Thursday, April 8, 2010

Bored With Genealogy

Thanks to Chris Dunham’s blog “The Genealogue”  for putting me on to a ridiculous rant in the “Times” on genealogists and librarians by  Sathnam Sanghera . Rather typical I thought, although I have met some of these views from professional historians. Mind you  the historians would disagree with him over his views of libraries and librarians.

Sanghera’s view of genealogists :

“But I can’t think of a single revelation produced by a single genealogist that hasn’t made me think: meh.”

Or

“Though perhaps a better way of putting it is that genealogy is the academic equivalent of endlessly googling yourself.”

Or on libraries:

“-when it comes down to it, anything, up to and including financial destitution, is better than spending too much time in a library.”

I imagine that  the last is a good excuse for not bothering with facts when writing.  Research is hard work.  Ignorance is bliss.

1 comment:

Lori E said...

Royalty? Me? I can be a royal pain but that is as far as that search goes.
I guess someone who has never felt the pull of ones ancestors can't understand how it feels to make a breakthrough in our search for family.
Like I say on my Tribal Pages family tree - I was just looking for a few ancestors...I think many more were looking for
me.