I've been at this genealogy stuff for under a year. Well, taking it "seriously" for that long. And by seriously, I mean there's not too much "serious" about it. It's just all-out fun to me! OK, OK sometimes the fates of our ancestors are sad, and yes, well they sometimes didn't make good decisions along the way and times were hard and all. But it makes me see how very funny life is and how you just gotta enjoy the daylights out of it while the ride lasts. I've probably earned my "N" in Newbie, but Alex, can I buy a vowel?
So I've been thinking lately (Mom, do not make the obvious joke here) that since the afore mentioned Mom, now 93 and going strong at life and genealogy, has attached close to 60,000 ancestors to our particular tree, what might my own personal job be in relation to genealogy. Guess you could say I'm second generation genealogy: what's left for me to find? Ancestors back to Adam?? Really?
So I'm working on my Genealogy Job Description. Here's what I have so far.
The job title is Family History Liaison. I'm to "liaise" between the fine and extensive work Mom has done to the other cousins and their kids, thus insuring others in the family are increasingly interested in this sport:)
Here's my task list so far and it's growing:
1. Double check sources and add Notes. A person can't be too sure.
2. Get GEDCOM to as many people as possible.
3. Make the lives of the ancestors as "real" as possible: put flesh on the bones on names, dates, and places.
4. Find and tell family stories. Keep the stories and oral tradition already strong in our family even stronger. And turn this oral tradition into a written tradition so the stories aren't lost.
I know there's more to my job description but it will grow over time, just as Mom's GEDCOM grows, my picture file grows, and my unruly stacks of papers grow.
I think those are wonderful goals! Really, research is fun, but the hardest job is getting others to understand and appreciate all that work! Power to you!
ReplyDeleteI love your job description. It is applicable, not just to 2nd generation genealogists, but to those of us who have been researching for years.
ReplyDeleteYes! I hear so many people tell me that there is nothing left for them to do because someone else in the family has already done it all. And, to be honest, I have been a little worried myself about how to pass down the love for the Family History research to my daughter...I'm doing all the "easy" stuff and the only thing left for her is the hard stuff. But with new inroads in technology every day, there will be something she can do. Your job description pretty much describes what she can do to carry on the work. Thank you!
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