TRUST NO ONE WITH YOUR RESEARCH
This is a lesson I learned the hard way. I had a homework assignment for my National Genealogical Society Home Study Course which I had been working on since last Spring. I had to write an article on a library. After choosing a library with a good genealogicsl section and which I frequently visit, I started asking the librarian questions I could not answer with her input. After submitting to NGS, but just before submitting for publication in a local genealogical society newsletter, I asked the librarian to read it for accuracy, as I had never gained access to the locked drawers, etc. I made her minor corrections and sent it to our newslatter, which should be out momentarily (it was due in March). Today I got a newsletter from a regional genealogical society and was astounded to find that the librarian had written an article on the same library and followed my general format.
Moral: Trust no one with stuff you are contemplating publishing. No Matter how mundane the subject might seem, there is someone out there waiting to rip you off!
posted by his gene, esq. | 1:09 AM
2 Comments:
Oh, how Terrible. I am a budding genealogist and have no plans to ever publish "my finds" in this endeavor. I share freely because I was shared with freely. I do this because I love it. But, I am a writer about dogs and dog breeding, so I do know what you are going through, because an idea for a book I had was stolen and a section of another's book I contributed to was never acknowledge, like the author promised.
I hate when this happens to people because the distrust will bleed into every aspect of their life. I hope that doesn't happen to you. We are on Dutch Colonies together. I don't post much, because "the know it all's" usually come down on the "newbies" to this field of endeavor. My maiden name is Van Houten.
Notice that despite my advice to share less in order not to lose your work, I keep doing it. The 2 biggest articles I am writing, on the Sandersons and on the Chapels, keep appearing in this blog. I can't help myself; I have to share my new discoveries and just pray that no one steals my work as there own.
Post a Comment
<< Home