Hints for County Coordinators
Cooperating with County Genealogical and Historical Societies
Greetings Fellow County Cooridnators! My name is Suzanne Leonard, and I am the CC for Sheridan County, http://www.rootsweb.com/~wysherid/ , and Carol's new assistant. I am so excited to see everyone getting so active and recharged, with new CCs, new content, and lots of new ideas. All this activity has gotten me excited again!
My first duty is to assist you in your efforts to add new and improved content to our county pages. The best way to accomplish this (come to think of it, the ONLY way) is to ask for help. Remember the Silver Rule: He who does not ask for help will not get it.
Every page should have someplace that requests assistance. "If you have items to contribute to this page, please contact me." "If you are willing to do lookups, please contact me." "If you have related links, please contact me." "If you have additions or corrections, please contact me."
Provide your email address on every page, or at least every index or link page. Don't make people search the entire site for a way to contact you. Ask for feedback. And answer every feedback with a request. I recently had someone contact me complaining that our site didn't have enough pictures. I emailed her back and told her I agreed, and asked her if she would be willing to scan and contribute photos to be added! Ask your volunteers to help you recruit. For every request I get to look something up, I ask if they would post their obits, contribute photos, etc.
Remember to say thank you. No one volunteers because it pays well. We all do it because it makes us feel good. Help your volunteers feel good by acknowledging their hard work and thanking them.
Today we'll concentrate on Genealogical and Historical Societies, and how to enlist their help. I know that many of us don't live in the counties we host, and that makes things difficult, but not impossible.
- The first thing you need to do is contact the local Genealogy or Historical Society, and become a member! A list of Societies is located at: http://www.rootsweb.com/~wygenweb/societ.htm
- Educate them and become educated. Once you're a member, you'll find out what kind of records are available, and who controls them. I know that some societies are very protective of their records. In order to overcome their reluctance to share, it is very important that you share with them, and educate them about our goals. If you can meet in person, that's the best way. Offer to do a presentation on "Using the Internet for Genealogy Research" at their next meeting. Offer to write an article for the next newsletter on the same subject.
- The internet is a very scary and ominous place for people who aren't familiar with it. We've all heard the stories of stolen identities, con artists, etc. And let's face it, people unfamiliar with the internet haven't heard anything positive. Show them what you've done already. Educate them about the GenWeb Project. Who we are, what we do, what we have accomplished, and what we want to accomplish. Explain the tombstone project, census project, etc. Info can be found at http://www.rootsweb.com/~wygenweb/info.html#ABOUT and http://www.usgenweb.org/projects/projects.html and http://www.usgenweb.org/official/bylaws.html
- Let them know that personal information about living persons is not required, and will not be posted. Stress the advantages of sharing, and what kind of success you or someone you know, have personally experienced. I actually received a photo of my grgrgr-grandparents circa 1855, through a GenWeb connection!
- Volunteer to do the work. When I approached the Sheridan Genealogical Society, I told them I wanted to volunteer to do a website. I would do all the work, all I needed was their permission. It is much easier if all they have to do is say yes!
- Be specific. Don't say "I want to post your records." Say "I'm interested in posting the obituary index" (or marriage index, or cemetery index, or 1902 city directory, or whatever records they may have). People will be more inclined to agree to something if they know exactly what it is they're agreeing to.
- Ask them for input. Ask them what kind of information they think would be most valuable to them. Ask them which of their records would be most beneficial to someone researching in their county.
- Find an ally. In every membership there's someone who's open to new ideas. If you can get a few people to be as excited as you are they will help you brek down the barriers.
- And then of course, ask for volunteers. I'm fortunate to live in Sheridan County, where the Gen Society is very active, and has done numerous indexing projects, so getting it on line was pretty simple. If you don't live in the county, ask if someone local could help you out bysending copies, scanning images, emailing records, etc. I know this may be hard to do through the mail, but it can be done.
- Lastly, but certainly not least, don't be discouraged if you don't get the response you desire. If they don't want their records on line, ask them what they would like. Volunteer to do a page for them just to recruit new members. Remember that everything is freely volunteered and be grateful for everything that you receive. Who knows, in time ideas change, people change, seeds grow!
There is one last thing. I'll be happy to help in whatever way I can. I live in Sheridan, but can travel on a limited basis, and would be happy to speak in your stead, or to provide moral support. I would also be happy to pick up records, scan, etc, on a limited basis. Please don't hesitiate to ask.
Suzanne
