Web Trees as Work in Progress.

Just to emphasis the oft repeated advice never to accept or use
information from an unknown person's work posted on the web, today I
came across this illustrative posting on another list:

"The *** *** tree on Ancestry.com was created by me and my half-brother.
It's a work in progress, so much of it is not accurate or verified." The
person was being queried by another about something being "not quite right".

It is, for us non dedicated genealogists, so easy to think "Oh goodie,
thats dear old gr aunt Connie, I never knew that about her" and place
it, uncritically, as an extension to one's own work. Don't, it may be
somebody's very rough workings, or (perhaps even worse) their random and
hopeful thoughts.

Personally I would be somewhat doubtful about posting my "Work in
Progress" on the web, for a number of reasons.

Jill...

I can understand your very valid concerns but I feel that as long as you are
honest - as these were - that this is not verified work, there is some

Andrew Sellon...

Jill -

I'm afraid I expressed myself badly. As I read it the owner of the tree
posted on Ancestry did not mention the fact that it contained 'work in
progress', this was put forward later as a reason for errors when
someone else queried the accuracy of the tree.

Jill...

Oh - then I agree totally

I can see the value of specifically putting up a problematical section,
saying that it is just that, and asking for ideas, help or guidance. As
Hugh says, it is essential for the poster to make this clear.

Jill...

Yup - its on every page of my site. :~)

Hugh Watkins...

not what I meant to say :-)

anyway I am ever suspicious of my own data - let alone anyone elses

nearly every time I post a new gedcom
next I spot a typo exposed on the web page by the new index

Entries: 6170 Updated: 2007-01-11 18:43:04 UTC (Thu)

"There are bound to be errors - so always check original sources -
assumptions and hypotheses exist - this ONE-NAME STUDY is a work in
progress not a final authority"

is my health warning

and two new typos I spotted straight away :-((
Zz, Charles Lapham b: BEF 15 FEB 1782
Zz, Edwin Lapham b: ABT 1831 in Kilmington, Somerset, England

the Zz surname is temporary ans made to send the entry to the end of the
list to make the entry easier to find when merging individuals
or adding as a child

just cleaned the master file
but the web version will be there longer

Hugh W

Yours Aye Andrew Sellon

usefulness in having your ideas out there.
I know that I have found it very useful in sorting out a tangle when someone
who had been working on a particular surname in a particular place got in
contact.
It took the both of us a while to winkle out two particular families who
were almost identical but just not quite. Because each of us was interested
in only one [at the moment] we were each able to spot the discrepancies
which had been confusing the heck out of ourselves and sort the so-and-so's
out. It made his week because it was a knot he had been working at for some
time and it has made me very aware that this very ordinary family are
probably always going to cause me problems ;)
Being about 300 miles from the location and it may be 10 years before I can
spend any time in the parishes involved it was a very worthwhile contact.
There have been many other incidences where I have found out interesting
things that are not in the main records about individuals in the tree just
because their relations have been able to fall over what I have up. [well
not just yet as its being redone ;) ]

Hugh Watkins...

I do the same
but put a health warning on every page

as Jill implies I see

Hugh Watkins...

please get in touch email family@bowis.co.uk. This is the simple site
which does not include much of the information we hold, including

Hugh W

Yours Aye Andrew Sellon