People can quote rules of genealogy until they are blue in the face (or have knarled fingers from typing them) and I will still do my tree research the way "I" like. I do not tell you that you take your work to seriously, and to lighten up, do I? If you chose to follow rules or guidelines, great. But for anybody to tell people what is right and what is wrong with their own methods for research is pure "snobbery." Some of us do not strive to be "Professional" genealogists. When it is said, "I don't think I will get any thanks from a future gt.grandchild, or some distant cousin, for research that is carelessly done" I take that as a way of saying that if I chose to do my family tree research any other way than what your quoted guidelines say to do it, then I am doing "careless" work. Please do not insult others by holding them up to your standards. I do not hold you up to my standards (or down, as you may think). How about we just let this debate rest for awhile and continue doing our genealogy work the way we each see fit. If anybody does not like the way I do my research, tough. I do not force ANYBODY to live up to my standards or to accept my work. I do it for me. I hope that others can look at my work and glean some clues to help them on their way to finding what they look for. Have you never ever found a useful clue from a website with a tree that was NOT done by your own strict standards. The day my work and others like mine becomes a complete waste of space, is the day that a lot of people will quit looking. Some things can never be "proven" to the satisfaction of the few who demand it. Is it so important that your family history be correct? What about the grandmother or grandfather that was illegitimate? Can you prove or disprove it when it wasn't "documented?" Will you resort to digging up your DNA samples to "make sure?" Let's just do our own researching the way we like without asking others to conform to our own "rules." Carolyn Randall