GEDCOM

GEDCOM is an acronym for GEnealogical Data COMmunication

I have been critical of some of the data that appears on many of the geneological websites and feel that not only is some of the information is less than reliable and consistant, it is not without its bias.

The Wikipedia page says:

" GEDCOM (/ˈdʒɛdkɒm/ JED-kom), complete name FamilySearch GEDCOM, is a de facto open file format specification to store genealogical data, and import or export it between compatible genealogy software. GEDCOM is an acronym standing for Genealogical Data Communication. GEDCOM was developed by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) as an aid to genealogical research.
Most genealogy software supports importing from and exporting to GEDCOM format. "

In addition, many of the geneological research services that advertise on the media are often tracable back to the GEDCOM developers, and as I point out this is problematic.

Top

Tamara Jones

Looking at Tamara's website, she is both a web designer and a genealogical researcher, she writes about GEDCOM.

While there is a discussion on the data that is contained and uploaded to the database, including a discussion on how sex and gender are handled, there is no mention of the religious connection. This might explain the approach to gender.

I originally came across Tamara when I was researching Frameset Fowarding with respect to website design and administration. The fact that she now seems to concentrate on her geneological interests is mearly coincidental with my interest in the history of the area local to Belchamp Walter.

The Corruption of the database

I believe that the GEDCOM database has become corrupted due to the fact that users of it have been allowed to upload data to it without proper verification.

Tamara Jones seems to suggest that some geneological websites allow uploads while others don't. Or at least the extent of the uploads are different. The consequence of this is the perpetuation of misinformation that can too easily be found by AI queries.

Examples of this can be found on RootsWeb sites. In particular, some information on Sir John de Botetourt is known to be wrong on a couple of counts:

The father is Sir John was speculated as Edward I and the FMG cast doubt on this and there are others who report that his father is Guy de Botetourt.
He was not the govenor of St. Bravels Castle (this comes from the Wikipedia page)
There is no mention of Belchamp Walter and there is a well documented (remains of a) chantry chapel in St. Mary's, Belchamp Walter.
There is no mention of the connection to the de Beauchamp family or the Fitz Otho family. Heraldry of both families are to be found on the chantry arch entry to the demolished tomb.

The use of family tree software as opposed to performing serious geneoligical/historical research leads to statments of highly speclative connections to "famous" people. Tracing your lineage back to Charlemagne is an example of this. Many of the pages generated by such software have these associations even if the "researcher" had made a comment in their notes that this is not the case. For example:

The Veres were (erroneously) said to descend from Charlemagne through the Counts of Flanders or Guînes by later antiquarians.

The statement above was from a profile on Aubtey de Vere I found on a RootsWeb page. The connection between de Vere and Charlemagne is in the GEDCOM database and as such will appear in searches that use it.

What Ancestry say about uploading and downloading family tree data:

Ancestry® uses GEDCOM (Genealogical Data Communications) files to download and upload family trees. Only the owner of a family tree can export and download the tree. You don't need a membership to upload or download your tree.

GEDCOM files are a universally-accepted file format for family tree files. A GEDCOM file is a text-only file that contains all of the facts and information for a tree; photos, media, and similar items are not included. However, GEDCOM files created on Ancestry after November 2022 do hold information about where your media files are saved on Ancestry. If you re-upload the GEDCOM file to Ancestry later, we'll relink the media files to your family tree (if they're still available).

GEDCOM

Links