In
my last post I commented on the general direction of genealogical research and people
involved in those pursuits, as well as on the state of family history
societies, as I have observed and participated with them.
I
often wonder how many “professional genealogists” actually earn a decent living
doing such work. Are they like realtors, where 10% do most of the business and
are successfully engaged in supporting themselves and their families, while the
rest work sparingly and just make “pin money.” It might be useful for the
Association of Professional Genealogists (APG) to do a “salary” survey of its
members in order to find out what their careers are actually worth. True
professional organizations, of working engineers for example, do this annually
which serves as a guide to both employees and employers.
What
might also be of interest is learning how many people are actively engaged in
genealogical work full time as professionals and how many do it as a hobby, for
personal interest only.
With
regard to family history societies, my experience has shown me that they tend
to work well on a local basis and mainly as social groups. People can gather
regularly to hear a speaker or discuss aspects of research among themselves or
just use their involvement as an excuse to get out of the house and talk with
others who have similar interests. Occasionally, much less so now that they use
to do, members can take on projects to compile and publish information about
their local areas that will be of use to current and future generations of
family historians.
These
types of volunteer-run organizations do not appear to work well on a more
regional basis. Regular meetings of the entire membership are not feasible. For
individual members, the needs and desires of the local groups still trump those
of the larger, or “Mother” society, as these people tend to identify first
with their own branches. Individuals tend to spend most of their time with
local branch activities leaving many of the parent group’s functions and
activities to founder or fail because of a lack of available help (volunteers).
Generally
the only people from across the large organization who get to know each other
are those involved as Directors who can and do meet regularly. Just as often as
not, though, they bring to these meetings their own local concerns rather than
paying attention to the needs of the regional group.
Every
one of these local and regional groups I have come across, been a member of or
talked with others about have problems with sustainability. Few are growing;
most are declining – as reported by many people in recent blogs and articles.
Membership is aging and younger people (pre-pensioners for the most part) are
engaged in different forms of research mainly relating to the Internet.
Projects, especially those of a large scale, are going wanting for people to
oversee or work on them. Conferences are more difficult to organize for the
same reason. Financial worries are commonplace, with the ever-increase in costs
of maintaining an office and printing of journals combined with fewer
dues-paying members.
More
messages from society Presidents contain an entreaty for members to step up to
take on leadership roles – or even just participate on a limited basis. Often
when volunteers do step up with new ideas and plans, though, they are met with
resistance from those who harken to the past with comments like, “We have
always done it this way.” As the President of the Alberta Genealogical Society
recently put it, “Unfortunately, those
who pick up the gauntlet and agree to lead are quickly damned by those who are
resistant to change and feel their comfort threatened, and are just as quickly
cursed by those who feel their suggestions for the future are not being heeded.”
At
this point I cannot see myself volunteering in a group again. The workload for
a journal Editor can be daunting, but without full acceptance and support of membership
and an organization’s leaders it can quickly become a most frustrating
experience. Perhaps due to the time commitment of individuals and costs of
production, these types of publications, that contain serious articles on
methodology and valuable case studies, may not have a future. I know I spent
hundreds of hours getting each issue prepared for publication, time taken away
from my own research and personal activities.
Many
commercially-produced and professionally done magazines, as well as journals of
large organizations are taking up quality submissions and being managed by committees
of people who have the ability, time and competence to manage them. The local
publications are mostly becoming just newsletters that highlight society
activities but often do not contain much in the way of substantive material.
I
have no interest in maintaining specific credentials in proficiency to stay as
a member of the APG. I would be sorry to lose contacts in that organization and
the valuable information contained in their journal, but I am not, at my age
now, about to embark on a new career that entails living with stringent rules
or spend a lot of money on courses or conventions just to keep a membership
intact.
I
will keep researching my own family, as a hobby and for personal interest. I
will also keep writing about subjects and ideas I have come across that might
entertain others or be of value to them. I won’t likely do any more consulting
for fees but will continue to assist people with specific questions based on my
knowledge and experience if the opportunities arise. I might even give the odd
presentation about subjects I have direct expertise with.
I
believe that family history societies will have to evolve in order to survive,
whether their members like it or not. The successful groups today appear to be
those that can focus on their own geographic areas and engage in projects close
to home in terms of geography and data availability. Societies do play a role
in expanding general knowledge but do so mostly through interpersonal communication
at meetings and newsletters. Umbrella groups might profitably use funds from
regional memberships to facilitate sourcing and providing speakers to attend
branch meetings.
If
a regionally-based society has value it will be to compile the projects taken
on by their branches rather than to engage in wide-ranging studies or regular
publishing of journals. Articles and case histories are readily available in
publications of large, national and international groups as well as in
commercial magazines. Having said that, though, independent, non-commercial
journals that focus on large regions and serve many societies may be of value.
The availability of such publications would save each local group from having
to find volunteers to serve as Editors and not limit the exposure of important
articles and stories that is a consequence of their inclusion only in local
newsletters.
Perhaps
I’ll get involved in another publication, although probably not one directly
related to any particular organization. I’ll be giving more thought to this
idea.
I
will keep my Devon Family History Society membership for sure because a lot of
my family research and volunteer activities as an Online Parish Clerk are
associated with that region. I have done my part with local groups and don’t
have the energy to go down those paths again, trying to convince people that
change is good.
I
do know one thing about this family history thing – there are still lots of
people from the past I want to find out more about. I have a bit more time
these days to do just that and I am finding out once more that it can be fun!
If you would not be forgotten
as soon as you are dead and rotten
either write things worthy of reading
or do things worthy of writing.
~ Benjamin Franklin, May 1738
Wayne
Shepheard is a volunteer with the Online Parish Clerk program in England, handling
four parishes in Devon, England. He has published a number
of articles about various aspects of genealogy in several family history
society journals. He has also served as an editor of two such publications.
Wayne provides genealogical consulting services through his business, Family History Facilitated.
