One of our subscribers recently asked us, "If all of the information on OneGreatFamily.com is submitted by other users, how can I be sure that it is correct?"
As experienced genealogists know, you should never take anyone else's work as being correct. Instead, you need to verify the information using sound genealogical techniques.
That is why we like to think of OneGreatFamily as a great source for research leads. It is almost always easier to substantiate a lead then it is to discover missing data. OneGreatFamily can be a rich source of research leads based on the submissions of other genealogists.
Perhaps you are at a brick wall on a great-, great-, great-grandfather. In OneGreatFamily a user has entered a name for that ancestor. Fantastic -now you have a lead to substantiate. You can collaborate with that submitter. Or you can go research the provided name.
Many genealogists use OneGreatFamily primarily for the research leads it provides.
Another question we often get is, "How can you be sure your automated match/merge technology won't mess up my genealogy research?" There are two parts to the answer to that question. First, our automated merging technology never changes your data. Our technology is sophisticated enough to keep everybody's data unchanged even when we merge ancestors together. We could merge 50 people into one and it wouldn't change your data.
Second, we have patent-pending software that merges the right ancestors into your family tree. OneGreatFamily's software ensures that only high-quality matches are combined to your family tree. In one test, we pitted OneGreatFamily's merging process against a panel of genealogists. OneGreatFamily was less likely to match people incorrectly than the panel of professional genealogists.
Because we are merging ancestors together, we encourage all of our subscribers to use the citation and collaboration features in Genealogy BrowserT.
You can help improve the quality of the database by citing your sources for the data that you submit to OneGreatFamily. When you include citations in your family tree, you improve the credibility of your family history, and you can help others find their genealogy as well. When you take the time to find sources for your genealogy, you are less likely to jump to wrong conclusions. You can ensure that you are passing along accurate information.
Documenting your sources also saves you time because you don't get lost researching the wrong line, and you don't have to go back again to find things that you have already researched.
In Genealogy Browser, you can include sources and citations for any ancestor or family on your tree. The citations you include with your ancestors' records become available to others OneGreatFamily subscribers to help with the collaborative effort.
When another user has not included citations with the ancestors that he or she submitted, you can still find out where that user obtained the information by using OneGreatFamily's Collaborate feature. Collaborating with other users allows you to see who else is working on your genealogy. For every family and individual, you can find out who submitted the information and contact that user. Collaboration at OneGreatFamily allows you to contact the individual with the common ancestor and ask where the information came from. With this unique OneGreatFamily feature, you can find sources to support your genealogical data.
Our program's one-of-a-kind merging feature, combined with the power of citation and collaboration, gives you access to easy, fun, and accurate genealogy.