The Internet Genealogy Community Study

IGCS Survey Bulletin No. 1

Kylie — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 08:34:00 +0000

While I am not at liberty to release all of my survey results until my PhD has been marked and accepted, I am pleased to announce I will be publishing a series of "survey result bulletins", briefly discussing pertinent results from the PhD survey.

The primary audience for these bulletins is of course, the very people who responded to the survey. An email has therefore been sent to every participant that recorded their email address whencompleting the survey (= 2115). An email has also been sent to every genealogical sociaety who forwarded the call to participate to their members on my behalf (=119).

The bulletins will be available from my PhD website (http://www.veale.com.au/phd) and announced via this Blog. The first in the series, available today, is titled "Where does the average online genealogist live?"

Kylie — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 02:15:00 +0000

Thesis Progress & Review Scheduling is now available online, detailing the progress with my thesis writing and reviewing. The document will be updated on a fortnighly basis.

There Is A Thesis Being Written!

Kylie — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 04:14:00 +0000

After two babies, moving house twice, and a long deserved break from research, I have now returned to my PhD and am on the home stretch! So if anyone is still reading this, thank you! It has been a long and fruitful journey, though also one I will be happy to finish :)

I have revised my Project Plans for my return to the research and have also discussed a progress and review schedule with my supervisor to get my thesis written. From here on in, I will be writing and submitting chapters for review monthly (approximately) with the end result being a complete thesis draft by November 2008, review and corrections come December 2008 and January 2009, and official submission in February 2009!

Section 2.1. "Defining Genealogy"

Kylie — Mon, 17 Jul 2006 00:09:00 +0000

Section 2.1. "Defining Genealogy" has been completed and submitted for review. The following is the bibliography for that section.

Bishop, R. (2003, 07 November). In the Grand Scheme of Things: An Exploration of the Meaning of Genealogical Research. Proceedings of Mid-Atlantic Popular/American Culture Association Conference. Wilmington, Delaware.
Bishop, R. (2005). "The Essential Force of the Clan": Developing a Collecting-Inspired Ideology of Genealogy through Textual Analysis. Journal of Popular Culture, 38(6), 990-1110.
Encyclopædia Britannica. (2004). Genealogy. Retrieved 26 March 2004 from the Encyclopædia Britannica Premium Service website.
Ensley, G. (2002). Set of Records Helps Descendents of Former Slaves with Genealogy Research. Knight Ridder Tribune Business News, p. 1. Retrieved 15 July 2006 from the ProQuest database.
Green, A. (2006). History: Genealogy society offers new, in-depth studies of family lineage. Knight Ridder Tribune Business News, p. 1. Retrieved 15 July 2006 from the ProQuest database.
Gunn, M. (1997, 28 February). A Relative History - The Popularity of Family History in Australia. The Australian, p. 13.
Haley, A. (1976). Roots. London: Doubleday.
Home, A. J. (2002). The Pursuit of Popular Genealogy. Unpublished Masters thesis, the University of Calgary, Calgary.
Humble, G. B. (1999). Genealogy and the Internet. Unpublished Masters Thesis, the Charles Sturt University, Albury-Wodonga.
Mills, E. S. (2003). Genealogy in the "Information Age": History's New Frontier? National Genealogical Society Quarterly, 91(December 2003), 260-277.
Null, D. (1985). Genealogy and Family History in the Academic Library. Journal of Academic Librarianship, 11(1), 29-33 Retrieved 15 July 2006 from the Business Source Premier database.
Potter-Phillips, D. (1999). History of Genealogy. Family Chronicle, July/August.
Quinn, P. M. (1991). The Surge of Interest in Genealogy Reflects a Populist Strand of Society with Important Implications for our Culture. The Chronicle of Higher Education, 37(36), B2.
Ryant, C. (1982). Oral History as Popular Culture. Journal of Popular Culture, XV(Spring). Retrieved 15 July 2006 from the Blackwell Synergy database.
Spurway, J. (1989). The growth of family history in Australia. The Push: A Journal Of Early Australian Social History, 27, 53-112.
Starn, R. (2002). The Early Modern Muddle. Journal of Early Modern History, 6(3-4), 296-307.
Starr, D. (1989). Clayton Genealogical Society Searches Out Family Roots. The Atlanta Constitution, p. XI3. Retrieved 15 June 2006 from the ProQuest database.
Taylor, R. M., & Crandal, R. J. (1986). Historians and Genealogists: An Emerging Community of Interest. In R. M. Taylor & R. J. Crandal (Eds.), Generations and Change: Genealogical Perspectives in Social History (pp. 3-29). Macon, GA: Mercer University Press.
Wagner, A. R. (1960). English Genealogy. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Wolf, J. C. (n.d.). Tools & Technique of Genealogical Research. Retrieved 04 May 2004 from the Heraldry on the Internet website: http://digiserve.com/heraldry/tools.htm.

Section 2.5. "Previous Studies on Genealogy and the Internet"

Kylie — Mon, 10 Jul 2006 23:12:00 +0000

Section 2.5. "Previous Studies on Genealogy and the Internet" has been completed and submitted for review. The following is the bibliography for that section.

Aubé, C., & Ettori, F. (2005). Change of practices with the arrival of a new media (internet) : a commented example by the practices of the non professional genealogists in France. In P. Kommers & G. Richards (Eds.), Proceedings of World Conference on Educational Multimedia, Hypermedia and Telecommunications (pp. 2-5). Chesapeake, VA: AACE.

Bishop, R. (2003, 07 November). In the Grand Scheme of Things: An Exploration of the Meaning of Genealogical Research. Proceedings of Mid-Atlantic Popular/American Culture Association Conference. Wilmington, Delaware.

Bockstruck, L. D. (1983). Four Centuries of Genealogy: A Historical Overview. RQ, 23, 162-170.

Brighton District Library. (2001). Brighton Room Genealogy Survey 2001. Retrieved 14 January 2004 from the Brighton District Library website: http://brightonlibrary.info/brighton/survey.html.

Bryan, C. F., Jr. (1986). In My Opinion: What should we do about the "genies"? History News, 41(1), 31-33.

Canadian Genealogy Centre. (2003). Canadian Genealogy Online: Building an Innovative Model of Cooperation. Retrieved 14 January 2004 from the National Archives of Canada website: http://www.genealogy.gc.ca/01/010202_e.html.

D'Addezio, I. (1998). Online Genealogy Questionnaire. Retrieved 27 May 2004 from the GenealogyToday.com website: http://www.daddezio.com/survey/ask.mv?xo=8G&url=http://www.genealogytoday.com/survey/index.html.

Drake, P. J. (2001). Findings from the Fullerton Genealogy Study: A Master's Thesis Project by Pamela J. Drake. Retrieved 14 January 2003 from the California State University Fullerton website: http://psych.fullerton.edu/genealogy/.

Duff, W. M., & Johnson, C. A. (2003). Where is the List with All the Names? Information-Seeking Behavior of Genealogists. The American Archivist, 66(1), 79-95.

Easton, A. (2002). Burke's Survey Results. Retrieved 27 May 2004 from the Burke's Peerage & Gentry website: http://www.burkes-peerage.net/sites/common/news/news111102.asp.

Family Stewards Inc. (2004). The Genealogy Portal --Linking genealogy consumers with with customer rated providers [PDF]. Retrieved 14 August 2004 from the Lasting Links website: http://web.archive.org/web/20040726191740/http://lastinglinks.com/provider/MarketingBrochure.pdf.

Fulton, C. (2005). Social Networks of Information Seeking and Lifelong Learning: The Case of Genealogists Exploring Their Irish Ancestry. Proceedings of ASIS&T 2005 Sparking Synergies: Bringing Research and Practice Together. Charlotte, North Carolina: AACE.

Gardiner, J. (2004). Unpublished, the Robert Gordon University, Scotland.

Green, K. (2000). You're a What?: Genealogist. Occupational Outlook Quarterly, 44(3), p34-35.

Guillory, A. R. (1990, 25 October). Survey of Genealogy Software used by readers. [1990, 16062931298]. Message posted to the ROOTS-L electronic mailing list, archived at http://listsearches.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/ifetch2?/u1/textindices/R/ROOTS+1990+16062931298+F.

Hamilton, R. (1991, 02 April). Access to ROOTS-L survey. [1991, 12962308853]. Message posted to the ROOTS-L electronic mailing list, archived at http://listsearches.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/ifetch2?/u1/textindices/R/ROOTS+1991+12962308853+F.

Helm, M. (1996). Genealogy Toolbox Survey of Genealogists on the World Wide Web. Retrieved 15 June 2006 from the Genealogy Toolbox website: http://web.archive.org/web/20010502141116/http://www.tbox.com/tims/96febsur.html.

Kaye, B. K., & Johnson, T. J. (1999). Research Methodology: Taming the Cyber Frontier. Social Science Computer Review, 17, 323-337.

Kuglin, H. (2004). Granny Hunting: The Information Seeking Behavior of Genealogists in Open Access Libraries - A Quantitative Study. Proceedings of Library & Information Association of New Zealand (LIANZA) 2004. Auckland, New Zealand.

Lambert, R. D. (2000). A Study of Genealogists & Family Historians. Retrieved 14 January 2003 from the Faculty of Arts University of Waterloo website: http://www.arts.uwaterloo.ca/~rdlamber/genstudy.htm.

Litzer, D. S. (1997). Library and Genealogical Society Cooperation in Developing Local Genealogical Services and Collections. Reference & User Services Quarterly, 37(1), 37-52.

Manis, C. (1990, 05 November). soc.roots readers survey. [1990, 16973110608]. Message posted to the ROOTS-L electronic mailing list, archived at http://listsearches.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/ifetch2?/u1/textindices/R/ROOTS+1990+16973110608+F.

Marshall, T. (1999). Archives Users and the Web: Considerations for Archivists. Proceedings of Society of American Archivists, 1999 Annual Meeting. Pittsburgh, PA.

Meethan, K. (2003). Searching for Roots. Retrieved 02 December 2003 from the University of Plymouth Sociology Department website: http://web.archive.org/web/20041027135522/http://www.sociology.plymouth.ac.uk/~kmeethan/roots.htm.
Mills, E. S. (2003). Genealogy in the "Information Age": History's New Frontier? National Genealogical Society Quarterly, 91(December 2003), 260-277.

Moorshead, H. (2001). Readers Speak: Uses and Abuses of the Internet Survey. Family Chronicle, November/December 2001. Retrieved from https://familychronicle.com/Survey_03.html.

Morgan, G. G. (1998). The Genealogy Forum on America Online: The Official User's Guide: Ancestry Publishing.

Olsen, M. (1999). GENEALOGY NEWSGROUPS: One Person's Historical View. Retrieved 10 July 2006 from the Roostweb.com website: http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~socgen/Newshist.htm.

Online Genealogy Research Survey. (2002). Retrieved 14 January 2003 from the The Wakefield SRC (Surname Resource Centre) website: http://www.geocities.com/wakefieldsrc/survey.html.

Online Genealogy Research Survey. (n.d.). Retrieved 14 January 2003 from the The Wakefield SRC (Surname Resource Centre) website: http://www.geocities.com/wakefieldsrc/survey.html.

Papoutsy, M. (2003). HCS Genealogy Survey. Retrieved 14 January 2004 from the Hellenic Communication Service website: http://www.helleniccomserve.com/genealogysurvey.html.

Partridge, D., Cribbs, W., Schulze, L., White, J., & Reid, K. (2002a). Are you a subscriber to a commercial genealogy site? Retrieved 14 January 2004 from the GenHelp.org website: http://www.genhelp.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=NS-Polls&file=index&req=results&pollID=5&amp;mode=&order=&thold=.

Partridge, D., Cribbs, W., Schulze, L., White, J., & Reid, K. (2002b). Do you have your own family database web page? Retrieved 27 May 2004 from the GenHelp.org website: http://web.archive.org/web/20040714131956/http://www.genhelp.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=NS-Polls&file=index&req=results&pollID=4&amp;mode=&order=&thold=.

Quinn, P. M. (1991). The Surge of Interest in Genealogy Reflects a Populist Strand of Society with Important Implications for our Culture. The Chronicle of Higher Education, 37(36), B2.

Roberts, R. (2002). Genealogy Web Site Survey. Retrieved 15 February 2005 from the Global Gazette website: http://globalgenealogy.com/globalgazette/gaztec/gaztec85.htm.

Taylor, R. M., & Crandal, R. J. (1986). Historians and Genealogists: An Emerging Community of Interest. In R. M. Taylor & R. J. Crandal (Eds.), Generations and Change: Genealogical Perspectives in Social History (pp. 3-29). Macon, GA: Mercer University Press.

Walczyk, K. (2006). Amerykańskie poszukiwania genealogiczne: moda czy potrzeba zakorzenienia. Unpublished Masters Thesis, the Uniwersytet Jagielloński, Kraków

Wood, C. A. (2005). Toward the new genealogy: Genealogical research in archives and the Saskatchewan Genealogical Society, 1969--2004 Unpublished Master of Arts Thesis, the University of Manitoba, Canada.

Online Genealogy: Review of Previous Studies

Kylie — Mon, 19 Jun 2006 05:28:00 +0000

With my Findings chapter in for review, I am now concentrating on my two Literature Review chapters. I'm attacking one section at a time; the first of which is Online Genealogy, a review of the previous studies in the area.

The first part of this section will discuss the many informal surveys and studies performed by interested genealogists for their own endeavours or the popular press. It will then offer a review of the few academic researchers who have investigated (or are currently studying) the convergence of the Internet and genealogy.

If you know of any that I've missed, please let me know!

Informal (Non-Academic) Genealogy Surveys

D'Addezio, I. J. (n.d.). Online Genealogy Questionnaire. Retrieved 27 May 2004 from the D'Addezio.com website: http://www.daddezio.com/survey/ask.mv?xo=8G&url=/germgen.html.

Eastman, D. (1998). GenQuest’s Genealogy Survey. Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter(07 December). Retrieved 19 June 2006 from http://www.ancestry.com/columns/eastman/eastDec07-98.htm.

Easton, A. (2002). Burke's Survey Results. Retrieved 27 May 2004 from the Burke's Peerage & Gentry website: http://www.burkes-peerage.net/sites/common/news/news111102.asp.

Family Stewards Inc. (2004). The Genealogy Portal --Linking genealogy consumers with with customer rated providers [PDF]. Retrieved 14 August 2004 from the Lasting Links website: http://web.archive.org/web/20040726191740/http://lastinglinks.com/provider/MarketingBrochure.pdf.

Guillory, A. R. (1990, 25 October). Survey of Genealogy Software used by readers. [1990, 16062931298]. Message posted to the ROOTS-L electronic mailing list, archived at http://listsearches.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/ifetch2?/u1/textindices/R/ROOTS+1990+16062931298+F.

Hamilton, R. (1991, 02 April). Access to ROOTS-L survey. [1991, 12962308853]. Message posted to the ROOTS-L electronic mailing list, archived at http://listsearches.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/ifetch2?/u1/textindices/R/ROOTS+1991+12962308853+F.

Helm, M. (1996a). Genealogy Toolbox Survey of Genealogists on the World Wide Web. Retrieved 15 June 2006 from the Genealogy Toolbox website: http://web.archive.org/web/20010502141116/http://www.tbox.com/tims/96febsur.html.

Helm, M. (1996b). Results of the Second Survey of Genealogists on the World Wide Web - Part I. Journal of Online Genealogy, 1(5). Retrieved from HTM file sent via email from author.

Helm, M. (1996c). Results of the Second Survey of Genealogists on the World Wide Web - Part II. Journal of Online Genealogy, 1(6). Retrieved from HTM file sent via email from author.

Maloney, R. (1996a, 20 May ). Genealogy Survey. Message posted to news://soc.genealogy.computing.

Maloney, R. (1996b, 04 May ). Survey 1a. Message posted to news://alt.genealogy.

Maloney, R. (1997a, 09 October ). Genealogy Survey Seeking Participants. Message posted to news://soc.genealogy.ireland.

Maloney, R. (1997b). GenQuest - Survey. Retrieved 02 January 1998 from the GenQuest website: http://www.genquest.com/survey.html.

Maloney, R. (1998, 18 December ). 1998 GenQuest Genealogy Survey. Message posted to news://soc.genealogy.computing.

Manis, C. (1990, 05 November). soc.roots readers survey. [1990, 16973110608]. Message posted to the ROOTS-L electronic mailing list, archived at http://listsearches.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/ifetch2?/u1/textindices/R/ROOTS+1990+16973110608+F.

Moorshead, H. (2001). Readers Speak: Uses and Abuses of the Internet Survey. Family Chronicle, November/December 2001. Retrieved from https://familychronicle.com/Survey_03.html.

Papoutsy, M. (2003). HCS Genealogy Survey. Retrieved 14 January 2004 from the Hellenic Communication Service website: http://www.helleniccomserve.com/genealogysurvey.html.

Partridge, D., Cribbs, W., Schulze, L., White, J., & Reid, K. (2002). Do you have your own family database web page? Retrieved 27 May 2004 from the GenHelp.org website: http://web.archive.org/web/20040714131956/http://www.genhelp.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=NS-Polls&file=index&req=results&pollID=4&amp;amp;amp;mode=&order=&thold=.

Roberts, R. (2002). Genealogy Web Site Survey. Retrieved 15 February 2005 from the Global Gazette website: http://globalgenealogy.com/globalgazette/gaztec/gaztec85.htm.

Academic Genealogy Research with Some Internet Consideration

Copley, C. (2003). Catriona's Dissertation Research into Scottish Genealogy. Retrieved 16 June 2006 from http://www.angelfire.com/ct3/catriona_research/.

Drake, P. J. (2001). Findings from the Fullerton Genealogy Study: A Master's Thesis Project by Pamela J. Drake. Retrieved 14 January 2003 from the California State University Fullerton website: http://psych.fullerton.edu/genealogy/.

Ipsos-Reid Corporation. (2002). Public Views on National Archives and Genealogy [DOC]. Retrieved 15 June 2006 from the Library and Archives Canada website: http://epe.lac-bac.gc.ca/100/200/301/na-an/public_views_na_genealogy-e/omnibus_analyse_finale.doc.

Ipsos-Reid Corporation. (2003). Tracking Public Views on the Library And Archives Canada and Genealogy [DOC]. Retrieved 13 June 2006 from the Library and Archives Canada website: http://epe.lac-bac.gc.ca/100/200/301/lac-bac/tracking_public_views-e/361802r1angl.doc.

Lambert, R. D. (2000). A Study of Genealogists & Family Historians. Retrieved 14 January 2003 from the Faculty of Arts University of Waterloo website: http://www.arts.uwaterloo.ca/~rdlamber/genstudy.htm.

Marshall, T. (1998, 01 March 1998). Genealogy Survey. Message posted to news://alt.genealogy.

Meethan, K. (2003). Searching for Roots. Retrieved 02 December 2003 from the University of Plymouth Sociology Department website: http://web.archive.org/web/20041027135522/http://www.sociology.plymouth.ac.uk/~kmeethan/roots.htm.

Academic Internet Genealogy Research

Aubé, C., & Ettori, F. (2005). Change of practices with the arrival of a new media (internet) : a commented example by the practices of the non professional genealogists in France. In P. Kommers & G. Richards (Eds.), Proceedings of World Conference on Educational Multimedia, Hypermedia and Telecommunications (pp. 2-5). Chesapeake, VA: AACE.

Frazier, R. A. (2001). Genealogy research, Internet research and genealogy tourism. Unpublished Masters Thesis, the University of Wisconsin-Stout.

Fulton, C. (2005). Social Networks of Information Seeking and Lifelong Learning: The Case of Genealogists Exploring Their Irish Ancestry. Proceedings of ASIS&T 2005 Sparking Synergies: Bringing Research and Practice Together. Charlotte, North Carolina: AACE.

Fulton, C. (2006). Networking for Leisure - Phase 1 Summary Report. Retrieved 15 June 2006 from the Gennet Study website: http://www.ucd.ie/gennetstudy/report.htm.

Humble, G. B. (1999). Genealogy and the Internet. Unpublished Masters Thesis, the Charles Sturt University, Albury-Wodonga.

Ju, J. (2005, 13 June ). Questionnaire of internet genealogy users requirement survey. [June 2005, 1118678669]. Message posted to the Rootsweb's GDMUML-L electronic mailing list, archived at http://archiver.rootsweb.com/th/read/GDMUML/2005-06/1118678669.

Kuglin, H. (2004). Granny Hunting: The Information Seeking Behavior of Genealogists in Open Access Libraries - A Quantitative Study. Proceedings of Library & Information Association of New Zealand (LIANZA) 2004. Auckland, New Zealand.

Masson, K. (2004). Information behaviours, literacies and strategies of the users of UK e-genealogical resources and the implications for Local Studies Libraries. Retrieved 14 February 2006 from the Robert Gordon University website: http://rgu-sim.rgu.ac.uk/research/egen/project/proposal.pdf.

Walczyk, K. (2006). Interest in genealogy. Retrieved 14 June 2006 from the Center for History and New Media (George Mason University) website: http://chnm.gmu.edu/tools/surveys/1836/.

Wood, C. A. (2005). Toward the new genealogy: Genealogical research in archives and the Saskatchewan Genealogical Society, 1969--2004. Unpublished Master of Arts Thesis, the University of Manitoba, Canada.

Kylie — Wed, 24 May 2006 01:06:00 +0000

MyFamily.com, Inc. - Press Releases: "Forget shopping and blogging, the latest online craze is genealogy. The family history market has exploded, last month accounting for over one in ten internet users according to new figures from comScore Europe. The entire family history category received over 4 million visitors last month, almost double the 2.2 million visitors recorded in July 2005. This represents a rapid 84% surge in interest in genealogy websites in just six months."

Kylie — Mon, 22 May 2006 08:31:00 +0000

A 1st draft of Chapter 5 "Findings" was submitted for review today. Next on the plan of attack is Chapter 4 "Methodology".

Kylie — Mon, 03 Apr 2006 02:47:00 +0000

Fantastic to see that my PhD work being followed by the online genealogical community, as noted over at Random Genealogy:

It's very interesting that while genealogy has spawned more than a few degrees, this is one of the few, if not the only, degree/thesis based around the study of genealogists themselves, and how they use the internet.

It's a great premise, after all, the two most revolutionary things to occur in genealogy in our lifetimes have been the advent of personal computers and access to the internet.

And while I was on Maternity Leave, the ABC in Australia linked to my PhD research as follow-up information from their TV show "Genealogy", which aired October 2005 as part of their How The Quest Was Won series.

Survey: Genealogists include sources and remove the living

Kylie — Thu, 30 Mar 2006 01:10:00 +0000

When publishing their family trees, do genealogists include their source information? Do they remove living people to preserve privacy? The IGCS study suggests an affirmative in the majority position to both of these questions. Over three quarters of genealogists include source information for some or all of the family trees they publish. Likewise, over 80 percent of genealogists remove the living people in their family trees prior to the information being published on the Internet.

Kylie — Mon, 27 Mar 2006 00:39:00 +0000

My thesis outline has now been revised and updated. The revision has largely come about via the reorganisation of the core section of my thesis ... i.e. the original research. Originally I was going to have five chapters of core writings: one chapter each for the different sections of the survey findings, including an in-depth discussion about them with supporting qualitative research; then a fifth chapter about the wider implications of the findings for the Internet at large.

I have found, however, that Publishing (for example) has some cross over with the Interacting theme, and the same can be said for other thematic combinations. As a result, I will now have two larger chapters concentrating on a different mapping of the results. Firstly, there will be a Findings chapter covering the survey data, with no interpratation. Secondly there will be two chapters looking at 'being' a genealogist online, and being 'part' of the genealogical community online, supported by applicable qualitative research. Finally, the fourth core chapter will discuss (as mentioned above) the wider implications of the findings for the Internet at large.

Survey: Home common access for Internet genealogy

Kylie — Fri, 17 Mar 2006 01:49:00 +0000

Home is the most common place for people to be accessing the Internet for genealogical activities, with the library and work both being the second most accessed place. That is, while 71% of people in the IGCS study stated home as the place they most accessed the Internet for genealogical activities, both work and the library accounted for 10%. Additionally, 7% of genealogists also used internet cafés, genealogy societies, or family history centres to access the Internet for genealogy . Other lesser-utilised locations included the home office; hotels; PDA’s and other wireless technologies while traveling; school or college; and national and state record offices.

The IGCS is Back!

Kylie — Wed, 01 Feb 2006 10:44:00 +0000

Now that I am back working on the Internet Genealogy Community Study, I will be using the forum of this blog to chart my progress (as before) though to also post snippets of the results of the IGCS survey.

Stay tuned!

Kylie — Sun, 20 Nov 2005 23:47:00 +0000

It's now 8 weeks until the Internet Genealogy Community Study comes back...

Paper: A Doctoral Study of the Use of the Internet for Genealogy

Kylie — Tue, 14 Jun 2005 07:13:00 +0000

Veale, K. J. (2005). A Doctoral Study of the Use of the Internet for Genealogy. Historia Actual On-Line, 2005 (7).

Abstract
Research evidence shows the Internet has had a revolutionary impact on our society and the way we live everyday. Consequently, as the Internet influences the many aspects of everyday lives, hobbyist interests in areas such as history have also been enhanced and changed by the Internet as a social technology. One hobby, genealogy, has risen above all to be one of the most popular online, providing an opportunity to understand the use of the Internet within a broader context. As a result, the author has commenced a PhD research program with Curtin University of Technology, Australia, to examine how genealogists use the Internet, and to investigate the consequences of the development of genealogy as a significant Internet-based activity. The purposed of this article, therefore, is to present the research notes of the study.

Why this blog has gone quiet

Kylie — Tue, 31 May 2005 23:01:00 +0000

1) I'm currently wading through a huge data file of over 4,000 reponses to the IGCS survey; and
2) I'm tidying up, and temporarily winding-down, as I approach 6 months of Maternity Leave commencing in 3 weeks time.

And on a personal note ......

Kylie — Tue, 05 Apr 2005 22:29:00 +0000

While I have been doing bits and pieces of my PhD, and the IGCS Survey has been chugging along in the background, I've been largely overtaken by another project due in August 2005 ..... baking a baby!

So I apologise for the long gaps between posts since Xmas 2004. Now that I'm over half way, and well into the 2nd trimester, I'm hoping to get a little more 'active' in my PhD *and* posting to this blog, until I go on Maternity Leave in July!

Kylie

Genealogy in the Golden Years

Kylie — Tue, 15 Mar 2005 22:26:00 +0000

In the article Genealogy in the Golden Years, about.com report:

Of the 63% of Americans who go online, only 25% are over the age of 65, according to a 2004 survey of the Pew Internet & American Life Project. But when the subject is researching family history and genealogy, the elderly rank ahead of the other age categories -- 36 percent, compared to 21 percent for young adults and 15 percent for 30- to 49-year-olds.

Now, these stats are interesting ... especially when I compare them to the preliminary results of my IGCS survey. Now, bearing in mind my figures are not restricted to the USA, of the 3,125 respondants who answered the question "In which of these groups is your age?", just over 24% were over the age of 65. Although it is unclear how the about.com article defines 'young adults', if we assume it to mean an age of 24 and under, this figure is less than 4% in the IGCS survey.

I shall have a look at the figures for those respondants living in the USA and see how they compare to the PEW report.

Phase 2 of survey participation drive

Kylie — Thu, 17 Feb 2005 08:22:00 +0000

Phase 1 of the survey participation drive yielded nearly 2,000 respondants to the IGCS Survey. Today, Phase 2 commenced, with an email to an Officer of 1,613 genealogical societies across 5 countries, asking them for their help in notifying their members about my survey. Replies so far have been extremely favourable.

Paper: Mixed-Method Approach to Online Communities – Visions of the Third Methodological Movement

Kylie — Tue, 15 Feb 2005 07:29:00 +0000

A little paper I'm writing with Bojana Lobe out of University of Ljubljana, Slovenia, will be presented in Switzerland by Bojana at GOR'05 in March. The presentation will be in the final session of the conference: Session 18 - New Approaches for Studying Online Groups.

Mixed-Method Approach to Online Communities – Visions of the Third Methodological Movement
Lobe, Bojana & Veale, Kylie

There has been a long-standing epistemological debate about how best to conduct research. So called traditionalists - quantitatively positivistic oriented researchers - use quantitative and experimental methods to accomplish hypothetical-deductive generalizations. Opposed to them, revolutionaries - qualitatively interpretivistic oriented researchers - use qualitative and narrative approaches to inductively and holistically understand human experiences and specifics. In the last few years however, a third methodological movement emerged to overcome the paradigmatic gap and incompatibility thesis underlying quantitative and qualitative methodology. A number of researchers have in fact utilized both methods to answer their research questions in the past, though only recently have we seen efforts to greater emphasis the compatibility of quantitative and qualitative methodology, mostly due to methodological pragmatism, as a mixed-method approach. In turn, when faced with comprehensively studying social phenomenon within online communities, we argue that relying on only one method is not sufficient. That is, as online communities such as communities of practice and communities of interest are based on CMC, which can support interpersonal interaction, neither a quantitative survey nor qualitative interviews alone can present us 'a whole picture'. Namely, we need to simultaneously answer confirmatory and exploratory questions to elucidate the divergent aspect of online communities. As a result, and while there are varying works applauding the advantages of a mixed-method approach, this paper concentrates on two advantages for Internet Research, based on the doctoral work of researchers in the field.
In the first instance, Bojana Lobe of the University of Ljubljana, Slovenia, presents a mixed-method approach based on a need for a more descriptive/exploratory investigation of online communities. Secondly, Kylie Veale of Curtin University, Australia, discusses how a mixed-method approach bridges the macro/micro divide, allowing both a broad understanding of a online community, in addition to specific cases of use to support that understanding.

Back from holidays

Kylie — Sat, 22 Jan 2005 21:21:00 +0000

Survey is still chugging along, though the respondants coming from that article in Ancestry News are finally petering out. Time for phase two.

Am back from Xmas/New Year holidays on Monday 24th January ...

Kylie — Sat, 01 Jan 2005 03:14:00 +0000

Happy New Year!

Survey: 1654 completed responses

Kylie — Mon, 27 Dec 2004 08:41:00 +0000

Survey is going great guns at the moment, having only advertised by a direct e-mail mailout, and via an article on Ancestry Daily News. So far, a total of 1654 completed responses have been received.

My PhD in Ancestry Daily News

Kylie — Tue, 14 Dec 2004 09:28:00 +0000

Megan Smolenyak has written a fantastic article about my PhD survey in Ancestry Daily News. The article was released today in the USA.

Internet Genealogy Online Survey

Kylie — Fri, 03 Dec 2004 08:08:00 +0000

Are you interested in helping us understand how
the Internet is used by genealogists all over the world?

If so, please consider partipating in an online survey for my PhD thesis, asking you about your publishing, transacting, interacting, and collaborating acticities online for genealogy.

The survey (including a detailed Information Sheet about privacy and confidentiality) is available at:

http://igcs.survey.curtin.edu.au