You find a error in a listing from FindAGrave or another like site, now what?

Comment

Comment by Randy L Quick on July 21, 2009 at 10:45am

Cindy- I would think that someone would welcome a correction, if it can be verified. I know it bugs me to have information wrong just because it can lead me down the wrong road along with the same problem it will cause anyone else who looks at your data. It bugs me when people blow off the error thinking it is no big deal, if it is no big deal, then delete it.
I have also run accross errors in publications and I know the author did not do his due diligence, just because it is printed does not mean it is correct.
Thanks for your comments

Comment by Cindy Curtin on July 21, 2009 at 8:47am

Randy - I agree completely that you should contact the moderator and explain the situation. This is much more difficult when many others have taken the error as "word" and used it in their data as well (such as the trees on Ancestry) I recently found an error in my line that was published in a book. While the author clearly stated "further research needs to be done on this couple's children" no one would listen because they had gotten the info from THE BOOK and it was taken as correct by many others who had published trees - although NONE of them were descendants of the couple in question. Many researchers do not realize that just because something is documented in a book or on the web this does not mean that it's all correct. Facts must be checked and proven for yourself - this is a step that many researchers who are starting out do not realize the importance of. I agree with your comments in the case of the actual records being incorrect (such as census records etc.) nothing can or should be done to the actual records and should be noted in your research file as a possible error or "other" date / name etc.

Comment by Randy L Quick on July 8, 2009 at 8:20pm

The only type of data that I feel should be corrected is recent human entry errors. A couple of examples could be two that I worked to get correct, the first was a Cemetary listing for two close relatives in the wrong cemetary, I contacted them and they said they had found other similar errors. The other was someone had taken a poor quality picture of a gravestone and input the name and date incorrectly, I just happened to have a better quality picture of the specific headstone.
I completely agree with Steve that historic data such as a census or errors put on a headstone should be left as is. We should not try to correct those.

Comment by Lorine McGinnis Schulze on July 8, 2009 at 6:01pm

I agree with Steve Johnson's comment. It is very important that online publishers of data NEVER alter the original record. Yes, typos should be corrected but on receiving notice of a possible error, the responsible thing to do is to verify the accuracy or non-accuracy of the data with the original from which the data was taken.

Even if your grandfather's gravestone says he was born in 1846 and you have his original church record showing he was born in 1849, a responsible publisher will not change what was written on the tombstone. If genealogy researchers cannot count on an original record being unchangeable, there will be far too many variations for accuracy

Comment by Cindy Johnston Sorley on July 8, 2009 at 3:20pm

I have had to contact many people over the past few months about a member of their tree that was born before their father or died at age 150. I think the key to contacting people is to approach the person with a "can I ask you about your relative?" and then ask about the details. I have found if you approach them this way instead of saying "Your ancestor information is wrong" will get a much more positive response.

Comment by Steve Johnson on July 8, 2009 at 2:57pm

I publish Interment.net. One thing to be aware of with mistakes, is that we focus on publishing what's written on the tombstone, or what's documented in the sexton records. Your information may vary, but the point of publishing transcriptions is to show you what was actually recorded, not necessarily what is fact.

A genealogist needs to know what was documented, not what has been edited by the public at large. Transcriptions are not "living" documents that get edited over and over. They are archived, and kept in a fixed state, just like microfilm, or printed book.

You might argue that a web document has the versatility of being edited easily, but it doesn't do a genealogist much good to know that a transcription he or she is reading is constantly being edited by the public at large.

Certainly we do want to know about typographical errors coming from the keyboard. But when a visitor notifies us of an error, our recourse is to notify the author who created the original transcription, and let them compare it to the original source (tombstone, sexton record), and we stand by the author's word. We don't edit records based on the public's testimony.

Comment by Randy L Quick on July 8, 2009 at 1:21pm

I have had the same results as far as folks personal tree. Some are so quick to grab any info to add to their tree, known as correct or not, without any futher research, that they end up with a mess in their tree. I have made this mistake myself more than once, added something, with the intent of digging into it, then get distracted, come back to it in a month or so and ask, "where did this come from?"

Comment by Cindy Johnston Sorley on July 8, 2009 at 1:19pm

Randy
I too have corrected a number of mistakes on FindAGrave and they have been very nice about it. One was a typo in dates that was clearly written correctly on the marker and they fixed it ASAP. The other was a verification when the family purchased a new grave marker for grandma and they put in her wrong surname. They had Atkins. The surname was Akins. I sent a note to FindAGrave that the family made the mistake and people may try to correct it from the photo and the reply I got back was very nice. I am addicted to FindAGrave. A marvelous idea and I hope it continues to grow.

Cindy in Utah.. going grave photoing today to fill some request

Comment by Melissa Barker on July 8, 2009 at 1:17pm

Thanks Randy for this advice. I do this all the time. I have had mixed results as far as responses. But normally from genealogy sites like FindAGrave you get a great response. However, trying to correct someone's information on their family tree on Ancestry.com can get a little dicy!