Family Historians and Genealogists

This current research project examines how genealogists inherit, locate, and manage family information. The project employs a semi-structured interview methodology.

The research questions are:

1. What are the information seeking practices of genealogists? This question will explore the use of web-based, archival, and governmental information sources for researching family history as well as the role of family and social networks in information collection and exchange.

2. How do genealogists / family historians manage family information? This question also seeks to better understand recordkeeping practices, social networks, and the use of technology in the collation, organization, keeping and sharing of family history. This is an exploratory study that seeks to understand an understudied population and a popular activity in which many people engage at some point of their lives. There will also a comprehensive literature review and an analysis of various genres of family history software.

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