On Mon, 14 Jan 2008 14:14:59 -0700, hlmw <hlmw1@telus.net> wrote: > > >Texas Gen wrote: >> John wrote: >> >>> 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. >>> >> >> I don't mean to diminish the efforts of those who want to share their >> research on Ancestry, but I agree with you. When I am absolutely certain >> that the tree has an error, I write a [I hope] gracious Post-It to the >> relevant page. I thank them for sharing their research, and then mention >> the different information that I have and its source. Sometimes the author >> makes the correction, sometimes not. Sometimes the author makes the >> correction, citing me and my own source(s), which is considerate. >> >> Unfortunately we get erroneous information and pass it around so much that >> it is finally taken as gospel because it appears in so many places. >> >> Regards, >> >> Donna > > Yes, it gets passed on by people who are 'doing genealogy' and gathering >names of people who may or may not be their ancestors. I tried to help >someone to trace her lineage this past summer back to the 1700s where one >man appeared having 2 sets of parents! I spent weeks winding my way through >films of parish records ordered through LDS to try to sort out the problem. I >also looked in the Ancestral File to see what was going on only to find that 24 >people had submitted names and lineage for that particular family. I gave up >when the person I was trying to help said: (of the 24 submissions): "I guess I'll >go with this one, it looks the most likely one. I know her, she has done a lot of >work on our "family genealogy". I protested to no avail. In some way, it is >likely that all the submissions will find their way on to Ancestry also. This is an >example of the 'desire' to get one's genealogy 'done' at any cost. >> >Lorna > I haven't done a lot, yet, but I have a ton of names and data in a tentative tree. I will sometimes pass along that information, but I make it very clear that it is not sourced, and should not be taken as gospel, but as a basis for further research. Information I have obtained from Ancestry, the LDS and other researchers, unless sourced, is just that, as far as I am concerned - a basis for further research. The only thing I trust without documentation is my mother's word for things that occurred within her memory span, because you just have to take some things on faith. :-) -- Jane