The Genealogy & Family History Social Network
Where on the web do you leave your information?
I guess most people here are like me, I use the net a lot for searching for ancestors, which brings up the question of how people can find you and your information.
I use Google a lot and have found a crop of new (to me) genealogy sites springing up where you are invited to start a page and enter your information.
Problem is that anyone wanting to view that information also has to join the site and/or pay for a subscription.
Now I'm not a cheapskate (not much!)
I don't mind paying for archive records or original info, but I object to paying to view something that someone has freely given to that site. You notice none say "we'll pay you $x for each ancestor you upload".....and having seen some of the information on these sites, it has usually been received 2nd or 3rd hand from someone's relative ie. not particularly accurate. I want somewhere you can share and question and receive answers.
Which brings me back to the question, where do you put your information so :
1. people can find it easily in a search, say for instance using Google
2. people can look at it freely
3. people can contact you without joining anything
So far the only one I've found is the Rootsweb World Connect, although it doesn't seem show up in google searches.
Am I expecting too much? after all, to some genealogy is a big business
I use Google a lot and have found a crop of new (to me) genealogy sites springing up where you are invited to start a page and enter your information.
Problem is that anyone wanting to view that information also has to join the site and/or pay for a subscription.
Now I'm not a cheapskate (not much!)
I don't mind paying for archive records or original info, but I object to paying to view something that someone has freely given to that site. You notice none say "we'll pay you $x for each ancestor you upload".....and having seen some of the information on these sites, it has usually been received 2nd or 3rd hand from someone's relative ie. not particularly accurate. I want somewhere you can share and question and receive answers.
Which brings me back to the question, where do you put your information so :
1. people can find it easily in a search, say for instance using Google
2. people can look at it freely
3. people can contact you without joining anything
So far the only one I've found is the Rootsweb World Connect, although it doesn't seem show up in google searches.
Am I expecting too much? after all, to some genealogy is a big business
Views: 236
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Geniaus on
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Erica, I tried one of those 'free sites'. After I uploaded my data they wanted to start charging me because I had too many people in my database. I removed my data and decided to put my information on the web myself so that I am in control..
I looked around for a suitable piece of software and settled on TNG - The Next Generation of Genealogy Software. I purchased a domain name and paid for hosting. My data is now on the web - freely accessible to all. Since doing this I have had contact from second cousins and others who share ancestors. For the most part these people have been willing to share their data with me, I do try to check ther sources before I put the information in the public domain. I do not post copies of certificates as I think this may infringe copyright. I have only had one unreasonable request in the half year my new website has been live - a distant cousin asked for copies of all certificates and documents in my posession without so much as a please or thankyou. I haven't got around to replying to that one yet.
Setting up a website does require a bit of techie expertise but is well worth the effort. See my fledgling site at http://www.geniaus.net
Google seems to have indexed all of my pages - searches for the names in my database turn up regularly in Google searches. -
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It is relatively painless - I still have a long way to go. If you have a .ged file you can get going quickly. My blog post at http://geniaus.blogspot.com/search?q=tng tells my TNG story.
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Permalink Reply by Erica on
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wow, I agree with Shauna, this is so impressive, I hope Santa has a good supply in stock...
I've been exploring your site and found it very easy to navigate.
I'm currently going over all my information and re-checking sources, the one problem with the net is it's so easy to pick up unverifited info., something I'm sorry to admit I've done in the past and now regret not keeping better records in my early days.
I'd been thinking about genealogy blogs - but now reconsidering
thanks again -
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...and of course, that should read " unverified info" ...I can spell, I just can't type
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Permalink Reply by Bobby on
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I also use TNG, like Geniaus. Once you have it installed, its easy to use. I paid for the program a once off US30 i think it was, then pay a yearly sum for my URL, and i dont pay for hosting. (no adds, no hidden secrets)
As a general rule, ancestry/rootsweb etc are good for a starting place for a tree - grab one as a guide only (good for starting out), then as a professional genealogist you want the BMD's etc to back up all info. So any tree on the net use as a guide only. And then of course ancestry has documents etc, so you'll need to pay for those, or, when they offer 'free time' which they do, grab everything then or ask on forums, mail lists etc for someone to have a look.
So my website has the tree - names, documents, photo etc www.bobbyfamilytree.com
And my blog is for rambling http://bobbyfamilytree.wordpress.com
And i also use twitter for my ancestry http://twitter.com/bobbyfamilytree
Make sure you website/blog is listed with Google, bing, yahoo etc, and make sure you update your sitemap(s) every now and then.
Without my internet presence, my progress would be know where near what it is now. I also have regular private emails with a few others researching my paternal name - we have moved mountains together.
Sharing is also very important, but just always be wary of fly-by-nighters, there are plenty of those. -
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Permalink Reply by Val Hodder on
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Hi Erica
My sentiments exactly and if as researchers we joined every subscription site out there...
well to me it would not be financially viable.
Here is my answer to your question " where do you put your information" and why:
Digging deep within my realm staying as anonymous on the WWW as I can I decided it was time to
share my information for free.
I put my information at a site called hodderhistory, hodderhistroy actually I started putting up links to all the free
genealogy sites with the surname Hodder.
Now I am about to start sharing short stories about a particular ancestor that I choose from my database.
There will be a notation at the end of each post to cite what records of this person I hold.
Perhaps even swap certificates/information with other researchers
Why:
Because I too have (in my early researching days) added my database to the "big boys site" only
to find that I would need to pay for information that other researchers have added freely to the above mentioned sites.
Plus all the public records.
Thank you for airing this view I feel so strongly about. -
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Permalink Reply by Judy Webster on
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These are the ones that have helped me the most (in addition to WorldConnect):
* My own personal Web site.
* Rootsweb's Freepages.
* LostCousins. This is, I think, the only web site that identifies (with almost 100% accuracy) those who share the same ancestors. Enter details of your relatives from certain British, Irish, Canadian or US censuses. Be sure to include brothers and sisters of your direct ancestors. Read the instructions carefully before gathering and entering data, as requirements for each census are different. Click 'Search', and the system checks whether someone else has entered identical data. Repeat the search periodically to find more cousins. Your email address is not revealed unless you choose to allow that. It costs nothing to join LostCousins and enter data. If you do not want to pay a small annual subscription, you can just sit back and wait for your 'new' cousins to contact you.
* CuriousFox is a gazetteer & message system. Every town/village in the UK & Ireland has its own page for family history / local history messages. It is easier to find relevant entries for common surnames because you are searching at 'village' level. People can also find your entries via Google searches. Your email address is not revealed unless you choose to allow that. It costs nothing to join, search or add messages. If you do not want to pay a tiny annual subscription, you can just sit back and wait for people to contact you. -
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