I agree with the problem of people saying "mine, mine, all mine" and refusing to share. The way I read it, because someone went to the trouble of going to courthouses, libraries, paying money for records,etc. no one else is allowed to have it. It sounds just like a child playing with a toy because it is mine and refusing to share. Goodness, most of us should try to teach our children to share. I believe that is taught in 3 yr old pre K. My trees are free for others to copy including the photos. Maybe I have more time than others to work on my trees. Maybe I have access to a Family Bible that others do not have or maybe I was just lucky to find the info or know more about how to research than someone else. I understand that many others do not agree with me. However, if any one maintains a private tree, then absolutely nothing in someones public tree should be merged with that private tree. If your tree is private, don't copy my public tree.

Michelle,

You wondered "But that is my point, not everyone can do that. And even if they can, why do people feel the need to make them?"

I guess some are completely unable to do any research for themselves. I have not seen an indication except in one religious-based quarter where anyone tries to *make* people do research. Folks either do or don't. Many have to wait a good while until opportunities, resources and other factors allow doing some of it. Many more have no interest in doing it at all.

Personally I have no expectation to go to Germany for a year to seek my 18th-century emigrants' records. I don't resent inability to do this, or expect that someone will hand it to me. In life we may have goals, but since we are human we must set priorities and may not achieve all of them.

"It sounds just like a child playing with a toy because it is mine and refusing to share...if any one maintains a private tree, then absolutely nothing in someones public tree should be merged with that private tree. If your tree is private, don't copy my public tree."

Yikes ! You paint with such an unqualified broad brush !

I'd venture that most involved in the public posting of an ancestral tree are likely to be quite interested in the prospects and benefits of "sharing" and thus NOT likely to HIDE their tree from the Ancestry search engine (rendering it "really really PRIVATE"...in fact, INVISIBLE).

However, like myself, many are choosing to limit their tree's exposure to unfettered harvesting and the silliness it has come to invite. All it takes is a reasonable bit of communication. Why is that so terribly offensive to you?

Everyone is entitled to their own opinion. That happens to be mine.

Ancestry has the best collection of databases pertinent to family history on the internet and whether or not you agree with their motives for making this available the fact is they have become an invaluable resource.

I have found ancestors I didn't know I had and answers to puzzles that I thought I would never solve. However when I use the databases I always do my best to cross check what is there and I never add anything I think might be relevent until I have made absolutely sure that it is.

In today's society we tend to look for the "quick fix" everything must be instantly available but that's just not the way with family history, even with the internet. You still have to verify your findings and make sure everything ties together and makes sense. It's just like a big jigsaw puzzle, if you find a piece that looks as if it fits but then doesn't no amount of fiddling and hammering will make it fit! In the end you will have a picture that makes no sense at all!

As I said before I have no problems with sharing the information I have collected myself over the years from all sorts of sources but if I share I want it to be shared responsibily with people who have a common passion for family history. When you misuse the data then you make a mockery of it's purpose and make it so much more difficult for others to get the facts straight. That is just not acceptable, hence the privatized tree!

Hi,
I think the main problems for alot of people is 'access' to records.

For those of us in Australia we can only go back upto 200 odd years,,,if you are lucky,,,,then everything you need to continue is overseas..

There is not many who can afford to travel continually to search and gather the information needed to continue.

Alot of the online sites charge a fortune and it is almost impossible to confirm the information (from overseas) unless you purchase the certs,,,(mind you this is after you have already paid to find the information that SHOULD be your line)

I do not agree with the tree eaters, who seem to continually search and devour other people's tree,,,turning most of them to pulp..BUT for some of us serious searchers,,,connecting with others by viewing their tree is the only way to get an idea of where we are heading without spending thousands of dollars.

Most Australian people,,,knowing the problems we all face,,,are very willing and keen to share.
If you check out the Australian Boards we have many researchers with access to alot of stuff who continually help and advise day after day.

I guess like with anything,,,there are always the people who ruin it for everyone else.
It is a shame,,,,as there are alot of really good people who are trying hard but don't have the resources or access to the things they need to continue.

Kellie

Wow! I just found this thread whilst looking for a forum to b**** about One World Tree. I can't believe how snarky people get when one suggests that you keep your hard-earned, 30+ years and thousands of dollars worth of research private, request-only!
Sorry to resurrect a slightly dead issue, but I just had to comment.
I'm sorry if someone can't afford to do their own heavy, expensive research, or doesn't have the time, etc., etc., but that is not my fault nor my problem. There is still a lot of free stuff out there, including your local library. I've done much of my work there, on the internet at free sites, and through letter writing campaigns to Town Historians, Archives, Libraries, free lookup offers, etc. It takes longer, but it's cheap, and it works.
Privatizing one's tree (I just did this a couple of years ago after the advent of the maligned One World "Tree", and resulting repeated attempts to correct other's mistakes because of it, only to meet with recalcitrance and utter resentment from newbies) is the only way in which to control the proliferation of *Wrong* information which keeps perpetuating itself via people who do not do their homework.
They see 'information'(and I *shudder* to call it that) on the so-called One World "Tree" (and OTHER offerings at Ancestry) and believe it as gospel truth. OR, since Ancestry doesn't seem to account for "bef." or "abt." or "aft." they see a date and take it as, again, gospel. I've had people contact me very indignantly to say "this person did not die then" when I had an "aft." with the date, that Ancestry does not seem to be able to pick up. This, because for instance, the last research I did was, say, the 1860 census, so I had "aft. 1860" for a dod.
I've seen people listed as dying in 1850 because they were on that Mortality Schedule Index, when they in fact died in 1849 - but try to change someone's mind about it.

I don't mind sharing every bit of information I have with FAMILY, regardless of how distant they may be. I have in the past sent entire Gedcoms, GenReports, copies of documents, etc., as well as being on the receiving end. In fact, I would never have found my grandfather's family (he died shortly after my mom was born and contact was gradually lost) if it hadn't been for a several cousins who so generously shared *All* of their research. And that's just one instance of generosity! HOWEVER, I sent *them* my info *first* so that they would know who I was, that I was *serious* about what I was attempting to do, and that I had a legitimate right to know about the people I was asking about.
My problem comes in when I see *MY* information carried in someone else's tree, whom I've never heard of nor from, and who isn't even really related! - without so much as a "by your leave" - And I mean entire paragraphs of my own *COPYRIGHTED* comments, completely unsourced. Not even the sources I used to build my comments upon. THAT, my friends is Plagiarism and copyright infringement of other's work, not just mine, but books and documents by other authors you've not given credit for, and I want no part of it. Often, they've 'blended' it with OWT data, and further mangled it so as to become nearly unrcognizable.
Hence, privatization.
Now, I've posted about OWT before, and had Ancestry people basically, (and quite nastily) tell me to get over it and just accept it, and further, that *I* should go and correct OWT. To which I say Why should I correct something that wasn't wrong until you got ahold of it? Well, I will not and cannot either correct Ancestry's mistakes, nor accept them. What OWT did to my database is completely unacceptable. The information I worked over 30 years and thousands of dollars to verify and document was completely mangled. Just look at this one:
http://trees.ancestry.com/pt/hintlist.aspx?tid=11723161&...
I mean, this guy is supposed to have died in CHINA if you believe OWT. WTF????
I can no longer control all of the Old information from my outdated trees which Ancestry had taken and committed for all eternity to discs, One World Tree, etc., etc., but I CAN guard the newer, updated information, and share it only with those who have a good reason to need it.
I prefer to give limited *Actual* information, i.e., I will point the *serious* researcher in the right direction so that they can have the fun of finding out about their ancestors on their own. Want to know where he was born? Sure! This is where to look, and this is where you can send for copies of the records.
Have I piggybacked on other's work? Sure have! We'd be fools not to take a shortcut if someone else has already documented and sourced everything. BUT I've always contacted them, told them who I am, shared what I have, and ASKED PERMISSION. And THEN I've retraced their steps and verified everything for myself.
Do I still try to help others who have fallen into the One World Tree (etc.) pitfall? Yes, and I *still* get people who have NO clue, and resist changing the info even when I give them on a silver platter, the Primary Source citation and quote, so that they can check for themselves. Many simply say "Thanks" but I still get the "I got it from One World Tree and have no intention of changing it because if Ancestry has it it must be more correct than you" attitude.
It's sad that people resist the help of more experienced researchers, and as someone here said, it's their loss. However, it is also a loss to the genealogy community every time someone copies a false piece of information, believes it, shares it with others, and refuses to listen to those of us who actually CARE whether or not it is right, true, documented, and verifiable.
So I put it to all of those who think that those of us who have worked hard, done our time, with our own money, and who don't think we should have to give it away to everyone, that it is not OUR attitudes that have changed. Once upon a time the genealogy community was QUITE different. People *asked* rather than *took*, and *EXCHANGED* information. People didn't have the sense of entitlement that so many seem to have now. Taking without offering anything is a poor exchange IMHO.
So the next time you take a piece of information from someone else's tree, take a minute to think about how much work went into it, whether or not you NEED it ALL, make *SURE* you give credit where credit is due, and contact the original submitter to say, at the very least, "Thank you."
We deserve that much.
From beginning to end, a Genealogy Die-Hard
Deborah

"Once upon a time the genealogy community was QUITE different. People *asked* rather than *took*, and *EXCHANGED* information. People didn't have the sense of entitlement that so many seem to have now. Taking without offering anything is a poor exchange IMHO."

Thank you, Deborah!!! Well said. I must have come into genealogy in the middle of this change. I've noticed a difference in just the three years I've been doing it. It's such a shame.