Genealogy on the Net Chris Dunning

When I was in high school, I hated history. Dry lists of meaningless dates and meaningless battles. Names of men, long-dead, who fought for causes I didn't understand in places I'd never been. Then, three years ago, I began a project for a college class that required me to research my family tree. Suddenly history was anything but dry. I developed an intense, personal connection to the past. History, indeed my concept of 'time', was recreated as a continuum -- meaningful, dynamic, even exciting. I became an amature genealogist, completely addicted and occasionally annoying.

However, until about six weeks ago, I'd never expored the genealogical community on the internet. For this field assignment, I decided to look for a genealogy-related newsgroup. I was amazed to find no less than twenty-five! A few consist of posts in languages other than English. Of the rest, one is an "Alternet" newsgroup, and seventeen are Usenet "soc" newsgroups, collectively named soc.genealogy. Net-genealogists are not a homogenous group.

[FAQ] Genealogy Related Newsgroups This site offers the most comprehensive listing.

The "meta-FAQ" will provide a description of the many FAQs that are posted each month, and where and when to look for them.

I found most of the soc.genealogy groups to be moderated and well-defined. They have associated mailing lists, and are dedicated to specific subjects (eg: .methods .medieval .computing .surnames) or specific ethnologies (eg: .hispanic .nordic .uk+ireland). The exception is soc.genealogy.misc, which covers whatever posts don't fit comfortably into the other soc groups. I initially monitored soc.genealogy.misc, but eventually moved to the one Alternet group, alt.genealogy.

I was drawn to alt.genealogy because of the flexibility and wide range of topics. The jumble appealed to me. I've learned a great deal -- how to find the soundex code for a surname; which genealogy software has the best level of support; how to take a tracing from a worn gravestone. I've learned that the occupation listing "kept an ordinary house" entered on a census form means that the individual ran a saloon/tavern in his home. I've also learned that a slang term my great-grandmother used for bathroom, "the loo", may have originated in the French habit of slinging "waste water" out an upstairs window and yelling "Regarde de l'eau!" to the poor buggers on the street below. Important stuff, this. Details that make my ancestors lives more real.

I also find alt.genealogy's high level of tolerance for newbies delightful. There may be gentle teasing, but seldom does a query, no matter how silly, go unanswered. One regular in particular, Paul Petersen, goes out of his way to help newcomers, and his posts are extremely helpful to all of us.

The single drawback I found to this freeform newsgroup is the higher incidence of porn-related and "$$$$$$" spam. I suppose this is due to the 'alt' prefix. Seems as though the spammers must think alt.genealogy is alt.gynecology. The name is listed in the header right alongside every sex and fetish related newsgroup on the Alternet. Still, the spamming is only slightly annoying, and the enjoyment I get from participating in this group is well worth the aggravation.

The booming popularity of online genealogical research is regularly discussed in alt.genealogy. Oldtimers are concerned that online genealogy will discourage thorough documentation of sources. There's a worldwide push by various genealogical groups and societies to publish their databases on the World Wide Web. The Mormons' "Family History" centres are becoming active on the net. Families register domain names based on their surname, or publish family trees on existing websites. Private companies publish public-domain databases on CD's for sale, and have developed formats that allow individual genealogists to upload complete standardized family trees into searchable databases.

The jockeying for position by software developers has generated controversy in alt.genealogy. Nobody wants to see genealogy become a hobby restricted to those who can afford the computer, the software, the fast connection. And there is concern that as the public archives are computerized, original records may not always be kept up -- or even kept*.

Still, though the effect of the multitude of projects is patchwork, the result is a vibrant, exciting online community. In case you want to join, I'm providing the URLs of some searchable surname indices and a couple of good links pages below. Good luck in the hunt.

searchable surname indices:

Gendex
Searches

good links pages:

Geocities
Big List of Genealogy Links

*Note: The destruction of archival records after automation is already practiced. The entire post- 1860 archives of Ontario land registry offices are currently slated for destruction, while only the land records themselves have been placed on microfilm. See:

globalgenealogy

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