The US Supports Family History Research!

Early this week a man came to the front door of my house, explained that he worked for the US Census, asked a few questions about the type of residence I live in, and then proceeded next door to do the same. He left me with a handout that read:

"Your answers are confidential and protected by law. All U.S. Census Bureau employees have taken an oath and are subject to jail term, a fine, or both if they disclose ANY infomration that could identify you or your household. Your answers will only be used for statistical purposes, and no other purpose. As allowed by law, your census data becomes public after 72 years. This information can be used for family history and other types of historical research. ..."

All semester we've struggled with answering the question, Is family history research a legitimate type of research within the academy? Here, we have the government suggesting it! Not only that, but they group it together within the spectrum of historical research, which suggests a place for it among history classes. Wouldn't it be great to offer a 16-week family history composition class crosslisted as a history course?! I think this would be a great fit and bring many types of researchers together on campus.

Lake James Project Questions

Since there is too much to do and not enough to start with in regards to the Lake James service learning projects, it is imperative that we, as researchers, ask several questions about both the project as a whole and our individual projects. First, one of our main concerns is: What is the context of this book? Sure, Lake James is the focus. However, we know little more than the eight or so areas of interest being researched for the book. In class we discussed ways to tie our research topics together, but the idea of uniting the "chapters" with a fictitious family makes me cringe. I suddenly envision a project resembling the awful ACPL genealogy tutorials. No, no, that will not do. At least in my mind.

So, what are other ways to make the "chapters" more fluid? One possible organization is chronologically, but I doubt Flaim and Jim want something that reads like a historical text. Another way to organize the book would be to start with Paultytown and move clockwise around the lake. A problem with this organization may be gaps in development, but I think this is the best organization for a coffee table book.

One crucial thing to consider when organizing this book is audience. The fictional character scenario might be mildly entertaining, but it appeals to a younger audience, an audience that may not even be interested in coffee table books. Conversely, a clockwise organization that is semi-chronological appeals to an adult audience, an audience that Flaim and Jim seem to want to target. Afterall, one of their largest aims is to preserve the older cottage-style ways of living on Lake James, as opposed to the newer McMansion-style living.

In sum, service learning for this project must entail extracting Flaim and Jim's envisioning of this book and giving back as much targeted research as possible. What we really need from them is a storyboard. Without it, we can only offer heaping folders of potentially tangential research.