FamilySearch Got Alittle Carried Away With A Name
Hi, My family member does not have 12 aliases. Who do we speak to about getting document(s) corrected?
Answers
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You can delete those names yourself. Click on the pencil to Edit, then at the bottom of the edit popup, click DELETE. Be sure to explain why you are removing that name. It could be as simple as 'Elizabeth is essentially the same name as Elisabeth. both spellings not needed'.
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For example, I see a record from "United States, Public Records, 1970-2009" that has Mom's name as Dad's alias and Dad's birthday as Mom's birthday. Brother and grandfather's names are listed as alias. This is embarrassing. Can't find the pencil.
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Ah! The Public Records database! You can't edit that database because there are no images or any way to show what the correct information is. However, that database is really a mess. If you read the description it states, "These records were generated from telephone directories, property tax assessments, credit applications, and other records available to the public." And the citation states it was created by, " A third party aggregator of publicly available information."
The only nice thing about the database is that if anyone tried to use the information in it for identity theft purposes, no crime could ever be committed because the data in general is so messed up.
You can if you already know a lot about who you are looking for sometimes find some useful residence information or hints about living relatives.
Don't blame FamilySearch for anything in the database. They had nothing at all to do with its creation. The only thing they potentially showed poor judgement in was adding that database to their site.
This is a good illustration of the importance in genealogy, or any kind of research, of knowing and evaluating your sources
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