At Sunday 8/17/2003 07:07 PM -0600, torichuck(a)yahoo.com wrote:
I stumbled across a great project, well at least in my opinion, called
the
USFGS Project on Rootsweb.
Basically you submit family groups sheets and they are added to the site.
It's simple and it's a way of helping others connect with their ancestry.
I would like respectfully to argue against this project.
First and foremost, since it is difficult to edit Rootsweb files,
submitting family information has the effect of freezing it in the form in
which it was submitted. My experience is that my files are dynamic and that
they may contain errors at some particular instant of time that I would
like to edit out at some future time.
Second, Rootsweb charges for access to files. If you submit your files,
Rootsweb may use them to make a profit. The tie-in to USGenWeb is not
implemented.
Third, while my files are not particularly extensive, they boil down to
almost 700 pages of material when formatted as 'Family Group Sheets,' a
pretty inefficient way to present them. A gedcom file strikes me as a much
better idea.
These days it is very easy to present material oneself in the form of a
personal web site. Several programs are available for converting gedcom
files into html files for this purpose, and there are many many fine family
files available in this way on the WWW. Once GOOGLE takes a scan of these
files, any person in them can be pulled up by means of a Google search. [Do
it on your own name...you might be surprised!]
John Ragle