Page 8 - index

Introduction 7
we will do with it. Some of us acquire filing cabinets or
cardboard cartons full of notes and copies of documents;
we collect taped interviews with family members or
precious ancient photographs and heirlooms. W'e may have
begun the quest merely to satisfy our own curiosity, but
became dedicated detectives in the search for family truths.
Usually we reach a stage where we feel an obligation (or
unrestrained triumph!) to share our information and
material, whether the recipients are immediate family
members, the local genealogical society we have joined or
the community from which the ancestors originated. We
should realize that the intrinsic value of our labours, over
months and years of research, is surely worth preserving
for posterity.
There are many tangible forms for preserving and showing
your work. You may be working with computer software
and technology that allow you to print out as many camera-
ready copies as you want. The alternative is to work with a
knowledgeable printer or publisher who can create or
reproduce maps, charts and other illustrations. You may
choose to publish a complete narrative-style family history
with photographs and drawings; you may prefer a full
descending genealogy from a specific ancestral couple, in
traditional format, or perhaps only your direct-line descent
from them. A collection of family group charts and related
documents may be all you want to preserve. Even the telling
of new anecdotes to amuse and amaze the next family
reunion will have the support of research you have done.
The bottom line is to understand and collate the
information we get, whether it comes from our own
labours, from our relatives, from reciprocal exchanges with
distant researchers or from hired professional genealogists.
We collect the information, we analyze it and we make