Using Rootsweb
By Joan Young

Adoption Research Resources

Genealogical research entails tracing your blood kin beginning with yourself and working back one generation at a time from what you know to what you seek to learn. If you encounter evidence indicating an ancestor may have been adopted or raised by someone other than the biological parents, this fact can often bring your bloodline research to a screeching halt. It makes matters doubly difficult if you or a parent were adopted, as recent records are more likely to be closed and inaccessible.

While you certainly may want to research the ancestry of adoptive parents or grandparents, many adoptees and those researching adopted ancestors have a desire to learn about their biological heritage. Many adoptees feel a need to learn where they inherited their freckles, blue eyes, or left-handedness. Where do you turn when the usual records are either sealed or apparently non-existent?

There are many resources for adoption research but the path to discovery often requires the sagacity of Sherlock Holmes, the persistence of a Pit Bull, and more than a bit of luck. The place to start is within your own family. Until fairly recently, adoption was frequently a family matter and often handled informally with few or no official court records. Talk to elderly relatives who may recall long-forgotten details. Look for papers in the attic, notes on the backs of old photos, family diaries or journals--anything that might offer a clue. 

Sometimes a child's name change or a revised listing of heirs in a will to include a new child, are the only legal or official clues that a child may have been adopted. Census records sometimes list a child as being an "adopted daughter" regardless of whether court records were ever established to legalize the adoption. 

In the U.S.A., adoption laws vary from state to state, as do the courts that handle adoption cases. International adoption laws also differ from country to country. So at the top of your agenda you will want to ascertain the location of the birth and adoption. Next, learn the laws and courts having jurisdiction over adoptions in that country or state. Adoptions could have been local or even international in scope. Emigration was sometimes the solution to the problem of orphaned children. Many children from Great Britain were sent to Canada, for example. 

It would be impossible to outline here the laws for every locality and every resource available in the search for birth parents of an adopted ancestor, so the next best thing is to provide links to online resources where you can locate the information. 

Begin at RootsWeb with RootsWeb Guide Lesson #31

Additional links to resources and registries where birth parents and adoptees can make a connection are found at Cyndi's List. 

German-born adoptees may wish to check out Geborener Deutscher (a German-born Adoptees newsletter). Information is available here.

The RootsWeb/Ancestry.com message boards provide special adoption topic boards. If you wish to make use of the Adoption message boards it is important that you first read the special rules pertaining to posting on these boards in the RootsWeb Acceptable Use Policy (AUP).

If your adoption research queries mention people who may possibly be living, or if you are attempting to locate living people, be sensitive to the privacy rights of everyone involved.

Previously published in RootsWeb Review:
11 February 2009, Vol. 12, No. 2

Calculating Cousin Relationships

Next time you attend a family reunion, you're sure to get acquainted with relatives like your first cousin's children or Grandpa's first cousin. How do you calculate these relationships? Are they cousins or removed cousins?

When someone is a “removed” cousin, it indicates that they were born into a different generation than yourself. So in both of these cases, the individuals would be removed cousins. Your cousin's children were born into the generation after yourself, so they are first cousins once removed. And Grandpa's first cousin was born into his generation, which is two removed from yourself, so he/she would be your first cousin twice removed.

Another way to calculate relationships is to “add for greats” and “subtract for generation spans.” Let me explain.

1.  Assuming you are in the same generation as your relative, add one to the number of greats in the common 
      ancestor's title to determine the cousinship.

Since a grandparent has no greats in the title, add 0 + 1 = 1 to determine a 1st cousin relationship.
Since a great-grandparent has 1 great in the title, add 1 + 1 = 2nd cousins.
If you share fourth great-grandparents, then 4 + 1 indicates you are fifth cousins.

2. If you are not in the same generation, calculate using the first method, and subtract “or remove” the 
    difference from the second person. Remember to start with the earliest generation (e.g., Grandpa from 
    the example).

Luckily, most genealogy programs, such as Family Tree Maker, have tools to calculate relationships. Or you may prefer to use generation charts and calculators. Two useful tools are located on the Barren County, Kentucky, GenWeb website, hosted by RootsWeb. These tools come courtesy of T. W. Parker. 

Previously published in RootsWeb Review:
11 February 2009, Vol. 12, No. 2

Evaluating Online Genealogical Data -- To Accept or Not to Accept?

If I had a dollar for every time I heard someone complain that an online family tree or database is "garbage," error-ridden, or sloppily compiled, I wouldn't have to worry about the state of the world's economy. Some researchers even claim that they would never stoop to looking at online user-submitted data (such as RootsWeb's WorldConnect database). Let's take a look...

SHOULD YOU CONSIDER AND ACCEPT USER-SUBMITTED DATA? 
Don't automatically discard user-submitted data. Information you find online, regardless of the source, may provide the very answers you need. I once found a will mentioned in a WorldConnect tree that provided the maiden name of an immigrant ancestor's wife I'd been seeking for years. The submitter sent me a copy of the woman's father's will which provided conclusive proof. Part of family history research is being a sleuth. Don't merely copy another researcher's files perpetuating errors. Verify and evaluate the evidence you find online. 

ISSUES TO CONSIDER IN REVIEWING USER-SUBMITTED DATA: 

1. Did the submitter include his sources? If so, how reliable are the sources? Is the data based upon a birth certificate, marriage record, deed, or other document with a relatively high degree of accuracy? Or, did Susie Submitter copy or merge the information from other files (possibly unsourced) she found online? Obtain original copies of the documents used as evidence where possible, especially if you have reason to suspect there may be an error, misinterpretation, or even a typo.

2. If sources are not listed, look for a contact address for the submitter so that you can ask about his evidence and conclusions. Once again, verify the information yourself. 

3. Does the submitter's data agree with information you have already gathered or found elsewhere? Conflicting data requires a careful analysis to establish what the best evidence or the preponderance of evidence indicates. Look for the evidence recorded nearest the event it supports and provided by someone in a position to know. Consider whether the person would have had any reason to falsify data (such as a young bride claiming to be of marriageable age or a man wanting to show he is old enough to enlist in military service).

4. Is the data logical or are there blatant errors in the tree such as children born to women in their late fifties, marriages at age five, or other unlikely events or inconsistencies? Look for red flags such as a tree that links (or merges) two individuals of the same name without regard for dates and ages. Watch out for incorrect assumptions that two same name individuals in different locations are the same person, unless there is evidence to support a move from point A to point B. Genealogical leaps of faith connecting individuals or generations could well be erroneous. 

5. Remember that finding the same information online in multiple databases doesn't ensure accuracy as others may well have copied or merged the information without verification. 

6. Pay no attention to who submitted the data, but rather to the evidence itself. Even respected genealogists make errors occasionally and may not have access to all the information you possess. 

WHY WON'T ROOTSWEB (AND OTHER ONLINE HOSTS) REMOVE ERROR-RIDDEN DATABASES? 
Companies such as RootsWeb are not the genealogy police or Judge Judy, and cannot be expected to evaluate the accuracy of data submitted (and owned and controlled) by family historians. Submitters have the right to be wrong. 

WHAT IS THE BEST WAY TO COMBAT ERRORS FOUND IN ONLINE DATABASES? 

1. Contact the submitter by e-mail when possible. 

2. Add a Post-em Note (user-added note) indicating the error and any corrections and evidence you have. 

3. Upload your own database so that researchers who find the incorrect data in a search will also find your file. The only database for which you are responsible is your own. 

Previously published in RootsWeb Review: 
10 June 2009, Vol. 12, No. 6

Avoid the Needless Loss of Family Treasures

How often do priceless family treasures end up on the trash heap or selling for fifty cents at a yard sale, all because none of the younger generation knew the beautiful family stories associated with them? A grand parent dies and the youngsters come in to clean out the house. Who could have known that the lamp had been a fiftieth wedding anniversary gift from a great-grandmother, or that the inexpensive looking bric-a-brac had been a treasured wedding gift, lovingly carried from one residence to another for the past eighty years? Who would have guessed that grandmother remembered the day in 1923 when her father brought home the Alcoa Aluminum pot with lid, as a gift for her mother, and the special meals her mother had prepared in it when she was a little girl - it was just another pot the kids found in the kitchen cabinet.

In this age of computers and digital cameras, such heartbreaking stories are insanely unnecessary. While there is still time:

1. Ask older members of your family if they have items that are special to them. Find out why they are special, (make notes). Who bought them? Where? Who has owned them? When and how did you come to have them? If possible, go from room to room, jogging memory by asking whether there are such items.

2. Open a "Family Inventory" file in your computer, with sub-folders for father and mother's side of the family.

3. Create a page to display a photo of each item and the story of its family history.

4. Include a line specifying who you wish the item to go to upon your demise, and make sure that both the owner and designee receive a copy of the page.

For the sake of your family's children for generations to come, don't allow your parents and grand parents to take their memories of treasured items into eternity with them Previously published in RootsWeb Review: 9 September 2009, Vol. 12, No. 9

Rev. Charles Stanley, Retired

Previously published in RootsWeb Review: 
9 September 2009, Vol. 12, No. 9

Demystifying Copyrights

Copyrights may be the single most misunderstood topic on the planet, and unfortunately, genealogists are prone to asserting copyrights improperly. 

Many assume copyrights are all about writing. They are applied to writing, but are more specifically about rights – e.g., the right of an author establishes copying guidelines for intellectual property.

We see copyrights applied to music, photography and elsewhere – but often, they are misapplied. You may be surprised to learn which items can’t be copyrighted:

1. dates
2. facts
3. slogans
4. short phrases
5. conversations
6. modifications of another’s work
7. domain names
8. public domain items
9. antique treasures, such as old books and diaries

Before you wonder if I am a copyright lawyer, I’m not. 

I learned this and more from the United States Copyright Office, which states, 

“Copyright is a form of protection grounded in the U.S. Constitution and granted by law for original works of authorship fixed in a tangible medium of expression. Copyright covers both published and unpublished works.”

I recommend the FAQs (frequently asked questions), some which are excerpted:

Can I register a diary I found in my grandmother’s attic?
“You can register copyright in the diary only if you own the rights to the work, for example, by will or by inheritance. Copyright is the right of the author of the work or the author’s heirs or assignees, not of the one who only owns or possesses the physical work itself. See Circular 1, Copyright Basics, section “Who Can Claim Copyright.” 

How long does a copyright last?
“The term of copyright for a particular work depends on several factors, including whether it has been published, and, if so, the date of first publication. As a general rule, for works created after January 1, 1978, copyright protection lasts for the life of the author plus an additional 70 years. For an anonymous work, a pseudonymous work, or a work made for hire, the copyright endures for a term of 95 years from the year of its first publication or a term of 120 years from the year of its creation, whichever expires first. For works first published prior to 1978, the term will vary depending on several factors. To determine the length of copyright protection for a particular work, consult chapter 3 of the Copyright Act (title 17 of the United States Code).” 

How much of someone else’s work can I use without getting permission?
“Under the fair use doctrine of the U.S. copyright statute, it is permissible to use limited portions of a work including quotes, for purposes such as commentary, criticism, news reporting, and scholarly reports. There are no legal rules permitting the use of a specific number of words... or percentage of a work...” 

How much do I have to change in order to claim copyright in someone else’s work?
“Only the owner of copyright in a work has the right to prepare, or to authorize someone else to create, a new version of that work. Accordingly, you cannot claim copyright to another’s work, no matter how much you change it, unless you have the owner’s consent...”

The website discusses copyright registration, which is useful, but not mandatory. And since authors have varying ideas as to the conditions under which works can be reproduced, I recommend stating your intentions upfront. 

RootsWeb Review does this at the end of each issue.

“Permission to reprint articles from RootsWeb Review is granted unless specifically stated otherwise, provided:  

1. the reprint is used for non-commercial, educational purposes; and 
2. the following notice appears at the end of the article: Previously published in RootsWeb Review: [date, volume, number]”

If you have questions or wish to tell us about reprints, we’d love to hear from you. Now, isn’t that easy?

And if you’d like to establish your own "upfront" copyright guidelines, explore Creative Commons, a non-profit organization. It provides: “tools that let authors, scientists, artists, and educators easily mark their creative work with the freedoms they want it to carry.” 

Many RootsWeb users, such as Jon Anderson, use Creative Commons. At the bottom of his webpage, click the icon for permissions to share and adapt his research.

Jon’s reasons for using Creative Commons are interesting. 

“Personally, I put everything I do with family history under one of these [Creative Common] licenses because my purpose for doing genealogy is to connect people to their ancestors. I want the records I work on to become freely available, even when people can no longer contact me. Traditional copyright is very ownership-based and over time, records become locked up in copyright and not available. People move, eventually pass on, and unfortunately sometimes their records pass out of accessibility with them. By using the Creative Commons licenses, I can grant people the level of freedom to use my work, and to use it in new ways, without it being necessary for them to track me down and get special permission every time. Of course, most of the time people are grateful and contact me anyway.”

Editor’s Comments: We receive many emails monthly regarding copyright infringement based on other members copying information from their trees or sites. As Mary notes, information such as dates, names and places are not copyrightable. If you choose to publish your research publicly you are allowing others to utilize that information. On a related note, in WorldConnect there is an option to allow others to download a gedcom file of your tree – if you choose to allow others to copy your tree you are implying consent for them to utilize this information and to add it to their tree. On the other hand, there are a few items I want to mention that are protected under copyright law; notes that the tree owner makes about family members or research, or an authors evaluation about their research. A basic rule of thumb for what is protected is, if the content is the individual’s personal thoughts, their intellectual property, it is protected by copyright law. 

Previously published in RootsWeb Review: 
14 October 2009, Vol. 12, No. 10