It’s Saturday Night Genealogy Fun with genealogy extraordinaire – Randy Seaver — and tonight’s mission, should I decide to accept it is determining: What Type of Genealogist I Am!
I’ve decided to accept this mission and here is my assignment (cue the Mission Impossible music, please!):
1) Read Lorine McGinnis Schulze’s blog post “What Type of Genealogist Are You?” (25 August 2012) and determine which type best describes me:
The Hunter or Detective
The Gatherer or Ancestor Collector
The Ancestor Finder
The Hoarder
The Junkyard Collector
The Scholar
The Analyzer
The Planner2) Answer the question, and write about it!!”
After reading Lorine’s excellent blog post, I would have to say that I’m definitely:
The Ancestor Finder (aka The Genealogy Enthusiast)
This genealogist loves it all – doing the actual research and finding that elusive ancestor. But they only enjoy researching their own family tree, not the ancestry of strangers.
Yep, I ABSOLUTELY love the ancestor hunt — woo-hoo!! But, I’m not into researching for others just yet (notice I said yet) because I don’t feel comfortable doing so. Why? I’m more of a self taught genealogy enthusiast than one who has taken formal classes and training in genealogical research. I’m an avid reader and have quite a few genealogy books in my personal collection that I use with my own family research. BUT, I am currently taking online genealogy courses offered by the National Genealogical Society in hopes that I will one day have the solid knowledge and skills to assist others with their family research and more!
One other category that I would add to Lorine’s list that describes me is — The Collaborator! This genealogist does lots of research, finds new things about their ancestors and resources and loves sharing that information with others. This is in contrast to — The Hoarder (which is so not me) – a genealogist who does lots of research, finds new things about their ancestors but refuses to share any of the information.
Areas that I can stand improvement are source citations (The Scholar) and being a faithful keeper of research logs (The Planner)!
So what say you? What type of genealogist are you? Let me know your thoughts!
Claiming Kin Genealogy 
Liv, you are too modest here! I’ve read your research and you are certainly experienced enough to do others. I’ve found most people are just excited to get copies of census records;) And you reading gen books is more than alot of people do.
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Thanks Robyn for your assessment of my research skills (it means so much coming from you). I just know that when I visit your site (and others that I follow online) I feel, no I know — I have some more learning and studying to do before I take on other’s family history projects. You guys are great and I believe the online courses that I’m taking will help me be as proficient with research strategies and resources as you. So, I’m getting there, that’s for sure!
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I’m partly Hunter/ Detective, a little bit of Analyzer and I’m trying to be a Scholar;)
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I think that your assessment is on point, but I think you are more of an analyzer than you realize!
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I’m definitely The Hunter or Detective. Aside from my own family history, at any given time, I’m working on 3 other family trees for dear friends unrelated to me. All 3 of them are Gatherer/Ancestor collectors.
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WOW Dee! Are these 3 family trees an on-going project for you, or a one time assignment that you will soon pass off to the family historian to carry on? And do you charge a fee for all of the research that you do? I ask simply because there was some very interesting conversations going on on blogs about this fact. So thanks in advance for your input!
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