Plagiarism
Genealogy is a collaborative effort, and we are best served by respecting those we collaborate with.

I am frustrated by the plagiarism found in amateur genealogical research. It's an unpleasant word, but I call it as I see it. The number of "researchers" who proclaim "Oh, I don't have much in the way of sources, I just do this for fun.", astounds me. The frequency with which we come across improperly cited information is alarming. This sort of thing is often excused under the guise of "amateur" or "hobbyist", but common sense and ethics tell us we must give credit where credit is due. In addition to being unethical and in some cases illegal, this behavior prevents peer-review and leads to misinformation. It is up to serious researchers to push the issue, demand citations and prompt others to do the right thing.

Genealogy
While most, if not all, of the genealogical data here is in the public domain, the intellectual property contained here is not, and it is copyrighted. This includes, but is not limited to: analysis, original findings/connections, stitching together of disparate research from multiple sources, notes, comments, opinions, presentation of the material, articles, etc.

YOU MAY ADD INFORMATION FOUND HERE TO YOUR OWN GEDCOM OR WEBSITE AND PUBLISH IT IF YOU PROPERLY CITE ME (Mark A. Merritt) AND THIS WEBSITE (www.merrittfamily.org). YOU MUST MAKE THAT CITATION AVAILABLE IN YOUR PUBLISHED WORK SO THAT OTHERS WILL KNOW TO CONTACT ME DIRECTLY REGARDING MY OWN RESEARCH. If you publish information on a website, please provide a link to www.merrittfamily.org.

You do not have permission to absorb my work into yours without citations, remove my citatons, edit my notes or articles, or do anything that would make it difficult for someone else to recognize what portions of your work are really mine. You may not use my work for profit.

Articles
Articles authored by me and posted here from time to time are copyrighted. You may quote brief passages without perimission provided you properly cite the article fully: Article Name, Mark A. Merritt (Pomona, NY: www.merrittfamily.org, Year) p.#.

GEDCOMS
At the present time, gedcom downloads are not available at this site, and my own database facts are not presented here with citations. I do this to encourage visitors to contact me for information, and so that I can convey my opinion regarding the quality of the sources relevant to their inquiry. I will share my citations with researchers who are willing to collaborate.

Third Parties
Databases compiled by and articles written by third parties that may be posted here from time to time are, of course, not my work, but that of the individual compiler or author and are cited as such. You should contact them before using their material.

Photographic Images
From time to time, photographic images may be displayed here. They are copyrighted either by me, or a third party. They are posted here for you to view with your web browser, and you do not have permission to do anything else with these images. You may not save, transfer, copy, or in any other way manipulate these files. These files are digitally watermarked and a security scheme is in place to prevent the casual user from downloading them. Copies of higher quality scans may be made available to researchers who collaborate with me.

Graphics
The red, purple, orange, green, blue and brown "buttons" at the top of each page (upper frame) are my creation. I would be happy to send you copies for your use in exchange for proper attribution and a link to www.merrittfamily.org. Other graphics are used under license or are "freeware", and should not be "poached"; rather, they should be obtained from their creators.

HTML and JavaScript
The HTML, scripts and other intellectual property of a technical nature found here are a combination of my work and that of others. You do not have permission to "poach" this work from this website. You would be far better served by examining the material described below:

The navigational system employed here was constructed using JavaScript written by Rick Scott, with a few modifications. Click here for a ZD Net Developer article on this elegant and relatively easy navigation solution.

I have modified and/or used some JavaScript routines written by Gilbert Hadley. I recommend his technical tutorials found at www.web-wise-wizard.com.

The database area HTML is primarily created by a licensed version of GED4WEB © Version 2.60 by Anthony Papineau.

Happy roots digging,

Mark A. Merritt
23 May 2001