Connecting the Research to the Genealogist

A while back, I wrote a post about connecting the genealogist to the
research. Now, I am going to turn that around and talk about another
side of the issue, connecting the research to the genealogist. In other
words, how do we get the information we find out to the genealogical
community without being lost in the background noise of the Internet?

A article from Ancestry Magazine from November/December 2000 called
"Share and Beware -- Sharing Genealogy in the Information Age" leads off
with a discussion of the impact of the photocopying on the old
mimeograph process. Quoting from the article,

Photocopying technology has made it easy to reproduce paper or microform originals. As genealogists, we may now share our paper-based research with relative ease. As important as photocopying
has become for duplicating our work, it's technology has been
overshadowed by the even more replication-ready personal computer. Even
larger volumes of information may be shared nearly instantly as
electrons in the ether rather than ink on paper. Electronic files
contain our research results. Diskettes, home-burned CD-ROMs, and
electronic mail share our files with our friends and families. Internet
accessible databases which accept submissions from researchers share our
genealogy with the world. Truly, computers have made sharing easier
than ever. Computers are photocopiers on steroids never running out of
toner and never needing paper. The personal computer is the modern
mimeograph machine more copies of more stuff with less thought and
effort required. And therein lies the rub.

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