Friday, February 25, 2011

Connecting with owners of online data

I contribute data to a TNG website dedicated to families from the town of West Brookfield, MA.  I have the ability to monitor traffic to the site and see what individuals are of interest to viewers.  Then I make an effort to see what additional information I can post on those particular individuals.  I also check to see that I have done a good job of citing my sources.

This morning while looking for more information, I discovered that I had a maiden name which was probably incorrect, and that I had not listed the source where I had found the incorrect name.  I was able to correct the error and add the sources, but I have no way to contact the researcher who accessed the incorrect information.  I hope this person will come back to the sight and see the corrected information. 

What do you do when you find incorrect information online? 
Do you try to contact the owner of the tree?

Thursday, February 24, 2011

Welcome!

Today I decided to begin  blogging about the research I have done on some families from the small town of West Brookfield, Massachusetts.   Future posts will include some of the valuable things I have learned during my twelve year quest to find information about families and individuals mostly from Massachusetts, Maine, and New Hampshire.  Some of these families came to the United States from England in the 1600's.  Others came from Ireland in the mid 1800's, and still others came from Europe in the early 1900's.

My purpose in writing is to exchange tips and ideas with others interested in local genealogy and history. Comments and questions are welcome.