I Wish This Wasn't True ...

I happened to be reading Chris Durham's blog when I came across his commentary on Alison Weir's new book. Apparently, one of Alison Weir's sources came from a World Connect family tree. After reading the Times' article and viewing the World Connect tree, I'd have to agree that using an online family tree as a source is not acceptable. To me, the listing of registers as a source was too generic; I did not know where I could find the source. The point of a citation is to give information on where one can find that source.

So, why is this important? When an amateur genealogist/family historian lists a source without including the information on the source's location or posts false information without correcting it, all genealogists/family historians look like fools. We appear to lack the professionalism of other people who do historical research. When a professional biographer or historian does this, false information is just perpetuated. It is bad enough that false information is spread around over the Internet. This misinformation does not need to be repeated in books.