One of the best ways to discover your family roots is hiring a professional genealogist. Maybe you don’t have the time or skills to indulge in the research required to discover your ancestors. If this is the case and you want to find your lost ancestors, the Genealogy Consultants World Wide Association is here to help you out. With experienced professionals in genealogy, you are sure to find one who can handle all the research and work required to assist you in finding your ancestors.
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To find a good genealogist, you need to first have an idea of what it is that genealogists do. What are the services they provide and how do they do it? Next, you need to know how to choose a competent genealogist through evaluation and select the best one to hire. Remember, we need a professional genealogist well experienced in genealogical research to be able to go deep in your family history and unearth any descendant or ancestor who was long lost. This is done with the help of building a family tree first and starting the genetic genealogy research from here.
The Genealogy Consultants World Wide Association is not the only body that deals with professional genealogists. The association of professional genealogists also deals with professional and accredited genealogists. This Association of Professional Genealogists is committed and dedicated to the enhancement of the genealogical profession. It was founded in 1979 and is the world’s largest association for accredited genealogists.
There is the American Society of Genealogists as well. This is an honorary independent society that leads published scholars in American genealogy. Though it is limited to fifty lifetime members also designated as Fellows, it is one of the best leading of genealogy bodies serving the discipline of genealogy through embodiment and promotion of high standards in genealogical scholarship.
Next is the National Genealogical Society whose aim is to serve and grow genealogy research through providing training and education on genealogy, fostering increased standards and quality, and finally promoting easy and open access to genealogical records and preservation of the same. The National Genealogical Society is one place to visit if you want a professional genealogist or an accredited genealogist as well. Their genealogy research spans to family history going as deep as three and four generations. A certified genealogist from the NGS will help you break the brick walls one encounters in genealogy research. If you are looking for a genealogy consultant or professional genealogists, these organizations are the best place to start. Maybe you have no idea what genealogy research is all about or what a professional genealogist does apart from genealogy research and providing genealogy services. If you are looking for this and much more information on genealogy, the above organizations will go a long way into helping you with your internet research problem.
These are some of the organizations where professional genealogists can come together to refine their research experience and get ways to better the genealogy profession. The organizations are also good for people who wonder how genealogy research is conducted or what a genealogy firm with all the experts is all about.
All this information is good but the question remains, what do these organizations dealing with genealogy, family history, genealogy research and such assist the public?
How Do these Organizations Help the Public?
This question is common especially to people who are new in the genealogy world.
Connections
Getting a professional genealogist is a hurdle you have to jump. The above organizations offer the public with connections to genealogists who indulge in professional genealogy research. The Association for Professional Genealogists for example has a directory with nearly 3,000 genealogy professionals. They help and guide people to locate and connect with a professional in genealogy around the world. As a member of the public, you can evaluate the knowledge, experience, and skills of the listed genealogists in the directory to help you in choosing the right person for the project. With such databases, you can never go wrong and you are sure you will get the required assistance in searching for your ancestors.
Information
The Genealogy Consultants World Wide Associations aims at educating the public and potential clients about genealogy. Most members of the public ask, what can I expect from a genealogist? What is involved in the search of my lost ancestors? I want to go deep in my family tree and locate a long lost family member, what is required of me? These are some of the questions these genealogist associations aim to answer. You can stay updated in the ever expanding field of genealogy through required continued education.
Advocacy
Genealogy organizations members are active participants in the record preservation and access committees all over the world. The commitment of the genealogy organizations isn’t to people living in specific countries but to all nations around the world. It is their sole aim and purpose to help keep the genealogical records in the world open and ensure they are accessible to all.
Protection
Members of the Genealogy Consultants World Wide Association have to agree with the organization’s code of professional practices and ethics. They also report compliance to the continued professional education requirement. You have to understand, with genealogy, education doesn’t end. There is always something useful to learn and in turn make it known by other members and the public as well. If you are a contracting member of the public and believe that a member of the Genealogy Consultants World Wide Association or the APG has violated the code of ethics and professional practice, you can file a complaint for adjudication by the Professional Review Committee.
All the above sounds like a good deal to the members of public. But what does the body offer to the genealogists who are actively involved in the genealogy profession?
How Does The Organization Help Genealogists?
Connections
Genealogists who are members of the Genealogy Consultants World Wide Association get a large network of colleagues in the genealogy world. With these, they can share ideas, ask questions, develop new resources to make their work easier and much more. This is where ideas on how to further the genealogy profession come from and actualization stems from the same place. The genealogists also get a good connection to the members of public searching for their family history or the services of a genealogist.
Education
The organization has an annual professional management conference where members are educated. They also host networking events, monthly webinars and more. The aim here is to keep the members appraised with the latest information, tools and programs in genealogy to make the profession better.
Advocacy
Genealogists all over the world struggle with access to genealogy records. It is the role of this esteemed organization to advocate for open access to all genealogical records. If there are local efforts to limit access to any genealogy record, the organization relies on its members to alert them and take the necessary actions. Family history research isn’t a simple undertaking. Most of the time, genealogists require government records such as military records to make their search easier and these records should be open and easy to access.
Passion
Genealogists put their passion for genealogy to work every single day. It is the role of the organization to help genealogists develop this passion to a business. Our genealogy members aim to help their clients find answers about their roots and teach other researchers how to research and organize their family history research data. Our accredited genealogists also help the government verify descendants of military service members who were lost overseas, assist attorneys in heirship and settling probate issues and much more. The scope of a genealogist’s job is so wide and only limited by one’s imagination. If you are a genealogist who wants to explore the possibilities of this work and develop your plan, we are here to help you.
The Genealogical Proof Standard
When searching for an ancestor either through ancestry or another platform, the use of family tree is important. A shoe box full of money isn’t as valuable as the dozen of records containing direct evidence for a family historian. Imagine finding accurate and complete marriage certificates of relatives or ancestors listing in full the marriage date, legal names, and the full names of each parent. But what happens when you don’t have these direct answers?
Direct evidence records don’t last for long. At some point, a seasoned genealogist will tell you that they faced a situation where there were bits and pieces of indirect evidence and sometimes when there was no evidence at all. This halts progress in the research as the evidence available is a puzzle in itself and you have to fit it together. Here, the Genealogical Proof Standard kicks in. It is a process used by genealogists to explain the minimums genealogists must do to make their work credible. For accurate research, the standard lays out these five important steps:
• Exhaustive research has been done and completed
• Every statement of fact has an accurate and complete source citation
• Reliable evidence is available and should be interpreted and correlated
• Contradictory evidence is resolved
• This standard isn’t a device. It is a process that helps us determine what we want then decide what we need to learn.
Genealogy research services involves a lot of research and requires experience as well. You have to be a good record searcher to provide this service. You must know the records to go trough when tracing family lines such as land records, church records, and other vital records in the search for family histories. As a client, your search for family histories start with DNA testing. With your DNA, the journey for the search of your family begins officially. The researcher compiles all the data, name, stories, and any other information that might assist in coming up with an accurate research report and avoid research problems.
The researchers usually start with your family tree on ancestry com and input your DNA on the same. With your name, DNA analysis, and the family history library, unearthing your lost relatives becomes easier. A professional genealogist with the right skills and experience starts the research for your family members even with shreds of evidence about your family.
