I have to take a contrary view here because I don't see this as the huge issue some are making it out to be. With the advent of internet research tools like ancestry.com and genes reunited, you're going to have to expect a democratization of genealogical research. It's no longer confined to the careful researches who tirelessly haunt archives and send off letters, and source every piece of data they find. Now it's open to anyone who can log onto a system and type in some search terms. Whether that disturbs you as a historical researcher or not, that's just the way it is now. The idea behind ancestry.com (which is the online tree I use) is that information is to be shared. I have an extensive tree online that goes far beyond my own direct line. I do NOT consider it my "official" genealogy, but rather a gathering place of sources and data. It is full of errors I'm constantly correcting as I find them. When I am sure of a source or a connection, the information is transferred to the "official" tree on my hard drive. Any proprietary data is there and there only. If I post something to my ancestry tree (be it photos, information, letter snippets etc) it's because I'm happy to put it in the public domain and it's there for the taking (or linking). A quick read of the Terms of Service at Ancestry confirms that this is how the service works. If you post something online, expect it to be linked to or used. If you don't want that to happen, take it offline! The reason so many errors are made with online connections is because ancestry.com (I have no experience with GR so can't speak to that) encourages via their *hints* to connect and link to information in other trees. You can't really blame people, especially those fairly new to genealogical research, for taking these hints. Even I have accepted dubious hints occasionally, because I know that eventually I will do the necessary checking to see if the fit is true. I have got many, many emails from people naming someone from the 5000+ people on my tree, claiming them as an ancestor and asking how I'm related. I don't mind answering when I have the time, but more often than not, it's not someone from my direct line they're inquiring about. This is because I tend to do a lot of lateral adding to my online tree. There are a few reasons for this: 1. I'm interested in the way families in a relatively small geographic area have interwoven themselves throughout history. My online data is almost as much a genealogy of a place, as much as it is of a DNA connection. 2. When I hit a block in my own line and/or can't sleep I often work on my "peripheral" lines. I enjoy the mental puzzle of figuring out a particular line even when they're not directly related to me. I've noticed that this bothers people more than I think it should once I've explained my connection. There's almost a proprietary tinge of "why are MY great grandparents on YOUR ancestry tree?" I guess the rude answer, which I never give except in my own head is "Because I pay for this service and I'll use it as I see fit." I am stealing nothing. I am fixing assumptive errors wherever I find them (and I find them often - it's amazing how many people rely on the drop-down geographic suggestions, so that what should be "Frontenac, Ontario" is often listed as, say, "Frontenac, Minnesota" or "Frontenac, New Guinea". I make the changes I can to my online tree and hope that the more accurate information is propagated outward. I don't worry about individual users' errors - I figure a lot of them don't really care that much if they don't do the research themselves. It's not good research, but it's also none of my business. I have a good idea how accurate my offline tree is. Nothing makes it on there without sources. My online tree though is for my own use and for the use of anyone who comes across it. Whether they take the information within it and use it as a starting point, or take entire lines and copy them to their own tree as gospel truth is entirely up to them. Liana On Sun, Aug 16, 2009 at 9:01 PM, Karen Sorrell<sorrellk@hotmail.com> wrote: > > Hi Sue, > > I don't actually believe it be carelessness - I have found that it's frequently just plain laziness. Family history has become such a popular pursuit and the advent of the internet has led many to believe that if they just hop online, they'll have their entire family history back to Adam and Eve in a single afternoon. Of course, Ancestry doesn't help the situation with its One World Tree feature which tries frantically to connect your rellies with everyone else's! > > As a professional researcher, I find it offensive when people blithely help themselves to the work I have spent more than a decade on and then either refuse to answer my polite enquiries as to just how they think their often inaccurate information ties in with with mine, or else insist on a link even when I send them proof that they're barking up the wrong family tree! At one point I had to get the administrators of GenesReunited involved to stop the harrassing e-mails I was getting from one particular indivdual, and all because I asked him for the evidence that my grandfather's first wife was in actuality his great-grandmothe,r as he refused to accept my diligent - and throughly sourced - research. > > I have long since stopped updating the trees I have posted on Rootsweb/Ancestry and GR. I'm accessible by e-mail and if anyone wants to contact me, I'm always more than happy to help. Everyone should be wary of possible links found online. Do your own research and find the evidence to corroborate what you've found. To do anything else is just dishonest. > > Here endeth my rant....;-)) > > Karen in Ontario > > _________________________________________________________________ > Stay in the loop and chat with friends, right from your inbox! > http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=9671354 > ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ > > Admin Message - List guidelines: > http://freespace.virgin.net/genealogical.collections/AdminMessage.htm > > The list admin can be contacted at > Eng-Liverpool-admin@rootsweb.com > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to ENG-LIVERPOOL-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message >