In its own words, the Guild of One-Name Studies (or GOONS, as members affectionately call themselves) is “the worldwide centre of excellence in one-name studies and promotes the interests of both the individuals and groups who are engaged in them.” So, what’s a “one-name study”? According to their site, “a one-name study (ONS) is a project researching all occurrences of a surname, as opposed to a particular pedigree (ancestors of one person) or descendancy (descendants of one person or couple).”
This, in many ways, describes what I’ve been trying to do with KeatingSearch for years. While I often find myself focusing on my own Keatings (or other personal lines), the majority of articles on the site are from lines that aren’t (recently) related to mine. My goal has long been to make this site a resource for all Keating (and related surnames) researchers.
I actually joined the GOONS a few years ago, but the annual renewal reminded me that I hadn’t yet announced it on the website. KeatingSearch.com is an official member of the Guild of One-Name Studies! Not too much will change around here. I’ll put a badge or other graphics on the site indicating the membership and I may reference the occasional article from their journal. I hope that I can bring in some ideas from other one-name study sites to make this one better — I’ve been playing with the idea of a researchable database, but haven’t been satisfied with what I’ve found so far. It may end up being a write-my-own WordPress plugin. As part of the changing of my own family’s database software, I’ll also move over some of the other Keating trees (mostly Maryland families at the moment…) that I’ve built over the years and start adding new ones.
Keep up the great work John.