FamilySearch Wiki:Guiding Principles: Difference between revisions

Ancestral research requires extensive knowledge of cultures and historical sources specific to each region, and each ethnic, religious, or political group. Such information is often written in a foreign language. Expertise on those various cultures and historical sources may be widespread and varied. Through collaboration, sharing, open-edit, and forums the community can build enough high-quality knowledge to help more family history researchers.  

As a tool designed to guide users to the best sources of genealogical information, the wiki has some sensitivity around the topic of [[FamilySearch Wiki:linking|linking]] to commercial Websites. Like any librarian, wiki contributors writing an article on Ohio death records will recommend a variety of good sources for these records, including free sources (like FamilySearch Labs, RootsWeb or U.S. GenWeb) or fee-based sources (like Ancestry, Heritage Quest, microfilms at Family History Centers, or even a government records office). The idea is to recommend sources in the order that the user might want to find them, taking into consideration the audience's budget, time constraints, and desire for instant gratification.  

That said, the wiki may not be used simply as an advertising platform. We don't want a page or pages overwhelmingly slanted to any one vendor's products in exclusion of free sites and other vendor sites. The key is to do unto readers what you would have done to you. You wouldn't want to be directed to an expensive source when a free one will suffice, so please recommend sources to users in terms of what will help them, not what will help your business.