Those of us who work on R&R are keenly aware that two groups are vital to the website. One is the older generation, which has accumulated knowledge, memories, histories, and images worthy of sharing. The second is the audience of users who consist primarily of younger individuals hungry for information. R&R’s user’s base is spread primarily in the states east of the Mississippi River but there are a few also from Germany, Scotland, Alaska, and beyond. Of this group, approximately 70-75 percent are younger than forty-five. This is exciting in that it indeed shows that younger people are truly interested in history and their roots. This group expects answers over the internet, whereas the first group of older folks are somewhat put off by the idea.
R&R continues to endeavor to prove to the older group that policies and procedures can be put into place to safeguard their contributions, just the same way it works with archives, libraries, and museums to being information to users. Several institutions and municipalities are now committed to using R&R as their repository of data on historic information as well as a tool to disseminate this same data to the public. This is a strong vote of confidence and usage for the website, but getting skeptical “older” adults to share their information as openly is vitally important. As one rebound preservationist recently stated, “those who have the most to share are often the least sharing — they horde it.” We all have encountered individuals who have massive collections and will allow few, if any, to see their collections.
So, for those thousands of R&R users who represent the younger generation, it is up to you to help spearhead getting the older members of your family to also freely share. R&R is trying to make this process incredibly easy; just visit the Share Link. It offers two means of providing information to be posted. And as another individual relayed, “I posted something on my gg grandfather and heard from a relative with whom I had no connection.” They didn’t even know of one another until they shared! Scanning documents, writing, and linking files is not easy for some, so if you are a young R&R user, help preserve your family genealogy, stories, and images by spending some time with your grandparents or older relatives. Help them build a HOMEPLACE history site and you will be the winner!