How many of you have put your family tree on a public site like Ancestry?

Question

How many of you have put your family tree on a public site like Ancestry?

Answer 1

Have posted a small tree (English ancestors) to Gen. I'm not entirely pleased when someone states that material I've managed to find after years of research...is their work. Not a bit of credit given to me.



I only use what bits and pieces I find as possible clues, unless I document the information...it's iffy at best. Entirely too much of...

"Gee, I got up on Ancestry and found my entire lines today!"



Too many want to be 'spoon fed', and I recall one gal, years ago, when I suggested she hie herself to her local library and the gen. section (which I knew well) said she'd never set foot in a library and was not about to start.

(Shirley...you echo many of my thoughts!)

Answer 2

it is a double edged sword.

Many persons have only done "research" online, and have no clue as to the extent of cost and effort that CAN go into finding the "unfindable". I share results with persons, but the idea of sharing is to work both ways.

I've had YEARS of work, ripped off by a non relative, who had no rights to the material, AND he posted incorrect and private (living) info online, with no consent from the people involved.

Sharing is when persons both put effort into finding data.

I have a limited amount of my info online.

Answer 3

My tree on Ancestry is not public and can only be viewed by request.

It does not contain all of the research I have done.

I only use Ancestry to search the US Census records and other documents for information.

Answer 4

My tree is on Tribalpages.com. It does not have all the personal notes etc. as all of that is on my home computer. I feel my research can be valuable to someone else down the road and I have "met" many relatives by their finding my family tree online. That's been wonderful.

But just as I have to be very very careful what I add to my tree from other people's research, I also advise others to check out my research for themselves. I feel using someone else's work just gives you another avenue in which to research. they may be correct or not, but at least it gives me a starting place.

Recently, I asked for help from this site and several people answered my question, one gave me all the information I had personally researched and put on line. I chuckled and felt it was funny and also felt good that someone could easily find the information about this one family member.

I try to give source credit on my home computer tree in the notes area but its just not possible on some of the online trees. For this reason, viewers are invited to contact me for more information and I will gladly share all notes and sources with them.

We truly are in an information age and copying is going to happen. Rather then get upset, I just make sure its the most accurate I can find

so that when it is copied I know I have done a service to someone out there. I just remember that its said that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

Answer 5

I have not uploaded anything, to any site.

So, no one can copy my tree.

Do I copy? Yes; trees are the ONLY source for most ancestors.

And, yes, most of the time, when you find specific persons, you will find the same information on several (sometimes many!) trees.

However, people should give credit to where ever they got the information; and, if they are not related, they should not even copy the infomation in the first place.

Answer 6

My tree is out there. It isn't huge, since I've only gotten back to 1850 or so.

I have actually never thought about someone copying my stuff. And it wouldn't do any good if I did care.

Answer 7

One of the joys of genealogy is sharing your work and even better is when other share with you. I especially love when people share the sources for their information. A family tree posted with sources and pictures is like finding a gold mine to a researcher. So yes, I share my tree, pictures, and documents. I use other peoples information to do my research...and if it is correct I use it.

Answer 8

I have Roots Web World Connect.



Yes, if they don't give me credit. If they do, fine.



No, I ask for a GEDCOM, load it into a temporary data base, check it for errors, cross-check it where I can, then incorporate it into my real data.

Answer 9

I really could care less if someone copied my information. I like to share documents and other sources I have. Some people don't like it all but they have to expect it if they put their tree out in the public like that.



However, the people who copy are all too often short changing themselves. The trees are usually not documented or they are poorly documented. You frequently see different info on the same people from different subscribers.

Then you will see the absolute same info on the same people from different subscribers but a person is foolish if they think that means it is correct. Too many people are copying without verifying. You can make up a fictitious family tree and it will be accepted. If you disagree with something someone has on one of your family members, the owners of the websites will tell you that is between you and the other subscribers.



Since I have been on the genealogy board which is about 2-1/2 years I have given this warning constantly. Sometime before Christmas I really saw the evidence. I thought I would put in a name of an uncle of my grandfather to see if I could make contact with others. The reason why this uncle shares his exact name with at least 3 other people in the family.



He was married 3 times because he was widowed twice. The tree I found only had him married twice and one was in Newton, Sussex County, New Jersey. She really must have been something! A farmer from Gonzales County, Texas traveled all the way to New Jersey to marry her in 1891.



Then I look further and found out me, my sister, and my brother-in-law were all dead. No dates of death given but we all died in Newton, Sussex County, New Jersey. The only time my sister and I were ever in New Jersey was back in 1956 when we traveled through it going to and from New York. So we have been dead 52 years.



Then further checking I found family on both my mother's and my father's side were married and died in Newton, Sussex County, New Jersey. Since my ancestry is mostly southern American colonial except for a couple of exceptions and the exceptions came in through southern ports, I was really surprised.



This tree was in Ancestry.Com but if it had been submitted to any of the other websites it would have been accepted. This was a person who had almost 150,000 names in the tree. Apparently he/she was picking up relatives of inlaws and their inlaws etc. Too many people who submit their family tree don't consider a good verifiable family tree as important as seeing how many names they can get in their tree.