Rewards and Risks of Online Genealogical Research

 

 Hello Farmgirl Sisters!

Summer is almost here! It doesn't arrive on the calendar until June 21st, but our temperatures here certainly feel like it's already started.

In my last blog post, I talked about using computer software or apps to organize genealogical research. Today I'm going to go over some of the good and not so good things about using online websites for research and storing information.

Before going any further, I want to say that I will be mentioning several different websites. My comments are in no way an endorsement or advertisement of these companies. I will simply speak about my experiences with them and discuss what I see as their positive and negative aspects. As I said in my last post, everyone needs to do their own study of available resources, including the online companies. Get a very clear understanding of how they work and what's expected of you if you decide to use what they offer.

Thanks to the efforts across the country and around the world to digitally preserve documents and photos, there are more records than ever being made available online.

There are a lot of different kinds of genealogy websites. I think it's okay to say they fall into two main categories - Free or Fee-Based.

Regardless of whether the sites offer free use or fee-based use, the sites can contain one or two basic types of data - User Submitted Data and/or Document/Image Databases.

That's where my comment on the last post about the sites being kind of double-edged swords comes in. The document/image databases are amazing. There are literally thousands and thousands of them and more are being added every day.  This is the good stuff. These are the types of records you need to prove your family trees and document your ancestors. Sources for these records are usually government entities of different types - local, county, state and federal. Birth, marriage and death records have been digitized and made available. Military service, school records and the all- important census records are out there, just to name a few. Many church records are also available.

User Submitted Data is exactly what it says - records and material submitted by individuals showing their own family research, made available for others to use. My best words of advice about those? Use at your own risk and with great caution. It's true that some users will be very careful about what they provide and they will have made sure their data is correct. But it is also true that many more have posted whatever they think looks good and seems to fit well enough, even though it may be completely wrong. This data is then copied by dozens, hundreds or even thousands of other users who see it as the way to fill in their own blanks. More often than not, the research is sourced with faulty information or not sourced at all. There are a few occasions when I’ve come across an individual tree that contained helpful, accurate data with good resources. It’s up to you to review cited sources and unsourced material if you intend to use it. Make sure what you’re attaching to you tree is true and correct.

So, what are some are some of those Free and Fee-Based sites? Some of the names you may be familiar with. Ancestry.com is probably one the most well-known family history sites. I’ve been using it for many years and for the most part, I’m pretty happy with it. One can do some preliminary searching for free there. In order to fully access their databases, though, a subscription is required. They allow the posting of personal family research, which users can choose to keep private or make public for others obtain and copy. Their many thousands of databases are wonderful and I have found a lot of important documents for my own research there. Below is a page I've made for my paternal grandfather on my Laird family tree.

Newspapers.com and GenealogyBank.com are both newspaper databases that require subscriptions to see all they have to offer. I have had subscriptions to both sites and used them extensively. I discovered that several of my family groups were often mentioned the local newspapers of their communities. Births, marriages, deaths and various other tidbits of information were recorded. As far as I know, neither of these sites permit user-submitted data. They are strictly newspaper databases. I found this obituary for my great-grandfather at Newspapers.com and was able to share it to his Ancestry.com page.

Fold3.com is a repository of military records dating back as far as the American Revolution. A subscription is required for full access. I have had some huge discoveries for my own personal research from their records. The image below is of a citation from Fold3.com regarding the widow's pension file of my 4th great grandmother, Virena Welborn. Virena's husband, Cyrus, was killed in the Civil War. She applied for  her widow's pension and in the process created a huge file filled with all kinds of family information.

Rootsweb.com is a free offering from Ancestry.com. It is mainly a collection of user submitted material, some sourced, some not. It’s worth the time to review documents and records attached to the trees that feature common ancestors. You may find something that’s important to your own tree.

Familysearch.org was developed and is operated by the Mormon Church. Access to the site’s phenomenal collection of databases is free. I can’t begin to tell you how many incredible documents I’ve found at this site, both for myself and for others that I’ve done research for. Familysearch.org does allow the posting of user-submitted data, but again, I usually steer clear of that and focus on finding the documents that help me prove my family relationships from one generation to the next. The photo below is of a death certificate I found at Familysearch.org for one my grandmother's children that was stillborn..

There are so many more online sites to help with your genealogical research.  These are just a few that I have some experience with.

In my next blog post, I’ll share a few of my discoveries about my family tree. I’ll also show how I document generations to show the connection between parents and children.

Until then, Love, Live and Laugh Each Day to the Fullest!

 Stacy, Farmgirl Sister #7112