WikiTree

WikiTree
Type of business Privately held company
Founded 2008
Headquarters New York, New York, USA
Founder(s) Chris Whitten
President Chris Whitten
Industry Genealogy, Social media
Website wikitree.com
Alexa rank 7,014.[1]

WikiTree is a free, shared social networking genealogy website that allows users individually to research and contribute to their own personal family trees, while building and collaborating on a singular worldwide family tree within the same system.[2][3] The site was created in 2008 by Chris Whitten, developer of the WikiAnswers website, and is owned and hosted by Interesting.com, Inc.[4] The site uses a “wiki markup" language (powered by MediaWiki software) that offers both beginning and advanced users the ability to create and edit personal profiles, categories and “free space” pages to document their family’s history. As of July 22, 2016, the WikiTree website has over 347,000 registered members and maintains over 11.8 million ancestral profiles.[5]

Honor Code

Users requesting membership in the WikiTree community are asked to commit to a nine-point Honor Code that encourages collaboration, accuracy, and the use of sources and citations.[6] Courtesy in dealing with other members, consideration of copyrights, and respect for the privacy of others are also among the hallmarks of the Honor Code.[7]

User privacy

WikiTree's privacy controls allow users to protect their personal information, and that of their more recent ancestors and descendants, while providing the ability to publicly share and collaborate on historical data related to their more distant forebears.[8][9] Each profile is managed by one or more profile managers, and other members who may be related or willing to share information about that person can be added to the profile's "Trusted List".[10] Members of a profile's Trusted List have full access to view and edit details on the page, regardless of the privacy level, and all changes are tracked for future reference. WikiTree maintains seven different profile privacy levels.

A distinctive aspect of the collaborative nature of WikiTree, which has raised some controversy, is that profiles of people more than 200 years old are open for editing by any member in good standing. This means that members who have documented the genealogy of their family have no way of preventing people who are not of the family from altering the data of family members older than 200 years. As with all contributions to WikiTree, members are requested to provide source citations to justify their changes, but sources are not always provided.

Recognizing that in some cases this openness can lead to unwanted and unwarranted additions to the global family tree, the volunteer leaders at WikiTree have created procedures for working with two special categories of ancestor profiles. Members must now pass a self-evaluated quiz to edit profiles of persons whose birth year is from 1500 to 1699, which includes most of the early colonial period in the Americas. Any member can “pass” this test by demonstrating they have read the WikiTree source and editing guidelines. As of January 2016, a more stringent evaluation, based on a member’s demonstrated genealogical experience and ability to work cooperatively, is now required to edit profiles of persons born before 1500.[11] This process attempts to strike a balance between open and collaborative editing and the desire to strive for historical accuracy and credibility within the genealogical community.

Features

The WikiTree site emphasizes the building of a shared, worldwide family tree. Members do not maintain individual trees, but instead contribute to a single collaborative tree. The site's goal is to have one profile for every person, whether living or dead. Duplicate profiles are merged and the information is consolidated, connecting different family branches in the process.[12]

The site maintains a page of “frequently asked questions” (FAQs) and a “genealogist to genealogist” (G2G) forum that allows users to get answers and help with both genealogical and technical questions. Points and badges are awarded to members who answer questions and contribute information to the site. Additionally, the site is managed by a team of volunteer leaders and mentors that serves the community in a variety of capacities, in particular with helping users gain proficiency in using the system.[13]

Projects

Leaders also manage numerous projects within the site that further organize researchers by specific interests. Among the current projects are the 1776, Acadians, Australian Convicts and First Settlers, European Aristocrats, Puritan Great Migration, Scottish Clans, U.S. Civil War, and U.S. Presidents projects. Many of the projects maintain social communities on Google+ to keep members informed of current happenings and topics for discussion.

Two new projects on the site are the Global Cemeteries Project and the Global Family Reunion Project, a tie-in to a worldwide family genealogy event that was hosted by author A.J. Jacobs.[14] The Global Family Reunion took place at the New York Hall of Science, located in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park, Queens, on June 6, 2015. The site also maintains a blog that presents two other frequently visited pages: the “Profile of the Week” and the “Photo of the Week”.[15] Active members are asked to view and vote on the best submissions for each category.

GEDCOM Uploads and Matching

Users can upload computer-generated GEDCOM files with digital genealogical data gathered from personal research and recollections, as well as from other non-copyrighted sources available elsewhere on the internet. Once a user's GEDCOM file is uploaded, WikiTree’s "GEDCompare"[16] tool compares data contained in the file and identifies matches with existing profiles, allowing the user to find details about their ancestors that have already been entered by others, and eliminating the creation of duplicated profiles.

DNA Testing and Confirmation

WikiTree recently announced the implementation of their DNA Ancestor Confirmation Aid (ACA),[17] a tool that allows members to upload the results of their Y-chromosome (Y-DNA) and mitochondrial (mtDNA) tests for purposes of scientifically confirming paternal (male) and maternal (female) relationships within their family tree.[18] The ACA is designed to:

Additional features and details relating to the site's DNA tools are discussed on the International Society of Genetic Genealogy's (ISOGG's) WikiTree wiki page.[19]

References

  1. ↑ "Site Overview, WikiTree.com". Alexa.com. Retrieved 2014-10-03.
  2. ↑ Fire, Michael; et al. (2014-09-02). "Quantitative Analysis of Genealogy Using Digitised Family Trees". arXiv:1408.5571Freely accessible.
  3. ↑ Rifkin, Jesse (2015-06-07). "Massive Genealogy Project Shows We Are Family—Literally". The Daily Beast.
  4. ↑ Valenzuela, Robyn (2012-07-12). "WikiTree App Review". AppAppeal. Retrieved 2014-08-15.
  5. ↑ "WikiTree Homepage". WikiTree. Retrieved 2016-04-17.
  6. ↑ Meece, Mickey (2011-05-18). "Finding Family History Online". New York Times. Retrieved 2015-07-24.
  7. ↑ "Wiki Genealogist Honor Code". WikiTree.com. Retrieved 2014-08-15.
  8. ↑ Komando, Kim (2011-06-03). "New Ways to Complete Your Family Tree". USA Today. Retrieved 2015-07-24.
  9. ↑ Beidler, James M. (2012-06-24). "Roots and Branches: New genealogical mantra - 'Collaboration'". Lebanon Daily News.
  10. ↑ Seaver, Randy (2011-03-11). "Exploring WikiTree - Post 6: Privacy Levels". Geneamusings. Retrieved 2014-08-16.
  11. ↑ "Pre-1500 Profiles". WikiTree. Retrieved 2016-04-17.
  12. ↑ "Duplicates". WikiTree. Retrieved 31 March 2015.
  13. ↑ MacEntee, Thomas (2010-11-02). "Interview – Chris Whitten of WikiTree". GeneaBloggers. Retrieved 2014-08-16.
  14. ↑ "Global Family Reunion". Out:think Group. Retrieved 2014-08-16.
  15. ↑ "WikiTree Blog". WikiTree.
  16. ↑ Cooper, Kitty (2013-12-28). "Finding common ancestors with automation: Compare GEDcoms or use one world tree". Open Sky Web Design. Retrieved 2014-08-15.
  17. ↑ Eastman, Dick (2014-06-26). "WikiTree Announces DNA Ancestor Confirmation Aid". Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter. Retrieved 2014-08-16.
  18. ↑ Fryxell, David A. (2014-08-01). "Best Social Media Websites for Genealogy". Family Tree. Retrieved 2015-07-24.
  19. ↑ "WikiTree". ISOGG Wiki. International Society of Genetic Genealogy. Retrieved 2014-10-24.
Wikidata has the property: WikiTree ID (P2949) (see uses)
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 9/28/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.