Collaborating with others on Ancestry.com and FamilySearch.org is a great thing. I have been able to fill in some of the blanks for my family, which has been wonderful. Mom just loves hearing about any new information I find.
However, it can get really messy, really quick! Like I have said before, “too many cooks spoils the soup”. When you have hundreds, or even thousands, of individuals working the same lineage you are, it gets really frustrating when you find obvious errors. For instance, a lot of children for one couple, most of the children are duplicates. Dates are really off…a mother having her 19th child when she’s 70?! Seriously?! It seems like it is a race to see who can add the most information. It’s not a race! Accuracy is important; understanding naming traditions is important; source documentation is important, etc.
Ancestral files are NOT always 100% accurate! Before you upload/import an ancestral file, research it yourself. It should be easy and quick to do. We are only human and we do make mistakes. If you are not sure about something, notate it somewhere. Make sure you are absolutely 100% comfortable with the information you are entering and that you stand behind your info 100%!
Sometimes, one does have to use their best judgement and “guesstimate”. If this is the case, then notate as such. There are times that I have had to adjust dates, but that is because there is no documentation to substantiate it. When I have done that, I have notated as such. This is especially true for our American ancestors prior to the 17th century and our foreign ancestors prior to the 16th century.
Some countries have kept better records than others. The Netherlands have AWESOME records, as they are legible, intelligent and consistent. I’m finding that Germany/Poland is a lot harder. With several wars way back when and land changing hands over time, it is kind of hard to figure out where to look. If anyone has any helpful hints, please let me know!
Scion Blueprint 