Issue 44.09
In the New FamilySearch program at http://new.familysearch.org too many patrons have been disputing information without explaining why the original information was incorrect. In my experience, disputes should be used sparingly! A dispute is shown as a circle with a slash through it similar to a “no smoking” sign.
If a patron disputes an individual record, the dispute will include all details of that record. Once that original dispute is removed, all other disputes connected to it will disappear. Instead of disputing an entire record, patrons should dispute only specific pieces of information that are blatantly wrong or misleading.
We need to include notes that explain who the dispute is for or what information is incorrect, such as the individual’s name being incorrect, the parent’s name and relationship being incorrect or a “1″ in 1717 being misread as a “7″, resulting in the incorrect year “1777″.
If you have information that you believe is from a reliable source and that it is more accurate than the information in the current system, you can submit another opinion or add to the information someone has already contributed.
Try thinking “misleading” rather than “incorrect.” Then you will be less apt to get hung up on spelling differences, minor date differences or incomplete place names. If an assertion is misleading, such as giving the place of birth in the wrong country, you can submit a dispute with a good explanation.
Some assertions may be incomplete but not misleading. They do not need to be disputed. For example, the same place of christening may be listed as Ontario, Canada; Glengarry, Ontario, Canada; St. Raphael’s, Glengarry, Ontario, Canada; St. Raphael’s, Ontario, Canada; Canada, etc., etc. They all name the same place, and none is misleading. However, “Glengarry, Scotland” would be misleading and a dispute would be appropriate.
To remove your dispute, simply click on the dispute icon and then click remove my dispute. The best case scenario would be to correct the information by contacting the original submitter, asking them nicely to change it, share the supporting documentation, and not clutter up the record with dispute symbols.
We need to let go of the idea that what is in new FamilySearch needs to match “my” version of the data in order to be “correct,” and allow other assertions to have value. Over time, the most accurate information about an individual will rise to the top.
Shanna Sullivan Jones is a professional genealogist. For additional information, Shanna can be reached at (435) 628-4900 or shannasjones@msn.com