I have a couple of questions about the http://www.familysearch.org/ web site which is maintained by the Mormon Church: -- I believe I read somewhere that the site is now closed to future postings. Is this correct? -- Is there any way to correct inaccuracies which I have found in my own family records? The site is a valuable source for confirming and enlarging information you already have, but it must be used with care. It is not "gospel," to coin a phrase.

Ray wrote: > I have a couple of questions about the http://www.familysearch.org/ web site > which is maintained by the Mormon Church: > > -- I believe I read somewhere that the site is now closed to future > postings. Is this correct? > Sort of. > -- Is there any way to correct inaccuracies which I have found in my own > family records? > Not unless you're Mormon. > The site is a valuable source for confirming and enlarging information you > already have, but it must be used with care. It is not "gospel," to coin a > phrase. As even the LDS complains. (g) Backing up to expand. Sort of: LDS is working on a replacement to be used for LDS purposes by LDS members. All future additions will go into that database. How / if that will affect non-member access to the familysearch.org site and the data thereon is a trifle unclear at the moment. Not Unless you're Mormom: *IF* you are Mormon and *IF* your Temple district has the replacement mentioned above, you can identify which pieces of information are more-correct than others. If either of those two conditions are not met, you cannot at this time do anything with it. At some point in the future, non-member access to the information will be permitted and it is thought by some that non-members as well as members will be allowed to attach comments to entries. As even the LDS complains : seems to me to need no further comment. Cheryl

"Ray" <rayj.balt@DELTHISverizon.net> wrote: > I have a couple of questions about the http://www.familysearch.org/ > web site which is maintained by the Mormon Church: > > -- I believe I read somewhere that the site is now closed to future > postings. Is this correct? > For the latest LDS efforts, check out http://labs.familysearch.org/ It's still in beta testing, but you can register for a taste of the new LDS offerings at: http://search.labs.familysearch.org/ > -- Is there any way to correct inaccuracies which I have found in my > own family records? > > The site is a valuable source for confirming and enlarging information > you already have, but it must be used with care. It is not "gospel," > to coin a phrase. > I don't know about corrections, or what you want to correct.. but if you are referring to the trees and pre-researched "pedigrees"... stay away from ALL of them unless you just want blanks filled in for the sake of a large tree. I've only found about 1 or 2% of any of them from ANY source to be properly cited, thereby suspect enough that you may as well do the research from the start yourself anyway. Imo, the BEST and FASTEST way to build a large tree with reasonably good sources & cites is to pay the bucks and subscribe to Ancestry.com and use FTM 2008 with it to help with auto-search and auto-merge. Just stay away from the Ancestry trees as well or use them cautiously and as a last resort when you're stuck. At some point, you'll eventually need to do the research manually in any event, and the best corrections of all are contributing your own properly documented/cited trees when you're done.

I agree with all you say. But as I said, the Mormon site can be of some value in confirming or enlarging what you have -- with great discretion. But I suspect as time goes on, if the palpable errors on the site could be corrected, its usefulness will grow. -- Ray "JD verizon.net>" <jd4x4@<del.this> wrote in message news:Xns9A255E1395932jd4x4verizonnet@199.45.49.11... > "Ray" <rayj.balt@DELTHISverizon.net> wrote: > >> I have a couple of questions about the http://www.familysearch.org/ >> web site which is maintained by the Mormon Church: >> >> -- I believe I read somewhere that the site is now closed to future >> postings. Is this correct? >> > For the latest LDS efforts, check out > http://labs.familysearch.org/ > > It's still in beta testing, but you can register for a taste of the new > LDS offerings at: > http://search.labs.familysearch.org/ > >> -- Is there any way to correct inaccuracies which I have found in my >> own family records? >> >> The site is a valuable source for confirming and enlarging information >> you already have, but it must be used with care. It is not "gospel," >> to coin a phrase. >> > I don't know about corrections, or what you want to correct.. but if you > are referring to the trees and pre-researched "pedigrees"... stay away > from ALL of them unless you just want blanks filled in for the sake of a > large tree. I've only found about 1 or 2% of any of them from ANY source > to be properly cited, thereby suspect enough that you may as well do the > research from the start yourself anyway. > > Imo, the BEST and FASTEST way to build a large tree with reasonably good > sources & cites is to pay the bucks and subscribe to Ancestry.com and use > FTM 2008 with it to help with auto-search and auto-merge. Just stay away > from the Ancestry trees as well or use them cautiously and as a last > resort when you're stuck. > > At some point, you'll eventually need to do the research manually in any > event, and the best corrections of all are contributing your own properly > documented/cited trees when you're done.

In my experience the trees you find at Ancestry.com aren't any more reliable or better cited than the ones at the LDS site. John "JD verizon.net>" <jd4x4@<del.this> wrote in message news:Xns9A255E1395932jd4x4verizonnet@199.45.49.11... > "Ray" <rayj.balt@DELTHISverizon.net> wrote: > >> I have a couple of questions about the http://www.familysearch.org/ >> web site which is maintained by the Mormon Church: >> >> -- I believe I read somewhere that the site is now closed to future >> postings. Is this correct? >> > For the latest LDS efforts, check out > http://labs.familysearch.org/ > > It's still in beta testing, but you can register for a taste of the new > LDS offerings at: > http://search.labs.familysearch.org/ > >> -- Is there any way to correct inaccuracies which I have found in my >> own family records? >> >> The site is a valuable source for confirming and enlarging information >> you already have, but it must be used with care. It is not "gospel," >> to coin a phrase. >> > I don't know about corrections, or what you want to correct.. but if you > are referring to the trees and pre-researched "pedigrees"... stay away > from ALL of them unless you just want blanks filled in for the sake of a > large tree. I've only found about 1 or 2% of any of them from ANY source > to be properly cited, thereby suspect enough that you may as well do the > research from the start yourself anyway. > > Imo, the BEST and FASTEST way to build a large tree with reasonably good > sources & cites is to pay the bucks and subscribe to Ancestry.com and use > FTM 2008 with it to help with auto-search and auto-merge. Just stay away > from the Ancestry trees as well or use them cautiously and as a last > resort when you're stuck. > > At some point, you'll eventually need to do the research manually in any > event, and the best corrections of all are contributing your own properly > documented/cited trees when you're done.