Since I came back to researching my roots I instantly found
that the Internet has greatly expanded the reach of the genealogist. Numerous paid online sites such as Ancestry,
MyHeritage, and Geneanet allow subscribers to search and access their holdings
for genealogical gold. These sites and
other web pages also allow their users to upload family trees for either public
or private viewing. These online family trees
have both pros and cons to them.
I use all of the above mentioned sites. My family information is public except for
the data on living people. I will not publicize
any vital data on any of my living relatives.
My online tree is public so that I can easily share my information with
anyone researching the same families or individuals. Hopefully my available info will prompt
another researcher to contact me. Some
researchers call this "cousin baiting." Data is posted and other genealogists find it
and then contact the tree owner. I do
this to lure other researchers to my tree and perhaps we find common
ancestors/relatives and then we can collaborate. So far I have been successful finding other
cousins who are also researching their lines.
Using the MyHeritage site, I have found numerous cousins in the
Netherlands who are researching the same lines as myself. This was accomplished with their "smart
matches."
At the same time using the same online sites can have cons
also. The biggest con that I have found
is incorrect data on the Internet. New
genealogists need to realize that just because they found their ancestor on the
Internet does not make the new found data correct. The information definitely could be but not
always. There is a lot of misinformation
on the Net. Aside from obviously wrong
data such as a child being born well after the death of his/her mother, I have seen other people's data on websites
and they list their ancestors under nicknames.
Perhaps they did not know their ancestor's real name?
Unsourced information is another dilemma on the Net. Where did the researcher find this
information? Did the info come from a marriage record, census record, bible
record, or an interview? Another genealogist may want to recheck the record for
accuracy or look for other information that might have been missed.
On Ancestry I found incorrect data on some of my ancestors
on other researcher's trees. I contacted
the owner's of these trees to explain their error. Some individuals were very glad to correct
their data. Others simply have ignored
my notes to them and the wrong data stays in cyberspace for others to
find. Unfortunately no one except the
tree owner can correct or remove the data.
Another dilemma that I have read about and have experience
with is other researchers taking your data without giving credit to the
original researcher. On blogs and forums
that I read, some researchers are vehement about not posting their family tree
online for fear that someone may take their information and use it as their
own. I do not fear that issue. I welcome anyone to view and use my
data. It would be nice if they did give
credit to me in their work; but if they
do not so be it. I posted many
photos of my ancestors on Ancestry and I have been notified numerous times that
another user attached my photo to their tree.
I am glad when this occurs but always question myself as to why these
people do not contact me for more information.
I have not dealt with this issue yet but I have
heard that it can be difficult to delete your online tree on certain
sites. I do not understand why it would
be difficult to do this? But that is what I have read. If I were to guess; perhaps their
subscription expired and now they want to remove their tree. Without having a current account, I would not
expect a subscription site to let someone update the account. I believe that if the account is valid then
the user should be able to alter, change, or delete the information at
will. Perhaps I am wrong?
