I am not a biology person. In my long list of things I want to learn, biology is not on the list. Not any part of biology, until I began to learn about DNA. I do like mysteries and I love genealogy. This is exciting.
I am a computer person. I love learning new software and then teaching people how to use that software to make their jobs easier and quicker and with less tears. But when asked to join this team, even though I didn't know DNA, I was excited. It was a great opportunity for me to learn more about DNA.
I would like to share with you why this has been an exciting group to be involved with and why I continue to volunteer my time with this site.
Below is the mission statement. Below that is my explanation of what I have seen as I have been working, as a volunteer, with this team.
The Mission of mitoYDNA
mitoYDNA.org is a website for uploading Y-DNA and mitochondrial DNA to create a YDNA and mitochondrial DNA database. The site also offers DNA matching, analysis and tools to help our users/volunteers further their genealogical research. mitoYDNA is:
- Crowdsourced – www.mitoYDNA.org is volunteer driven.
- Free – www.mitoYDNA.org’s use will be at no cost to the users/volunteers, though donations are encouraged to defer hardware, facility and administrative costs.
- Accessible – www.mitoYDNA.org will be accessible to all.
mitoYDNA Ltd., the 501(c)3 non-profit company behind the design, implementation, and ongoing upgrade and maintenance of mitoYDNA.org, is a group of collaborative genetic genealogists who believe genealogists can have access to a YDNA and mtDNA database which includes Y and mtDNA testing from all available companies today and those of the future. mitoYDNA Ltd. is based on the principles genealogical collaboration and continues to work to keep mitoYDNA:
- Straightforward
- Current
- Expanding
The site is A Y and mitochondrial DNA Database - Crowdsourced, Free and Accessible
That is the "tag line" for the website. So what does that mean?
Crowdsourced
The site has a Facebook group where users may ask questions, get help, make comments about what they like, what was confusing, and what they would like to see added to the website. The team will answer within a day or two and sometimes sooner. They appreciate all thoughts shared.
If you are not sure, ask to join the Facebook group (link at the end) and read the comments asked and answered. You do not have to have a username on the site to join the Facebook group. You will be asked three questions about why and to follow the rules. Tell the truth as to why you are joining. We will let you in.
Free
Anyone can create an account for free. They can then upload DNA kits to the site for free. There is no limit to the amount of DNA kits that can be upload. In fact, the more the better!
The website was programmed and is continually updated all by volunteer hours by multiple people. The behind the scenes work of the website is also done all by volunteer hours. This is done so that there is no cost to anyone to use the site.
For the first two years, the team met once a week to coordinate what was being programmed and what people (the crowd) was asking for and saying about what was there. For the last few months the team has met only once a month because most of the main parts of the site are completed. The team is not done. The site will continue to grow, the weekly meetings are not needed as much.
Accessible
The site is accessible online and therefore to anyone throughout the world but more importantly because it is free, more people will be able to access the information that these two DNA results produce. This is how the team feels they are providing a great resource accessible to everyone.
The team also wants to the site to be the following.
Straightforward
DNA is not straightforward. There is so much to learn to understand but the site is straightforward and allows the user to enter their DNA results in a straightforward manner without having to know all the DNA terminology. The results are straightforward. You don't need to read lots of DNA books to understand. If you don't understand, hop into the Facebook page and ask, read our blog or watch some videos on our channel! (Links at the end).
Current
They will keep the results up to date (current) in the ever changing DNA world. The team still meets once a month because things are changing and the team wants to keep up with it.
Expanding
The team is constantly thinking of new items to add to expand the site's resources to help genealogists.
History
The site was started in 2017 when Y-Search closed their site. A few genealogists, who knew the important of such a database, worked together to create this site. The group wanted to make this available for everyone so they decided to volunteer their time so that the site could be free. The team continues to work together to make it even better for genealogists.
Board and Team
To learn more about those who work on this site, all for free, click here.
This is a wonderful team to work with. They are a lot of fun at the meetings. They help and support each other while providing the genealogy community with this great service. AND to give DNA results to the genealogical community for FREE is a worthwhile cause.
Social Media
To learn more check out the following.
Blog
YouTube
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