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Genealogy: Online Ethics and Etiquette

From the novice to the veteran family historian we can all agree that the vast amount of information available online for genealogy research is a great blessing. Therefore, it is more important than ever to become familiar with the ethical practices and etiquette involved in information sharing when it comes to our family trees.

On sites such as Ancestry.com and Find a Grave, a great deal of the information is made available through the contributions of fellow researchers. Thus, it is becoming easier for genealogy beginners to discover documents and photos at the touch of a few keys.

Family Tree Ethics and Etiquette
Published genealogies can be a truly wonderful resource, they aid us in our own research and quite often lead to the discovery of cousins we never knew we had. The down side of this is that through innocent error and sometimes intent, the genealogical community experiences a degree of unethical behavior and bad manners.

It is very exciting to find published information about your ancestors online however, before you snag that birth, marriage, death record or photo of G.G. Grandma:

1. Ask Permission
This is a common scenario on sites like Ancestry.com where photos and records are often public. This is because Ancestry.com is meant to be a collaborative site and although it states in their Community Guidelines that “Any information you post in our community is public and can be copied, modified and distributed by others” you should still ask permission of the original poster.

2. Give Credit
When using published documents or photos always thank the original contributor A little blurb that reads – Photo Courtesy of Ms. Nice Genealogist – is just good manners.

To learn more about this subject check out Genealogy Beginner’s lesson # 1. Genealogy Standards and Guidelines: You Need to Know This First, available with your 30-day free trial membership.

Find a Grave: Free Family Tree Resource

Find a Grave is a FREE genealogical resource that every genealogy beginner should visit and bookmark today.

Founded in 1995 by Jim Tipton, a self-proclaimed nerd with the odd hobby of searching out and visiting the grave sites of the famous; Tipton’s goal in the creation of the site was to share his interest with like-minded others.

It was not long before he came to the realization that his hobby had great historical and genealogical significance.

What Does Find a Grave Contain?

Filled with memorials this virtual cemetery has listings for:

• North America (by province and state)
• South America
• Europe
• Asia
• Australia and Oceana
• Africa

Not to be forgotten is the “Famous Graves” section that has a comprehensive search field that allows for numerous search types.

It also has some fun categories such as:

Yearly Necrologies: listings of individuals who died during specific times

Posthumous Reunions: a page that lists movies and TV shows with cast members who have passed away. For example when I clicked on the TV show Star Trek, it listed 46 cast members (both guest starts and original crew).  For each listing, it gave the date and place of birth and death, a biography that contained many details, cause of death, place of burial and special details.

Interesting Epitaphs: This category is self explanatory and indeed does contain some very interesting epitaphs.

Is it Worth My Time?

The best way to tackle this question is by giving it a test run. For this purpose, I will use three of my ancestors, one from the US, one from Canada and one from Scotland using the broadest search category…surname search.

1. U. S. – Undseth: This search did not return any direct line ancestors, however there were a few cousins listed.
2. Canada – McCallum: This search found several of my ancestors graves listed in three provinces.
3. Scotland – Sinclair: This Search was the most successful and returned numerous family lines from the Orkney Islands.

Find a Grave is most definitely worth your time. In fact, you could easily spend hours and hours searching through the site for burial records to flesh out your family history.

How do I Join?

Joining is easy; simply fill out the online registration and you can immediately begin searching for your ancestors.

Find a Grave is a true genealogy treasure that allows you to not only search for your ancestors but also to contribute to the already huge database. Before you get started, be sure to download your complementary Cemetery Visit Tracking Form available with your free 30-day trail membership to Genealogy Beginner.