One of the points that I made at the East Tennessee Reunion was that I was not a genealogist, and I was hardly a historian. I do not own a genealogy program of any type. [Please do not send me anything of this nature; I do not feel deprived.] Remembering that this is an open forum, and that all individuals may have their say, I will make some comments with regard to the Germanna Foundation maintaining a data base of Germanna descendants. Please remember that I am not an expert at this, and I am not a spokesperson for the Foundation, nor am I trying to persuade the Foundation to do anything.
Should the Foundation keep its own data base and not be dependent on anyone else? My first inclination is to say yes, but there are significant expenses for this. This is a business type decision. Should access should be free to all members of the Foundation? Should access be free to the general public? There is an opportunity to give Foundation members something for their money, and to encourage others to join the Foundation.
It is important that there be a means for alternative opinions to be expressed. I would want to avoid any appearance that what was being expressed was the "official view". The present printed publications of the Foundation bear the words "Official Publication" on the front cover. People turn this into, "It must be true; It is official."
How far down should a genealogy go? Should it stop just short of the living people, or should it go only to 1800 or 1850? I tend to be in favor of the Foundation stopping at one of the earlier dates.
Is it possible to have a standardized presentation so that all of the information looks alike?
Does every individual get a unique identifier across the whole data base?
Is there cross referencing?
Should there be an extension beyond people so that the data base including wills, deeds, marriage licenses? Images? Land patents, maps?
With all of the variations of spelling, how do we equate Blankenbaker and Pickler, while maintaining the unique identity?
OK, I have displayed my ignorance, but I make these comments only to promote some discussion. Some of you have more knowledge than I do. Send in your comments.
(11 Sep 01)
We gratefully acknowledge the work of John Blankenbaker who published over 2,500 Germanna History Notes via the Germanna-L@rootsweb.com email list from 1997 to 2008. We are equally thankful to George Durman (Sgt. George) for hosting the list and republishing the notes via rootsweb.com.