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Archiver > NJUNION > 2000-10 > 0972501439


From: "Wilson B.Brown" <>
Subject: Re: [NJUNION] An Alert to Fellow Listers!
Date: Wed, 25 Oct 2000 14:17:19 -0500


Technically, any material you write has a copyright. As with any
copyrighted work, someone else can extract information from it or use brief
quotations. Even if the other person takes the whole of the work, supplies some
guesses as to dates, and posts it, you would have to supply some proof of
financial or personal damage in order to sustain charges in a court and your
gain would be far less than your costs.

But a lot is incumbent on the user of the information. Sometimes I explore or
download six or seven genealogies, but I wouldn't use the information without
exploring some of the sources or fit with other material. We don't have a
Genealogical Seal of Approval; these things just get posted. Maybe it's because
I have been a professor for 30 plus years, but I can spot fairly quickly whether
a genealogy is going to be worthwhile or whether it is a compilation of other's
web information with no sense of where any information came from. These are
sometimes useful as hints, but it is still incumbent on the user to evaluate the
information.

I think, too, that many of these people who post information without checking
with the informants should recognize that they may be hurting the people who
gave it freely. Some of them may not realize that asking permission and giving
thanks is not just something your mother did or did not teach you to do.
Perhaps if we understand that we might make someone cry or spend a sleepness
night, we will all be more careful.

Wilson Brown

Rex wrote:

> Jan and all,
>
> I too, have been burnt badly, much as have you and yes, it hurt - I actually
> cried. What made me really angry was that the person who "stole" my data,
> got it all messed up prior to his putting it on his website and refused to
> correct it despite my repeated entreaties for him to do so. I have met the
> best and the worst of the genealogy world, as have we all - I suspect that
> I, myself, lie somewhere in between.
>
> On the other hand, I am working on a gedcom right now which will contain
> many Essex, Union and Morris Co. NJ families and yes, I do intend to put it
> up on Rootsweb's World Connect project. In my search for my own family, I
> have found a lot of additional information and it seems that it would be a
> shame if I were not to share it. Somebody out there might be desperately
> searching for one of those connections that I have stumbled across while
> tearing up the landscape. I am sure that I have also made errors and
> getting the gedcom "up" will allow others to contact me with additions and
> corrections. One of the best ways to "prove" a line is by comparing data
> with someone who has hacked their way up from the other end.
>
> Much of the information that I shall be posting has come from others as they
> have given me information regarding their own branches of the family. In
> one particular instance, the husband of a distant cousin had some
> information, largely derived from family records but spectacularly lacking
> in detail. I entered that line into my gedcom and gave him full credit for
> it. I then did some additional research and was able to fill in many of
> those missing dates, places, etc and yes, I did credit him for the entire
> line - my thinking was that, had it not been for him, I might not have found
> that branch of the family for some time and that it would have been rather
> meanspirited of me to insert notes stating that I had filled in the rest of
> what he did not have. This person also had the bible records which were
> crucial in providing the link to the line which I had been searching for a
> very long time and anything that I could do to flesh out his wife's line
> would be small repayment for what he has given me.
>
> The one thing that I make a real effort to do, is to enter the information
> into my files and then send an outline of the finished product to the
> contributor and ask him/her to check it for accuracy and I also make it
> clear that at some point, I do intend to upload to World Connect. If
> someone requests that I not include their family, I then ask if I can place
> a note in the file to the effect that those wishing to know more about that
> particular line should contact that person directly.
>
> This has been a hard decision to make but I feel that I want to share the
> information and by placing the gedcom on Rootsweb, I also will be taking the
> responsibility to keep it updated, which means that when I receive an email
> that states that I have "gotten everything all wrong", I will then take
> steps to cheerfully correct the information and credit those who have
> contributed. It will no longer be "my" gedcom, but then, it never really
> was.
>
> I always try to keep in mind that this is not just "my family". I share "my
> family" with countless other descendents who have exactly the same rights to
> that knowledge as do I. Since my research also takes me into many
> associated families, I have many individuals in my files who are not my
> direct ancestors at all but nevertheless, I shall include them and the
> descendents of those individuals are just as important as those who are
> related to me by blood - besides, the way these early NJ families
> intermarried, I am constantly amazed by the way these lines get all twisted
> up. For me, the joy is all about finding "them" - it really isn't about
> "me" at all.
>
> I apologize for the length of this message but I thought that it might be
> valuable to hear from someone who has been the victim of a similar incident
> and once I upload this gedcom (if I ever get it finished to my
> satisfaction), no doubt, I shall find that despite my best efforts, I will
> have stepped on someone's toes and as such, will probably be perceived as
> the perpetrator of the very same action that once hurt me so badly. I only
> hope that I have the integrity to handle the situation with grace and
> dignity and respect for my fellow researchers.
>
> Teri
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Jan Jacot <>
> To: <>
> Date: Wednesday, October 25, 2000 7:31 AM
> Subject: Re: [NJUNION] An Alert to Fellow Listers!
>
> >Gosh Judy, I don't think my posts say that "I am upset".
> >I tried hard to word clearly only to bring explanation to listers and
> >researchers of what I encountered, and what potentially lurks out there.
> >
> >I think we all have individual styles of doing genealogy--I personally
> enjoy
> >inter-actions, trying to help others, and yes, practicing prudence but at
> >same time not wishful to living in a cacoon.
> >
> >My sincere thanks for sharing your thoughts in response this morning.
> >Hope we get more ideas and thoughts from listers...
> >
> >Jan in CA
> >
> >----------
> >>From: Judy Pisano <>
> >>To:
> >>Subject: Re: [NJUNION] An Alert to Fellow Listers!
> >>Date: Wed, Oct 25, 2000, 5:16 AM
> >>
> >
> >> Dear Jan and everyone:
> >> Besides the incorrect data, I'm not sure exactly
> >> what you are so upset about. If you never wanted your
> >> research to be seen by others, don't give it out! I
> >> do my research to satisfy my own curiosity, and if
> >>
> >

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