Joining a local, regional or national genealogical society is the topic of “Stronger Together” by Sunny Jane Morton in the November/December issue of Family Tree magazine (familytreemagazine.com) on newsstands and in libraries now.
She makes four major points about your decision making on joining. (1) Decide your goals. Why do you want to join — to help with your research in an area, to meet like-minded folks, or to get advance notice of educational events, like lectures?
(2) Consider your ideal communities. How often do they meet, how much time do you want to spend, are you joining to learn, or perhaps volunteer, or do you want to interact with members on specific research techniques and topics?
(3) Look for groups. You might want to join several groups, like a local one where your ancestors lived. There are also those devoted to a specific ethnic heritage group, a descendants/family group, or even a family reunion group.
(4) Participate meaningfully. Will you be willing to volunteer? Most genealogy groups are in great need of volunteers, not only for regular duties, but for special things like writing articles, Special Interest Groups (SIGS), and managing virtual meetings, for example.
In a sidebar, the author states other reasons for joining a genealogical society: become a better researcher, enhance skills; spend time with genea-friends; discover and preserve records; and advocate for genealogy, including increased access to records.
Cemetery websites
“Which Cemetery Website is Best?” was asked recently online in “The Genealogy Insider” article via Family Tree magazine. The three discussed were BillionGraves.com with 160 million records, FindaGrave.com (which is linked to Ancestry.com) and has 226 million memorials, and Interment.net with 25 million entries. So, which one(s) are you using? Are you managing any family memorials? If not, why not?
Genealogy Book wish list
Do you have a genealogy book wish list? You may create one in order to have a list of books you want to buy or borrow to read. Perhaps you need one that is really your Christmas or birthday gift to you list? Type it up, email or snail mail to the family gift giver, or to Santa. Best to have a list in case someone actually asks.
Contact Kenneth H. Thomas Jr., P. O. Box 901, Decatur, GA 30031 or kenthomasongenealogy.com.
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