Copyright laws vary by country, but for most countries, the basic premises are the same:
• Facts and data cannot be copyrighted.
• Narration, compilations (that includes a genealogy database), and creative works can be copyrighted.
Some International Copyright Information Sites
• Australian Copyright Council: http://www.copyright.org.au/
• Canadian Intellectual Property site: http://www.cipo.ic.gc.ca/
• European Commission page on copyright: http://ec.europa.eu/internal_market/copyright/index_en.htm
• United Kingdom page on intellectual property: http://www.ipo.gov.uk/home.htm
• World Intellectual Property Organization site: http://www.wipo.int/clea/en/
• Nolo.com: http://www.nolo.com—click the Patents, Copyright & Art tab
Protecting Yourself
The other side of the coin, of course, is to decide how you want to protect yourself from plagiarism. The presentation of facts can be protected by copyright, but not the facts themselves. When you present data in your own distinctive format, such as a book, then that presentation of the material is protected by copyright, even though the facts are not. Still, when you put your work out there, expect others to use it.
Gormley says, “If you do not want to share your genealogical research, that is fine, but you cannot claim copyright to facts, and a great deal of ‘online genealogy’ is nothing more than compiled facts—although seldom verified or even referenced as to the actual source of the information. If you don’t want to be ‘ripped off’—and if by that you mean that you do not want others to use genealogical facts you have compiled—then don’t share your genealogy with anyone: Put it in a vault.”
Note
Just as bad as stealing another’s work is posting your data with certain facts changed, such as a date, to “protect” your information. Posting what you know is not to be true does not advance the art and science of genealogy in any way. Don’t ever do it.
“I wish I knew!” says Dick Eastman when asked how to protect data you have carefully collected. “There is no foolproof method [to avoid] being ripped off. Of course, you should always add copyright claims. But that only stops the honest people and maybe a few unknowledgeable ones who never thought about copyrights until they read your claim.
“I used to recommend technical solutions: I recommended Adobe Acrobat PDF files. However, a free program appeared that does a great job of converting PDF files back to useable text, so now even that recommendation has been weakened. I do not know of any other way.” Eastman says there are no easy answers, only guidelines. “The person who is to publish the information needs to ask himself: ‘Am I sure that I have a legal right to use this information?’ If you have any doubts, don’t publish! However, determining whether or not you do have a legal right to publish a piece of information can become very complex. I spent a lot of time discussing this with a lawyer who works for a Boston legal firm that specializes in intellectual properties issues. She is also an experienced genealogist and a member of the advisory board for a prestigious society. The more she talked, the more confused I became. At the end of our conversation, she said, ‘Well, there really is no easy way,’” Eastman concluded.
However, complicated as it is, there are still steps you can take. You can (1) ask for permission to use data when you find it on someone else’s site and (2) copyright your own formatting and presentation of that data. Use the above-mentioned “Copyright” section to find out how to do both.
Note
“In a perfect world (online or off) everyone would cite their sources properly and give credit to all who have shared research and information with them. Alas, there is no such place—never has been. Even basic good manners—such as saying ‘thank you’—are rare. But the genealogist with good manners is far more likely to be rewarded with a wealth of material and help than those without.”
—Myra Vanderpool Gormley, CG
Other Matters
Be prepared for relatives to be sensitive about certain family history, as my husband’s grandfather was (see Chapter 1). A long thread on the Ancestry.com ethics discussion board described one researcher’s problems in tracing her husband’s line. Her in-laws became angry and insulting when asked a simple question about her husband’s grandfather. She then researched discreetly, without asking her in-laws any more questions. When she came across a fact that may have been what upset her in-laws, she resolved to keep the data private.
In such a case, you may even want to put the information aside in something to be opened with your will and ask your descendants to add it to the family tree after everyone involved is gone.
Give Back
Finally, it is at least as good to give as to receive, and it is more ethical to give back to the genealogy community than to just take everything you find. Once you have some experience, you should consider contributing to the amount of good, accurate information available online. For example, on www.familysearchindexing.org, you can volunteer to be part of their indexing project. In the first quarter of 2007 alone, volunteers indexed nearly 30 million names by simply reading scanned documents and typing the names and page numbers. This was done by thousands of volunteers, some of whom can only spare one hour a month. But in that hour, you can probably index 50 or so names. Multiply that by the hundreds of thousands of people who use www.familysearch.org, and you can see what an impact that can make!
Similarly, most of the USGenWeb and international GenWeb sites are thrilled to have volunteers help them index and transcribe wills, deeds, letters, tax rolls, or any other primary source you can get your hand on. Again, give an hour a month, and you can be of great help to many other researchers! Check out www.usgenweb.org, drill down to the states and counties for which you have data, and contribute. Join a local historical or genealogical organization, and share your findings with the membership in their publications and online sites.
As an example of giving and receiving good genealogy karma, for years, my mother edited Le Despencer, the Spencer Historical and Genealogical Society (www.spencersociety.org/) newsletter, which ran articles such as transcribed original materials from letters and diaries and narratives about ancestors of the members. She indexed each volume herself, too. She learned a lot about our branch of Spencer ancestors, as well as lots of other branches in the process, while disseminating invaluable data.
NGS Standards
In the back of this book, you will find the standards for genealogy published by the National Genealogical Society (NGS). These Genealogical Standards and Guidelines are aimed at making the practice of genealogy clearer, better, and more understandable. While NGS is neither an accrediting nor an enforcement agency and will not keep track of whether you as an individual are following these standards, nevertheless, if you use the Standards and Guidelines in your personal pursuit of family history, then they have served their purpose.
Wrapping Up
• Ethics, privacy, and copyright are the three concerns with genealogy legalities.
• Do not publish anything about living people, on the Web or otherwise. This helps prevent someone from getting a name, birth date, and birth place to create a false identification or to steal an identity. On the other hand, do not try to protect privacy by publishing anything you know to be untrue. To do so will result in bad data becoming part of the Internet forever.
• Be sensitive about publishing information on those who have passed on. You may find it fascinating that your great-great-grandfather was illegitimate and a pirate; perhaps your cousins won’t be so enthralled.
• Cite your sources, both to protect intellectual property rights and to leave a wide audit trail for future genealogists.
• Contribute to the collection of good, accurate data on the Internet by becoming involved with indexing, transcribing, and discussing original sources.
• Do your best to follow the standards and guidelines of the National Genealogical So
ciety, and familiarize yourself with the codes of ethics professional genealogists use.
Part II
Using the Internet for Genealogy
Chapter 4
Genealogy Education
Alot of genealogy is learning by doing, but that’s no reason to reinvent the wheel. Workshops, seminars, reading, and courses can help you start climbing that family tree efficiently and effectively.
“I always stress education, especially for those who are new to genealogy and think that everything is on the Internet,” said Liz Kelley Kerstens, CG, CGL. She is the creator of the software program Clooz—the electronic filing cabinet for genealogical records, is managing editor of NGS Magazine, and authored the books Plymouth’s First Century: Innovators and Industry, a photo history of Plymouth, Michigan; and Plymouth in Vintage Postcards, a postcard history of twentieth-century Plymouth. She is the executive director of the Plymouth Historical Museum and retired from the U.S. Marines as a major.
“I’m always telling people about the NGS courses and conferences because it’s hard to learn in a vacuum. The courses and conferences fill your head with so many ideas that you have to take something away from them.” Kerstens said that she herself, a genealogist of note, is currently pursuing a master’s degree in history, pacing her studies around pursuing her own genealogy and work. She recommends the system of melding work, study, and research.
“Even one course can be overwhelming with my life’s pace, but I finish them because I made a commitment,” she said. “And when I’m taking a course, I try to give it as much attention as I can because, first, I’m paying a lot for graduate tuition, but also, the whole point of taking the courses is to learn. It’s so much more fun to learn when you’re not worrying about getting a fabulous job or the next promotion. I already have a fabulous job and can’t think of anything I’d rather be doing (other than sleeping)!”
Teach Yourself, Be Taught, or Do Both
You have many options when it comes to learning about genealogy, and none are mutually exclusive. You can read books like this one, take college-level courses, read genealogy blogs and RSS (Really Simple Syndication) feeds, or read “how-to” articles on websites. You can learn about one aspect such as wills or land grants, or study to become a Certified Genealogist. You can go to a class or have a class come to you over the Internet. If you decide to go to a class, you can still sign up for it online, usually. Find what suits you best!
Books, magazines, and online articles, such as blogs and RSS feeds, are ways to teach yourself about genealogy. The advantage of this method is that you can choose to learn at your own pace and choose the topics according to your needs at the moment.
However, if you want to learn from someone else, you can find resources for that, too. Online courses allow you to learn at your own pace, create your own experience, and keep the rest of your life going. There are courses that you simply read; in other online courses, you interact with the instructor and/or other students. Sometimes you might attend a class by logging on to a live video broadcast, or “webinar.”
This chapter will show you several online courses that are free; others may involve fees, but will also confer education credits of one sort or another.
“Offline” classes, seminars, and conferences are also worthwhile. Amateurs and professionals, beginners and experts, all benefit from them. Most conferences and seminars have tracks for the beginning, intermediate, and advanced levels. Plus, there is an indescribable joy in meeting new friends who share your passion (which many family members may not yet understand!).
Most of the time, if someone else is teaching you, fees are involved—sometimes modest and sometimes more substantial—but if you share travel and lodging with a genealogy buddy, it need not be prohibitively expensive. And often, with a little research, you can find good conferences and classes right in your own backyard!
Teaching Yourself: Columns, Podcasts, and Blogs
Here are some resources to help you continually hone your genealogy skills and knowledge. In general, these are like periodicals, though the distribution method changes:
• FamilySearch Learning Center has hundreds of training videos on topics from using the site to researching specific types of records.
• Elizabeth Shown Mills’ website (http://www.evidenceexplained.com) and book (Evidence Explained) will help you navigate the ins and outs of documentation.
• The Ancestry.com Learning Center, as well as the blogs, Twitter, and Facebook accounts, offer daily tips and information.
• You can find study groups for many different genealogy topics, such as:
• The NGSQ Articles Online Study Groups meet once a month to discuss past articles published in the National Genealogical Society Quarterly (NGSQ). When you sign up you will get some articles to read that will help you learn how to read published articles critically. You will also get the list of articles that will be reviewed for the entire year. Members of each group take turns leading the discussion.
• ProGen Study Groups will help you learn about Professional Genealogy: A Manual for Researchers, Writers, Editors, Lecturers and Librarians (Genealogical Publishing Company, 2001), edited by Elizabeth Shown Mills.
• Search YouTube for genealogy.
• Virtual Association of Professional Genealogists Chapters: APG-Virtual, and APG-SL (Second Life).
• Ancestry Family History Wiki, by Kay Rudolph.
• And as Kay Rudolph says, “blogs, blogs, blogs, and blogs!”
Speaking of blogs, let’s look at some of the important ones for a genealogist to follow, no matter what your level of expertise.
DearMYRTLE
Pat Richley-Erickson has been helping folks do genealogy online and offline for nearly two decades. Her screen name, DearMYRTLE, comes from one of her great-grandmothers, and was her ID on AOL’s genealogy forum. At DearMYRTLE.com, you will find links to her Genealogy Community on Google+, Feedly, Facebook, and Twitter, her Lessons, and more.
Just one example is her web-based class on the book Mastering Genealogical Proof by Thomas W. Jones (National Genealogical Society, 2013). Both the 2013 and the 2014 Study Group videos can be found on YouTube.
“RootsTech is reaching out to over 250 remote locations in multiple languages throughout the world,” Pat Richley-Erickson said. “You will ‘major’ in the study of Mastering Genealogical Proof for the duration of this series. We’re going to eat, sleep, and breathe this project until we get it down pat. There are some revolutionary thoughts in this book that will be a paradigm shift for even some experienced researchers. This DearMYRTLE’s MGP Study Group is not sponsored by the author or publisher of Mastering Genealogical Proof. The 10-session series is designed for genealogy researchers to study Dr. Jones’ ideas in a positive, collaborative, peer-group setting. These methodology ideals can be translated into any locality or ethnic group research a genealogist is likely to encounter.”
Another fun way to learn random genealogy facts is to listen in on her weekly Mondays with MYRT on Google Hangouts. Each week, a panel of up to eight genealogists will discuss one or more topics making the news in genealogy. She announces how to attend each week on DearMYRTLE.com (see Figure 4-1). Mondays with MYRT happen noon Eastern Standard Time, 11:00 AM Central Standard Time, 10:00 AM Mountain Standard Time, and 9:00 AM Pacific Standard Time.
FIGURE 4-1. From family documents to Roots Tech previews, you will learn something every week on Mondays with MYRT.
DearMYRTLE’s daily genealogy blog has free news and tips, problem solving and other discussions, and much more. It’s a must-read for any beginner. You can visit her site (www.DearMYRTLE.com) to subscribe by RSS feed and have her writing come to you.
Success Story: Using Message Boards Solves a Mystery
Betty Krohn took one of DearMYRTLE’s classes on Internet genealogy research, where it was recommended that the students go to www.rootsweb.com and check out the message boards. Betty decided that her first task was to find informatio
n on Robert Suiters, Sr., an uncle of Betty’s who had left Ohio in 1929 and lost touch with his family.
“The very first message to pop up when I entered the name of Suiters (my maiden name) was from a person who was looking for any family of Robert Suiters. Until that time, I had been unable to locate any trace of Robert Suiters. We knew he existed, but didn’t know if he was still alive or where in the world he would be living. So you can imagine my excitement when I read that message,” Betty said. “We learned that Robert had gone to Oklahoma, married, and had a son, Robert, Jr., but that marriage ended in divorce, and Robert, Sr. left again, leaving the son and never contacting him again.”
Robert was alive, and he was soon on the phone with Betty’s father. Through the message board, Betty was able to reunite much of the family.
—Betty Krohn
Lisa Louise Cook’s Genealogy Gems
This is both a podcast (audio only) and a YouTube channel (video and audio). Lisa’s emphasis is imparting information in an efficient way. In the podcast and videos, she sifts through all the new technology and genealogy resources to bring you what she likes best in family history resources—the “genealogy gems.” You go to the YouTube site to subscribe and get the videos, or watch old ones, and you use an iTunes account to subscribe to the free Genealogy Gems podcast at https://itunes.apple.com/podcast/genealogy-gems-podcast-lisa/id250987403?mt=2.
Note
Institutes are week-long courses of study on a specific area, usually held at the same site every year, with class size ranging from 15 to 30 students, allowing more personalized instruction. Conference formats are usually speakers and panel discussions over a few days, where attendance for each session can be in the hundreds, and the site usually changes every year. Seminars are somewhere in between with regard to duration and group size.
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