Non-professional users continue to vandalize my research
Greetings everyone,
I would like to ask for your help. One of my paternal ancestors, Don Diego Díaz del Castillo (97FN-591), was the legitimized natural son of the conquistador and chronicler of New Spain, Bernal Díaz del Castillo.
For some time now, certain users have been adding incorrect information, mistakenly merging my ancestor Diego Díaz del Castillo with a different person, Diego del Castillo, who was born in San Luis Potosí (apparently in Guadalcázar, S.L.P.). My ancestor, however, was born in Santiago de los Caballeros, Antigua Guatemala, and they were two completely different individuals.
I am the author of a professional genealogical study that I even published this very month. Diego Díaz del Castillo was a hidalgo and corregidor of several towns, granted a coat of arms by the King. He had already passed away before 1619, as one of his sons-in-law petitioned the King to transfer to him and his wife the pension that had been granted to Diego Díaz del Castillo. He was married to Isabel Farfán de los Godos.
On the other hand, the Diego del Castillo they insist on merging with my ancestor was still alive in 1641, when he gave a notarial declaration stating that he was a resident of Guadalcázar, S.L.P., and made a living breeding horses, mares, and other livestock. He was married to Leonor de San Pedro, also from Guadalcázar.
I am tired of repeatedly undoing these incorrect changes, and to make things worse, one user even sent me an insolent private message scolding me. How can I block unauthorized users from making changes? This situation deeply upsets me because their vandalism is ruining years of meticulous research based on primary documents from the General Archive of the Nation, replacing it with a false genealogy.
I would greatly appreciate any help you can provide!
Answers
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While FamilySearch is a free, open-source platform for genealogical research, it's important to note while the platform itself is open, some records and features may have restricted access, and the data is crowdsourced, meaning anyone can contribute and edit information, so it's important to verify information, as anyone is allowed to enter and edit information if they believe it is correct. You can follow these changes and contact the recent people making changes if you want to ask them questions about why they made certain changes with the individual being researched. Yes this does lead to mistakes being made, but also leads to advances in other's research of their family group.
For years, individuals and organizations have uploaded trees they have personally compiled to a space on FamilySearch called Genealogies. These trees were searchable, but they could not be edited—not even by the person or organization that shared them.
Now FamilySearch is enhancing these systems so users can upload, build, and modify these trees. This enhancement is expected to include the following key elements:
- All users can see deceased persons, but only the owner and invited researchers can edit the tree data.
- Tree owners can invite other trusted individuals to join and help build their tree, manage tree access, and continue research should the owner pass on.
- Record hints are displayed on ancestors from the billions of historical documents on FamilySearch.
- The user interface is enhanced to match the Family Tree interface.
- Trees can be created directly from, and sync to, leading 3rd party genealogy products or by uploading a GEDCOM file.
You can join the CET research group at this web site and learn how you can protect your valuable research in FamilySearch.
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