Saturday, July 18, 2015

What sort of genealogist am I?

Thomas MacEntee wrote quite some time ago about Careers in Genealogy.  My mate, Randy Seaver examined his genealogy career according to the categories outlined by Thomas in his post and suggested another category of Genealogy Evangelist.

I am taking a leaf out of Randy's book and conducting a self-examination with Thomas's categories.

  • Researcher: The most traditional of genealogy careers. Yes I am a researcher on a personal level and have been one since 1988 when I started delving into my family history. I find that I am often called on to give advice to friends and friends of friends.
  • Author: Someone who writes about various aspects of genealogy and family history, from magazine articles to books. As a blogger for myself and two societies I am an author, I have also penned several articles for Inside History and other magazines, I write a regular column for The Surname Society.
  • Educator: With almost any industry or field, people who are new will want to learn how to perform certain tasks. As a former teacher I love going back into teacher mode at genealogy events and online in Google hangouts. I enjoy giving on on one help to friends and fellow family history group members.
  • Curator: Last year I spoke of the power of the “curator” and the concept of a curator seems to have gained traction.  I don't think this label fits me.
  • Archivist: Many repositories have staff with a genealogy background who work to preserve artifacts, documents and the like so that researchers can better understand them and have access to them. I am the family archivist.
  • Librarian: There are quite a few genealogists with their library science degrees and backgrounds who work for genealogical libraries as well as other types of libraries. I had a long career as a librarian and apply my skills and experience to my genealogy practices.
  • Analyst: With any growing industry (the genealogy industry in my opinion is growing), there is a need for people to analyze various data points including demographics, buying habits, etc. 
  • Marketer: Another growth area in the genealogy industry especially when it comes to social media. I've no need to get into marketing.
  • Retailer: Just look at any genealogy conference or expo and you’ll see booksellers, craftspeople selling their handmade goods related to family history, and more. Family History is a hobby - I've nothing to sell but lots to share.
I hope that I am a Genealogy Evangelist like Randy. I love spreading the good words about genealogy.

What sort of genealogist are you?

2 comments:

Linda Stufflebean said...

I love your self-reflection and this is a fun way to share accomplishments.

Amy Archibald said...

Here is my post on this topic:
http://revealingrootsandbranches.blogspot.com/2015/07/what-sort-of-genealogist-am-i.html

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