"What makes these people tick" EGO?

[Old Mother Reilly]

Hi Rootschatters:

It seems we all have a slightly different approach: but then our circumstances and starting points and aims are all different too!

I keep my tree private - my wider family and friends have access on an invitation-only site, should they want it.  New research doesn't get on there until it's fully verified and, unless the people involved seem significant, only the main branches are added.  That doesn't mean that I haven't looked into the fascinating lives of some of my more incidental and distant relations - I have and it's been great and caused me to learn a lot about the history of England and Ireland and their politics and people.

I am a little selfish in that, whilst I have had some success "tree searching" for common ancestors on GR, I will not put MY tree there!  I am happy to type out the particular family connection for anyone who has the courtesy to reply to an enquiry and I will answer any query they might have for me, if I can.  I have been amused and pleased by the information from some of these contacts.

I also use GR to look for the descendants of two of my indirect branches: in one case because I have some information which might interest the descendants and in the other because I want to know what happened to the people after WW1 started and have no other way of finding out!

I have also had the good fortune to come across three highly informative family name websites, positively bulging with information.  On giving credentials, they have released various trees, etc.  As these appear to have been rigorously researched and relate to geographical areas where I am unable to undertake personal research it seems unnecessarily churlish to insist on purely doing it myself.  However, I admit to finding it less satisfying - there are no "eureka" moments finding family history this way!

"Poaching" trees indiscriminately seems to me to be a pointless and shabby thing to do - it misses the point of family history for me, which is learning about who these people were, how they lived and how they were affected by the rules and regs of the day.  Not having found any high-born ancestors I am constantly amazed that any of them survived at all given the conditions they lived in.  I am fascinated at how some of them were so static and others so mobile and what made the difference.  If I had simply lifted the names from the net I would have paid them little individual attention and not found out anything about them - I feel I would have been the poorer for it.

Rachel

[Jayson]

Some people might not be able to get to a record office or library so as a consequence of this they rely solely on whatever comes their way via the net.  I really cannot understand why some folk are so reluctant to share their information.  If one was going to publish a book or something then I could understand it.  Keeping a "closed shop" mentality might also hinder discovering more exciting information.

Jayson

[behindthefrogs]

I am quite willing to share any of the information with anyone who is willing to reciprocate.  I accept that having been looking at my family for twenty years someone new to the scene will have a lot less to reciprocate.

However for example a recent contact who had only been researching their family for a few weeks has provided me with a photograph of my wife's great grandmother and all her daughters.  That photograph is well worth me providing him with details of ten generations of his family.  What I do expect is for the people to whom I am willing to freely give the fruits of many years of research to at least offer a few crumbs in exchange.

Similarly we all use the transcriptions which others have carried out but in return we should do some transcibing ourselves.

David

[Gadget]

Some people might not be able to get to a record office or library so as a consequence of this they rely solely on whatever comes their way via the net.  I really cannot understand why some folk are so reluctant to share their information.  If one was going to publish a book or something then I could understand it.  Keeping a "closed shop" mentality might also hinder discovering more exciting information.

Jayson

Hi cousin-in-law 

If we'd kept a closed shop with the Pulestons, where would I be now 

It led me to masses of exciting information 

Gadget 

[LoneyBones]

Well it seems to me it's not ego, it's one-up-man-ship!
Who gives a @#%@ how long I've been doing it? So long as I'm doing it and enjoying it. Who cares how many names I've got in my tree? So long as I've got a tree. I'm happy 
Leonie.

[Maggott]

Pity we can't establish a researchers'  protocol whereby you ask before grafting someone else's tree on to yours.  Should leave everyone happy
Maggott

[Mum44]

Leonie - you're right

It is a hobby after all, not a matter of life and death!  

Perhaps it's cos we're addicted ?    

It's personal to us, but we should realise that not everyone is as committed and not every-one in the game is a family historian - some are ancestor collectors, and there's a difference!  

But each to his own, and a hobby is supposed to be for enjoyment.  Once you start getting up-tight about it, it can stop being fun and start being an obsession .

Rather be addicted than obsessed (I think!)      

[LoneyBones]

I think I'm both 
For the record, I've been 'doing it' since my daughter was six months old and my M-in-law got out a box of old photos to show me how much my daughter looked like her grandmother. I think 'the bug' was in the box. My daughter is a grandmother herself now.
And I wouldn't have a clue how many names there are in our trees, and I wouldn't know how many certificates I have and I'm not going to count them because then I might have some idea how much I've spent on them and feel guilty about it 
Leonie.

[Erato]

"Pity we can't establish a researchers'  protocol whereby you ask before grafting someone else's tree on to yours."

The protocol seems pretty simple to me.  If you don't want your tree "stolen," then don't put it out on the net.

I think it is fair to assume that information publically displayed on internet sites has been placed there because the author thought that it might be interesting or useful to other people.  So why then feel aggrieved if someone does find it useful and copies it or parts of it?  The author hasn't lost anything and might even gain a new contact and new information.