The views expressed in this blog are not necessarily the views of the JGSGB.

If you’ve looked at the 1851 Database recently, you may have noticed that it’s acquired a little logo that refers to the Genealogy Quality Code. What’s this, you may wonder? The link takes you to the Code’s own website, http://genealogyqualitycode.org/, and if you’re interested in databases, or just data quality, it’s worth taking a look.

The GQC site takes a clear, but commonsense, position on the standards that people should follow when compiling databases, or copying data from someone else’s. It’s all about maintaining quality and reliability, they argue. A lot of JGSGB members will have seen wrong data on the web that circulates forever, never to be corrected. That’s the kind of thing the GQC has in its sights.

At the same time, a lot of people would argue that, even if a big genealogy website has a lot of errors on it, this is more than compensated for by the huge amount of good data that’s there also. That’s a valid point of view too.

Which side of the line to you come down? Visit the GQC website and offer your views. It’s a debate we should all be joining in.

Petra Laidlaw – Guest Blogger