[Genealib] Chris Tinney's message

[Judy Shappee]

Hear, hear!

-----Original Message-----
From: genealib-bounces at mailman.acomp.usf.edu
[mailto:genealib-bounces at mailman.acomp.usf.edu] On Behalf Of Linda Koch
Sent: Wednesday, December 05, 2007 6:12 PM
To: Librarians Serving Genealogists
Cc: librarian linda
Subject: Re: [Genealib] Chris Tinney's message

    I write concerning Kathy Grimshaw's statement, "We librarians know
not 
to ever steer people towards Wikipedia as a reliable source."  I hope
she is 
commenting on not using Wikipedia for genealogical data, and not
advocating 
complete avoidance of the site for selected materials.  I know some 
librarians who shudder at the thought of anyone going to the site for 
anything, and the site is often not my first choice for information.
Yes, 
there have been some strange things posted, including some political 
misinformation on White House contacts that irked many librarians and
also 
some side-splitting tall tales that were quickly amended as factually 
incorrect but funny and kept in for their humor.  I suppose the same
people 
who have traced their family trees back to Adam and Eve might be fooled
by 
such accounts, just as we see those who seem to trust and incorporate
into 
their family history every online posting by anyone with a computer and 
Internet access.  Despite the hatred caused by the nasty political
postings, 
there are sometimes when Wikipedia is a wonderful resource-- if one is 
careful in its use.  People who take everything on the Internet at face 
value might get some bogus results, but most intelligent users consult
the 
sources and learn what to trust and what to distrust.
    Wikipedia offers quick information when a state or county is not
listed 
with a record, or when county or township name is the only information 
listed.  I never knew there were so many duplicate names of villages,
towns, 
townships, and counties until I used Wikipedia to find and check
locations 
listed in various records.  Wikipedia's geographical and census-based 
information is quick to use by the public, and the articles on
fact-based, 
general materials offer quick, outlined information and links to other 
sites, including some most librarians would approve using.  While I
would 
not recommend Wikipedia for family history trees, political history, or 
biographical information posted by people who slant views, it does have
its 
uses.  Not using Wikipedia because someone does not think it is a 
"librarian-approved" source is limiting resources, especially for people
who 
have limited search abilities.  Wikipedia has surprised me a few times
when 
library patrons have had unusual reference requests,  At least three
times, 
Wikipedia has been the only source where I easily found the desired 
information and links to further details, as it is sometimes a good 
filtering device when there are too many hits, even with advance search 
parameters.  I tend to tell patrons to be careful of ANY Internet sites,

including the supposedly sanctified ones used by genealogists and 
librarians.  Years of searches have proven that errors exist, and I see
too 
many errors in Ancestry Library Edition, Heritage Quest, Rootsweb, state
and 
county records, etc., to take information as correct without checking
and 
rechecking sources.
     We must train people to be intelligent researchers, not to take
things 
on face value, and not to assume that information is error-free,
regardless 
of the source.  There are errors everywhere, in both Internet and
printed 
sources.  How many times have we found "official," death records, church

records, Bible records, and tombstones that have different dates.  In
1867 
Michigan began recording deaths, and county tax assessors would query a
farm 
household  about the number of cows, horses, etc., and then ask if there

were any deaths in the family during the last year.  The assessors would

record whatever information was given, drop it off at a later date at
the 
county clerk's office, and sometimes months later the county clerk would

gather up a batch of deaths and record the "official" information. No
wonder 
there were inconsistencies!  We have been indexing local materials at
our 
library during the last year, and I yet have to find a local history or 
family history book without an error.
    Evidently, Ms. Grimshaw does not use or trust Wikipedia.  That is
fine, 
as long as she also uses such distrust when approaching the many 
genealogical resources that we use on a daily basis.  Just as it is
rather 
unfair to assume something has no value without fully researching its 
possibilities, it is also naive to assume that a site is error-free if 
"librarian-approved."  Wherever there are humans, there will be errors.
Use 
all resources available--just use them wisely.
Sincerely,
Linda Koch
Reference & Adult Services Librarian
The Allegan Public Library
331 Hubbard St.
Allegan, MI 49010
269-673-4625
FAX 269-673-8661
open M-Th 10-9; F & Sa 9-5:30
www.alleganlibrary.org