This excellent article is being shared with permission from the author. If you pass it
along to anyone else, be certain his credits are included. This is copyrighted material.
Karen
----------
From Ancestry Daily News
November 15, 1999
"READY TO GO?"
by Michael John Neill
<><><><><><><><>
As morbid as it sounds, when I go I want my death certificate filled out
accurately and my mother's maiden name spelled correctly in my obituary. It
would be deeply ironic if such information were incorrect in the final records
of a genealogist. However, a genealogist needs to think about more than his or
her death certificate or obituary.
If, heaven forbid, you were to die in the next few days, what would happen to
your genealogical materials? Can you even locate them? Could anyone else? Are
they somewhat organized? Could your spouse or someone else step in and figure
out what you were doing and what was what?
If you live far from family members, do you have important information where it
can easily be located? Would someone be tempted to "dump" your genealogy
information rather than ship it to a person or a place that would take it?
Is there anyone who would even want your collection of information? Are your
materials in such a disorganized state that anyone would even bother with them?
As you have researched, have you indicated where you obtained copies of various
papers? Would someone receiving your files have any idea where the information
you have originated? Or would your materials be simply a collection of
photocopies of pages from various books and printouts from web sites whose
original source was unknown? Is there anyone who would want such materials?
Would you want such materials from someone else?
Have you done something with your genealogical information, besides collecting
more of it? Are your photographs, newspaper clippings, and other materials
inventoried and organized in a fashion that someone else could determine what
your collection contained?
Do you have a preference for what will happen to your materials when you are no
longer among the living? Or will the individual in charge of your affairs simply
dump your papers into garbage bags for the trash man? You may need to stipulate
such information in your will or estate planning.
Find out if the person or group you wish to have your materials actually wants
them. Some libraries and archives are facing space constraints and may have to
turn down material, especially undocumented and unorganized material. This type
of material has a greater chance of being refused. If your material is
organized, have you considered microfilming it as a way to preserve it for
future generations?
Have you attempted to preserve old letters or other handwritten materials by
transcribing them and donating copies to relevant libraries or archives? This is
an excellent way to preserve such records. The transcription should be done
accurately, carefully, and thoughtfully. Make certain to use archival safe
materials in which to store these relics of your past.
Are you the only one who knows the identity of individuals in certain pictures?
Are you the only one who knows what family member made or purchased the antique
dresser or table that sits in your home? Share this information. You don't have
to give the furniture away just yet, but let others know about it so that its
history does not disappear when you are gone.
Have you written or compiled a documented family history and distributed copies
on high quality paper to interested persons and relevant libraries? Are you
preserving your information in other ways besides electronic media? It won't
last forever and there's little guarantee that the file format you use today
will be readable in twenty years. Are you sharing your data responsibly in an
attempt to preserve it?
It is not just death we should be concerned about? What if your home burned?
Have you shared some of your information with others so that re-obtaining it
would not be onerous? Are there any personal family artifacts that you may wish
to store somewhere besides your home? Are some of your materials at risk of
being flooded in your basement?
No one likes to think of that time when they will no longer be among the living.
Yet it happens to all of us. The near death of a twenty-seven year old family
member and a clipping sent to me by a long time associate have personally
reinforced in me the need for such preparation. Genealogists should leave behind
more than boxes of unorganized papers and computer diskettes.
All of us need to give some thought to these issues to ensure that the
genealogical information we have worked so hard to collect actually outlives us.
Remember: Genealogist----preserve thyself.
__________________________________________________________________
Copyright 1999, Michael John Neill. Michael John Neill, is the Course I
Coordinator at the Genealogical Institute of Mid America (GIMA) held annually in
Springfield, Illinois, and is also on the faculty of Carl Sandburg College in
Galesburg, Illinois. Michael is the Web columnist for the FGS FORUM and is on
the editorial board of the Illinois State Genealogical Society Quarterly. He
conducts seminars and lectures on a wide variety of genealogical and computer
topics and contributes to several genealogical publications, including Ancestry
and Genealogical Computing. You can e-mail him at:
mailto: mneill(a)asc.csc.cc.il.us
or visit his web site at:
http://www.rootdig.com/