Saturday, August 27, 2011

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun (SNGF) - Who is your genealogy model?

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Good evening, Genea-philes!  It's another Saturday Night ... and time for more Genealogy Fun!!  Come and ponder and write and play!

Your mission, should you decide to accept it, is to:

1)  Visit Bart Brenner's (GeneaPopPop) Stardust 'n' Roots blog and read his post Sears Catalogue of Genealogists.  I love Bart's thumbnail descriptions of nine models of genealogists.  Thank you, Bart, for the inspiration to use this for SNGF.

2)  Determine which model (or models) of researcher you are, based on his categories.

3)  Tell us which model(s) you are in your own blog post, in a comment to this post, in a status in Facebook or in a Stream post in Google Plus.

4)  Extra credit:  Bart asked if readers have another model to offer for genealogists - if you do, please write about it!

Here's mine:

I had a hard time choosing just one...so I went down the list to write about each one:

1)  Albert Einstein model (the academician):  "Yes" in the sense of speaking, teaching and writing (blogging), "no" in the sense of stopping research and publishing a book.

2)  Marian the Librarian model (the archivist): Not really...I used to hang out at the library more often but my "inner Albert" and "Ambrose" took over.

3)  Indiana Jones model (the archaeologist):  Not really.  I don't have many artifacts and don't really hunt for them.

4)  Margaret Mead model (the cultural anthropologist):  Not really.  I use information like this when I can find it, but it's not my main focus.

5)  Frank Buck model (the hunter and tamer):  "Yes" in the sense of loving the hunt, whether in repositories or on the Internet, 'no" the sense of "never taming it."  Hmmm...maybe my genealogy piles betray me here!

6)  Amelia Earhart model (the test pilot):  "Yes" in the sense of trying out new things and trying to see the "big picture," but "no" for the notion of not wanting to get bogged down in data.  I'm bogged down...in genea-quicksand, I fear.

7)  Ambrose Monk model (the hoarder):  "Yea verily", I fear that this describes me pretty well!  When did Bart sneak into my genea-cave?  I'm not really as bad as Ambrose, honest!

8)  Cinderella model (the fairy princess):  Not really me...I love the family stories, and try to prove them, but I don't obsess on them.  Frankly, I don't recall most of the stories if they aren't written down!

9)  Steve Jobs model (the technogeek):  I wish!  Bart lists ten items here, and I only have some memory sticks, a laptop computer, a desktop computer with five genealogy programs, and two free cloud storage accounts.  I feel so obsolete! 

Extra credit:

10)  Elizabeth Shown Mills model The professional):  S/he is considered a god(dess) of genealogy researching, writing, editing, publishing, and presenting.  Extremely competent, confident, articulate, disciplined, creative, knowledgeable, friendly, supportive and helpful.  S/he earns a living doing it, seems to know everybody and everything, and contributes her energy and knowledge to many endeavors:  I wish!  I try to exhibit many of these model characteristics, but lack time and energy to do genealogy 48 hours a day!

In summary, it looks like I'm a combination of Ambrose, Albert, Amelia, Frank and Steve with a dream of becoming Elizabeth.  Maybe in my next lifetime! 

My guess is that many of those who play SNGF this week will be a combination of several of these models.  It will be interesting to get to know my readers/colleagues a little better!

5 comments:

Patti Hobbs said...

I have the same issues with part being true of me and part not. I would say that I am closest to a combination of Indiana Jones ( I hunt for photographs mainly and although this person found me through my website, just hit the jackpot.), Frank Buck because the hunt is the most fun part for me, Ambrose Monk, and I'll have to admit Steve Jobs. I love my technological tools!

Dr. Bill (William L.) Smith said...

I don't really see me there... closest is Margaret Mead, I suppose; I like to identify stories in the data and the social context of the time. Also, a bit of anti-Cinderella; when I hear an old family tail, I want to find the 'truth' rather than the sugar-coating that seems to have been added down through the years. I'll keep watching for some further models. Elizabeth is certainly an unattainable goal - but I admire it immensely! ;-)

Dorene from Ohio said...

Randy - I am definitely the Frank Buck model...for me "it's all about the hunt!! (But I am not so terrific about the taming part...)

Dana said...

What an intriguing question! I'm none of these exactly, but I think I may be close to an amalgam of Einstein, Frank Buck, and I'd like to add Steve Jobs to the mix. I'm halfway to his model. :) But, of course, I'd much rather be ESM, even if /that/ is the real fairytale, not Cinderella!

Mel said...

I finished my assignment and found one model that fit me best. I came up with two of my own :)

http://www.researchjournal.yourislandroutes.com/?p=2626