Another thought on A*******.com and the scraping/caching topic.
I’ve seen a few people who say they’ll not post any more of their
research to their blogs so that A*******.com can’t harvest it.
That’s their right of course but it seems to me that does nothing
really to The Corporation That Shall NOT Be Named but does
harm the genealogy blogging community.
I hope I can put this coherently.
The reason there is a genealogy blogging community is the way
we share our families with each other. We set out facts, show
pictures, and tell stories about our ancestors. Yes, posts about
the actual research processing and tips about archives and
sources are a vital part of this as well, but it’s the personal side of
our individual searches that makes it a community.
I’ve gained a lot since I started this blog. I’ve met distant relatives
I didn’t know about. I’ve learned things I didn’t know about
history and new ways to do my research. I’ve shared things like
my Aunt Dot’s memories and read about the families of other
bloggers.
None of it would have happened without the openness of this
blogging community.
So. I’ll continue posting my research and photos and family
stories here.
I urge others who are thinking of not posting research to their
own blog because of A*******.com’s actions to reconsider and
continue to keep this genealogy blog community the lively thing
it is.
3 comments:
Bill,
I personally appreciate that you were one of those who protested Ancestry.com's use of our blogs as part of their Biographical Collection.
At least for today, this topic is moot, since Ancestry.com has, at least for now, removed the offending database from their service, both paid and "free."
Janice
Bill,
I, too, have read comments from people who said they were going to remove their online research to prevent others from harvesting it.
For me to follow suit would effectively eliminate the opportunity for me to connect with relatives around the world or benefit from the comments and suggestions of other bloggers.
I, too, will continue to publish my research on the Internet.
Steve Danko
I will continue to publish my family stories, photos and research on my blog but I will not just hand it over to a**** or any other site for their profit. This whole episode has made me more aware of copy write and terms of use issues though. Without the blogging community I would have missed out on so much. I hope to get back to posting this week.
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