“The Lockdown of the US Social Security Death Index: Lessons to be learned by the Genealogy Community.”

“The Lockdown of the US Social Security Death Index:  Lessons to be learned by the Genealogy Community” – Ken Ryesky

Like all else, genealogy is impacted by its environment.  Political and technological considerations are operating in Genealogyland as never before, with the Law of Unintended Consequences leaving its mark, for better or for worse.

 

As a result of the political and technological processes, significant restrictions have been placed upon an invaluable United States information resource, the Death Master File (DMF), the commercial version of which is familiarly known to genealogists as the Social Security Death Index (SSDI).

 

The genealogy community was in many respects caught off guard by the storm that led to the restrictions now placed upon the DMF/SSDI, and it took much political capital and muscle to mitigate the damage, which could have been far worse than it developed to be.

Ken Ryesky will discuss the lessons to be learned by genealogists from the DMF/SSDI fiasco, including the need to be mindful of the operative politics and technology, the need for responsible practices and the need to positively promote genealogy’s public image.

Location: Private home in Petach Tikva. Space is limited, so registration is a must – [email protected]

Cost: IGRA members-Free Admission     Non-members-NIS 20