Doing family history research works best when it becomes a collaborative effort. It is very common for people doing genealogy to discover other people working on the same lines so they can help each other by sharing information rather than duplicating efforts. However, that kind of collaboration can get sticky when we discover our information to be slightly different from what someone else may have. Which is accurate? How can we be sure?
Sometimes those differences may be minor, such as a date of birth for some long dead ancestor being a week off one way or the other. Sometimes it is a big difference, like having a particular person listed in an entirely different family. When addressing the differences we find in our data, whether large or small, it is important to use tact and to give one another the benefit of the doubt.
Using digital tools like FamilySearch or Ancestry.com provides a great way for people to contact each other to discuss issues about contradicting information so that the records posted there can be made as reliable as possible. Writing letters to others, making phone calls, or going to visit and share info can all be richly rewarding.
Particularly when working in FamilySearch which allows other people to make changes to the information posted, it becomes especially key to take care in how we communicate and to appreciate one another's intentions even when some of the information showing may need some clean up.
MOST online genealogy tools are closed, meaning that each person enters their data how they think it should be and no one else can touch it. If they have set their research to be made public, others can see their information which is great for collaboration. But if I am working in FindMyPast or Ancestry.com I cannot do anything to someone else's data base.
FamilySearch is a very different sort of program. The goal of FamilySearch is to create ONE big database for the human family that we each tie into. That means when I post a listing for my grandmother, that SAME post is what will appear for my cousins (for whom she is also their grandmother), for my aunts and uncles (for whom she is their mother) or for my grandfather (for whom she is his wife.). Any of us can go in and tinker with the spelling of the name, the date and place of key events, or post other notes, photos, documents, sources, etc.
It is all too easy to get our feathers ruffled if someone tells us our information is wrong or criticizes some change we made. Or, the flip side of that, some may initially get down right indignant if they see someone else has been making changes in the records that they originally posted. Particularly when someone has spent a lot of time and energy putting information into the system, or has a close personal bond to the family, it is only natural to feel somewhat territorial about how things appear.
People approach doing family history work with all different skill levels. Sometimes mistakes will be made, even by the most skilled researchers. How we respond to those mistakes can make or break our future relationships with potential collaborators and can make the difference between having a great experience in doing family history work or one big knot of frustration.
I really do believe that the potential for building stronger bonds between the living family members is as important a feature of FamilySearch as is the ability to record information about the dead.
We all can learn from each other. Whether you are on the side of having the best, most accurate and complete information or on the side of having some records that could be improved - EVERYONE has something to contribute. The more we are open to sharing what we know and genuinely being willing to listen to and learn from others, the greater experience we will have.
Sometimes those differences may be minor, such as a date of birth for some long dead ancestor being a week off one way or the other. Sometimes it is a big difference, like having a particular person listed in an entirely different family. When addressing the differences we find in our data, whether large or small, it is important to use tact and to give one another the benefit of the doubt.
Using digital tools like FamilySearch or Ancestry.com provides a great way for people to contact each other to discuss issues about contradicting information so that the records posted there can be made as reliable as possible. Writing letters to others, making phone calls, or going to visit and share info can all be richly rewarding.
Particularly when working in FamilySearch which allows other people to make changes to the information posted, it becomes especially key to take care in how we communicate and to appreciate one another's intentions even when some of the information showing may need some clean up.
MOST online genealogy tools are closed, meaning that each person enters their data how they think it should be and no one else can touch it. If they have set their research to be made public, others can see their information which is great for collaboration. But if I am working in FindMyPast or Ancestry.com I cannot do anything to someone else's data base.
FamilySearch is a very different sort of program. The goal of FamilySearch is to create ONE big database for the human family that we each tie into. That means when I post a listing for my grandmother, that SAME post is what will appear for my cousins (for whom she is also their grandmother), for my aunts and uncles (for whom she is their mother) or for my grandfather (for whom she is his wife.). Any of us can go in and tinker with the spelling of the name, the date and place of key events, or post other notes, photos, documents, sources, etc.
It is all too easy to get our feathers ruffled if someone tells us our information is wrong or criticizes some change we made. Or, the flip side of that, some may initially get down right indignant if they see someone else has been making changes in the records that they originally posted. Particularly when someone has spent a lot of time and energy putting information into the system, or has a close personal bond to the family, it is only natural to feel somewhat territorial about how things appear.
People approach doing family history work with all different skill levels. Sometimes mistakes will be made, even by the most skilled researchers. How we respond to those mistakes can make or break our future relationships with potential collaborators and can make the difference between having a great experience in doing family history work or one big knot of frustration.
I really do believe that the potential for building stronger bonds between the living family members is as important a feature of FamilySearch as is the ability to record information about the dead.
We all can learn from each other. Whether you are on the side of having the best, most accurate and complete information or on the side of having some records that could be improved - EVERYONE has something to contribute. The more we are open to sharing what we know and genuinely being willing to listen to and learn from others, the greater experience we will have.
