FamilySearch Wiki talk:WikiProject Professional Genealogists: Difference between revisions

FamilySearch Wiki talk:WikiProject Professional Genealogists (view source)

Revision as of 12:39, 25 July 2012

2,160 bytes removed , 25 July 2012

Moving the "What will the pages look like?" section to the Project page.

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RitcheyMT

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 Many directories of professional genealogists exist, but most charge fees for a listing, so none of them really approach comprehensiveness. A directory on FamilySearch Wiki, where researchers can write their own listings for free, has the potential of becoming comprehensive. To patrons who need professional help, the wiki could become the best place to find a complete listing of professional researchers.
-== What will the pages look like?  ==
-=== Inclusive information  ===
-The idea is to have researchers post their genealogical education, professional and volunteer experience, credentials, report samples, specialties, services, contact information, and links to their business Websites on their wiki user pages and subpages. There would be other pages on the wiki like "Professional Genealogists Serving Ohio" or "Professional Genealogists Who Do Ohio Research" that would list all the professionals for the area in a table and link to their user pages.
-=== Types of wiki pages to use  ===
-Part of the thinking around having this information on user pages is that user pages are not included by default on the wiki's search engine. When you do a search on the wiki, the search engine ignores user pages by default. So user pages are a great place to "hide in plain sight." When wiki users add information to their user pages, they are not spamming the wiki's search engine.
-Besides these resume items on a professional genealogist's user page, there would be directory pages like [[Professional Genealogists Who Specialize in Ohio Research|Professional Genealogists Who Specialize in Ohio Research]] which would contain a table listing professionals and linking to their user pages for more information. These directory pages would be normal wiki pages in the main namespace, and would therefore appear by default on a wiki search. This is ideal because it would help patrons find professionals when they need help.
-=== Links from other pages to directories  ===
-To make it even easier for patrons to find professional help, links to these directory pages would be created from other existing wiki pages. So a page like [[Ohio_Vital_Records|Ohio Vital Records]] would contain a link to [[Professional_Genealogists_Who_Specialize_in_Ohio_Research|Professional Genealogists Who Specialize in Ohio Research]]. The link's wording might be something like "For a list of professional genealogists who can procure vital records, see [[Professional_Genealogists_Who_Specialize_in_Ohio_Research|Professional Genealogists Who Specialize in Ohio Research]]."
 == Isn't this awfully commercial for a wiki?  ==
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 ::Thanks for the feedback, Lise. Can you try something for me? I want to see what happens if you switch hats for a moment and approach the issue from a different perspective. I've had to take off my "wiki defender" hat and my "FamilySearch defender" hat and put on a "seeker of professionals" hat, and I'd like you to try that too, and re-approach this from that customer's perspective.
 ::Imagine you're someone who wants to find a pro to help you find your family. Would you be seeking a site with more information about each researcher, or less? For instance, would you want to use a site that only lists researchers and then have to go to each researcher's Website and/or send them an email to see whether they offer the value you seek? Or would you rather use a site where each researcher's professional and volunteer experience, education, credentials, publications, classes taught, services offered, rates, work samples, and customers testimonials were all in one place so you could compare them right there and narrow down the field quickly?
 ::Another thing to think about is this: Do consumers have a lower or higher likelihood of choosing a quality service provider on a Website containing more information by which to compare/contrast each provider? I find that swindlers don't like to be compared to competitors, whereas seasoned pros shine brighter the more the customer learns about each provider. [[User:RitcheyMT|RitcheyMT]] 15:28, 25 July 2012 (UTC)