I quite often here questions like, how expensive it is to hire a professional genealogist? Or, when do you know you need to hire a professional genealogist? Inevitably these discussions end with people making one of the following comments:
First, the claim that everything is online, so you don’t need a professional genealogist shows a lack of understanding genealogy resources. It is true that the digital world has become a major aid in the world of genealogy, however, thinking that everything is online is like being on a ship in the ocean, seeing an iceberg, and thinking the ice you see is all there is. The ice you see is only about 10% of that iceberg, 90% of it is under the water. However, even that iceberg isn’t all there is. From where did that iceberg originate? It likely came from a glacier or ice sheet, which are vastly larger than the iceberg. Genealogy records are much like that iceberg. There is what you can EASILY find online, but that is only about 10% of what is online, the ice above the water. The other 90% of what is online is much harder to find, the ice below the water. This is because it is often in databases that are not indexed, or searchable by name. While a digital image is online, without the proper experience it can take hours searching to find just one record. Then there is the question, are these all the records available? No, just like the iceberg came from a larger glacier or ice sheet, those records online came from a physical repository. Often these repositories have never had the personnel to fully digitize every record they have. This means someone must physically visit them to see what additional resources exist. It is with both the digitized, but unindexed, and offline records where a professional genealogist can be of great help. When asked to do specific research, the professional genealogist can use their skills to locate a single record, online or offline, in a fraction of the time that even a moderately skilled researcher can. Second, the claim that it is simply too expensive to have someone create your family tree overlooks the basic idea of genealogy. This claim builds off the idea that someone simply wants a chart of names and dates, and doesn’t really want to get to know the ancestors who made them who they are today. If the basic idea of genealogy is to learn about your ancestors, than the best way to do that is to study them yourself. However, at times everyone run into a brick wall. An ancestor they simply cannot get past, and this is where a professional genealogist comes into play. When you have hit that brick wall you find yourself with one of two choices:
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Larry De Pew
Is a professional genealogist with an Associates Degree in Applied Science n Family History Research from Brigham Young University-Idaho. His areas of focus are military and great plains research. Archives
October 2023
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