Does this annoy anyone else?

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What was the best episode of "Who Do You Think You Are"

Sarah Jessica Parker's
0
No votes
Emmitt Smith's
1
9%
Lisa Kudrow's
0
No votes
Matthew Broderick's
1
9%
Brooke Shields'
0
No votes
Susan Sarandon's
9
82%
Spike Lee's
0
No votes
 
Total votes: 11

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LoisM
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Re: Does this annoy anyone else?

Post by LoisM »

Squigy,

There has been a show on PBS running for a few weeks now called "Faces of America" and it is about Genealogy. It is a well but together show...it shows all the work that goes into this.

I think the show on NBC will be thrown together and make it look like a snap and those of us who have been doing awhile know all the work it truly takes.

You have to be in this to really what to "know" things about your family not just to say "I finished it first"

Lois M.
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Re: Does this annoy anyone else?

Post by Squigy »

LoisM wrote:Squigy,

There has been a show on PBS running for a few weeks now called "Faces of America" and it is about Genealogy. It is a well but together show...it shows all the work that goes into this.

I think the show on NBC will be thrown together and make it look like a snap and those of us who have been doing awhile know all the work it truly takes.

You have to be in this to really what to "know" things about your family not just to say "I finished it first"

Lois M.
True, the show is most likely not a good way to educate newcomers on how to do genealogy. For me, I know it isn't that easy, so I don't watch it for that purpose. The show looks like it may be interesting, but I hate when celebrities make anything popular (especially when I was into it before it became popular). Aside from that, it seems a bit like a promotional gimmick for Ancestry.com. Anyway, I'm glad I'm not alone on this.
My Italian surnames:

Caserta: Maietta, Rossano, Tessitore, Negro, Peluso, Musone

Campobasso: D'Andrea, Barile

Catanzaro: Fiorelli/Fiorillo, Romito
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Squigy
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Re: Does this annoy anyone else?

Post by Squigy »

This website in particular annoys me:


http://answers.yahoo.com/dir/index;_ylt ... =396546034


Here is a recent question:

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index ... 654AAuSlgY


I cringe when I read things like that! And the person who is putting that BS on for her to copy, is giving genealogists a bad name!
My Italian surnames:

Caserta: Maietta, Rossano, Tessitore, Negro, Peluso, Musone

Campobasso: D'Andrea, Barile

Catanzaro: Fiorelli/Fiorillo, Romito
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Re: Does this annoy anyone else?

Post by nuccia »

Wow..I can`t believe I missed this whole thread! Ok, so I would like to add my two cents here - for all it`s worth.

Genealogy is yes, becoming all the `rage`now. Some people will continue to follow this hobby, and some won`t - that`s a given. A serious researcher, and one does not have to be a genealogist to follow this rule, will learn to weed out what is fact and what is not. You must take the information provided, no matter where you find it, and prove, or disprove it (I think a safe bet is a nine year old wife is either a mistake, or her birth year is also incorrect - BUT a 12 year old wife is a possibility). Everyone makes mistakes, even the best of us, so you need to take that into consideration as well.

I think emailing someone and asking them asking to exchange information on persons that you are both researching may be a better approach than asking who they are and what they are doing with the info. People will become defensive and no one has to provide sources to any one else if they don`t want to. I also think forcing people to provide sources to people using ancestry is never going to happen. You are paying ancestry for using the site - period. They make no claim to the content posted by others so are not liable or obligated to provide anything further. But if you approach someone nicely they may just share their resources with you. I have been very successful using this approach and it turn, I have provided more than my share of sources (my websites will attest to that).

As for the tree project - I have seen some excellent trees, complete with sources and I do tend to pay more attention to those. I have also seen some that are full of mistakes but they are also of value because somewhere, at sometime, the person submitting the data had the information given to them by someone. There could be a clue in there but the info is all messed up so if it`s important to me, then I would research it. If not, I would move on. We have no control over what people post, just like they have no control over what we post so there is no use getting frustrated over it - just be grateful that the person has at least *tried* to share info with us. And if it is important to me, I would submit my own tree with the correct info and let people researching the trees to make their own decisions.

Another thing - alot of the info on those trees, especially the older trees, can not be removed - I tried. Early on a `cousin`submitted info on my family on my behalf and it`s a mess. I can not remove it - so instead I tried to update it. There`s nothing more I can do about that.

As for mistakes in sources- if you have ever researched civil records, then you will find plenty of mistakes. Names have been misspelled, parents incorrectly listed on birth and death info, etc. I have Macchione as one of my surnames and half the children were given that name on the birth acts, the other half were given Mac Chione, my Napolitano`s were also given Napoletano and my great grandfathers (two of them) listed the wrong mother`s name. One had to be amended, the other didn`t. I believe that early on in the civil records they didn`t realize how important spelling was, and remember, many persons were illiterate.

And lilbees, the links have always automatically posted to Ancestry (if you put the .com next to it). As for Legacy - I have found no way to remove it. I believe because they are registered links. Sorry. But I will look into it for you.
nuccia - IG Moderator
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LoisM
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Re: Does this annoy anyone else?

Post by LoisM »

Nuccia,

I agree with your post. Some info is valuable no matter where you get it. My complaint is that when you ask someone on Ancestry if they would like to compare notes or share info the responses I have gotten have been less then friendly.

I don't just ask people how and where they get the info and try to make them defensive I ask them in a friendly manner and I still get the finger.

I think people making trees and just following any "leaf" (the commercial states you'll get a leaf that connects you to someone etc..) that shows up and instead of researching the stuff they take the pictures that someone else has posted and the info claim it as theirs and WHAMO they have a family record.

Personally...I only posted a few times on Ancestry and I will never post a family tree on there or pictures. I made a private family site for that stuff. If someone wants to contact me about family I have way to do that as well.

I just think the Genealogy Fad is in full swing and people look for the quick and easy way to find any info they can right or wrong.

The difference between the people researching here and on other sites is unbelievable ....

Lois M.
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Squigy
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Re: Does this annoy anyone else?

Post by Squigy »

Ha! I watched the new show, and right after went on Ancestry.com and got a message that said:

"We are currently experiencing higher-than-usual traffic volume. Thank you for your patience."

I was right! Monkey see, monkey do. People watch Sarah Jessica Parker trace her ancestry back to the 1600's in an hour and think they'll log on and find a full pedigree waiting for them. :?

Oh well, when it gets really popular, I can say, I was interested a few years earlier. :lol:
My Italian surnames:

Caserta: Maietta, Rossano, Tessitore, Negro, Peluso, Musone

Campobasso: D'Andrea, Barile

Catanzaro: Fiorelli/Fiorillo, Romito
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carolinechurch
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Re: Does this annoy anyone else?

Post by carolinechurch »

I've just watched a segment of the US version online (I'm in NZ) I hated it, it was so over the top and dramatic.
We've had the UK version on TV here for years and I've always found it inspiring. Again it's celebrities with interesting and unusual stories, which is obviously what makes good TV, but with a good background as to how the records were located. If anything it makes me so envious that all the years of hard work have been taken over by a team of researchers with every resource at their fingertips!
I've been doing my genealogy for about 25 years, started when there was no internet and everything was so painfully slow and expensive.
I think it's probably a good thing long term if more people become involved in genealogy, which is what made it profitable for someone to set up sites like ancestry.com in the first place.
The more people who become interested, and maybe take the time to volunteer to key in pages to make them available online, the better.
As long as I stick to my principle of double checking everything, and believing nothing anyone else tells me without seeing it for myself I am happy to use all resources and to share what I have found.
If others want to take short cuts to build instant trees, fine for them, I know what I have is real and substantiated.
Just give back my Grandpa!!
Searching for my great x3 grandfather Raffaele CIACCIA, also known as Raphael/Ralph CHURCH. He was born in Napoli around 1792 and arrived in London before 1812 with his brother Saverio CIACCIA, where they married sisters Ann and Jane FURNEAUX. He switched between CHURCH and CIACCIA all his life, which has made it difficult enough to pin him down. I want to find his origin in Italy.
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Re: Does this annoy anyone else?

Post by DeFilippis78 »

I love ancestry for what I found . But that is because I sit at my desk for around 6-8 hours almost every day! Its a full time job for me. But people will be in for a rude awakening when they see its WORK. I see so many people on there have my family members matched up with the wrong info and it perturbs me. I let it go because trying to correct all these people would be another full time job.

Genealogy has actually topped some of the oldest hobbies out there. But it will die down as every fad does and we will still be here.

I for one will be here. I am aiming for Masters in Library Science specializing in Archives. So if its not me looking into my own family it would be helping others. I feel like Ive learned so much already at this website. Thanks a bunch!

Alicia
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LoisM
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Re: Does this annoy anyone else?

Post by LoisM »

I kinda figured Ancestry would be in overload while this show is on. You know people will be copying and grabbing any info they can. That show made it look so damn easy....

Let the madness being!! LOLOLOLOL
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Re: Does this annoy anyone else?

Post by DeFilippis78 »

The problem is many people are in identity crisis. Our family came here and we are now American. But what is American...a mish mash of other countries. So Americans finally realized they have to turn to the past to find an identity. At least thats how I look at it. My family has been American maybe 100 years. What was my blood before that? Thats the question that is driving everyone to genealogy; a need for identity

Alicia
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figlia
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Re: Does this annoy anyone else?

Post by figlia »

Ancestry is a good place to look for a Census record. I am familiar with the people I find in the census and have found so much misspelling either on the Census itself or whomever transcribed the records. IMO those who transcribe should be more familiar with what they are transcribing! It would be nice if those who do the transcribing took a course on handwriting. I went to Catholic schools so some of the old style of writing is familiar to me. I can't begin to tell you how many mistakes were made in the name of a town. If I didn't know what I was looking for I would think someone came from a really oddly spelled town. I find looking at the manifest or census, that sometimes things are spelled correctly in the original record but much was lost in translation or transcription.
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Re: Does this annoy anyone else?

Post by aliza24 »

Actually what bothers me more is people 'merging' or copying all of my research, word for word, without even so much as a 'hello' or 'thanks' or anything.

When someone has spent years on research- filming microfilms, uploading them, writing abstracts, etc. I think the least you can do is drop them a line before just adding it to their tree.

Anyone else have that happen?
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Re: Does this annoy anyone else?

Post by carolinechurch »

And here we go again.
This time someone has taken a MALE member of my tree and married him to another man, despite my clear documentation...
I know it's all the go these days, but in 1850?!
Searching for my great x3 grandfather Raffaele CIACCIA, also known as Raphael/Ralph CHURCH. He was born in Napoli around 1792 and arrived in London before 1812 with his brother Saverio CIACCIA, where they married sisters Ann and Jane FURNEAUX. He switched between CHURCH and CIACCIA all his life, which has made it difficult enough to pin him down. I want to find his origin in Italy.
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Re: Does this annoy anyone else?

Post by Squigy »

carolinechurch wrote: I know it's all the go these days, but in 1850?!
:lol: :lol: :lol:
My Italian surnames:

Caserta: Maietta, Rossano, Tessitore, Negro, Peluso, Musone

Campobasso: D'Andrea, Barile

Catanzaro: Fiorelli/Fiorillo, Romito
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Re: Does this annoy anyone else?

Post by maestra36 »

Years ago I shared some information via email with a guy doing research on one of my surnames and some surnames of a cousin. Now he has that information incorrectly connected to some other data on ancestry. I had contacted him and asked him to correct the information which I had spent years gathering from microfilmed Italian records, but to this day the information is incorrectly connected to his data. He even has the people with the wrong Italian town which makes me so furious, as I sent 13 letters to parishes in a particular town, which I knew was the correct town, just to track down the data on the ancestors when there was no microfilmed records of the town available. He made my data look like it fit with his when it doesn't. I even sent an email directly to ancestry, but never got a reply. The website only cares about **SPAM** subscriptions. Granted it is a decent way to search for census records. Certainly beats the old fashioned way of doing it off of microfilm and having to rent a soundex card film before being able to rent the actual census record film, but I personally think it has its shortcomings as far as Italian research is concerned. I also don't like that, without a subscription, you now can't contact someone who posts on a message board.
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