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I need a professional genealogist who can get a copy of the birth certificate of my great grandfather who was born in Piemonte region (Italy) in the year 1875 or 1876. He came to Argentina when he was a child and died 19 Jul 1958 in Argentina.

How can I locate a suitable genealogist and what should I consider when selecting and hiring such a professional?

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    This site can't recommend professional genealogists -- the answers would be purely a matter of opinion and so too subjective to belong here. A question about how you might locate and assess a relevant professional might fit better, if you want to reword along those lines.
    – user104
    Commented Mar 25, 2014 at 16:26
  • apgen.org/directory/… might be a good starting point for you.
    – user104
    Commented Mar 25, 2014 at 16:28
  • @ColeValleyGirl Why don't you add your comments as an answer? So I can select your answer as the best one.
    – Roby Sottini
    Commented Mar 25, 2014 at 16:54
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    I'm not an expert in hiring professionals and there could be a better answer than mine if you give it time. It's a question I'd like to see a thorough well-thought out answer to on the site.
    – user104
    Commented Mar 25, 2014 at 16:55

3 Answers 3

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When selecting and hiring a professional genealogist you may wish to consider the following:

  • Commitment to ethical conduct. Unlike lawyers, the genealogy profession is unregulated and there are are no legal requirements for a person to do genealogy work. Membership of a professional organisation such as the Association of Professional Genealogists (APG) requires members to agree to a Code of Ethics.
  • Education in genealogy or a related field. Formal qualifications exist in the UK(up to master's degree) and USA (up to bachelor's degree), but are fairly recently established. Many genealogists have gained education by less formal routes.
  • Areas of specialist knowledge e.g. particular locations and historical periods. No-one knows everything.
  • Clear terms of service or a formal contract that details what is expected from both sides is a good way of avoiding mis-understandings, e.g. APG guidance on hiring

Other organisations that have similar ethical codes and advice on hiring include:

International Commission for the Accreditation of Professional Genealogists ICAPGEN

Board for Certification of Genealogists BCG

The Association of Genealogists and Researchers in Archives AGRA

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  • The original poster has the complication of residence in Argentina and looking for records in Italy. American researchers and professional organizations may be less relevant than the European, this time.
    – bgwiehle
    Commented Mar 27, 2014 at 12:20
  • @bgwiehle, They may be more relevant than you expect -- APG for example has Argentinian researchers specialising in Italy and vice versa.
    – user104
    Commented Mar 28, 2014 at 18:27
  • @bgwiehle APG has an international membership, both in terms of residence and areas of geographical expertise. You can search for both on thier website
    – Sue Adams
    Commented May 2, 2014 at 14:53
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Before hiring a professional genealogist, try to find out in which town in Piemonte your great-grandfather was born. I would suggested ordering his death certificate and marriage certificate from Argentina. Sometimes these have details of the town. If you cannot find out the name of the town, it will be extremely difficult to find your great-grandfather's birth certificate in Italy as births are recorded in each Comune and the researcher would literally need to check every Comune in Piemonte. At the time of writing, these records are gradually being gradually put online by the Italian National Archives. However this project is still far from complete. See: http://www.antenati.san.beniculturali.it/en/home

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Try Genlighten. I don't know if they have any professionals registered for Italy, but I've connected with some for Ukraine and Poland before.

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