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Excerpt from the Association of Professional Genealogists publication entitled Why Hire a Professional Genealogist:
When her grandmother died, Sandy inherited several unorganized boxes of old family pictures and papers. She hoped to put a name and relationship on each of the faces in the pictures, and she wanted to understand what each document could reveal about her family. But she knew nothing about genealogical research or document preservation. Where could she get help?
Diane's mother had always wanted to be a member of a lineage society. Diane recently discovered information on the Internet that showed her mother's line going back to a known Revolutionary soldier. She knew an Internet file would not meet the society's application requirements. How could she fulfill her mother's dream?
John had been doing family history research for thirty years. Finally he was ready to publish his findings and share them with the rest of the family. But the published work was probably going to be several hundred pages. The sheer size of the task intimidated him, and John feared he would never see the culmination of his life's work.
Sandy, Diane, and John all solved their problems by engaging the services of a professional genealogist. Professional genealogists offer a wide range of services-from short research tasks to the complete job of researching and compiling a family history for a client.
Every member of APG signs a code of professional ethics. The Code of Ethics states that the professional will:
- Promote a coherent, truthful approach to genealogy, family history and local history;
- Clearly present research results and opinions in a clear, well-organized manner, with accurately-cited references;
- Advertise services and credentials honestly;
- Explain without concealment or mis- representation all fees, charges, and payment structures;
- Abide by agreements regarding project scope, number of hours, and deadlines or reporting schedules;
- Refrain from knowingly violating or encouraging others to violate laws and regulations concerning copyright and right to privacy;
- Give proper credit to those who supply information and provide assistance.
Clients can count on APG professional genealogists to give them high-quality services, and to produce high-quality results.
Tips For Hiring A Professional Genealogist
- A professional will suggest that you start with yourself and work backwards when first beginning your research. This is so you do not go astray and find yourself tracing the incorrect family lines.
- It is important to know what it is you wish the professional to do for you and that you communicate that clearly.
- Prepare a list of questions so there is no confusion as to what it is you are hiring the professional for.
- Do not be put off by the professional that asks you questions before taking on the job. The better they understand what you expect, the more likely they are to meet your expectations.
- A professional will suggest you collect as much documentation and information from family and friends as possible. Share all that you have with the professional so that they can make an appropriate analysis and not duplicate efforts.
- Make copies of any documents you have and be prepared to send these to the professional to analyze.
- Ask the professional how many hours they feel you should start with
- Ask the professional their fees
- Ask the professional for background information regarding their experience and education.
- Be prepared to pay up front for so many hours. Many professionals will offer various packages with different hours depending on your needs. A good professional will give you suggestions on which package you may need depending on what you require of them. Two to four hours for analysis is not unusual to start with as this will give the professional time to analyze what you want, what information you have provided and come up with an initial research plan and perhaps some research time depending on the request you have made. This allotment of time will give you a good idea if you wish to continue with the research or not. Research projects should then be completed in 10-20 hour blocks of time.
- Please be aware that costs apply to all research done regardless of the outcome. Remember the professional spends their time researching. There are many reasons your ancestor may not be where he should have been within various records. The good researcher will provide you with a report of where they looked, whether they find anything or not so that you don't duplicate search efforts in the future.
- Cost for expenses like photocopies, postage, parking, etc. will be expected to be paid by you on top of the fee charged by the professional.
- Any large charges should be discussed with you in advance for example if a professional had to travel out of town to do research.
- A good professional will include a report with their research. This is important because it will allow you to follow the research process without any confusion, have the research documented with sources cited for future generations, as well as providing an efficient reference for continuous research.
- A good professional will include a timesheet listing how they used the hours alloted for your research project. Keep in mind that generally only 50-60% of a project is used for actual research, the remainder of the time is spent on analysing what has been found, writing a report and documenting the sources searched.
- Look for a professional:
- Who is a member of the Association of Professional Genealogists;
- Can provide you with references to others who have used their services;
- You feel comfortable communicating with.
- Do not expect the professional to spend hours of their time back and forth while you try to decide if you want to hire them or not. If you are prepared a head of time you will know if you want to hire them or not. Remember the professional has obligations to other clients. You will appreciate this committment when you do hire them.
- Do not send email with several attachments with documents expecting the professional to analysis every record to see if it is worth their time to help you. Downloading this information is very time consuming. If you are asked to send this information as part of the paid job this is different.
- There are no guarantees of proof for membership into any group (i.e. Daughters of the American Revolution, Mayflower Society, etc). If the researcher discovers that you are eligible for membership, they will work with you to complete the neccessary paperwork.
- Some research has to be completed by writing to archives or ordering documents from government agencies. Please be sure to communicate any time restraints to the researcher when you begin the project. They, in turn, will communicate back to you if they expect a response for a document request to take longer than the time allowed.
- Remember most professionals are very passionate about what they do. You should expect them to take on your quest as if it were their own family.
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