The thin line between genealogist, historian
What do you call yourself? A family researcher? A family historian? Or maybe a genealogist? Surprisingly, what you call yourself might be different from what others might call you. But who is right?
For unknown reasons, some people believe genealogists cannot call themselves genealogists unless they have completed a professional training course. This is simply not true. First, let's review the dictionary meanings. Genealogy: "1. A record or table of the descent of a person, family, or group from an ancestor or ancestors; a family tree; 2. direct descent from an ancestor; lineage or pedigree; 3. The study or investigation of ancestry and family histories."
An "historian is an individual who studies history and who writes on history. The person may be an authority (or expert) over history, but this is not a requirement. Most generally, historians are the writers, compilers and narrators of history." Adding information about the individuals in the family (occupation, hair colour, a story about how they were rescued from the sea) and perhaps a little history on the place they originated, how they settled, where they lived and a little history on their community is the task of the family historian. For the most part, this will be accomplished by the genealogist.
There is a fine line between a genealogist and a family historian. It is almost impossible to be one and not the other.
The only time I believe people should take exception to the term "genealogist" is if someone claims to be a professional genealogist and charges a fee to perform research for others. It is legal to accept payment for research, regardless if a person is a certified professional genealogist or not. In other words, the profession is not regulated, so it is buyers beware.
If a person is certified, then they at least know the basic research techniques, how to draw factual conclusions from the data at hand, how to cite sources and how to present the information in an organized fashion. They are also recognized by an organization that believes they are qualified to do the research. In Atlantic Canada, that organization is the Genealogical Institute of the Maritimes (http://nsgna.ednet.ns.ca/gim/).
That doesn't mean that every certified genealogist is more knowledgeable or more competent than someone who is uncertified and has been researching their family tree for years. These qualities lie in the individual, not the title.
At the end of the day, after searching through old records in bad handwriting on poor quality microfilm or travelling miles to visit a cemetery where you think an ancestor might be buried, the real genealogists know who they are. They don't need a certificate to tell them.
Dictionary meanings were found at Answers.com (www.answers.com/topic/genealogy).
Researcher's file
Who were Elida Snider's parents? Were they Harriet Cougle and Elias Snider or maybe Charlotte Cougle and Jacob Snider? Elida (March 1831, Kings County - October 1889) married George Forrester Ketchum of Lower Norton in 1850. Their children were Frances, George, Mary, Edward, Blanche, Charles, Frank and Edith. Contact: Sandra Keirstead Thorne, 57 Highland Drive, Hampton, NB, E5N 5C6; phone: 506-832-0604; email: rsthorne@nb.sympatico.ca
tibert@ns.sympatico.ca
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