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FamilySearch Wiki:Introduction: Difference between revisions
FamilySearch Wiki:Introduction (view source)
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Probably the easiest way to contribute your knowledge is to add new information to an existing article. Find an article that deals with some type of information you’d use often, and then add to it. For instance, if you know a good Website for tombstone inscriptions in Pennsylvania, you can add the link to an existing article called Pennsylvania Cemetery Records. You can do it in only a couple minutes – it’s that simple! <!--{12057231920822} --> | Probably the easiest way to contribute your knowledge is to add new information to an existing article. Find an article that deals with some type of information you’d use often, and then add to it. For instance, if you know a good Website for tombstone inscriptions in Pennsylvania, you can add the link to an existing article called Pennsylvania Cemetery Records. You can do it in only a couple minutes – it’s that simple! <!--{12057231920822} --> | ||
== Why is FamilySearch "competing" with | == Why is FamilySearch Wiki "competing" with similar Websites?<br> == | ||
==== We avoid duplication and welcome collaboration<br> ==== | ==== We avoid duplication and welcome collaboration<br> ==== | ||
Some folks who hear about FamilySearch Wiki note that there are other valuable Websites which offer research advice. They ask, ''"Why are you competing with Site X? It's a good site. Why do you want to duplicate their work and dilute the efforts that are already being contributed to them?" '' <br> | Some folks who hear about FamilySearch Wiki note that there are other valuable Websites which offer research advice. They ask, ''"Why are you competing with Site X? It's a good site. Why do you want to duplicate their work and dilute the efforts that are already being contributed to them?" '' <br> | ||
Part of the answer is that we ''don't'' want to duplicate sites that are offering quality research guidance. Wherever there is a site that offers current, clear, well-organized content that our customers value, our goal is to link to those sites from the wiki and drive customers to them. That said, some sites have great information for one area and obsolete information for another. Other sites have great navigation in one area, and confusing navigation in another. In these cases, we may choose to....<br> | Part of the answer is that we ''don't'' want to duplicate sites that are offering quality research guidance. Wherever there is a site that offers current, clear, well-organized content that our customers value, our goal is to link to those sites from the wiki and drive customers to them. That said, some sites have great information for one area and obsolete information for another. Other sites have great navigation in one area, and confusing navigation in another. In these cases, we may choose to....<br> | ||
*partner with the other organization to help them revise their content;<br> | *partner with the other organization to help them revise their content;<br> | ||
*link to the other site's quality content but not to their obsolete content;<br> | *link to the other site's quality content but not to their obsolete content;<br> | ||
*create similar content for the area in question in a language not covered by the original site. <br> | *create similar content for the area in question in a language not covered by the original site. <br> | ||
We welcome like-minded organizations to contact us if they'd like to collaborate. Such partnerships will more rapidly produce the information genealogists need. <br> | We welcome like-minded organizations to contact us if they'd like to collaborate. Such partnerships will more rapidly produce the information genealogists need. <br> | ||
==== Our content isn't new -- only the media is<br> ==== | ==== Our content isn't new -- only the media is<br> ==== | ||
Another way to consider FamilySearch's "new entry" into this market is that FamilySearch isn't new to this domain at all. Our organization has provided research guidance to patrons since 1894 when we were known as the [http://www.gensocietyofutah.org/ Genealogical Society of Utah]. We've always striven to do our best to deliver "one-stop shopping" for genealogical advice. During the 100+ years of our existence, we've constantly worked to improve the media we use to deliver that advice, including a few major media changes in the last 15 years. In the 1980s, we published research advice on paper. In 1998, we switched to CD-ROM. In 1999, we switched to html. In 2008, in order to make the work collaborative and scalable, we switched to the wiki medium. <br> | Another way to consider FamilySearch's "new entry" into this market is that FamilySearch isn't new to this domain at all. Our organization has provided research guidance to patrons since 1894 when we were known as the [http://www.gensocietyofutah.org/ Genealogical Society of Utah]. We've always striven to do our best to deliver "one-stop shopping" for genealogical advice. During the 100+ years of our existence, we've constantly worked to improve the media we use to deliver that advice, including a few major media changes in the last 15 years. In the 1980s, we published research advice on paper. In 1998, we switched to CD-ROM. In 1999, we switched to html. In 2008, in order to make the work collaborative and scalable, we switched to the wiki medium. <br> | ||
When you consider the organizations who offer genealogical research advice, then, FamilySearch is a relatively ancient player. And like any other service organization or publisher, we periodically swap out strategies and media to better serve our customers. Even the information we used to seed the wiki isn't new to the field. We published it on paper in 1997, on CD-ROMs in 1998, in html on the Web in 1999, and in Wiki code in 2008. The content we used to populate each medium was basically the same -- we just updated it as we went along. <br> | When you consider the organizations who offer genealogical research advice, then, FamilySearch is a relatively ancient player. And like any other service organization or publisher, we periodically swap out strategies and media to better serve our customers. Even the information we used to seed the wiki isn't new to the field. We published it on paper in 1997, on CD-ROMs in 1998, in html on the Web in 1999, and in Wiki code in 2008. The content we used to populate each medium was basically the same -- we just updated it as we went along. <br> | ||