. Others
pick
> up from no posts at all, to being a booming list. This is caused by many
> reasons. People run out of things to say about a given line or new people
> have many questions about a line that hasn't had much discussion. I've
seen
> a few instances where list users seemed to go into research mode at the
same
> time; nothing gets said for a year or more; then they all stumble over
each
> other making as many posts as ever.
>
> Some people have gone underground. They found that so much of the
> information on various lists, message boards, family trees, etc. was
> incorrect that they couldn't stomach being a part of it any longer. They
> still do genealogy, might be active at their local society or library and
> are always on the search for new information, but they do it privately.
They
> are no longer willing to be a part of the larger community that believes
> everything they read and copy/paste bogus information to their genealogy
> file.
>
> Volunteers have become scarce. Some were taken advantage of by users who
> wanted the world at their feet, but gave nothing in return. The same is
true
> of RAOGK. Many times a newcomer would almost demand that a volunteer do
> something right now. They didn't use basic etiquette in their requests and
> didn't seem to understand the meaning of the word volunteer.
>
> Some of the mailing lists have died down; while others are still booming
and
> inactive ones get a jump start. Consider the thousands of mailing lists
> available. Newcomers become overwhelmed by the sheer number of lists,
while
> those that have been around for awhile may have moved on to a different
> family line. Also, many folks that have been around for awhile have found
> their own small group of people that they email weekly and even daily.
Most
> of them contribute to each other, resolve problems, try to figure out an
> approach for new problems, and get each others family line on the straight
> and narrow. Some stay in contact by phone, passing information back and
> forth, information that may never be seen by others.
>
> Then there is the subject of citations and sources. How many times have
you
> wondered, and maybe even asked, where someone got some piece of
information?
> How many usable answers did you get? People that have been doing genealogy
> for years understand the importance of citations and sources. Yet I would
> bet that 9 out of 10 newcomers think "Who cares?" or "What's the harm if I
> can't prove where my information came from?" Not intentionally perhaps,
but
> many online sources of material seem to foster that line of thinking. Some
> people will make the effort to help newcomers down the correct path, but
> many get tired of beating their head against the masses.
>
> Genealogy is still booming. It might be harder to recognize now, but it's
> still going strong.
> Just some of many thoughts I have on this subject.
> Tom
> Eastern Shore & More
> http://easternshoremore.com
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Eric Huffstutler" <[log in to unmask]>
> To: <[log in to unmask]>
> Sent: Monday, July 14, 2008 8:42 PM
> Subject: Has Genealogy Become Obsolete?
>
>
> I hope someone can chime in and relate to my question and concern. Has
> genealogy taken a back seat or just dieing out due to various state
> regulations about records?
>
> I say this because...
>
> 1) Various surname or area lists (like those on Ancestry or Genealogy)
often
> only show a few posts per year and sometimes only 1 or 2 posts a year!
>
> 2) Volunteers are becoming scarce, GenWeb counties have none available,
and
> even RAOGK listings often bounce back or get no reply.
>
> 3) The volume of email connected to genealogy research had become slim.
>
> Has the #1 hobby 5-10 years ago become obsolete?
>
> Eric S. Huffstutler
> Richmond, VA
>
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