User:ThomasJayKemp

Tom has been working in libraries and genealogy for the past 48 years. He is the Director of Genealogy Products at NewsBank, Inc. Through his career Tom served as Library Director of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania; the New England Historic Genealogical Society and the Godfrey Memorial Library. He also served as the Chairman of the Council of National Library &amp; Information Associations (CNLIA, Washington, DC).

Tom has had the opportunity to see his ideas take root as the architect and designer of three key genealogical services: HeritageQuest Online (ProQuest); GenealogyBank (NewsBank) and the Godfrey Scholar Program. He is the author of more than 35 books and hundreds of articles. He was a presenter at the first genealogy conference held in China (Shanghai 2001) and has routinely spoken at national genealogical, archival and library conferences over the past four decades.

In looking back he was asked to share his thoughts on genealogy today: “The most urgent task we have is to make it fun! Many people would like to work on their family history but think it is too hard. We need to view our family tree as a star with points of light heading in every direction. We’ll soon be able to plug in any two people and see how they are related. Obama is related to Romney, Wild Bill Hickok, Queen Elizabeth, Bush and Brad Pitt .... and they are all related to you and me. I have seen it evolve from the days of card files to the instant communications of today.

What a great day for genealogy!”

Contact: eMail: Thomas.J.Kemp@gmail.com Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/ThomasJayKemp