General Chat

Yes, but why would you copy info from someone else's tree..enter details into your own without ever checking it first.
You are missing the point here Joanne,,i dont object at all to sharing info,,im happy to pass on details of shared ancestor,, i love doing it fact,,
Thats why i belong to GR,,because i LIKE SHARING INFO...
What i dont expe tis someone asking,,'may i view your tree please' and then copying everything off it.
As we already discussed,,,,its about manners...

The facility to allow other members to see access your tree is fundamental to the operation of GR so I can't see it being removed.

In my experience as a member of GR for several years, most people I share with are only interested in their own bit, and do not copy huge chunks willy-nilly. I have only ever come across one name collector who suggested I sent a gedcom so he could add it to his large collection and he got short thrift.

One of my interest is in mini one-name studies, usually linked to a particular location or area for names that I have connections with. This means that many of my connections may share distant branches with each other, but we don't copy each others trees for the sake of it.

Fair enough, it doesn't work quite like I thought it would, but that isn't a problem, i expect many people are in the same boat as me, not deliberately being impolite.

Perhaps the shared tree facility should be removed if it causes problems?

I don't, I ask the connection then I tell them the line that they are interested in, and then answer any queries they have. I also send copies of photos and certificates that I have.

No the large tree would never work, least of all because people record things in different ways so even 'matching' trees would clash.

I suppose the idea of posting trees is for any matches to be logged which can then be picked up on and notes shared or compared as necessary.

That is fine, I think I will unshare my tree, because it has inaccuracies. I do think though if you share your tree then you are allowing people to copy and paste, if you don't want them to, then don't share your tree.

Joanna

No Joanne. I am sure you wont have offended anyone. I think people object really to being taken for granted. Like the person (nobody in particular) who takes a lot of information off somebody's tree when it is opened to them, doesn't acknowledge the fact or say thank you, and gives nothing back.

Sharing trees is a lovely idea if there is give and take. I don't actually agree that the idea of Genes is to join up into a world tree, that may well be the idea of Ancestry, I think Genes is more to find our own ancestors and link up with family members. Again this is great but I don't feel that somebody whose distant relative is connected vaguely to me should also feel that they can take my husband's tree as well because no way are they related to him.

This is intriguing.

I looked shared trees up on the forum because I asked a relative of mine why many names were hidden on a tree I shared with someone else. She said these were people that were still alive and that people were adding living peoples names all the time.

It hadn't occurred to me there was anything wrong with this, although I sort of see that it is an infringement of privacy. Genes Reunited doesn't seem to make it at all obvious that this is wrong or do anything to stop it.

Any way that got me looking on the forum and I was amazed to see the objections to people copying from shared trees. Surely if you are sharing something you are doing just that, sharing it!

I had thought the point behind Genes Reunited was that eventually we could all join up on one enormous tree (not likely to happen I know) but that seemed to be the ethos behind it and I'm sure those who 'name collect' are thinking along similar lines.

This is what it says on the email from Genes on joining.

Don't be shy – send a message

When your search shows a possible match for one of your relatives, send a message. Your message will be sent through the site to the person who added this relative to their family tree. (Remember we never reveal your email address and your privacy is guaranteed). By sending messages you can find a connection to another family tree overnight. Then you can share information on your families and discover new ancestors. Many of our members have large family trees with over 100 people in them – so you could add huge branches to your family tree in minutes! And connecting with a real person means that you can share memories and photos that really bring your memories to life.

Share Trees

If you've found a connection with another tree on Genes Reunited, don't forget to share trees in Your Message Centre. This lets you quickly spot where your tree links with others on Genes Reunited and work out how you are related to your new contact.


That said, I do see that if you have spent years researching your tree that you may be reluctant to give away information to someone who is just a casual enquirer. I try to give people information to show that I am serious and as a result people have always been helpful.

I share my tree because I thought that was the point, but I do tell people it is a bit of a mess, things didn't download as I would have expected and it is taking time to put this right. I haven't put anything from anyone else's tree on my tree because it is all part of this sorting out process, now I won't do so without asking permission. Also I'm not sure I would just accept other people's research anyway without checking where the facts came from.

There are many reasons for being interested in family history.

Finding out how your ancestors lived.
Learning about social history.
Tracing family members.
Discovering your roots, where you came from etc.
Seeing how people are all connected up!

The last one clearly interests some people more than others.

What I can't understand is why people use Genes Reunited if they don't want to share information? How do you see it working?

Thanks to anyone who has helped me and sorry if I have unintentionally offended anyone.

Robert there are some strange people who seem to think the whole idea is to make their tree as large as possible with as many names as they can going back as far as they can. It takes all sorts. To me it is all about tracing my family, where I come from (my roots), knowing how they lived etc. I have been doing this for over 30 years and don't even have 1000 yet, but that doesn't worry me at all.

When I am given access to a tree which gives me new information I usually say "thanks, and if you don't object I'd like to add some of this to my tree" and if I don't get an objection fairly quickly I do. I do give as the source whose tree I got it from - indicating that I haven't checked every detail myself.

I do find it mildly irritating to be used by the name collectors - I've had a recent one via Ancestry where we did have one name in common, and she has taken everything from all sides of the family including OH's - but it doesn't really keep me awake, all the information is either from public documents or other people to whom I've given the credit. My ancestry tree is a public tree, and for me the whole object of this work is collec ting and exchanging information.

I guess I don''t understand why someone would add names that they weren't sure of to their tree. I deem it important for posterity to be as accurate as possible. What would be the motivation to add erroneous names to ones ancestry?

Not at all, MGH.... there have been at least three threads from gentleman in the last few weeks about this very subject... and as has been said, most folk would just like a bit of politeness.

It does seem, rather, that those who *name gather* tend to be a little, shall we say, impolite in their communications, as well.

I have happily added relevant bits from trees kindly opened to me... but only if I am happy they are correct, or that I have verified for myself... I simply use the information as a *map* or pointer.... and will share my information in the same way.... if I am not sure of my info, I state this clearly in the notes. Most people are brilliant about it... will share certificates, photos etc, as will I.

But I do get a littl iffy if my hubby's tree is taken, for instance, by someone who was related by marriage to a woman who married a man, who had previously been married to a gt gt Aunt who died young without children....... and who was therefore not even connected to me, leave alone my hubby!!

Phew.... that took some working out!

Love

Daff xxxxx

I think we are entitled to politeness MGH.

Well it might come up 'month after month' but it certainly hasnt happened to me before..so as i pay my subscription i can whing on the boards if i want to.
And ,,,no i am not on the wrong site,,

My recent lot of Hot Marches contained a whole batch which certainly matched with names and dates but in the "where born" box was "don't know"

When that person gets their Hot Matches they will be able to fill in the missing bit from my section of the list !!

I also had a "request to view your tree" message last week.I also asked how they thought we were connected-no answer !!

Thank you Ann. you have said it much better than i have .x

You are always going to get people who collect names on their trees and yes, it is bad manners when they don't ask. I am wary now about giving access but always give information on the line to which they connect.

However Shaun, I think it is actually people who just take names off a tree, as you obviously admit to doing, who miss the point of the exercise. if you have just lifted names, you know nothing about these people, unless you follow up with getting certificates etc you only have the bare bones. And how do you know that what you have is accurate. How do you know that the person you have copied from has not copied from somebody else, made a transcription error which you will have now compounded. Half the fun is finding out about the people and not seeing how many people you can collect or how far back you can go.

Of course,,,there is the area of thought that people who copy from other tree's are just name collectors. Anyone who copies without checking the info first is an idiot,
I am more than happy to share info,,i get great pleasure in passing on details to people who need them/cant find them etc.

I have done my OH's tree back to the 1500's. He was the first to emigrate to Australia. I have also done my own trees (both sides) back to the 1700's and ongoing. The only possible connection between my trees and my OH's tree is ME! (and our children, of course) and yet, Hot Matches showed that another GR member had people from both my tree and my OH's tree in his tree. I contacted him and he said that he had so many names in his tree, he was unable to tell me how they were connected.
He has no doubt copied from either my tree (or possibly from a tree belonging to a person I have given access), but his connection is back in the early 1800's and our families were never connected prior to our marriage. I suppose it looks impressive until someone tries to read it and reconcile the dates!
By the way, he didn't get around to giving me access to his tree!

I was just thinking the other day that this topic hasn't come up for at least a month.

Bottom line is that if you put your tree on the web, then expect some or all of it to be copied.

Yes I agree on the question of good manners, but I remember years ago when I asked the same question of someone who used some of the details from my tree, they genuinely believed that there was no need to ask specifically as the fact I had given them access was sufficient as the site was all about sharing information. We did actually become good friends after that.

These days I am less inclined to get worked up about it and at the last count there are well over 200 members that I share with.

Shaun
You are missing the point,..its all about MANNERS..... Ever heard of the word?
I have no objection at all to sharing info with anyone, and love to help people.