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May I Rant??!!!

May I Rant??!!!

Posted: 11 Dec 2004 3:21AM GMT
Classification: Query
Hey folks....I am so very frustrated.......while I am now actually getting myself to the Dept. of Archives and seeing "true" facts, I have spent much of the past year getting lots of good info from the internet.

BUT.....my frustration is with the folks who have listed their "genealogy" on Rootsweb or other sites, numerous times....in other words, they just seem to keep posting new genealogies....and not correcting the ones they've already posted which are in error!

I've noticed the dates when people go in and "update". They don't seem to have umpteen listings....

Is there a way one can ask that their redundant listings be removed and just retain the correct listing?

I know now that these are only guides....and to check the facts for yourself......but so much of the listings seem to come from disks or CD's that have the wrong info.....and folks just plop them up on the boards and go happily away.......

Rant over!!!!

Just want to say that if it weren't for these type query boards, I would never have gotten as far as I have with my research. I still consider myself very much a "newbie", but am trying to learn!!!

Re: May I Rant??!!!

Posted: 12 Dec 2004 8:21PM GMT
Classification: Query
Edited: 29 Mar 2005 9:41PM GMT
Betty,
Your rant is not without merit. It is so true that there are multiple trees online by the same posters who have only just made new trees rather than to correct them. This matter was addressed in several Rootsweb Review newsletters recently, which gave specific instructions on how to correct this, as well as an explanation of why some of those trees are still there. Basically, Ancestry.com and Rootsweb have separate ways of uploading a tree, which now appear on either site. It is also because people using Rootsweb to upload their trees are not using the "Edit Your family tree online" link on Rootsweb's Home Page to update their trees. When you use the "Edit" option to upload your tree already online, it automatically replaces the old tree, and it shows the date that it is being updated. This is a wonderful option, and people do need to use it, because I agree, there is way too much redundant information on multiple trees by the same author, that doesn't include any corrections that might have been placed on that author's newer tree. For anyone not familiar with the process, I am posting this link to the Rootsweb Review dated September 29, 2004, which is among the many times they've commented on this issue. This article was entitled "Pruning Redundant Branches":

http://ftp.rootsweb.com/pub/review/20040929.txt

For anyone interested in getting regular information about what's going on in the genealogy world, as well as good tips about how to do their research, I would urge them to subscribe to Rootsweb Review and/or Ancestry Daily Newsletter, which are available for FREE at each site. They are delivered directly to your email box, and they provide invaluable information to help everyone in their research.




Deloris Williams

P.S.
I have ONE tree online viewable through either Rootsweb or Ancestry for free, and I update it at least every three weeks with any new data I find.

Re: May I Rant??!!!

Betty Rose (View posts)
Posted: 13 Dec 2004 12:53AM GMT
Classification: Query
Deloris, thanks so much for your kind reply, and for folks like you who CARE about the quality of the trees they post online.

I have written a few notes to some people and they have responded very nicely and corrected the info on their line.

I think I will post one on the site of another, tho there are so many listings by this person, I don't know if they will be interested in correcting and/or/ deleting the redundant postings.

It just hit a nerve with me the other night and I posted. I am out here "flailing around" and really count on the goodness of others. I am not ready yet to post my tree....but will when I think my facts are legit!!!

Thanks again!

Re: May I Rant??!!!

Posted: 13 Dec 2004 6:10PM GMT
Classification: Query
You are Welcome.

As I said, it doesn't take much effort to correct information in one's tree, I do it all of the time thanks to the good folks out there who supply new or leads to new info for me to research my tree.
Happy hunting, Betty.


Deloris

Re: May I Rant??!!!

Mildred Savoie (View posts)
Posted: 14 Dec 2004 3:45PM GMT
Classification: Query
I am glad to hear that you have received nice replys. I contacted a person that had posted incorrect information on my family. It was information that I knew and could prove was incorrect. The reply that I received was about the rudest anyone could write. She informed me that the information that she had posted had been verified and gave me reference that had no mention of the person that she had posted as a child who was in fact a nephew.
The information is still on the internet. This experience has caused me to seriously question any information that I read on any of the genealogy sites.

Re: May I Rant??!!!

Betty D. Alexander (View posts)
Posted: 14 Dec 2004 4:45PM GMT
Classification: Query
Yes, I also agree that we should not post trees until they are as complete and accurate as possible.

Re: May I Rant??!!!

Posted: 14 Dec 2004 8:36PM GMT
Classification: Query
Mildred,
I am so sorry that you've had such a bad experience. I believe that people that post their trees online have a responsibility to listen to those who question their information and to check it for themselves before they dismiss them. I've had many people respond to my tree about one individual or another, and mostly they have been helpful in supplying some missing info that I had no knowledge of. In return, they are very grateful for the info they find about an ancestor that they were looking for. I include my sources online so that everyone can see where the info is coming from, and that helps to clarify for people how that info was arrived at. In a couple of cases, I had the wrong surname for a bride or I showed an individual married to the wrong person by the same name. In those cases, the person contacting me was able to correct me on this, and I gladly accept the help. But I also have heard of cases like yours, where the person putting the tree online refuses to do any corrections. As a matter of fact, I had run into a particular tree with my info on it, even crediting me as the source. The only problem with that, was that the info was an incorrect conclusion I had arrived at a few years before and had posted a message on a board asking for info on the family. Since then, I had found out the right info, but when I asked the person online to correct their info, they ignored me entirely, and the tree still exists online with that incorrect info. That was what prompted me to put my tree online, and to include the sources so that people will see where the info came from. I think it is important that people take care when they place their work online to understand that there are others out there who are looking at their work, and that they are responsible for the info that they are putting out there. Also, on the other side, it is important that when one finds a tree online with their family data, they should try to research that info themselves before they accept it as gospel. This is especially true with trees that have no sources listed, because many times it is just a collection of someone else's work.


Deloris

Re: May I Rant??!!!

Betty Rose (View posts)
Posted: 14 Dec 2004 9:01PM GMT
Classification: Query
Well, I think probably the worst thing is when one buys a CD that supposedly has the correct genealogy on it? I don't know how this works....but have seen references on the LDS site.....who put these together in the first place?

I guess you could use them as "leads".....but it just gets me when people only post a name or two.....and no really good info that goes along with it......

If you have a respondent who is rude and unwilling to correct an obvious mistake, then I am stubborn enough to post something on these boards and try to correct the mistake. One doesn't have to be ugly about it......just factual!!!!

Glad to see I am not the only one out there who is frustrated!

Re: May I Rant??!!!

Posted: 15 Dec 2004 2:42AM GMT
Classification: Query
Those CD's with family trees on them are just the same thing you see on the internet that someone has downloaded to one of the genealogy websites. Only the website copies them, and distributes them for a fee to the general public. That's one reason I don't use those because they are making you pay for someone else's work.


Deloris

Re: May I Rant??!!!

Ernest Green (View posts)
Posted: 16 Dec 2004 12:33AM GMT
Classification: Query
Here is my take on this problem. Please don't quit posting family trees just because someone is not cooperative. I have posted my tree on Roots Web and keep it updated, there is only one tree out there. I started with about 12 names and now have several thousand. I got this far because my info was out there, not that it was perfect. I have made many contacts from my tree being posted, I am constantly getting updated info. If we quit posting because of others, we all loose. I would not be where I am now if I had not posted. My line has been very difficult, and many people have helped. So keep up the good work.
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