In a message dated 3/25/01 6:53:54 PM Eastern Standard Time, singhals@erols.com writes: > Actually, that won't "overcome" anything. It simply ADDS to the problem. (g) > I was hunting for something over there the other day and of 16 "hits" 4 > appeared to be someone who had gotten into the database by accident because > there was no data, no parent, no spouse. Four more had one piece of info > each (NOT the same piece, of course). Three of the others had full data, > and it differed wildly; the rest seemed to have done a pick'n'choose off > the three with full data. Tossing a 17th "hit" in there will only > complicate matters, EVEN if it's totally accurate and fully documented. > > But, even the LDS quit trying to merge GEDCOMs into one lineage-linked > database because they faced too many "judgment calls". So we live with an > embarrassment of riches. > Cheryl- This comment isn't directed at you personally, <g> but 10 years ago when most of us did *all* our research in dusty, dimly lit courthouse basements or hunched over microfilm readers in a Family History Center spending many months to unravel ONE generation of one line of our ancestry, and snail mail was the about the only way to contact others with information on our ancestors, I think we'd have jumped at the chance to spend a few hours "online" in the comfort of our homes sorting through 12, 14, or even 20 GEDCOMs to see what documentation and sources are listed and what new "cousins" we can chat with to overcome obstacles and sort out what is accurate and what isn't. To sum it up...I think we've become spoiled. We want instant ancestors. I don't think we can ever have TOO MUCH information. Joan