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

The Social Security Death Index and Ordering SS-5 Copies Online 

My August 2008 article covered using RootsWeb's Social Security Death Index (SSDI) database. As a follow-up to my article I want to share a little more about the SSDI. 

The article explained the procedure for ordering copies of the original SS-5 by mail. While the form that generates a request letter is still available on RootsWeb's SSDI page, the Social Security Administration now has an online order process which promises a much faster turn-around time and greater ease of ordering via credit card. 

The online order form is located on a secure server on the SSA Web site. Both a photocopy of the original SS-5 or a computer extract called a "numident" may be ordered. As a rule, genealogists use an SS-5 because they want to learn the place of birth and/or the parents' names of the deceased account holder. The computer extract would usually not provide parents' names, so it would be of little value for genealogists if this is the information you are seeking.

Information obtained from the Social Security Administration based upon the SSDI is subject to the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) which applies to deceased individuals. You can find the FOIA guidelines here. In some cases, the Privacy Act may also apply. Information covered under the Privacy Act is discussed here. The Privacy Act covers the living as well as those individuals who may be presumed by the SSA to still be living.

The individuals found in the SSDI at RootsWeb are deceased; however, the parents who are identified on the SS-5 copy may still be living. The SSA will not release the parents' names unless the parents are proven to be deceased (you would be required to submit proof of death) or, based upon the information included in the SS-5, it could be presumed that the parents would currently be one hundred and twenty (or more) years old. This is the cut-off age the SSA uses at present when processing FOIA requests when there is no actual proof that a named individual is deceased.

Keeping the above guidelines in mind will be helpful in deciding whether it would be worthwhile to request an SS-5 copy from the SSA. You will also be able to avoid needlessly paying for information that the SSA may not divulge under The Privacy Act. If the wage earner on the account would currently be under one hundred years of age the SSA is unlikely to release parental information where there is no proof of death on file for the parents.

Additional information in using the RootsWeb SSDI can also be found here:
http://helpdesk.rootsweb.com/ssdi/  
http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~rwguide/lesson10.htm 

Previously published in RootsWeb Review:
12 May 2010, Vol. 13, No. 5

Demystifying RootsWeb's Message Boards

As a volunteer administrator of RootsWeb message boards and RootsWeb mailing lists I've been asked many questions about the proper use of the boards and the message board gateway. Among the boards I administer, the USA General board is, by far, the one that attracts novice board users who frequently need help in proper board usage. I've addressed the most common issues that arise for new posters below to help demystify board usage and gateway replies. 

Selecting the most appropriate board for posting a new message: 
Consider your goal when posting a new query. What information do you hope to learn? On which board would you most likely find knowledgeable people to answer your questions? 

The message boards are divided into three main groups: locality, surnames, and topics. Consider whether your query is primarily locality-based (you want to learn about a business, hospital, street address or neighborhood where you have located your ancestor), surname oriented (you are asking about a specific ancestor or family, and/or the family about which you are posting lived in multiple locations), or topical (census questions, ethnic groups, vintage photos, occupations, to name a few).

It is easy to fall into the trap of posting on a "catch-all" board such as the USA General board when actually very few posts are best suited for that board. USA General should be used in cases where the subject of your query immigrated to the USA and you don't know where in the country the person or family settled and lived. If you know the state or better yet the county, your message should be posted on the most local board that is relevant. Where multiple locations are involved for your ancestor or family, choose the surname board. If your post more closely concerns questions pertaining to Native Americans, Germans who settled in Pennsylvania, Acadian-Cajuns -- consider whether the Ethnic/Race Topic boards may be the best place to post. 

If you would have chosen to post on a particular subject board but there is no board for the applicable topic or surname, click the Request New Board link, found at the bottom of every board page, and request to have a new message board created.

If you post on a General board (including USA General) where another board would be more appropriate, in all likelihood you will later find that the board admin has moved your post to the board they felt was most appropriate based upon the content of the message. Even if this happens you will still receive a notice of any replies to your message. 

Helping others find your post: 
A common misconception is that more people will find your post if you post it on multiple message boards. Since the boards are globally searchable anyone searching for the subjects and names included in your query will find your post on the one most relevant board. The same message posted on many boards will muddy the search results. 

In addition to the simple search for every word in a query, the Surnames (last name) box can be used as a valuable tool for you, the poster, to enable the searcher to find your post. This is especially true when surnames in your query are also common words, place names, or given names. For example: your GERMAN, IRELAND, JOSEPH, JAMES, CREEK, LANE surname ancestors may be difficult to find in an every word search. Knowledgeable searchers will use the last name/surname (advanced search) option to find these difficult surnames. 

You can help searchers find your query by proper use of the Surnames box when you post. List each surname (and only the surname/last name) included in your query one after the other separated by a comma and a space as the surnames are shown above. Do not include slashes or other symbols or extraneous words that are not surnames in this box. Even "and" or "or" can trigger improper search results. For example, use of wildcard searches (partial name searches) for surnames that may be spelled ANDERSON or ANDERSEN will find every "and" included in the Surnames box. Only use hyphens when the surname is actually hyphenated. Remember that the Surnames box's function is to enable the search engine to find the names included in your post and not every name you are researching.

Handling Gatewayed Board Posts on a Mailing List: 
If you are a RootsWeb mailing list subscriber and you see messages being posted on your lists that state they are gatewayed from the message board (with the from address being gc-gateway@rootsweb.com) and you wish to reply or to view the entire thread to which the current post responds, click the link included in the gatewayed post to view the thread on the board.
Do not attempt to contact the board poster using the gateway e-mail address as it isn't a functional contact address and it will bounce. Your reply must be made on the board via the included link for the poster you are attempting to contact to find your reply. Many board posters are not subscribed to the corresponding mailing list.

Registration when you first post a message or reply on a board 
The first time you post a new message or reply on a message board you will be asked to register if you are not already registered with RootsWeb or Ancestry.com. Registration is not required to search or browse the boards. 

Registration is easy to accomplish and allows you to make global updates to your account in the future should your e-mail address or other account information change. RootsWeb message boards and registration are completely free. To register or update an existing account, go here and follow the instructions. 

Put the above information to work today and post a new query to help break down your brick walls. 

Previously published in RootsWeb Review
9 June 2010, Vol. 13, No. 6

Time Lines and Chronologies 

An effective technique for creating a family history is to establish a time line. 

Place events chronologically in outline form, and intersperse with historical, local and familial events. Once the structure is set, look for gaps where information is lacking and make notes of documentation and records to be completed.

And don't forget to include:

1. Legal Transactions (land, probate)
2. Migration and Immigration
3. Military
4. Occupation
5. Religious (church formations and movements, persecution)
6. Territorial (counties and state formations)
7. Vital Records (dates, locations)
8. External Events (economic, political, social, diseases, man-made and natural disasters)

To locate time lines and chronologies at RootsWeb, enter “time line”, “timeline”, “historical time line” or “chronology” in the Search Engine, located from RootsWeb's Main menu.
Rootsweb.ancestry.com > Searches > Search Thingy 

You can also find Search Thingy by entering the address directly from a search engine.
http://searches.rootsweb.ancestry.com/ 

Most search engines, such as Google, offer the ability to limit searches to a specific site, such as RootsWeb. Explore the advanced options, or use the “site” command in conjunction with a keyword, such as state or country names. 

Capitalization doesn't matter, and if you wish two keywords to be located together, surround them in quotes. For example,

Chronology “Civil War” site:http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com 

Vary terms, so results are comprehensive.

Google's Search Results
Chronology county formation (almost 200 results)
Time line county formation (about 100 results)

Chronology War (over 450 results)
Chronology “Civil War” (over 250 results)
Time Line “Civil War” (over 3,000 results)

Previously published in RootsWeb Review
9 June 2010, Vol. 13, No. 6