In as much as you want to make your research more comprehensive, you tend to resort to different sources for additional clues, information and historical data. There is nothing wrong with that. In fact, a good genealogist must know how to find ways just to get to the right data. What is wrong is in some cases, people who desire to get the as much information as they can tend to claim that the data found on some unreliable sources as true.
Most of these unreliable sources can be found online. There are of course a lot of legitimate websites, but some are not worthy of basing your research from. The following are bad sources of historical data for your genealogy research:
1.Wiki sites. While Wiki sites are fun to read and very informative, data that are found in there are unreliable and subject to errors for the very reason that anyone, as in anyone, can add and change existing entries in any Wiki page, anytime. In other words, if you are researching about the history of the place where your ancestors lived, do not rely on Wiki sites. You may use them as a good overview of the information you are looking for but not as the main source if factual events.
2.Personal websites. Many entries on personal websites are made without much regard to whether they accurate or not. And since a personal website can be made by anyone, personal websites is not a source of historical details.
3.Blogs. Just like personal websites, blogs are a good source of unreliable information simply because anyone who can type and use the internet can make a blog site especially with the “throwaway blogs” which don’t involve even purchasing a domain name. And since the credentials of most bloggers are questionable especially when it comes to history, blogs will provide no help in your genealogy research. So when looking for a historical account, stay away from blog sites. Let me add an addendum to that last comment in the light of some feedback. There are some good Genealogy Blogs as a number of people have highlighted, however my own experience has shown that the majority are quite poor – so at the very least be sure that you can verify the information before you rely on it to take your research forward.
4.Historical novels. They are called historical novels simply because based on facts. But there is a big difference between based on facts and factual work. So even if historical novels give accounts that are seem to be reliable, they are still more than fiction than facts.
5.Movies. It is quite amazing how movies can depict characters that had a great impact in the history or characters that changed the course of history. However, movies, while based on historical facts, are still movies. They are made simply for entertainment and not for research purposes.
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