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Archiver > OHCLERMO > 2000-02 > 0949778293


From: Claudia Cox Welton <>
Subject: To share or not to share . . . that is the question.
Date: Sat, 05 Feb 2000 11:18:13 -0800


INTERNET GENEALOGY - WHAT'S GOOD! WHAT'S NOT!
> . . . AND WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO ABOUT IT?
The internet cruiser,
He is totally oblivious to the fact he is doing more
harm
than good both to himself and others. Why are you taking
up
byte space and my time to read this unskilled query? It is easier to
ignore
this query than deal with it.
************************************
Hi, Hermon, I would like you to expound on this a little more, as
everyone on the Clermont Co. mail list respects you so much. What is
this person really saying?
I do this just as a hobby, I enjoy seeing the names come together,
particularly during the 1800's where cousins married cousins, weaving a
familial tapestry through our family Bibles. I love the fast sharing of
files, the treasures that are hidden within the names, dates and places
of those gone before. But it's not my life, I am not a professional
genealogist, I do not want to write a book - but I can't hold what I
have found all to myself and expect others to share with me. I don't
take time to cite sources on any material but my own direct lines; it is
not interesting to me to do and would take up most of my inputting
time. I have been notified of corrections or additions, which I am very
pleased to do, and I have taken names off my family file of one person
who was insulted to see her grandparents there - okay, off they come!
I do understand that this is more than a hobby for some; some do it to
earn money, also. It becomes the reason they get up in the morning. I
do understand that as that is the way I feel about my children. But for
the same way that I would not tell someone how to raise their children,
I am a little taken aback by the way someone doesn't like the way I put
names and dates on my website. My thoughts are that they can take what
I have compiled or leave it, but what I share with them may give them a
clue of a surname or a location where they can send for that birth
certificate on their own. I can see how it is very frustrating for
someone to feel so deeply about something and not have others take them
seriously . . . I really do. And I hope that no one is insulted by this
response - I really am wanting to enter the discussion from my point of
view without causing friction. There might be someone else out there
that feels the same way as I.
So, what do you think the author is trying to accomplish? I can tell
you right now that I don't have the time or inclination to send away for
every bit of detail from the government, but I still want to be involved
in genealogy on the internet. Should we put a title behind our names so
others know that we are not "seriously dedicated", just hobbyists? That
way they could decide to share or not to share with us. I know that
Professional Genealogists have a title, or perhaps there could be
Certified Websites - "All material on this website has been documented
and verified".
I look forward to your response,
Claudia Cox Welton, C.I.M.A.
(Casually Interested in My Ancestors)

http://www.familytreemaker.com/users/w/e/l/Claudia-C-Welto

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