Jenny: To post sources or not is certainly your own choice. For those on the fence, though, I'd say this:
First, I posted a tree at RootsWeb WorldConnect for about 5 years with no sources cited but with a statement on each page saying that sources were available and I'd be happy to share. Not a single person ever wrote. Then a research advisor expressed the opinion that sources add credibility to your work so I relented and included them. Since that time I've been contacted regularly by serious researchers who invariably say they wrote because of the extensive sourcing and they often hope I can help with a family puzzle. (And thanks to Legacy for making thorough sourcing so easy!) Second, there is a huge amount of misinformation online regarding a favorite line of mine. By including sources (and notes regarding common errors where appropriate), I hope that people will believe my data rather than some of the unsourced garbage trees. And third, I prohibit downloading the GEDCOM so that people can still copy one family group at a time but can't do a wholesale grab. Hopefully they will then at least have to *look* at the data and perhaps compare it to what they find elsewhere. So there are arguments to both sides. If folks are likely to be incensed to find that someone copied their data, with or without credit, then it's probably best to withhold the sources and avoid the ulcers. If your preference is to just get the facts out there without publishing a book then I think including sources is a great option. Kirsten -----Original Message----- From: Jenny M Benson Sent: Monday, April 09, 2012 3:20 PM To: LegacyUserGroup@LegacyUsers.com Subject: Re: [LegacyUG] What is the point of FamilySearch? On 09/04/2012 22:36, Marcy Cole wrote: > Not quite sure why you feel publishing your sources is "handing everything > on a plate". Because if I do so someone can look at my record and copy the entire record, including Source, to their own database without contacting me, without crediting me and without doing any research of their own. If they do that with an unsourced record of mine they are probably not very serious about their research and are unlikely to be taken seriously. If soemone who really cares about the accuracy of their data sees a record of mine without Sources they are welcome to contact me and ask where my information came from and if they do that and are happy with the standards of my research they are likely to ask if we can exchange data. -- Jenny M Benson Legacy User Group guidelines: http://www.LegacyFamilyTree.com/Etiquette.asp Archived messages after Nov. 21 2009: http://www.mail-archive.com/legacyusergroup@legacyusers.com/ Archived messages from old mail server - before Nov. 21 2009: http://www.mail-archive.com/legacyusergroup@legacyfamilytree.com/ Online technical support: http://www.LegacyFamilyTree.com/Help.asp Follow Legacy on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/LegacyFamilyTree) and on our blog (http://news.LegacyFamilyTree.com). To unsubscribe: http://www.LegacyFamilyTree.com/LegacyLists.asp
