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Archiver > APG > 2001-01 > 0978712025


From: Edward Steele <>
Subject: [APG] Re: APG-D Digest V01 #1
Date: Fri, 05 Jan 2001 10:27:05 -0600


Ruby Coleman asked, "Does anybody have information on fairly current
statistics regarding the popularity of genealogy, the use of Internet
for genealogical purposes and as a hobby where genealogy ranks? Or ...
URLs where I can find updated information.

I have a few suggestions:
(1) It's now a few years old, but the Jan-Feb 1996 issue of the
Genealogy Bulletin (No. 31) contains a one-page article by William
Dollarhide which reports on the results of research conducted by Maritz
Market Research. At the time, Maritz reported the following interest in
genealogy, based upon their national survey:
- A great deal: 7%
- Somewhat: 38%
- Not at all: 54.9%
His article contains a good number of other metrics (e.g., 56.9% of the
87.5 million adults actively or somewhat involved in genealogy have
created a family tree or written a book on their family history).

(2) Maritz research has recently re-conducted their study, issuing
updated numbers. These show an increase in interest since the 1996
study. Unfortunately, I cannot locate my copy of that report. (Hmmm...
I wonder if that says anything about my filing system. Perhaps I've
mislaid a great-grandparent or two, also.)

You can contact Maritz Market Research at: 1297 North Highway Drive,
Fenton, Mo. 63099. Phone: 314-827-8532. They are located right here in
li'l ol' St. Louis.

(3) The April 19, 1999, edition of TIME magazine ran an extensive cover
story on Family History. Their lead story, entitled "Roots mania,"
reported, "Roots seeking ranks with sex, finance and sports as a leading
subject on the Internet. More than 160 million messages flowed last
month through RootsWeb..., a vast electronic trading post for
genealogical information." And that article was written BEFORE the LDS
familysearch website was on-line.

(4) In July 2000, the announcement of the acquisition of Heritage Quest
by SierraHome discussed their project to place census images and
every-name indexes on the Internet. It said, in part, "We will be
posting approximately 3.5 terabytes of images and data at launch, with a
goal of 10 terabytes of Heritage Quest resources being posted in the
foreseeable future. To put things in perspective... nature magazine
estimated the basic data in the entire World wide Web to constitute
roughly 15 terabytes."

Hope this helps, Ted Steele


--
Ted Steele
St. Louis, Mo.

Please visit my Web Site at...
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~steele

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