Genealogical Ethics and Standards

NGS Standards For Sharing Information With Others Recommended by the National Genealogical Society
http://www.ngsgenealogy.org/comstandsharing.htm & http://www.ngsgenealogy.org/gssharing.pdf

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.

Note: NGS recommends these Standards and Guidelines for the benefit of those who wish to improve their skills and performance in genealogy. NGS is neither an accrediting nor an enforcement agency, and does not determine whether its recommendations are being followed in any particular case. These recommendations have served their purpose when an individual decides that the Standards and Guidelines have or have not been applied in a matter of personal interest.
[Ed note: formatting and emphasis added]

NGS Genealogical Standards (PDF downloads): http://www.ngsgenealogy.org/comstandards.htm

BCG Code of Ethics and Conduct: http://www.bcgcertification.org/aboutbcg/code.html

MINDING YOUR MANNERS IN FAMILY HISTORY - Rules of the Road for All Genealogists: http://www.lafhc.org/begin.htm#manners

Mistake or Misdemeanor - Staying Legal with Internet Copyrights by Rhonda R. McClure: http://www.thegenealogist.com/art3.htm



Question with boldness even the existence of a God; because, if there be one, he must more approve of the homage of reason, than that of blind-folded fear. - Thomas Jefferson