Donating Your Research

Have you ever considered what will happen to all your family history research after you are gone?  Do you have family members who are interested in genealogy who will take on your research and pass it on, who understand your work and value it?  Or do you wonder if all your details and documents will end up in boxes in the garage until they are eventually thrown out?

While I have provided casually interested cousins with some details of my research and copies of documents and photographs, I have no close relative who is interested in continuing the family history research I have been accumulating for decades.  Several of my friends are facing the same situation - their children and grandchildren might enjoy a few stories now and then, but they are not interested in the detail and have no desire to continue the research.

Donating your research to a local, state or national Genealogical Society is an option worth investigating.  The Society of Australian Genealogists accepts both published and unpublished materials which have value for genealogical research.  They accept both hard copy and digital formats, and their website has both a Background Information Leaflet on donating your research to the SAG, and an Assessment Form for unpublished materials.

Your research does not have to be complete to be donated, and they accept relevant supporting documents such as immigration and military service records, correspondence, birth death and marriage records, and research notes.  Any research you donate will be able to be viewed by other researchers, and you will be expected to fill out a donation form. 

There are other Genealogical Societies around the world who are prepared to accept donations to preserve the information for future generations of researchers, so consider who will look after and pass on your research, and if donating a copy of all you have learned is worthwhile.