Ahnentafels as IDs, Sharon Carmack
Replies: 17
Re: Ahnentafels as IDs, Sharon Carmack
 leekaiwen
(View posts)
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Posted: 4 Jul 2004 7:25AM GMT |
Classification: Query
>the author adamantly refuses to include ANY
>computer information … It is ALL regarding
>hard copy.
While you’re correct, I’m afraid I fail to see the point. I want to organize my hard copies – this is a book about organizing hard copies. Saying, “But it has NOTHING about computers!†strikes me as about as relevant as saying, “That cookbook adamantly REFUSES to mention recipe software!â€
> There is nothing wrong with organizing your hard
> copy files, but really, it's the computer age.
Yes, computers can do some wonderful things genealogically speaking. I’ve personally been doing genealogy on computers since 1987. But if there’s a computer out there that can organize and rearrange my bookshelves, I’ve yet to meet it (and even if there is, frankly I don’t want it to; computer technology is a wonderful adjunct to my genealogical work, but it is not a sine qua non). This is where Carmack’s book comes in and, frankly, for what it attempts to do it is full of excellent ideas. And I really DO fail to see how not talking about computers renders her advice any less useful.
>As Hugh's references note genealogy was very
>quick to embrace home computer technology
>for ease of use (databases) and storage space (FGS).
Or rather, many genealogists were quick to embrace computer technology. I’m one of them, and while it’s true that I couldn’t imagine doing genealogy without them, that neither means that there’s NOTHING I can do genealogically without them nor that there’s nothing I WANT to do without them.
I have a small bookshelf full of excellent genealogical books, most of which don’t contain the word “computerâ€. Carmack’s book is one. Her book on cemetery research is another. There’s Lackey’s “Cite Your Sourcesâ€, which is indispensable despite the fact that it has nary a word about computers. Greenwood’s “The Researcher’s Guide to American Genealogy†is another invaluable reference which doesn’t talk about computers. I still wouldn’t be without it.
I certainly agree that computers have added an invaluable dimension to genealogical research. I don’t, however, agree with your implication that it’s impossible to do genealogy without them, or that the failure to mention computers somehow renders advice valueless. I want to organize my hard copy sources. I no more need (or want!) a computer to do that than I need recipe software to bake an apple pie.
Lee Kaiwen, Taiwan
>computer information … It is ALL regarding
>hard copy.
While you’re correct, I’m afraid I fail to see the point. I want to organize my hard copies – this is a book about organizing hard copies. Saying, “But it has NOTHING about computers!†strikes me as about as relevant as saying, “That cookbook adamantly REFUSES to mention recipe software!â€
> There is nothing wrong with organizing your hard
> copy files, but really, it's the computer age.
Yes, computers can do some wonderful things genealogically speaking. I’ve personally been doing genealogy on computers since 1987. But if there’s a computer out there that can organize and rearrange my bookshelves, I’ve yet to meet it (and even if there is, frankly I don’t want it to; computer technology is a wonderful adjunct to my genealogical work, but it is not a sine qua non). This is where Carmack’s book comes in and, frankly, for what it attempts to do it is full of excellent ideas. And I really DO fail to see how not talking about computers renders her advice any less useful.
>As Hugh's references note genealogy was very
>quick to embrace home computer technology
>for ease of use (databases) and storage space (FGS).
Or rather, many genealogists were quick to embrace computer technology. I’m one of them, and while it’s true that I couldn’t imagine doing genealogy without them, that neither means that there’s NOTHING I can do genealogically without them nor that there’s nothing I WANT to do without them.
I have a small bookshelf full of excellent genealogical books, most of which don’t contain the word “computerâ€. Carmack’s book is one. Her book on cemetery research is another. There’s Lackey’s “Cite Your Sourcesâ€, which is indispensable despite the fact that it has nary a word about computers. Greenwood’s “The Researcher’s Guide to American Genealogy†is another invaluable reference which doesn’t talk about computers. I still wouldn’t be without it.
I certainly agree that computers have added an invaluable dimension to genealogical research. I don’t, however, agree with your implication that it’s impossible to do genealogy without them, or that the failure to mention computers somehow renders advice valueless. I want to organize my hard copy sources. I no more need (or want!) a computer to do that than I need recipe software to bake an apple pie.
Lee Kaiwen, Taiwan