Being a professional genealogist, I have dealt with this type of situation and it can be very touchy. You do not want to discourage an exchange of genealogical information that may be beneficial to you but, at the same time, you do not want to have your hard-earned research used in a errant way by someone else. Below is a list of suggestions to help weigh the merit of sharing your genealogical research with someone you don't really know. 1. As the requester, I feel the asking party must prove how they are related to me and I have to be satisfied that they are correct. If I have any doubt of their motives, I discontinue contact. 2. I do my own basic research on what they provide to see if I feel it is correct. Request a few of specific source/citations or a few copies of original documents and see if you can find that information yourself. If they refuse or are not willing to provide a little bit of specific documentation, I discontinue contact. If I find definite evidence that the requester is barking up the wrong tree, I will gladly send what I find source/citation, documents and all, so hopefully, they will take that and continue down the correct path. 3. Put a copyright disclaimer on any information you send to someone else. This provides you with some protection if your research is used erroneously for profit without going through the proper procedures. Many times a copyright disclaimer will make the receiving party think twice about using your information without your permission. 4. Sometimes you have to be blunt. If you feel the person's research is wrong and they insist they are part of your tree, inform them of the discrepancies you see in a generalized fashion, i.e. I do not have record of my ancestor being in Ohio during that time frame or this ancestor would only have been 10 years old at that time so she is probably not the mother. Ask them to prove you wrong. If they are a true genealogist, they will appreciate the truth. And if it proves to be your missing link, you will benefit. But again, use caution. Make sure you see good, sound genealogy methods and documentation in their research. If not, steer clear. 5. If someone tries to publish a genealogical work without source/citations and original documents, no editor worth their salt is going to touch their project. If they self-publish for profit and you have used the copyright disclaimer on your research, you could have an attorney go after them. If they self-publish for their own use, there isn't much you can do. 6. My final point is to be careful what genealogical information you supply to someone else, even if you are related. DO NOT ever give out or post personal information on living individuals. There are persons out there that have been victims of identity theft because an unaware relative posted their personal information on the Internet in a family tree. Hope this helps, Pam Nixon Whispers From The Past Family History Research Service Westland, PA 15378-0008 Genealogy research services provided covering the southwestern Pennsylvania counties of Allegheny, Fayette, Greene, Washington and Westmoreland.