Talk:Use the internet for family history research

Links need checking, info is very outdated, having been created some time ago.

I think the links are now updated, but the FamilySearch image needs replacing.

Internet Genealogies
I enjoyed looking through this page for internet resources. However, I am distressed that one large caution was not given: Many, many genealogies on the internet have factual errors. They list the wrong parents, wrong children, children who were born before the supposed mothers, mothers who gave birth after death, spouses with similar names but the wrong one, and so on. A particularly common error is that a researcher finds someone of the same name and approximate birth then assumes it is "their" ancestor. In one town, for example, I found three men of the exact same name and same approximate age. You can't assume that someone else, whom you never met, got it right. The list of errors is endless, unfortunately. My point is that no genealogy, family group sheets, GEDCOMs, should be copied from the internet without verifying every fact yourself. If sources are given, then follow up and check those sources yourself. If no sources are given, then assume there are serious errors and treat the information as clues to your research, but don't accept it as the end-all, because it will have errors. Count on it. There's no value in copying a genealogy from the internet and having a pedigree chart that is totally wrong.