What is a geneologist?

Question:I know its someone that tracing family and stuff, but that has to be more to it??

I have been tracing my family for just 2 years., but what im asking is, what else do they do, and what do u have to do, to qualify yourself as a GENEOLOGIST

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: I know its someone that tracing family and stuff, but that has to be more to it??

I have been tracing my family for just 2 years., but what im asking is, what else do they do, and what do u have to do, to qualify yourself as a GENEOLOGIST

There are professionals. They have passed a test, just like a CPA, a dentist or a lawyer. There are college-level courses you can take.

There are specialties. If a lawyer needs to find an heir, there are genealogists who can help. Some work in large libraries for people who pay them by the hour. Sometimes it is cheaper to ask one to work for "x" hours, where "x" is what you can afford, than to fly to the library yourself, rent a hotel room and start poking through the microfilm.

The standards are laxer than some other professionals. If someone wants to put up a web site advertising his services as a genealogist, with no mention of qualifications, he can. If the same person tries to practice dentistry without a license, he will get into trouble.

Most of us are amateurs. It is a hobby. I sometimes compare it to fishing. Some people take a $14.99 K-mart spinning rod down to the gravel pit to cast for bluegills with their kids. Some people tie their own flies, buy custom-made hand-split bamboo fly rods, hike 6 miles beyond the nearest paved road and practice catch-and-release with native trout. Both groups are fishermen. One is more devoted than the other.

At its heart, it is just "tracing family and stuff". Who were his parents? Who were her children? It gives you a feel for history and it is as satisfying as solving a cross-word puzzle.

Writing a novel is just putting words down on paper and stuff. Writing an RPG is just telling the computer what to do when the user presses the buttons and stuff. Calculating the balance sheet for a multi-billion dollar corporation is just putting numbers down and stuff.

A really good genealogist can create a 3,000-word biography for a man who has been dead for 100 years, and prove every point they make about him with sources.

I f they /you want to do it for money you have to be licensed

There are books about the requirements to become a Certified Genealogist, at least in the US, and I imagine there's an equivalent in other countries, too.

Here's the website for the most important certifying body in the US, the Board for Certification of Genealogists.

The second is a page from About.com that explains the differences between Professional, Certified, and Accredited Genealogists.

The last is from ICAPGen about "AG Professional" designation.

Good luck!