{"id":519,"date":"2015-07-14T20:32:17","date_gmt":"2015-07-14T20:32:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rootdig.genealogytipoftheday.com\/?p=519"},"modified":"2015-07-14T20:32:17","modified_gmt":"2015-07-14T20:32:17","slug":"using-the-ancestry-com-leaves-part-i","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rootdig.genealogytipoftheday.com\/?p=519","title":{"rendered":"Using the Ancestry.com Leaves: Part I"},"content":{"rendered":"

I recently posted this image to the Facebook page for\u00a0Genealogy Tip of the Day.<\/em>\u00a0It generated a significant amount of discussion. It’s a\u00a0Ancestry.com \u00a0<\/em>five generation pedigree chart on my paternal grandmother\u00a0with “hints”\u00a0<\/em>\u00a0that\u00a0Ancestry.com<\/em> has found for several individuals. I lamented that there were no hints for the two ancestors of my grandmother who are \"grandmaleaves\"among my most problematic.<\/p>\n

The problem I had with the leaves–which is true of auto-generated hints in general–is that they often really don’t help in finding problem people. The leaves don’t often help me at all on people on whom I’ve worked for years. Part of this, I’m speculating, is that the search algorithm for generating hints parallels, in part, how a researcher searches when they initially have no luck.<\/p>\n

Then there is the other apparent part of the search algorithm. The apparent\u00a0use of some top-secret code from the 9th-Euclidean dimension that brings in search results from an alternate reality. That’s part of why researchers with some experience exhibit frustration with the leaves and why others roll their eyes, groan, and head to a different website.<\/p>\n

The discussion about the leaves being non-existent on my problem people quickly went to the ways in which some genealogists use the leaves for their own research. Hint use is a problem. Misuse is the more accurate term. \u00a0There is a problem with having any discussion of responsible hint use. Most\u00a0whose research would probably benefit most from reading about “responsible hint use” are not yet to that point in their research where they are reading genealogy blogs looking for guidance. They are still gathering information and are still excited about chasing leaves. They’ve just been bitten by the advertising and marketing hype that has drawn them to the site. It takes a while for the researcher to see that while the leaves may all look the same, they aren’t.\u00a0Some of these “bitten by the advertising researchers” eventually start to see that the leaves should come in a variety of colors, shades, and shapes and that all matches are not created equally. Others get lost in a sea of green leaves, get frustrated, leave their “tree” online, and leave the site for good.<\/p>\n

There are those who are vehemently opposed to the use of any hint or any leaf. I’m slightly left of that position.<\/p>\n

I sometimes use the hints and when I do I use them sparingly<\/em>. This means not often and infrequently.<\/p>\n

The databases at Ancestry.com<\/em> from which the hints are drawn are not created equally.\u00a0The hints come from several places in the\u00a0Ancestry.com\u00a0<\/em>pool of information:<\/p>\n