I did however spit my coffee out when I read the Rupert Murdock reference from last year.

The question of who or what constitutes a professional is old for me, partly because I am old

Also because I have worked in many emerging fields.

In the decade I spent working with lawyers and accountants as a software developer, I was told that there were only three “professions,” theirs and that of doctors. Yet they would make jokes about the “oldest profession.”

Words are elastic.

But every time a journalist says or writes “primary sources,” it is like nails on a blackboard for me.

I have learned analysis techniques from the methods and standards developed by the genealogy community that I have not found as standards in many other fields and “professions.”

Let’s talk about value, the value of genealogy to other fields. That is where I think the growth will come.

Sharon

To Dee Dee’s point, I spent an inordinate amount of time deciding whether to put ‘professional genealogist’ on my business card. I have been doing serious genealogy for myself and helping others free for years. I am now hanging out my shingle. However, I’m not yet making money and I’m not certified by any accreditation organization. I believe I am doing professional quality work but that I haven’t yet earned the right to call myself that. I simply put ‘genealogist’ on my card for now. There are too many people in this industry I respect to claim myself in their league. I hope to get there, but I know I’m not there yet.

Some in the field insist the term professional genealogist applies to anyone who strives for and achieves professional standards and quality in their work. Others in the field go with the more traditional definition that a professional is someone who works, not as a hobbyist, but rather as someone engaged in making a living from the field.

IRS certainly is one agency that clearly defines professionals, especially for hobbtists who are trying to write off expenses. Ask just about “anyone on the street” and I bet you’d find few folks, if any, who believe a professional genealogist is the first example and a huge majority, if not all, who would consider a professional genealogist to be the latter example.

Nothing will ever stop just anyone from calling themselves a professional genealogist. But our profession sometimes appears to have its head in a cloud that the term professional has a different meaning in our world than it does in other professions. Folks can pretty well define a professional golfer, professional football player, professional dog walker, professional mechanic. But the mere attempt to discuss the issue in our profession causes a firestorm. One thing that might improve our perception by the public would be defining our profession and its specialties.