Davidson, R. I. (2004). Providing Genealogy Research Services in Public Libraries. Public Libraries, 43(3), 142-143. Retrieved from LISA.
"It is a challenge for librarians, as information professionals, to provide themselves with the
knowledge and ability to assist this special client group in the library." This article presents case study of the Palm Beach County Library System. In 2002, the library system added three new services to aid researchers in genealogy research: Gale Publishing's "Ancestry Plus" database; an interactive "Genealogy Research @ your library" website; and an email question-response service on the Genealogy Research website. Prior to this, the only recourse researchers had was using the reference librarians at the desk, and a separate serials section librarian that performed obituary searches. The Genealogy Research website receives about 700 "hits" monthly, and the library system averages 20 email requests for genealogy research per month.
The genealogy industry has become a $200 million/year industry, with more and more people being interested in such research. Many novice historians and researchers search inaccurately, and many genealogy information providers are having to review the ethics of their services due to potential identity theft, invasion of privacy and misinformation.
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