Cantrell Cousin Project

WELCOME

The Cantrell Cousin Project is a research partnership, a database of shared family information. In combining our efforts Cantrell descendants are locating cousins and completing our family tree. Contributors receive a combined Descendant Report with their family included. The Report contains documentation of our oldest known ancestors as well as recent family lineage.

The project functions as an equal partnership. Thus, all members have the opportunity to present their theories, speculative facts, as well as share documents discovered in their own research. Each member then considers the data and constructs their own conclusions.

Primary sources of data contributed to the Project are linked to the contributor of those documents. Members are at various stages of accomplishment in researching their own Cantrell lines. Some have been researching the family history for many years, some only a few months. We have in common a desire to document our ancestors as completely, and as accurately, as is reasonably possible.

Citation of the source of facts and information shared follow National Genealogical Society Standards.

How to join the partnership: by sharing your own research. The Cantrell Cousin Project will not buy, nor sell family information. Many thanks to both the beginning researchers and the experienced genealogists for your support and additions to this project.

Cantrell descendants are invited to contact project coordinator Carol Cantrell for more information at Cantrell Cousin Project.

GENEALOGICAL STANDARDS

Standards For Sharing Information With Others Recommended by the National Genealogical Society

Conscious of the fact that sharing information or data with others, whether through speech, documents or electronic media, is essential to family history research and that it needs continuing support and encouragement, responsible family historians consistently�

respect the restrictions on sharing information that arise from the rights of another as an author, originator or compiler; as a living private person; or as a party to a mutual agreement.

observe meticulously the legal rights of copyright owners, copying or distributing any part of their works only with their permission, or to the limited extent specifically allowed under the law's "fair use" exceptions.

identify the sources for all ideas, information and data from others, and the form in which they were received, recognizing that the unattributed use of another's intellectual work is plagiarism.

respect the authorship rights of senders of letters, electronic mail and data files, forwarding or disseminating them further only with the sender's permission.

inform people who provide information about their families as to the ways it may be used, observing any conditions they impose and respecting any reservations they may express regarding the use of particular items. require some evidence of consent before assuming that living people are agreeable to further sharing of information about themselves.

convey personal identifying information about living people--like age, home address, occupation or activities--only in ways that those concerned have expressly agreed to.

recognize that legal rights of privacy may limit the extent to which information from publicly available sources may be further used, disseminated or published.

communicate no information to others that is known to be false, or without making reasonable efforts to determine its truth, particularly information that may be derogatory.

are sensitive to the hurt that revelations of criminal, immoral, bizarre or irresponsible behavior may bring to family members.

�2000 by National Genealogical Society. Permission is granted to copy or publish this material provided it is reproduced in its entirety, including this notice.

Standards For Sound Genealogical Research Recommended by the National Genealogical Society

Remembering always that they are engaged in a quest for truth, family history researchers consistently�

record the source for each item of information they collect.

test every hypothesis or theory against credible evidence, and reject those that are not supported by the evidence.

seek original records, or reproduced images of them when there is reasonable assurance they have not been altered, as the basis for their research conclusions.

use compilations, communications and published works, whether paper or electronic, primarily for their value as guides to locating the original records.

state something as a fact only when it is supported by convincing evidence, and identify the evidence when communicating the fact to others.

limit with words like "probable" or "possible" any statement that is based on less than convincing evidence, and state the reasons for concluding that it is probable or possible.

avoid misleading other researchers by either intentionally or carelessly distributing or publishing inaccurate information.

state carefully and honestly the results of their own research, and acknowledge all use of other researchers� work.

recognize the collegial nature of genealogical research by making their work available to others through publication, or by placing copies in appropriate libraries or repositories, and by welcoming critical comment.

consider with open minds new evidence or the comments of others on their work and the conclusions they have reached.

�1997 by National Genealogical Society. Permission is granted to copy or publish this material provided it is reproduced in its entirety, including this notice.

Standards For Use Of Technology In Genealogical Research Recommended by the National Genealogical Society

Mindful that computers are tools, genealogists take full responsibility for their work, and therefore they�

learn the capabilities and limits of their equipment and software, and use them only when they are the most appropriate tools for a purpose.

refuse to let computer software automatically embellish their work.

treat compiled information from on-line sources or digital data bases like that from other published sources, useful primarily as a guide to locating original records, but not as evidence for a conclusion or assertion.

accept digital images or enhancements of an original record as a satisfactory substitute for the original only when there is reasonable assurance that the image accurately reproduces the unaltered original.

cite sources for data obtained on-line or from digital media with the same care that is appropriate for sources on paper and other traditional media, and enter data into a digital database only when its source can remain associated with it.

always cite the sources for information or data posted on-line or sent to others, naming the author of a digital file as its immediate source, while crediting original sources cited within the file.

preserve the integrity of their own data bases by evaluating the reliability of downloaded data before incorporating it into their own files.

provide, whenever they alter data received in digital form, a description of the change that will accompany the altered data whenever it is shared with others.

actively oppose the proliferation of error, rumor and fraud by personally verifying or correcting information, or noting it as unverified, before passing it on to others.

treat people on-line as courteously and civilly as they would treat them face-to-face, not separated by networks and anonymity.

accept that technology has not changed the principles of genealogical research, only some of the procedures.

�1997 by National Genealogical Society. Permission is granted to copy or publish this material provided it is reproduced in its entirety, including this notice.

Here are some of my favorite websites:

Everton's Genealogical Helper (http://www.everton.com/)
Information about where to obtain vital records from each state, territory and county of the United States. (http://vitalrec.com/index.html)
Source List for Genealogy Research (http://www.ukans.edu/heritage/research/dbd.html)

This page belongs to Cantrell Cousin Project.