Friday, July 15, 2011

Dear Randy: Are There Ethical Standards for Genealogical Research?

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I received a question this week from a Genea-Musings reader, who asked "Are There Ethical Standards for Genealogical Research?"

I knew that there were, and went off to find them.  Here are what I found:

*  Association of Professional Genealogists (APG) Code of Ethics -- http://www.apgen.org/ethics/index.html

*  Board for Certification of Genealogists (BCG) Code of Ethics and Conduct --
http://www.bcgcertification.org/aboutbcg/code.html

*  National Genealogical Society (NGS) Genealogical Standards and Guidelines --
http://www.ngsgenealogy.org/cs/ngs_standards_and_guidelines

The NGS has six separate standards and guidelines, including:

**  Standards for Sound Genealogical Research

**  Guidelines for Using Records Repositories and Libraries

** Standards for Use of Technology in Genealogical Research

**  Standards for Sharing Information with Others

** Guidelines for Publishing Web Pages on the Internet

** Guidelines for Genealogical Self-Improvement and Growth

It is helpful for genealogy researchers of all types and experience to read these and try to adhere to them in their own research work, genealogical society activities, in client research work, and as a customer of genealogical services.

1 comment:

Cyndi Ingle said...

I have several links here: Etiquette & Ethics, http://www.cyndislist.com/etiquette/