Genealogy Volunteering
Some places to offer your genealogical services
Some genealogy resources are impossible to get your hands on, so why not ask if anyone else can do a quick look-up for you? Find a volunteer, or offer your own services.
Do you have a copy of a rare, old or generally hard-to-find history book that has genealogical significance? Or even just a modern-day copy of such a book on CD-ROM? Or perhaps you live near a large library or cemetery that would be of interest to other family tree researchers?
If this described you at all, you might want to consider joining up with one of the online genealogy volunteer services. There are different ones out there, ranging from general look-ups in books to taking requests from people to photograph grave markers for them. And of course, even if you are not interesting in offering your services, you might be able to use these sites to get a little assistance from other volunteers.
Though these people are volunteers, that doesn't mean they will pay for phone calls, photocopies, film or postage. You are expected to reimburse for all expenses. Make sure you read the rules, policies or instructions for any of the sites you wish to use. Making inappropriate or incorrect requests just wastes everyone's time.
Random Acts of Genealogical Kindness - Volunteers are listed by area, and most people do local library look-ups, house photographs and cemetery visits. The link to access the main part of the site is at the bottom of the FAQ page.
Books We Own - This volunteer group revolves around the various books that members own. This site allows you to search for the book titles you are looking for, and make requests to have something researched from it.
Genie Angels - Not a volunteer service, but a message board for genealogical research. Post your requests and offer up your own help if you can. Also a good place for general genealogical discussion, as long as it stays on the topic of research.
Lookups from Privately Owned Resources and Publications - A list of volunteers who own very unique, individual and privately published history resources. Many of these are for specific families or very limited regions.
