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Rooters are quick to grumble about staffers at the courthouse, library or archives who ignore our requests for information or take so long to respond that we can barely remember why we wanted the document in the first place. It's true that some resent the time spent digging up and duplicating records from the distant past, and procrastinate as long as possible. It's also true that computers and other electronic wonders have created a desire in all of us for instant gratification.
In fairness to those on the receiving end of rooters' requests, today's column focuses on their side of the story. The following letter comes from a very frustrated librarian in South Carolina.
"The volume of mailed genealogical requests has increased dramatically, primarily due to the Internet and database subscriptions like www.ancestry.com and www.heritagequestonline.com When someone has gleaned through the Social Security Death Index a month and a year of a death, and requests a search, it frequently requires a half to one hour search of the newspaper on microfilm. Since we do not have a separate staff for the Local History Room, it is difficult to respond in a timely way and to provide the requested information and/or copies. The older newspapers do not have specific sections or locations for the deaths/obituaries/funerals that we have come to depend on. Finding the older ones requires scanning entire newspapers for many days or even weeks.
"This past year brought us many more inquiries that have no relation to our geographic location or library holdings. I recently had a call from a searcher who had gotten my name from someone in Arizona. It was her dime, and we spent over 30 minutes discussing her genealogical searching woes. I referred her to the State Archives and gave her addresses for other South Carolina county libraries. It had never occurred to her to look at a state map to locate where in her ancestors physically resided, according to the 1920 census she had, where the county seat was, an address for county courthouse, or public library, etc.
"It seems that more and more researchers are not approaching their research methodically and have not consulted any of the references available to them on how to do genealogy. It has become more of a scatter-gun approach; results are achieved by accident in many cases, or by piggybacking on someone else's work and adapting it to fit their line - without verifying or asking for original-source citations.
"That sounds cynical, doesn't it? I'm sorry to say it is cynical. Last week we had a local, socially prominent lady who did not want to take the time to read microfilm for an ancestor's obituary (to complete) DAR paperwork. I need it in a hurry. Why didn't they issue death certificates in the 1800s? I don't have all day to do genealogy (reading microfilm). It brings out the dark side of Internet searching: the expectation of immediate results."
- Read past Donna Murray Allen columns online at www.sptimes.com Type "Donna Murray Allen" in the search box. You can write to Allen c/o Floridian, St. Petersburg Times, P.O. Box 1121, St. Petersburg, FL 33731, or e-mail her at rootscolumn@yahoo.com Her Web site, www.rootsdetective.com includes information on classes and lectures. Allen welcomes your questions about genealogy and will respond to those of general interest in future columns.