Click and Claim -- the genealogy video game

In a comment to my last post, Karen of Genealogy Frame of Mind named
the activity of gathering ancestors from online databases as "Click and
Claim." I like this designation. It summarizes the video game-like
activity of going online and copying names down into a local database
without any discrimination as to the accuracy of the information and
without even knowing the identity of the individuals being added to the
local file. Here is one example of information that is contained in many
online databases and dozens of files (not mine, by the way).

One of my Grandfathers was killed in a truck/train accident in 1944
before I was born. The accident occurred in New Mexico, but he resided
in Arizona. I had never seen a death certificate and, of course, there
was no Arizona Death Certificate. Although the story had been told to me
all my life about his death and although I did not doubt the accuracy
of the account, I still had the nagging issue of providing documentation
to my file.

This is the situation. Even if you "know" from your own personal
knowledge the facts about your family, you cannot rely on your own
memory. Why, you may ask? Because you are going to die and those that
come after you will not have your memory. It is absolutely important
that the video game be stopped, that accurate sourced information be
passed on to the next generation (whether they want it or not). Relying
on passed down, unsubstantiated, rumor or fable is not acceptable.

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