tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1527613590529958801.post3794022142710773935..comments2024-03-21T19:08:05.737-07:00Comments on Genealogy's Star: Comments on FamilySearch in a Worldwide CommunityJames Tannerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02989059644120454647noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1527613590529958801.post-82108451672911920182014-08-15T15:33:42.503-07:002014-08-15T15:33:42.503-07:00From your last bulleted list from a slide:
Number...From your last bulleted list from a slide:<br /><br />Number of People Agree with Content<br />--How is this relevant to accuracy? Could one "like" an item attributed to one dern GEDCOM file, but not another item from the same file or a different one?<br /><br />Voting on Accuracy<br />--Even worse than the above. Numerous of my family members are erroneously depicted (in many different ways) in sundry trees. Allowing votes of the respective tree owners to affect the material given in FS-FT in any way (they would outvote those who try to rely on evidentiary records) would be just stupid. This is one of the worst ideas to be proposed.<br /><br />Genealogical accuracy is not in general related to popularity or voting numbers. That's how we see wrong material regarding researched relatives in 5,10, 250 trees.<br />Geoloverhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12050268303916428230noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1527613590529958801.post-3174429957909527392014-08-13T07:34:47.025-07:002014-08-13T07:34:47.025-07:00I was referring to the fact that WeRelate has link...I was referring to the fact that WeRelate has links to the FamilySearch Catalog for sources and so does FamilySearch Family Tree. I do not think that linking the Family Tree to the Research Wiki would work or be a good idea. The Research Wiki is not a source.James Tannerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02989059644120454647noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1527613590529958801.post-28269829819130942942014-08-13T04:42:41.947-07:002014-08-13T04:42:41.947-07:00In the FamilySearch FamilyTree, I personally don&#...In the FamilySearch FamilyTree, I personally don't see those links. I see a lot of links on a person page, but none of those brings me to a place page as it does on WeRelate.org. In my opinion such links, which would then try a search on the FamilySearch Research Wiki, would be a great way to educate members in two ways. On one hand, if the place exists, the wiki page might provide clues for further research, or simply tell members about the place where their ancestors lived. On the other hand, when there is no such place in the research wiki, that might be a clue that the place entered is not right, as is the case in many entries in the tree, like you mentioned in an earlier post.<br /><br />Providing these links would make the tree more wiki like, especially because it is much quicker (wiki wiki) than typing the name in the catalog, which also uses another place database than the standardization database of the Family Tree. And since both are inaccurate, linking places to the FamilySearch Research Wiki, where they can be maintained by dedicated members, would probably be a better choice.Enno Borgsteedehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15212823867293147091noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1527613590529958801.post-82293697571994418102014-08-12T18:32:17.546-07:002014-08-12T18:32:17.546-07:00You used to be able to read this history of the Ge...You used to be able to read this history of the Genealogical Society of Utah online for free, but it looks like they ask for a fee now: https://byustudies.byu.edu/showtitle.aspx?title=123Nathan Murphyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16335989842820672777noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1527613590529958801.post-87273217221108742532014-08-12T15:23:11.135-07:002014-08-12T15:23:11.135-07:00WeRelate incorporates the entire FamilySearch Libr...WeRelate incorporates the entire FamilySearch Library Catalog. FamilySearch Family Tree essentially does the same thing with links. James Tannerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02989059644120454647noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1527613590529958801.post-17863338398057674822014-08-12T14:33:25.875-07:002014-08-12T14:33:25.875-07:00I do recognize the wiki-like features too. It'...I do recognize the wiki-like features too. It's just that I think that the software platform is not the same. And in general I think that's a good thing, because quite a few people are scared by mediawiki formatting rules, even though they are easier than pure html. A glimpse at the Research Wiki also shows that you have style guides there, which are a good thing there, but don't work well on the tree. I know that from wikitree, where styles don't work, because once they're changed, there's no one that can apply the new styles to the millions of person pages that are already there.<br /><br />I like the FamilySearch tree because of the collaborative features, and because I don't need to learn mediawiki formatting and style guides for that. It allows me to concentrate on the elements that I'm already used to in my desktop program, and that's good. And with the wiki-like history, I also know that I don't need to fear making mistakes.<br /><br />As far as I can tell, there is no link between the Family Tree and the Research Wiki now, and adding that might be an interesting challenge. On WeRelate.org, such links are used for places, and they may be useful in some other areas too, like maybe notes and memories. That's my peering into the mist.Enno Borgsteedehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15212823867293147091noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1527613590529958801.post-34356839255423611652014-08-12T12:25:31.945-07:002014-08-12T12:25:31.945-07:00Thanks for your extensive comment. I guess, becaus...Thanks for your extensive comment. I guess, because of having worked on the FamilySearch.org Research Wiki now for about six years, I see more wiki-like features in Family Tree than would otherwise be evident.James Tannerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02989059644120454647noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1527613590529958801.post-11775867358311816892014-08-12T11:42:14.027-07:002014-08-12T11:42:14.027-07:00H'm, I'm inclined to agree with the LDS ig...H'm, I'm inclined to agree with the LDS ignoring what you said. And that's because a real wiki, as it is defined on http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wiki, is based on the idea of the collaborative editing of text. That's why the inventor created a formatting language that was much easier than html, and database that could be used to roll back changes, so that editors would not be afraid to make mistakes. Ease and freedom were key.<br /><br />Sites like WeRelate.org and wikitree.com that use the same text based software that's used on Wikipedia, could still be seen as wikis because of that, but in reality, they're not that easy as a real wiki anymore. They have lots of rules to make things work, and on the latter I have seen that people can become very unfriendly when a mistake is made, and the much appreciated roll-back doesn't seem to be able. I really didn't see much of the wiki atmosphere there, but rather people that were the opposite of cooperative.<br /><br />As far as I can tell, Geni and FamilySearch do not use the mediawiki for their trees, and therefore, I would not call them wiki sites myself. They are highly structured collaborative sites, and Geni is quite actively moderated. And that's needed, because in my experience, the average genealogist is not the most collaborative type. Many act quite violent when someone else corrects what they think is their tree, and don't seem to be interested in real quality at all.<br /><br />With this in mind, I think of Geni and the FamilySearch as wiki like, but also think that people need to be aware that strong moderation is necessary here. And that also means strict rules about all sorts of things, like proper use of names, locations, sources, and so forth. And especially FamilySearch still needs a lot of cleaning up to work.<br /><br />P.S. I really appreciate you posting a link to that presentation, and your recent post.Enno Borgsteedehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15212823867293147091noreply@blogger.com