ROOTS-L Archives

From: Cathy Champion <>
Subject: Re: [ROOTS-L] Mis-information on Ancestry's site
Date: Mon, 1 Sep 2008 06:57:23 -0700 (PDT)
In-Reply-To: <13A000151EE745CC99176402383102DA@joespub>

Unfortunately, ANY information placed on the internet can be incorrect; it's only as good as the poster.
 
Ancestry is not the only genealogy website that has undocumented/incorrect information.  I have contacted a few people when I find incorrect items when their email address is online, but some people choose to not list theirs, or get new email addys and forget to update their contact information.
 
Also, some people will put three or four copies of their tree online, adding to and correcting the new ones and leaving the old, incorrect information online.  I don't know if this if due to laziness or a lack of understanding how to delete the old info.  It's irritating to have to sift through the mess.
 
I take a "buyer beware" approach to gedcoms posted; I research any "new" info found for myself so that I know it is correct.  I think that Ancestry's true value is in the documents that one can obtain online, and the possibility of finding new family contacts.
 
Rootsweb also has gedcoms posted by individuals; I think there are just as many incorrect trees there.  Again, some people are just "name grabbers" and will list anyone/anything that seems to fit without proper investigation. 
 
Ah, where are the genealogy police when we need them?  lol


Cathy Champion in Fenton, MO  (St. Louis)   http://spittingnickels.blogspot.com/            
“Anyone who considers protocol unimportant has never dealt with a cat.” ~   Robert A Heinlein

--- On Mon, 9/1/08, Russ Moorhouse <> wrote:

It appears to me that a person can go into
Ancestry and enter all type of poorly researched information, and that will
remain there forever as fact.

This thread:

• [ROOTS-L] Mis-information on Ancestry's site by "Russ Moorhouse" <>