Do you know what you are going to do with you research?

[bennett]

Hi Yellowjim,
Survey completed.

regards
Bennett
 

[Gen List Lass]

This topic brought a true story to mind.

My Australian friend was left a family tree that had been drawn up by a great aunt. As she had never done family tree research, she took it all as Gospel and went on to embroider a beautiful family tree in the shape of an oak tree with branches, twigs and leaves showing the descendants.

She relished the details of the Indian princess who had married her East India Company ancestor and other tasty tidbits.

THEN her husband was posted to England for his work and she had 2 years to do some raw research in London, Scotland, Ireland and France.

She had to unpick over half the tree and re-embroider it years later but only after publishing a book for her relations of the REAL story. That went into a second edition  with more stuff added by the relations!

The Indian Princess was a myth, she was a camp-follower BUT the husband turned out to be from the French GUISE family and distantly related to the Queen Mother's family....  if on the wrong side of the blanket.......

So, I would never commit my family tree to paint or embroidery as it is and always will be "a work in progress"

Sorry to throw cold water on this idea, as I'm an artist myself ......


Gen in Northumberland, UK

[GrahamSimons]

I have done your survey - I hope you get a big enough sample to make it really informative.

I've always wanted to know more than ust the family tree. Fortunately for me there have been lots of fascinating storeis to follow up along with the BMD data. I set a goal of a printed book by mid-2011 and achieved it, although I'm conscious that the book misses out a lot of what I have discovered. Printing and binding one-off volumes is expensive: I have deposited a copy with the SoG and have also made small deposits of other info or documents with a variety of places. However (in part thanks to RootsChat) the book I've produced needs to go into a second edition only a few months later.

Less convinced of the long-term value of building a website or putting info on to a commercial site as the internet, and the businesses within it, is a shifting, ephemeral place; paper I beleive is still the best permanent record. I also have grave doubts that computer files I . year will be readable by the computers my grandchildren will be using in say 2062.

I do think we should all think hard about the long-term storage and accessibility of the results of our research.

I like the idea of a family tree on the wall and know relatives who have them (and very attractive they are, too); however mine has stretched so much in some places I think I might need a bigger wall or minuscule print!

[Podenco]

Filled the survey very quick and to the point

I personally don`t have a tree, just like to collect all the info on ancestors, last christmas I gave my sister a little `file` on our fathers paternal side it was more about where they lived  (none ever moved very far from each other) occupations etc rather than just who was related to who, but probably if I was able to trace enough ancestors on both my mothers ( hardly any) and fathers (lots) to make a lovely looking tree to present aswell as the file I would be interesed.

Jill

[pinefamily]

Having done the survey, I'd like to make the point that while it might be valid to ask how much we spend per year on research, the following question about how much we would like to spend didn't seem to be valid for your exercise. I assume you were asking how much we would be willing to spend on a hand-made tree.

Regarding what format and what information should be on such a piece, it depends on what the purchaser is after. While someone who has done years of research might want to include more detail (a very interesting idea), someone else equally as experienced might like to have a simpler "tree" format, either as a decorator piece in their home, or as a gift. The simpler format would be fine up on a wall, and if anyone is interested to know more, they can be shown more detailed paper/computer files. I am only thinking of the glazed looks I get when I try to detail the latest finds t o family members. My wife often comments, "They're all dead anyway, why do you want to know about them."   

Cheers,

Darren