To all genealogists, I have been very concerned lately about the destruction of our hobby. The fate of genealogy is being written as we speak and it is in your hands to stop it. WHY THIS SUDDEN ALARM? Our data is being destroyed by two cancers known as "CUT AND PASTE" and "MERGE". ONLINE GENEALOGY I began my online genealogy in 1981, the reason for purchase of my first computer. Soon after I reasoned that if I could just afford that 3MB hard drive at Radio Shack for only $5000.00 my problems would be over, now at 6GB I am running out of space. I used to prowl around courthouse attics and weed covered graveyards to uncover a choice treasure now and then with great anticipation and joy. Now I can get a hundred times more info in an hour or two. So much so I haven't even had the time to read most of it, let alone put it into my own database. Which leads me to my point. CUT AND PASTE Being involved in keeping a Family Website, I get many requests for information, and some criticism as well. There are two camps. One thinks every fact needs to be on the Two Tablets Moses brought down from the mountains. The other thinks that if it is in ASCII it's proof enough. I have submitted my own tree to the WFT Project, most of which was my own work. Hoping to find corroborating works I check other trees often, only to discover my own work pasted into someone else's tree. THIS PRACTICE IS DESTROYING ONLINE GENEALOGY. FIRST, it gives undue validity. When one piece of erroneous information becomes 1000 pieces of the same erroneous information, it takes on a life of it's own and an enearned "truth". SECOND, it clutters up the internet search engines with hundreds of links to the same bogus info. When someone does try to verify a fact, they can't wade through the countless references. THIRD, file sizes are increased to the point of unmanageablility with the same, tired, redundant information, even when true. This makes sharing impractical. FOURTH, it discourages people with genuinely obtained first generation info from releasing it. FIFTH, if carried to it's logical conclusion, everyone will have the same file. All of them wrong. SIXTH, it makes compiling huge trees all too easy. SEVENTH, it makes it impossible to tell whether you are seeing a corroborating opinion of your data or a repeat of it. EXAMPLES Great database services, like GENSERV and the World Family Tree project, although well conceived and of great potential, are being ruined by well meaning genealogists who seed them with redundant information gathered from those very same databases. Private websites, including my own, have been swamped by large file sizes which are largely repeat information. (This was a result of my own policy, which I have rethought, so no criticism intended) Believe it or not I have been offered "Family Trees" in excess of 75 MB and over 125,000 names. I foolishly submitted some trees to add to this pile of spaghetti. WHAT CAN WE DO? I propose creating a guide for online genealogists. A compilation of voluntary "rules of the road". Netiquette for the Genealogist. To this end I am offering a few sample suggestions of my own to get the ball rolling. Please send your comments, criticisms, suggestions, pros and cons to me personally. (I do not subscribe to ALL the lists above) After compilation of the ideas, I will submit them for a vote. Success will be determined by the level of participation. Please submit ideas by April 24th. SUGGESTIONS If you have undocumented info to share, state that it is speculation. If you receive that information, paste it into your own file if you choose, but DO NOT redistribute it with your file. Instead, keep it as a separate entity. As a general rule, do not combine other people's data with your own files that you redistribute. Keep a file for your eyes only and another for distribution. Distribute only work which you have done yourself from primary sources, or have independently verified from primary sources. Do not simply pass along someone else's data because they have it documented either. Do everyone a favor and pass along transcripts of primary documents. If you find documents or trees on a website, download and keep it because it may evaporate unexpectedly, but do not redistribute it. Instead, if someone asks for it, check on it's availability and send them a link. SAMPLE SUBJECTS AND CATEGORIES Etiquette; File contamination avoidance; Source Documentation; Passing on other's data under what conditions; Submission to databases; Merging trees; Merging scraps of data; Requesting info; Providing info; Submissions to redundant websites or databases; Should we pass secondary info at all or just the source?; How about an unlinked but searchable family group sheet database, each submitted sheet required to be nearly complete and well sourced, and containing parents and children of the husband and wife? Any interest in an online index of primary documents with the cost of membership being to submit one? SEND ME YOUR IDEAS Thank you for your time, Dave THE KEYSTONE PROJECT - A PENNSYLVANIA CARD CATALOG of GENEALOGY FILES In it's infancy, please help! http://www.stonecabin.com/keystone __________________________________________________________________________ David H. Smith, Sr. Bensinger Family Genealogy dsmith@stonecabin.com http://www.stonecabin.com/bensinger