Please remember that many who write to the list, by whatever means, may be new to family research and have only used computers, not gone to courthouses or archives or local libraries or cemeteries. Perhaps they don't have a large knowledge base with which to begin. We didn't have to contend with our email addresses being caught and used for increasing amounts of spam as happens today. It is up to us to help them learn the best way to get results from their questions. (Look at info re how to write queries, found on RootsWeb, Ancestry and many other web sites.) Also, we have "history" among ourselves and those who are new to this list or are asking for information using the "gateway" are not aware of or used to the free flow of information and suggestions - and humor - that we have enjoyed for years. That is one reason you will begin to see me *repeatedly* post to the list the same resources that will be helpful to those beginning research in Bibb Co. Many are waiting for the answer to their *one* question. They will not linger for a month, or a year, to see if anything else interesting or helpful to their search pops up. In all the recent seminars I've attended the one thing that all speakers tell us is that the new researcher is looking for instant answers. Most of us who have been members of the list for a long time had no other options that are now available via Ancestry and RootsWeb and many other sites on the web. We may have a "dry well" as far as our queries to Bibb but remember that there is a very wet and deep well on the list archives. It will be worth everyone's time to return to the archives and browse every message for something we overlooked years ago. Remember to return frequently to the other web resources available - new information is being added daily. Since I wasn't knowledgeable about the difference between mail lists and message boards (and I'm still not, even after reading the info below) . . . I went to RootsWeb and looked up mailing lists and message boards. One of the links I used is: http://boards.rootsweb.com/boardfaq.aspx#listwhatis I copied and pasted the following from the above link: When I click on an author's name, sometimes I am shown their email address, and sometimes I am taken to their Public Profile. Why? What you see when you click on a message author's name depends on the site you are on (i.e. Ancestry or RootsWeb), whether or not the message author has a Public Profile, and what their connection preferences are set to on Ancestry.com. Until the message board update in December, 2006, registration was not required in order to post a message. This means that an author was only required to give a name and email address to post and they do not have a public profile. If you click the name of one of these authors, you will be shown an encrypted image of the email address they provided when they posted the message. Registered community members on both Ancestry and RootsWeb can to configure a public profile that contains information about themselves and their research. If you click on a registered message author's name on RootsWeb.com, you will be taken to that person's public profile if they have set one up. If an author has not set up their RootsWeb public profile yet, you will be shown the encrypted image of their email address. Clicking on a registered authors name on Ancestry will take you to that person's public profile. You can click on the "Contact this person" link located in the "Page Tools" to contact that person. Note: Ancestry allows community members to choose either to only be contacted anonymously through Ancestry's Connection Service, or to display their email address and allow others to communicate with them directly. If an Ancestry user chooses to use connection service to remain anonymous, you will need to have a Family Trees & Connections membership to contact them. Thanks for reading this "letter" ~ Caroline Horton, List Administrator