PLEASE DO NOT REPLY TO THIS MESSAGE AS THE SUBJECT IS REALLY OFF TOPIC. DO NOT START A THREAD HERE. I KNOW THAT MANY ARE MISINFORMED ABOUT THE ANNOUNCEMENT AND ARE CONCERNED THAT THEIR INFORMATION IS BEING SOLD. PLEASE READ THE ANNOUNCEMENT BELOW. ANY QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS SHOULD BE REFERRED TO EITHER ANCESTRY.COM CUSTOMER SOLUTIONS - http://ancestry.custhelp.com or ROOTSWEB'S HELPDESK - http://helpdesk.rootsweb.com At the end of April, Ancestry.com released a preview of a new service called the OneWorldTreeSM service. This preview is just the first step toward a powerful new tool for your genealogical research. The preview status of the release has prompted questions and speculation. We hope the following information will help clear up some of the confusion regarding the OneWorldTree service. OneWorldTree does two things. € First, it searches family history records. It does not modify or replace the original records. € Second, it compiles the information in an effort to group the ones that go with a given person (a process we call ³stitching²), and provides references to the original sources. The first collection of records stitched into OneWorldTree was the Ancestry World Tree. Ancestry.com will continue to add records to the OneWorldTree system in an effort to provide more valuable data for our users, including trees, census records, and vital records. RootsWeb¹s World Connect Project is among the databases that will be searched and stitched as part of the OneWorldTree service. Family Trees submitted through Ancestry World Tree and RootsWeb World Connect are free and will remain free. Any options chosen by submitters with respect to GEDCOM download and source display will still work the same way. OneWorldTree doesn¹t contain those trees, it contains links that help people find them. We hope that the genealogy community will see the value of searching and stitching in the greater context of sharing family history information, and that they will add and update their trees. In order to be included in OneWorldTree, family trees must meet certain criteria. If you want to be sure that your tree will be included in the new OneWorldTree service, or if for any reason you do not want your tree to be part of OneWorldTree, please visit http://trees.ancestry.com/owt/checklist.aspx for more information.