In a message dated 1/5/03 12:56:48 PM, [email protected] writes: <<I HATE it when I'm searching for information - and come across someone's web site and see that they've taken my info (more likely than not - PARTS of my info without giving adequate disclaimer, etc.) that I've used to base a theory on, or a lead that I'm searching out but haven't proven yet, but they state it as FACT. I HATE THAT!!! >> Dina, I come across that all the time; in fact, it really turned me off of genealogy research on the Internet at the beginning. The people with the technical proficiency to get on the Internet in those days were the ones whose genealogical proficiency could be placed in a thimble. If you asked someone for a source, you got either no answer or DUuhhhhh. Another example of people lifting one's writings: when I first "met" Janet, she had papers that some of her cousins had written, with much of my "stuff" incorporated in the body of their papers and with no references whatsoever (some were taken from county histories). When these things are passed around and around, I have to feel sorry for anyone who tries to document the statements in them. If at least the book of publication is mentioned, then the reader can look up that history and find out who submitted the story. I ALWAYS want to find the original, original source of everything. Once, a few years ago, I came across a book which listed Reuben Barrett as a Rev. War participant from S. C. There were about 6 sources listed by his name, and I recognized that some sources I had not seen. So, I went to the Interlibrary loan desk at the little local library and started ordering each of these books (I actually asked for Xerox copies of the appropriate pages knowing that the really old books don't circulate) and stuck with her until she was able to find ALL of them! I was concerned that there might have been some original paper work on Reuben's service that I had missed. This is just one example of striving to find original sources. I think it's extremely inconsiderate and thoughtless for anyone to offer ANY genealogical fact or story without making it clear how the reader can access the source. I firmly believe that YOU should look at the document in its original form and YOU should make the interpretation of that document. YOU might have an entirely different take on it. As an example, YOUR qualifications for interpreting the old handwriting correctly in the light of the historical significance might be far above those of the person who circulated the writing. That's the real reason that provenance is important. But, I agree, it does cut to the core when you find the things you wrote "out there" with no source. There have always been bad genealogists, and they have proliferated due to the ease of the Internet. It's a problem that's not going away soon. Karen