Copying Family Trees

[kenspeckle]

I am a bit concerned by the amount of family trees on Ancestry that look as if they have just been blindly copied one example is some time back I gave to a relative ( a 4th cousin that I had found while doing my research) a copy of all I had done as a gedcom file to make it easy for her to load into a family tree program as she said she had one started but really had very little info only her parents and grandparents names I now see that all of what I gave her has been uploaded to Ancestry and 3 other trees have copied to the letter, but none of those folk have gone to Scotlands People or elsewhere to do any further research.
What's with folk is this just laziness ?
I also lately contacted another 'family member a 3rd cousin' who had scant info he asked if he could see my tree (I keep it private because I really prefer to be able to know who gets my research also I have photos and certificates loaded and they are Crown Copywrite so can't be public online ) I asked him not to put any of the certs I had purchased online because of this. Within 2 days I had not heard back from him and saw he had taken all the details of people from my tree and added to his tree he has not put certs online which is good.... but no contact (ie thanks ect ) and he has been active on the web so not away on holiday ect
Is this just the way of things now ?

Lesley in Tasmania

[ninatoo]

I am afraid so Lesley. I have also had this kind of thing happen to me, and it has made me very careful who I share with. After much of my own research (and photos and certificates too) was copied from my Tribal Pages site, AND put onto Ancestry.com, where I deliberately chose NOT to have my tree, AND also to the Latter Day Saints IGI site, which now has details of my brother who died in 2000 (GRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) I don't allow anyone access to my tree.

If someone wants information I am still happy to share, but only the part they are interested in, which I type out for them if they can show they have a connection, and I never pass on certificates.

Such a shame.

[paddyscar]

Ahhhh, an unfortunate downside to the benefits of family research! Like every other thing about families, there are the good, the bad, the ugly, and even the downright unscrupulous!

The upside is the wonderful, helpful, supportive and generous people you meet along the way. They are out there (and in here) in droves and all of them will give you the shirt off their back, not to mention their SP credits to follow up on your queries and brick walls.

Unfortunately, most of us learn through such experiences, just how easy it is for someone to claim your research and make it their own [and to completely mess it up]. To assist, guide and support another person's queries is wonderful, but at the same time, be mindful that what you have worked so hard to build needs to be protected. This will ensure that what goes out there, appears where appropriate and in context, while protecting the financial investment you've made.

By properly recording all your sources, and verifying all the materials with original records, you protect your own tree for your family. It is still hurtful to see your kindness abused.

Many believe the advertising line 'I knew nothing about my grandfather .... I entered his name, and there it was ... a whole tree'. There is nothing to stop anyone from incorporating it into his own tree.

Their grandfather's name may very well be there, but that is only the beginning of your work. Far from the advertising and television programmes, those of us working at our family trees, know just how much work must be done between the time a celebrity decides to 'find' their family ... and the visit to the family village on the otherside of the world.

As with other things we need to have our children know [for when we pass on to the otherside with the rest of our ancestors] is how our tree was compiled and what makes it valid in the face of all the wrong information that will be found and multiplied along the future information highway.

Frances