So What does the future hold?

So what do you think the future holds for us “Genealogists”? Where do we see the future of our hobby, record keeping and archives, or is there even a future?

Anybody who has been researching their tree for around twenty years will never have envisaged how the shape of researching your family tree would look in the year 2021. How could anybody have guessed how the massive explosion of the Internet would change the way we carry out our research. From spending hours in dusty archives, we are now just a few clicks away from relatively lightning quick research, all from the comfort of our armchairs. Is this a good thing?

Maybe in today’s modern “must have it now” society, the thirst for quick information is quenched by this approach, but anybody who has sat in a quiet library, or dusty record office will tell you, the thrill of that “eureka” moment cannot be matched by the click of a mouse and a print button at home.

So where do we see the future? How much more information do we expect to see online and even want to see online?

How much of the future will DNA have to play and ultimately will DNA take over and play a more pivotal role in family tree research? Will DNA be the first port of call for family historians and will we look there first, to find our “new cousins”.

How much more of a role and impact will social media have? Will everything be shared online in the future rather than old fashioned family reunions?

I guess nobody knows exactly where the new technology and the drive for new information will take us, but I hope that we don’t lose sight of our origins and where it all started. Without our  archives, record offices and libraries we wouldn’t have the history and information at our fingertips today. So I think what I am saying is embrace new technology and enjoy it…………….but don’t lose sight of the old fashioned ways and be thankful for the record offices, archivists and librarians.

You can’t beat ‘Touching History’

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