Genealogy
[8] Genealogy research is also performed for scholarly or forensic purposes, or to trace legal next of kin to inherit under intestacy laws.
[11] There is a growing interest in family history in the media as a result of advertising and television shows sponsored by large genealogy companies, such as Ancestry.com.
This, coupled with easier access to online records and the affordability of DNA tests, has both inspired curiosity and allowed those who are curious to easily start investigating their ancestry.
[18][19][20] In East Asian countries that were historically shaped by Confucianism, many people follow a practice of ancestor worship as well as genealogical record-keeping.
[21] Royal families, both historically and in modern times, keep records of their genealogies in order to establish their right to rule and determine who will be the next sovereign.
Hereditary emperors, kings and chiefs in several areas have long claimed descent from gods (thus establishing divine legitimacy).
Court genealogists have preserved or invented appropriate genealogical pretensions - for example in Japan,[35] Polynesia,[36] and the Indo-European world from Scandinavia through ancient Greece to India.
[37] Historically, in Western societies, genealogy focused on the kinship and descent of rulers and nobles, often arguing or demonstrating the legitimacy of claims to wealth and power.
[43] Genealogy received a boost in the late 1970s with the television broadcast of Roots: The Saga of an American Family by Alex Haley.
[44] With the advent of the Internet, the number of resources readily accessible to genealogists has vastly increased, fostering an explosion of interest in the topic.
[48] Before Farmer's efforts, tracing one's genealogy was seen as an attempt by the American colonists to secure a measure of social standing, an aim that was counter to the new republic's egalitarian, future-oriented ideals (as outlined in the Constitution).
[48] As Fourth of July celebrations commemorating the Founding Fathers and the heroes of the Revolutionary War became increasingly popular, however, the pursuit of "antiquarianism", which focused on local history, became acceptable as a way to honor the achievements of early Americans.
[citation needed] Farmer capitalized on the acceptability of antiquarianism to frame genealogy within the early republic's ideological framework of pride in one's American ancestors.
"[51] There is a network of church-operated Family History Centers all over the United States and around the world, where volunteers assist the public with tracing their ancestors.
Founded by John Insley Coddington, Arthur Adams, and Meredith B. Colket Jr., in December 1940, its membership is limited to 50 living fellows.
Fellows of the American Society of Genealogists, who bear the post-nominal acronym "FASG", have written some of the most notable genealogical materials of the last half-century.
This creates a foundation for documentary research, which involves examining and evaluating historical records for evidence about ancestors and other relatives, their kinship ties, and the events that occurred in their lives.
Individual genetic test results are collected in databases to match people descended from a relatively recent common ancestor.
Social networking service (SNS) websites allow genealogists to share data and build their family trees online.
Many programs allow for additional biographical information, including occupation, residence, and notes, and most also offer a method for keeping track of the sources for each piece of evidence.
More advanced features include the ability to restrict the information that is shared, usually by removing information about living people out of privacy concerns; the import of sound files; the generation of family history books, web pages and other publications; the ability to handle same-sex marriages and children born out of wedlock; searching the Internet for data; and the provision of research guidance.
Genealogists locate these records in local, regional or national offices or archives and extract information about family relationships and recreate timelines of persons' lives.
In the eastern Indian state of Bihar, there is a written tradition of genealogical records among Maithil Brahmins and Karna Kayasthas called "Panjis", dating to the 12th century CE.
[78] FamilySearch's website includes many resources for genealogists: a FamilyTree database, historical records,[79] digitized family history books,[80] resources and indexing for African American genealogy such as slave and bank records,[81] and a Family History Research Wiki containing research guidance articles.
Since genealogical records are often kept on paper and stacked in high-density storage, they are prone to fire, mold, insect damage, and eventual disintegration.
[91] The Federation of Genealogical Societies also organized an effort to preserve and digitize United States War of 1812 pension records.
However, modern genealogists greatly expand this list, recognizing the need to place this information in its historical context in order to properly evaluate genealogical evidence and distinguish between same-name individuals.
When no source information is available for a location, circumstantial evidence may provide a probable answer based on a person's or a family's place of residence at the time of the event.
A person may have lied in order to obtain a government benefit (such as a military pension), avoid taxation, or cover up an embarrassing situation (such as the existence of a non-marital child).
In the past, genealogists in the United States borrowed terms from judicial law to examine evidence found in documents and how they relate to the researcher's conclusions.
