[Foundation-l] Rodovid.org, family tree wiki, wishes to become a wiki project

[Benjamin Webb]

On 26/03/06, Ray Saintonge <saintonge at telus.net> wrote:
>
> Robert Scott Horning wrote:
>
> > Having already been involved with several massive volunteer
> >
> >transcription efforts, including some that transcribe antique manuscript
> >records for old hand-written records of the sort you are discussing, I
> >think it is something not only possible but very likely to happen.  This
> >is really nothing different than what is happening right now with the
> >Distributed Proofreader project, if you want to give an example of a
> >group of complete volunteers working over the internet and skattered
> >across many countries.  Those volunteer transcription efforts I
> >participated included the transcribing of all of the records for Ellis
> >Island, as well as participation in transcribing the 1880 United States
> >Census... neither one of those were exactly trivial and wasn't just
> >microfilms but instead some very high resolution images sent
> >electronically (for current efforts).  My wife was involved with some
> >early 19th Century church records from Lousiana... all of them hand
> >written as well.  The current standard is a monochrome TIFF images, but
> >other data formats certainly could be used.  This isn't decades from
> >now, but something that is currently happening.  Software can even be
> >written to do some futher data processing to help clean up the image for
> >identification purposes... like trying to get that pesky little letter
> >you might think is an "o" but it could be an "a" or even an "e".
> >
> I'm afraid that where this kind of ambiguity arises it is usually best
> not to attempt to resolve it unless your arguments are very convincing.
> Spelling in many of these old documents was atrocious.  In many cases
> the affected individuals did not know how to read or write, and the
> local clergyman's spelling of entries into the parish records was
> scarcely more than educated guesswork.  My wife is from Quebec and her
> family name is Guénard; another branch of the family ended up in Wyoming
> in the mid-19th century.where the name became Guinard.  Misreading an
> accent on an "e" for the dot on an "i" is perfectly understandable for
> some handwritings, or where a person has never heard of diacritics.  I
> would be very hesitant to have software resolve these issues.
>
> >As far as the reilability, I've used both original records and the
> >scanned TIFFs, and frankly I think the scanned images are even better
> >than the original documents in terms of clarity of trying to decyper
> >what is there.  The originals are still valuable, and can be refered to
> >by a professional researcher, but the need isn't really there for the
> >most part.
> >
> That's mostly right.  Photographic techniques can help to bring out the
> contrast between the writing and its physical background.
>
> >Now it would be necessary for even more software changes to be made to a
> >project like this, but it is possible to do some very exacting
> >geneological research about people who are not even necessarily your
> >ancestors.  As usual, citations are very important for this kind of
> >research, and the amount of original material that is available would
> >amaze you that can be considered a primary source.  What makes this kind
> >of research interesting is that it has a very personal connection to the
> >individual doing the research.  You would be surprised at how many
> >people would be willing to volunteer to help others out in getting some
> >of this genolgical research.
> >
> I agree.  It is a community that very much understands the importance of
> mutual help.  If I am seeking a small bit of information from a far away
> community that would be impractical for me to visit I can easily find a
> local person to help.  There may be nothing useful that I can do for my
> helper in return, but I should be ready to help some other stranger when
> the occasion arises.
>
> >One other thing to note is that geneolgists are loaded with money that
> >they are willing to spend on worthy research projects.  They tend to be
> >people at the twilight years of their life and usually retired.  Not
> >everybody has the money, but enough do that some incredible waste of
> >money is done.
> >
> There are many commercial enterprises that just love seniors.  They may
> provide one or two pages of easy research, append it to a stack of
> potboiler material, and charge a big fee.
>
> >Or more to the point, I think that starting a geneology project is
> >actually going to be a significant source of revenue for the Wikimedia
> >Foundation rather than being a drag on the resources.  And a geneology
> >database increases significantly in value as it grows.  I can't say what
> >the critical number would be, but having over a million names would
> >certainly be a significant milestone to make any project, and people
> >have paid some large amounts of money ($1,000's) for much smaller
> >databases that might have some information they are looking for, or are
> >even willing to do international travel just to get a few additional
> >names and references.
> >
> Probabably so, and by charging very modest fees at that.  The question
> to ask then, given the massive number of genealogical websites out
> there, what can we do that will make our site more desirable than all
> the others.
>
> Ec
>
>
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Surely the Wikimedia Foundation isn't going to charge fees, I thought it was
non-profit. Have I misunderstood what you are saying?