Genealogy Vision
The Genealogy Department of The Augustan Society, Inc., would engage in the following activities:
Genealogy Committee
The Genealogy Committee is composed of the Genealogy Committee Chairman, the members of other committees assigned to the Genealogy Department, such members as the Chairman sees fit, and the President and Headquarters Staff ex officio.
The Chairman is named by the President and serves at his pleasure. The members are named by the Chairman, and serve at his pleasure.
All activities of the Genealogy Department fall under the control of the Genealogy Committee unless the Board or Chairman has created another Committee or Study Group and charged them with responsibility.
Lineage Committee
Presently, the Genealogy Committee, acting as the Lineage Committee, will review lineages submitted to any part of the Society and compare the data and sources to relaxed genealogical standards. A fee is exacted for this service based on the total number of generations involved (including first and last), but if portions of the lineage have been previously approved, a credit (but not a refund) will be issued for those duplicated generations.
This work may be cursory, with only spot-checking of sources, or it may be an in-depth review with most sources verified, as it may seem necessary and appropriate to the Committee.
Proposal: The Society should maintain and publish the standards to be applied to the review and approval of lineages, including the question of when an in-depth survey might be needed.
It has been proposed that the Lineage Committee perform a more stringent examination of lineages submitted, hewing to the Genealogical Proof Standard established by the Board for Certification of Genealogists. A certificate would be issued upon satisfactory review indicating that the lineage is backed by the full faith of the Society.
Proposal: The Society should maintain and publish the standards to be applied to the review and certification of lineages.
Note please a distinction here between "approving" and "certifying" a lineage. The former means our confidence is sufficient in the lineage as a whole to admit someone to membership in a Sub-Group. The latter means the Society places our reputation behind each item (excepting events happening after 1950, for which documentation is not requested).
In order to facilitate the easy review and publication of lineages, it is desirable that the Society establish a standard format for same. In order to make these useful outside the Society, contact should be made with major genealogical and lineage societies to see what formats they use, and if a universal format might be designed.
Proposal: The Society should maintain and publish a Standard Lineage Format, and oblige petitions for review to adhere to that format when written, or to GED format when submitted digitally.
The lineages collected by the Society over the years form a substantial asset, as well as a useful source of information. Publication should be considered.
Proposal: The Society should publish in a suitable form those lineages that have been Certified. Such to redact most data more recent than the latest release of US Census data (presently 1940).
Library Support
The Department, either through the main Committee, a sub-committee, or a designated officer, will advise the Library in matters of accession, classification, and deaccession of materials on this subject.
Article Solicitation
The Department, either through the main Committee, a sub-committee, or a designated officer, will solicit articles on this subject for The Augustan Omnibus, in cooperation with the Omnibus Editor.
