The Ontario Genealogical Society has announced that several branches and one SIG will wind up operations by the end of the year. They are:
Bruce and Grey
Elgin
Haldimand-Norfolk
Perth
and the Genetic Genealogy SIG
Other societies are facing difficulties.
Why?
The digital age has fundamentally changed how people research their family history. Websites like Ancestry.com and FamilySearch have digitized millions of the most useful records, allowing people to do research from home. This has reduced the need to visit local society libraries or attend in-person meetings.
Some societies are finding that an increasing proportion of their membership has ancestors from the area, but not where they presently live. Recruiting those remote members for leadership roles is a greater challenge.
Older generations founded many societies, which now struggle to recruit younger members and volunteers to take on leadership roles.
Some are slow to adopt technology, such as using social media, running webinars, and providing information on how technology can assist their research and help them tell family stories. This makes them less relevant to today’s genealogists.
Extended passive listening, as in the traditional 50-minute lecture, leads to mental fatigue, with people checking out, mentally drifting, or focusing on distractions. Studies show that maximum information retention usually occurs in the first 10 to 18 minutes of a lecture. This can be mitigated by incorporating breaks, Q&A opportunities, or scheduling several shorter presentations back-to-back.
With declining membership, societies find it harder to cover operating costs and maintain physical facilities.