Question

Could the pre-1500's leaders check up on and confer on my cert request? Its been some time now.

Comments

There are currently 9 people on the 30 day mentoring list.   The list is specifically aimed at qualification #2 for the Pre-1500 badge.   

Have made contributions to pre-1700 or project-protected profiles that demonstrate a practical understanding of the principles behind our Honor Code and Pre-1700 Self-Certification, especially regarding sources and collaboration in high-conflict areas.

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Hi Shelley

Personally I don't mind writing biographies; it always takes longer than I expect, and is never as good as I imagine, but that's what a Wiki is for.  I (or someone else) can always come back later and make improvements, but I do appreciate that writing biographies isn't something everyone on Wikitree likes to do.

However I personally feel that the person who starts the profile has a duty to make it as easy for the biographer as possible.  Principally for me this relates to being quite specific about what source or sources have been used.  If it's a book, who was the author, and what volume and page number is the information found etc etc.

I know with books freely available on the Internet it is possible to have a link to a specific page, which is great, but still if I am going to use correct source citations in the biography, then I need to know all those other details.

For many pre-1700 profiles (and quite a few more recent than that) not all the details about a person's life can be found in just one source.  You often have to look at a variety of sources to get the complete picture.  For many pre-1700 profiles, sources can conflict about some details.

In these cases I think the biographer really needs more specific information about the sources.  Something like - this source confirms who his/her parents were; these sources are the basis for her/his date of birth; these sources conflict over the date he/she died etc.

Basically if there is some form of structure in place, then it should be easier for someone to come in and write the biography.

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Shelley --

Perhaps a solution for you while you are waiting is to post the sourced information that you have on the profiles where you have an interest. This could also serve as a learning tool for you to see how the information becomes incorporated into the biographies. It will also help the project managers and leaders to understand the depth of your knowledge.

There are many, many people here who have worked very hard to develop policies and standards in order to keep the very early ancestors on the tree in good order. A lot of discussion has gone into how to enter names, locations and source citations so that newer Wikitree members are able to quickly find what they're looking for. It's very important to not only understand the genealogy of these ancestors but how to document them here in a consistent way.

Wikitree looks simple at first glance, but once you start to really get into the meat of the website, you will discover there is a lot more going on than you might imagine.

Answer 1

Hi Shelley,

 

You may want to check your SPAM folder, a note was sent on 3/17 regarding your request.  I resent the note via Wikitree private message for you.

Comments

Thank you Robin

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Thank you Robin, I am possibly away to a community dev project in Moczambique as of next month. I was hoping to do it while I have reliable internet comms.

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Good luck in Mozambique, Shelley. I hope things can be worked out when you return.

If you have a problem, here's the place to start: http://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Problems_with_Members

We have a highly-developed system for conflict escalation http://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Conflict_Escalation but it's almost never necessary. Leaders like Robin are extraordinary.