Elizabeth Kipp mentions in a post on her English Research from Canada blog a proposal to form The Surname Society. At the moment it`s an idea. Expressions of interest are being sought through a survey.
The idea is:
- A truly worldwide society that ensures its practices meet the needs of all members
- Fully collaborative studies where more than one individual can research a surname
- Full membership available to individuals and surname associations
- Limited studies where research of a surname is restricted to a particular area or country, as well as worldwide studies
One wonders who else is behind this initiative and what the attitude of the Guild is toward the potential new organization. Is there space for both?
2 comments:
I think it's a great idea. I'd love to start One-Name Studies on a number of my family surnames, most of which are concentrated in Latvia, since there aren't very many Latvian One-Name studies out there. I'm in the process of setting up a website for one, but I don't know if it would be accepted by the Guild of One-Name Studies, since they aren't particularly global in scope, except in the limited cases where people with those names emigrated (almost exclusively in the past 100 years).
And on the flip side, one of my family's Latvian surnames is also quite common in other parts of the world, but to be honest, I don't really care about the name outside of the context of Latvia, since the families there are not related to the families with that name in other parts of the world.
I also love the idea of fully collaborative studies. This would make common surnames a lot more manageable for one-name studies. It would also mean more studies online, because as I look through the registry on the Guild of One-Name Studies, so many do not have websites. In this day and age, you have to have websites for something like this, otherwise what is the point if other people can't access it?
John, you write: One wonders who else is behind this initiative and what the attitude of the Guild is toward the potential new organization. Is there space for both?
I indentified myself in order to let people know that this isn't a scam; we are truly interested in the opinion of people worldwide on creating this new society "The Surname Society." Considering the hundreds of millions of surnames in the world any particular group is only going to be built upon a number, unknown really, but a number that can readily be managed by a given group of volunteers. One would have to go commercial I think to become an enormous group in the millions.
What we seek, and I do not identify the we because as this group develops as a result of the survey, the members who are going to remain with it may vary from the initial group that met. I think everyone has a right to privacy whilst they make up their minds as to whether they will or will not fit into the new organization.
Yes, I do believe there is room for both the Guild of one-name studies which is a group of indivudals working on their surname with a worldwide perspective and the proposed new surname group.
This society will permit localized studies of surnames, more than one individual associated with a surname (on an equal basis if desired) and subsequent webpage that would equally lists all members of the study.
It will, at least in my thinking, be an umbrella group for one name societies - a group that does not at this moment exist. A "go to" page to see what is out there in terms of societies of one names is what I project to be the future of this particular aspect of The Surname Society.
Thank you for posting the information on the proposed society John; it is much appreciated. Your queries are also gratefully received.
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