Going back and doing it right

When I first started doing my own genealogy research on Ancestry.com, I had no idea that I would love it to the point that I'd decide I want to do it professionally one day. Nor did I know that the way I was conducting my "research" -- that is, simply attaching all the work that other people had done to my tree when Ancestry said they matched -- is the worst way possible. It hadn't dawned on me that accountability might one day come into play.

Before long, my "family tree" more closely resembled a spiderweb than anything growing out of the ground, let alone with roots. When I learned about the Genealogical Proof Standard, I immediately went on to Ancestry.com and made all my trees private. I didn't want anyone using my tree as a reference in their own research, especially when I hadn't really done my own.

Now I'm going through the process of actually researching and proving or disproving facts that had been asserted. Needless to say, my tree isn't growing as rapidly as it seemed to before. It's okay though, this time, I can publish my work with confidence that everything in it is backed up and cited with documentation.