tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7466591705634648673.post6344275928019738801..comments2023-10-25T05:04:22.279-04:00Comments on Begin with 'Craft': Getting Started on Ancestry.com: A ResponseAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10232674112099044776noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7466591705634648673.post-7851755680127365712010-03-12T12:42:39.552-05:002010-03-12T12:42:39.552-05:00Well, well. I am a subscriber to the share what y...Well, well. I am a subscriber to the share what you have and treat what you get with caution. I do the whole family of my direct ancestors and have received tremendous insight from those who I stumble upon who have information for three generations back. I have identified pictures for them and I have received pictures I have never seen of my family. One distant cousin visited me with a three ring notebook loaded with letters from my Grandmother. What a treat! So, I am saying that ancestry.com has a special place for those just starting genealogy and their efforts should not be minimized by "professional" genealogists who dislike seeing mistakes. There will always be mistakes, even some committed by "professionals" so let's be a little tolerant, we might learn something by accident.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7466591705634648673.post-48763301753780966192010-03-03T09:07:54.179-05:002010-03-03T09:07:54.179-05:00I've been an Ancestry subscriber for close to ...I've been an Ancestry subscriber for close to 15 years, so I've seen many changes. The last overhaul has probably upset me the most, because it was supposed to make searching easier, but I find it much harder than before. Despite the hundreds of $$ they get from each subscriber each year, I suspect it's to force people to buy the book by George (Morgan?) on how to find things there.<br /><br />As for the family trees, I rarely use them, and only as a reference to avenues I might not have followed yet. Otherwise, they're as useless as "User Submitter" files on familysearch.org.<br /><br />But the biggest problem is a newbie will take the information from a tree, not realizing it might not be true, and then re-publish it elsewhere as carved in stone. <br /><br />As we veterans of this addiction know, family history research is NOT easy, and Ancestry should not pretend that it is. On the other hand, Ancestry is a *business*, and commercials inferring that genealogy IS as easy as becoming a subscriber is what they do to *stay* in business. <br /><br />Hopefully, instead of a YouTube video, newbies will watch programs like PBS's "Faces of America" and realize how much work is involved in tracing one's ancestors *accurately*.JamaGeniehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16973656461323918279noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7466591705634648673.post-19606792082437608302010-03-02T19:32:30.193-05:002010-03-02T19:32:30.193-05:00I saw a commercial similar to the video you are ta...I saw a commercial similar to the video you are talking about. It may have been the same one. I agree that it does make it look pretty simple. Apparently, all you have to do is log on, put in a name, and click on a little leaf to get a completed family tree. Although I haven't used Ancestry.com as much as you have, I know that's not really the case.<br /><br /> Watching you do research for many years, I know that it is not that simple and you won't find all of the information you want in one spot. And, you have a valid point that the information on a tree that you find may not be completely correct. They don't mention any of their other resources.<br /><br />I think it is a really good commercial to get people interested. Especially for those who are looking for a little information about their relatives and not a full time hobby. However, for those that don't do a little more research about the site before signing up, they may be disappointed. What if no one has done any work on their family tree, or their family is hard to find?<br /><br />However, their commercial does work. After seeing it, Ryan said he wanted to try it, and he doesn't really have any interest in genealogy.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18073076657139131747noreply@blogger.com