Allen County LIbrary teams up with WeRelate.org

An article in the Ft. Wayne Journal Gazette, "Put family records online," announces the
Allen County Public Library's endoresement of WeRelate.org, a new genealogy web site. Several months ago, the library began talks with the Foundation for On-Line Genealogy, a Utah nonprofit, which was founded to create a place on the Web for genealogists to contribute material. Those talks gave birth to WeRelate.org, which is based on the Wikipedia model. The Web site allows people to upload and correct genealogical information, research projects and geographic information.

“We wanted a place virtually where we could encourage people to record their family history,” said Curt Witcher, manager of the library’s genealogy center. “Any everyday person can go onto the site and upload information.”

The site is free to use, but registration is required. As on Wikipedia, users will be able to update and correct information on the site. They can also make “read-only” entries that can’t be changed, Witcher said. “Wikipedia’s popularity draws a large crowd of people who can constantly correct misinformation, he said. “If you build enough people, it’s very self-correcting. We’re hoping to build the same thing.”