Sunday, December 14, 2014

Quotes from Genealogy Masters

I'm a big believer that you can always learn from others, and that's especially true when it comes to genealogy. That's why I read A LOT of blogs, including those written by people who have been involved in genealogy for decades and those whose search for ancestors is relatively new.

Here are a few quotes from genealogy experts that have caught my eye:
  1. "The word ASSUMED should never be used in genealogy!" from Dick Eastman, "Barking Up the Wrong Tree," Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter, May 8, 2014.
  2. "My skill as a family historian is to analyze those facts, understand them in context of the life of the person, and preserve them for future generations of my family. I can do so responsibly and in a caring way that still respects that person and their personal information," from Thomas MacEntee, "Is There A 'Right' To Do Genealogy?", GeneaBloggers, September 19, 2013.
  3. "As genealogists, adding a medical history to the family history already collected and treasured should be a natural progression and inclusion," from Leland Meitzler, "What Does Your Family's Medical History Look Like," GenealogyBlog, January 10, 2012.
  4. "[S]eeing how others have solved problems, what records they have used and how they have used them is an excellent tool in developing our analytical skills," from Michael John Neill, "What an Experienced Researcher Would Expect to be Relevant," Rootdig.com, December 6, 2013.
  5. "We must verify the sources of information, and see for ourselves if we'd arrive at the same conclusions. ... I am thankful for people like Elizabeth Shown Mills who show us the ideal, but I am also thankful for the tens of thousands of amateur genealogists who are working to the limit of their capability to share the story of their ancestors as they see it," from Pat Richley-Erickson, "The Proof is in the Pudding," DearMyrtle, November 29, 2012.
  6. "If there is any group of people in the world who ought to understand human frailty, it’s the genealogical community," from Judy Russell, "The struggles," The Legal Genealogist, August 12, 2014.
  7. "To be a 'complete genealogist,' every researcher needs to understand proper methodology and be aware of and use all available resources in order to perform competent research," from Randy Seaver, "How Should Genealogy Societies Nurture Beginners?", Genea-Musings, July 24, 2014.
  8. "Theoretically it may be possible to do a complete search of all of the possible records for finding your ancestors, but in practical terms, it is highly unlikely that anyone has actually achieved a 'complete' search," from James Tanner, "There is always a next place to search," Genealogy's Star, September 10, 2011.

3 comments:

  1. Thanks for the shout out Joanne! These quotes represent great advice for genealogists and family historians!

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  2. What a great idea to post a collection of quotes. I write quotes from speakers in my conference/seminar notes but never thought about putting them all together. Thank you for doing this!

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  3. Good list of quotes and words for genealogists to live by.

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