I’ve Joined the Guild of One-Name Studies

This weekend I joined the Guild of One-Name Studies and I am ecstatic! I’ve had my eye on the Guild for a few years because I do research on families with my Koonce surname – whether related to me or not. I have a research database full of Koonce families and I actively use FamilySearch Family Tree and Ancestry Member Trees to document the work. Many Koonce descendants have contacted me over the years and I enjoy every interaction.
A few months ago, I learned that the Guild offers members the opportunity to host our research sites on their servers. They offer to do this in several formats, including WordPress sites and through the use of TNG: The Next Generation of Genealogy Site-Building. With that, I was hooked because I am a WordPress fangal and ardent user and supporter of TNG; I’ve been using TNG for about 11 years and personally find it unparalleled as a genealogy software platform.
As a Guild member, I anticipate being able to take my research to the next step. I plan to move my project from my personal web server over to the Guild’s. The Koonce surname is now part of the registry and I know that even after I am gone, the research will live on as a legacy site for others to leverage for years to come. Members’ research files can also be submitted to FamilySearch as part of their “Genealogies” collection. The Guild has committed to maintaining members’ sites for the long-term; a move I find visionary and only wish more national/international societies would employ.
P.S. – I’ve been participating in Amy Johnson Crow’s 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks blog series and for Week 4, I blogged on the Koonce site, rather than here on my genealogy blog. Go check it out!