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Re: Friday Funnies...a bit early



"In my other job at a historical society the vast majority of researchers
are
genealogists.  And yes, there are times when I have to prevent my eyes from
rolling back into my head as they describe each and every person in their
entire family tree before they get to the point as to just what it is they
are looking for from me (although I have gotten better at halting the litany
and pushing them to the bottom line)."

I think Joanne has hit on one of the main problems. It seems to be many
times that the genie, totally caught up in his or her family obsession (as
many people are in their hobbies) frequently presents the viewpoint that my
or your agency was created only for genealogy, that you as a staff person
therefore must, repeat must, share their fascination and are quite willing
to suspend tasks such as arrangement, conservation, preservation, emergency
requests for records, etc. etc, (in other words, your job) and listen to
them tell you their "story".

I've tried to get around that by making up a pamphlet on basic genealogical
research which stresses "KNOW WHAT YOU ARE LOOKING FOR".  My first question
to the patron in the Search Room is invariably this: "What record of what
person are you looking for?"  This can sometimes be followed by the usual
recitation of family lines and research done, to which I will politely
respond in this manner:  "That's nice, now, What record of what person are
you looking for?"  If, as frequently happens, the patron says "Anything" I
hand them our brochure "Genealogical Research in the Maine State Archives"
and invite them to read it and pick out the record group they wish to
peruse.  Brochures as to holdings and how genealogical research is conducted
in this particular repository I have found to be great time-savers.

They help, as Joanne put it, to "push to the bottom" in many cases.  It
saves both the researcher and myself time.

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