About This Genealogy Project

This web site began as a small, private concern intended as an extension of our larger genealogical inquiries. It was to be a medium of communication and research among a limited number of family members. In a rather short time, it took on a size and presence of its own, which requires a statement of my purpose and intentions for this public face of my work.

Education

My purpose is educational. I hope to learn as much as possible about all of the many individuals who consider themselves to be members of our family. Beyond names and vital statistics, I wish to understand the changing times and varied places in which all of us have lived and how these factors have shaped the story which we share.

Everyone

My ambition is inclusive. I am not focused on only one branch of the family tree; I want the whole thing. I aim to know as much about the most distant cousin in the furthest corner of the globe as I do about my own parents. Success may well elude me, but for the time being I are willing to make the effort. I am interested in learning about the innumerable other families of the world who have joined with our family through marriage, promise or adoption and how they have contributed to our shared heritage.

Sharing

My intention is to share. I condemn in the strongest terms the rapacious commercialization of genealogy which seems to motivate some. In my labors to learn about my own history, I have been the recipient of extraordinary generosity from family, friends and strangers.

In recognition of that spirit, what you find on this web site that is my own work is freely available to anyone who intends to use it for non-profit and educational purposes. A nod to this source would be appreciated, but is not required. I trust that you will in turn honor the many contributors to this project with the same generosity to others.

As I mention elsewhere, those who have shared with me still retain full ownership of their contributions. Their material may be protected by copyright and other intellectual property laws and further use of their contribution may be subject to the permission of the copyright owner. I refer you to the page on copyright.

Questions

I will do my best to respond to questions concerning any of the content of this web site and will gladly share what I may know. Please bear in mind, however, that this genealogical project is a hobby which I pursue in my spare time. The real world often makes more demands of me than I am agreeably willing to accept and you may be asked to pay the price for my involvement elsewhere. There may be some delay in answering your email. I hope you will be patient and forgive me my faults.

Contributions

I welcome all manner of contributions to this genealogical project from any and all persons.

If you notice a typographical error; a name mis-spelled; a wrong birth date; someone with too many siblings, or the wrong parents, I hope you will let me know.

If you wish to collaborate in a more substantial way, your help will be most welcome. You may send information on any part of your life you feel like sharing. I can not guarantee that everything you send will make it into every version of the family history. Because of space constraints on this web site, I am not able to post photos of Uncle Steve's latest fishing trip or your little Amber's ballet recital, no matter whose relatives they are. Beyond that, I believe I am reasonable and flexible.

You need not limit your contributions to items from your own past. Remember brothers, sisters, parents, spouses, in-laws, aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces, nephews, grandparents ... all manner, shapes and sizes of relatives. Please, do not send accounts of someone's most embarrassing moments without first receiving permission.

I am interested in more than just old photos. Manuscripts, newspaper accounts, memoirs, anecdotes, oral histories — anything of the people, times and places that only a few in our family can still recall are particularly precious and need to be preserved. They will find a welcome place in my work.

If you do not feel comfortable sending such items to me, but you know someone who possesses such treasures, I encourage you to safeguard them for your own family. Someone in the near future will be most grateful for your foresight.

If you do make a submission to this genealogical project, it must always be with the understanding that your contribution may become part of internet, and thus available to anyone else.

If you specifically inform me that something is to kept private and confidential, I will certainly honor that trust. In the absence of an explicit request of that nature, however, I will assume that you have given permission for me to use your submission on the internet and that you concur with my belief that genealogical information should be freely shared with all.

I would never claim any legal ownership of any submission and you certainly will not lose any rights to the material you share with me. However, the further use of material I post on the internet is beyond my control and I can not assume responsibility for what other people may do.

Referrals

Contributed material invariably invites queries and often the questions which arise demand a greater familiarity with the facts than I possess.

If you have not already given me permission to share your name and email address in connection with any particular lines of inquiry, I generally respond by forwarding the question to you and leave it up to you to answer or not, as you see fit. I will not share anyone's contact information unless I first obtain permission to do so.

If you would prefer not to have contact with other researchers covering the same ground, please let me know.

Privacy for Genealogical Data

I recognize that not everyone is happy to have his or her genealogical and personal histories made public and I am sensitive to the need for maintaining a certain level of privacy. I encourage you to exercise caution with your own work where it is warranted.

In addition to whatever measures you make with submissions to me, I also undertake to the best of my abilities to limit the amount of information posted at the Fiegenbaum Family Website and at my site at the WorldConnect Project at RootsWeb.com about individuals who are, or might be, living. As a rule of thumb, if I have no specific information about a time of death, I generally assume that any person in my genealogical database who less than 100 years old might still be alive. In those cases, there are filters in place at both the WorldConnect Project and in my database which will suppress all but that person's name.

I can not guarantee absolute privacy but I do assure you that should you share research with me that you feel should not be passed along, I will make every effort to protect that information and maintain the commitments which you have also made to others.

If you discover any information I possess which you feel is not proper for public display, I urge you to inform me immediately. I will give serious consideration to all requests for privacy and will take appropriate measures at the earliest possible time. You may reach me via the email link which appears on each page of this web site or through the information on the Contact page.