By Kimberly Brown, Family Historian

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?”

At OneGreatFamily, we understand that obtaining accurate genealogical information is important to you. That is why we have patent-pending software that merges the right ancestors into your family tree.

OneGreatFamily's software ensures that only high-quality matches are added to your family tree. In one test, OneGreatFamily's merging process was less likely to match people incorrectly than professional genealogists. You can rest assured knowing that accurate information is being added to your family tree.

Because we are merging ancestors together, we encourage all of our subscribers to use the citation and collaboration features in Genealogy Browser™.

You can help improve the accuracy 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. To enter a citation or to view a citation that another user submitted, you can read instructions in the article below in this newsletter titled "Adding Documentation To Your Family Tree".

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. Instructions on how to use the Collaboration feature in Genealogy Browser can be found below in the article titled "Are Others Working On Your family Tree?" 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.

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• Subscribe to OneGreatFamily and find others looking for your ancestors.

Learn How to Add Sources at OneGreatFamily

In Genealogy Browser, it's quite simple to add documentation to your own family tree. This will not only help others, but it will make you feel confident that in the years to come, you will remember where you discovered information. This is particularly important if, years from now, you come across another document containing conflicting information. The strength of your documentation will be the key to determining which information to use.

To add documentation to an ancestor's record, simply open an Individual Record in Genealogy Browser. On the right side you will see buttons for the different types of documentation features:

Citations: Citations are references to the specific evidence that you have found on an individual during your research. Citations are very important for establishing the credibility of information, but they can also help others in their research. The information you save in the citations becomes part of OneGreatFamily and is available to others to help with the collaborative effort.

Citations are stored with each specific individual's information. When you click the citation button, you are presented with the citation window containing listings for Individual Sources, Birth Sources, Death Sources, Christening Sources, and Burial Sources. These five categories help to group citations for quick access. Be sure you name your citations with a title that is explanatory and easy to understand at a glance.

Biography: Open the Biography window by selecting the Biography icon. This section allows you to insert files of three different formats: text (txt), rich text format (rtf), or hyper-text markup language (html). By allowing these different file types, biographies on individuals can be simple or stylized. You are also not limited to just one file; you can make as many files as you would like to include.

Notes: The Notes section is where you store those extra bits of information that don't seem to fit anywhere else, but are important enough to keep. When editing an individual's information, click on the notes button on the right, represented here in the spot shadow. The notes window will display, and you can add information as needed.

Research Log: Research notes can be extremely helpful to you and others working on the same areas of genealogy. While doing your research, leave yourself memos on recent information you have found, where you have left off, or anything that will help in the process. These memos will be helpful for you, others in your family group, and any others in OneGreatFamily that are trying to further the collaborative effort on research for that person.

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How To Collaborate With Others At OneGreatFamily

You can collaborate with other OneGreatFamily members and find out if their family tree includes your ancestors. Follow these simple steps:

1. Launch OneGreatFamily Genealogy Browser
   
2. Select an ancestor on whom you would like to collaborate
   
3. Click on the ancestor in the Handprint View to see the Individual Details
   
4. Click on the "Collaborate" button found in the lower-left corner of the Individual Details box
   
   
   
5. Click on the "Owners" tab on the "Collaborate with others" window. This window will show your group and any other group that has a family tree with this individual
   
6. Expand the groups to see individuals by clicking on the (+) sign to the left of the group name
   
   
   
7. Click on an individual's username to view the user's name and email address and to send the user a message
   
8. If you have an email application, such as Outlook, clicking on the "Send" button will open a new email message to send. If not, you will need to copy the other person's email address and paste it into the "To:" field of your email application.
   

We hope you enjoy collaborating with other genealogists through OneGreatFamily.

• Login to OneGreatFamily and do your genealogy the OneGreatFamily way.
• Subscribe to OneGreatFamily and find success using our unique genealogy service.
• Visit the OneGreatFamily Learning Center for more helpful genealogy articles.
  

NewspaperAbstracts.com

Newspaper Abstracts' goal is to become your complete resource for family history research using newspapers. Our site continues to grow with an average of over 900 new items added each month and currently contains over 36,248 abstracts and extracts from historical newspapers. These articles range in size from a single entry to an entire newspaper issue, all provided by site visitors and made available to you free of charge.  This database continues to grow with the daily submission of news items by site visitors like you.  Please visit "Submit an Article or Link" to learn how you can contribute your news items.

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