This isn't quite what he asked for, but is pertinent. Why renew membership is a question I muse over each year. Last year was an exception when I picked up OGS membership as a door prize at the BIFHSGO conference. For a couple of years preceding I took advantage of the half-price membership when you pair with a non-member. Who doesn't get tempted to buy when there's a sale?
I joined OGS as I thought of it as a society for people in the province interested in genealogy. In recent years the rebranding has seen an orientation to being a society for people with Ontario ancestry. That isn't me.
I'm an immigrant like 29.1% of Ontario's population according to the latest census. I came from England, unusual for today's immigrants, and have lived in Ottawa for 35 years. Having two people in my whole family tree before me who lived in the province, and those only briefly, my genealogical links here are tenuous.
My own family history interests are well catered for by the British Isles Family History Society of Greater Ottawa. Having an interest in local and family history I belong to local Ottawa societies - The Historical Society of Ottawa, the Gloucester Historical Society and the Pinhey's Point Foundation.
Similarly, I'm a member of the Ottawa Branch of OGS. To be a member of volunteer-run Ottawa Branch I'm required to be an OGS member.
Another organization in which I have a membership is the UK Society of Genealogists. I do so mainly to support that organization as an advocate for UK genealogical interests.
Advocacy is one of the three aims of OGS. For me, that's where OGS provincially has fallen down in recent years by conflating outreach with advocacy. They are not the same thing.
The exception, where OGS advocacy has paid off, is one initiative with Library and Archives Canada, — digitization of their Ontario Vernon directory collection by FamilySearch.
Provincially, what can OGS point to as resources that have become available from the Archives of Ontario as a result of advocacy?
Or stepping back, as not all advocacy is successful, in the past year what advocacy initiatives have OGS undertaken provincially? Land record offices are being closed in early October; aside from expressing concern has OGS lobbied for timely alternative access?
Where's the list of AO records OGS would like to see digitized and online and what has been done to lobby for this to happen?
Are there other initiatives or changes to service OGS has identified for AO? The pandemic has exacerbated access issues, particularly for those of us who live away from the Toronto area. Free and timely digitization on-demand would be a big help? With reasonable limitations, Australia did it years ago. Why not in Ontario?
As I was finishing this post I glanced at a Japan Camera envelope still holding old photos I'm sorting. Boldly printed was "We guarantee that you will be 100% satisfied with our products and services, or your money back." Lifting the flap I read "We've got to be good. It's your life we're developing."
As I muse on sending in my membership renewal — should OGS aspire to that standard in fulfilling its advocacy mandate?
In 2020 the OGS=OA has hosted many webinars and meetings for Regions using the OGS ZOOM licence. This is good use of resources most regions would not have afforded individually. Congratulations to the regions who have embraced the new world reality!
ReplyDeleteI agree, John, that the new name "Ontario Ancestors" targets the organisation to those with ancestry in Ontario. I am not an immigrant myself, but all my grandparents and one parent were. Dad's parents only arrived five years before his birth. I have many friends at Toronto Branch (almost all with ancestry elsewhere) so I keep my membership. I would be unlikely to join now.
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