As I participate in NaGenWriMo and write family history this month, I have multiple tabs open on my browser: my family trees (Ancestry, MyHeritage, WikiTree, FamilySearch), plus my blog, and Find a Grave.
Ordinarily, I would make a note of any intriguing clues discovered as I write, and keep going with my project, not to be derailed by a bright shiny object (BSO).
But when I see an error that I can help correct, it's not a bright shiny object but an opportunity to follow good genealogical practice. For the sake of other researchers and family historians, I don't want inaccurate info to be perpetuated.
Take the Find a Grave memorial page at top. Poor ole George is one of a series of Georges in multiple generations of my husband's Wood family.
Now I don't know who linked the family members on George's memorial page, but one is incorrect.
By reading the dates and not just the names, the error jumps out! Was the mother really born two years after the son?? The mother who was linked belongs to another George in another generation, I recognized after a moment.
I immediately sent a correction to the manager of this memorial page, providing the actual mother's memorial number. Within three hours, the correction was online.
It's only the first week of my NaGenWriMo quest. What other errors will I notice?
I agree with you - corrections are not BSOs... If I were a professional genealogist working for a client, that would be one thing, but as a serious genealogist who works only on my own family (and that of my husband), I take the time to ensure information I find on other sites is correct. Like you, I recently submitted a correction to Find-a-Grave, and while working on Ancestry, I add comments on other people's trees whenever I see issues, backing them up with sources.
ReplyDeleteThanks for reading and commenting. Sources are so important!
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