Verifying Research

Once again, we've come to the inevitable discussion of how other researchers got the data that they put on their online pedigree charts and family group sheets. I've found more erronous family data from families linked together because of similar names, such as two wives named Minnie Burton from two generations but the wrong one is linked to the wrong husband. I know from my own careful research that these are NOT the same individuals as I see on this new source online. They are two unique individuals from two different families, so I will submit the corrections with my documentation.

You can't trust everything that you see in print- in fact, sometimes a mere check with a primary source, such as a birth or death index online or the federal census online can demonstrate a falsehood within seconds. We should all check our facts! We all can make mistakes. But let's work to also make the corrections when we find the error.

So how can the genealogical community strive to have all reseachers VERIFY data before publishing it? Let's teach it, write it, talk about it and encourage one another to be careful and always verify and when in doubt, to make that notation in our research logs and published work, for the benefit of those examining our data and our well- reasoned conclusions.