Uneasy about online tree

[wrjones]

This a grey area here,for there is often a delicate balance between what is public and private.I for one know that if I had not made details of my Tree public,then I would have made very little progress.I have come across those who,I have to say naively,try to keep details of their mothers maiden name "private".This is a false premise,as any genealogist worth their salt.would find such info easily via the GRO Birth Index.Returning perhaps to what could have been the reasoning behind this thread,if we are talking about "Title" of any research that has been done,it really is a minor point,as the person doing the initial research,will very rarely "own" the sources for their info.

Regards
William Russell Jones
Cefn Mawr
Wrexham.

[jericho]

I recently shared some of my research with a new found relative, who then took all my research and put it on Ancestry, not only had she put wrong information but she put all the living issues online without permission of myself or any of the people involved. It took several messages to Ancestry and the person involved for them to remove the information.  It seems to me that all some people want is  the information about their family and are willing to take all the credit for it themselves regardless of how they collect the information..  Just recently the same person emailed to say that we had another connection and could I please pass on the information..... about her and her family,  because after I found the information on Ancestry I closed my tree on GR to her.

[KathMc]

I don't have my tree made public, but I do have notes in my program when I have received information from someone else. When I get a big bit of information from someone, I ask permission/let them know I am going to put it up, with credit. I do agree with Kevin -- if they are in your family, they are part of your tree -- but I also think giving credit where credit is due is necessary also.

And I big chunk of my tree was put up on a "new" rellies site, with nothing about the living people. He hadn't asked permission but he did credit me with the info I gave him. And I didn't have a problem with it. He had done an immense amount of work and took me back to the early 1600s on that side, so I was thrilled to be a part of all that. And I have been doing a lot of research on a couple people on that tree, which I will share with him when I am done.

Kath

[Helen D]

Hi

I agree with Kevin, William and Kath. I started off my internet research, idly Googling one day, when I came across someone who was researching my (rare) maiden name at the correct locality. She gradually gave me loads of evidence and contacts, all people who had done good research, so my only input was the addition of evidence I got through my personal branch.

I thanked her of course and have not as yet put my tree on the internet anywhere. However if I did put my tree on Ancestry for example, it would be bound to include stuff researched by my contact and her contacts, simply because they got there first.

Most of this information is in the public domain if you know where to look, and therefore no one owns this info and even if it is felt to be personal because it is about our ancestors, these people were  other peolpes ancestors/friends/neighbours/ relations as well.

I do agree that info about living people should not be posted, and that immediate sources must be acknowledged and thanked, but I think that as we are all connected not all that far back, we should not worry about 'controlling' or limiting access, but rather should open up and relax a bit, so that in a few years time we will all know our connections. ( You can choose your friends.......rootschatters , but cannot choose your relations )

Happy Christmas to all rootschatters, and many thanks to all those who have helped me up till now. I hope I will soon be clever enough to help others!

Helen

[pjbuk007]

I think one problem is that when one first buys FTM or joins Ancestry, it seems easy to store one's tree online; that is what they offer.  I started doing it that way.

Then one starts to read around the message boards, read the Terms & Conditions and search around the online trees and one discovers that:-

a) Ancestry/My Family has a history of taking data they store and distributing it on CDs for money, complete with mistakes if you made any.

b) There is a lot of really rubbish "research" out there.  I compared some trees with "my" names, and could see errors being perpetuated with no regard for the truth and no checking. 

c) One discovers that some "genealogists" just want to have huge trees.  Fine for them, but I want to really know who my ancestors were, where they lived and what they did.   People should realise that it is VERY UNLIKELY that one will get back to 1500 if not a member of the nobility.  To get back into the 18th century requires long hours with parish records.  But many do not care to do this.  Some folk seem to attach branches of other trees to theirs with dubious results.

d)  Of course finding others researching your names in your area is fantastic.  However, the best contacts I have made are from asking specific questions either on these boards, or in the local FHS magazines.  We have then shared our information via letter or email, including trees.  I have adsded some siblings others have told me about, but not whole generations without actually seeing the certificates.

So I for one deleted my data from Ancestry as well as I could.  If I do ever put my tree online it will NOT be on Ancestry, and I will acknowledge others' research.  As yet it is just not good enough for public consumption.

Just my thoughts on this - admit I am a bit obsessional about accuracy.  But if you are new I would be very wary about saving your trees online for the above reasons.

[suttontrust]

Thanks for your thoughts.  As I said, I'm not bovvered about it being online, since it already is.  It's what Ancestry can then do with it, and the lack of "Would you mind if I nicked all this research, added it to my tree and put it all on Ancestry?".  My cousin's husband is elderly and new to fh, so I think is a little naive about such things. 

[stonechat]

There are advantages and disavantages about having one's tree public

To my way of thinking, the advantes outweigh the disadvantages.

I have had quite a number of people find my tree on my website, in several cases adding really substantial information

I think that is worth more than one person on GR who copied many rellies onto his tree, and I can't even work out how he is related!

Bob

[Simon G.]

I feel that there should be an etiquette around this sort of thing.

Yes, there most certainly should.  Portions of my tree have been submitted to the LDS and is included on one of their Pedigree Resource File CDs...all without my consent.  I'm a bit irked by it, but there's no much I can do about it.  The only thing is I can have a degree of warped satisfaction that the person who submitted it will look like an idiot...'cause if they'd asked me first, they'd have found out I'd make a mistake that I discovered after they'd got at it.   Let that be a lesson to anyone who decides to reproduce someone else's work...ask first, for it might contain a cock up the person knows about.

[Tricia_2]

I have had this happen, too ~ but what is much worse, I think, is when living relatives are added, including children, and made public, having been discovered elsewhere.