Dear WW, and Cousins on the List, To clarify the purposes of the our list and the website: I've tried to "reinvent" genealogy in terms of the impact of computer usage as well as the internet. It is an evolving process, as is everything else in life, and it changes quickly, due to the nature of the beast. Just as we are not the same people we were before the attack on our nation on September 11th, we are not static in our process of interweaving genealogy and history into the contemporary fabric of our lives. Nor are we static in ways of meeting the needs of our American Crossroads Community. Nor is that community static. I believe that is important. So -- genealogy is the principal focus of American Crossroads, but it is not the ONLY focus. Initially, my concern within the genealogical focus was that virtually all of the "genealogy" software took on a life of its own, creating relationships and linking families based on what what was typed in. Again, due to the nature of the beast, a lot of that came out in the form of gedcoms, was put onto the internet, into massive databases in the LDS church files, and circulated elsewhere. These did a lot to distort and damage existing research. My approach was to use the List as a communication medium and the website as a reflection of the resources and methodology I had developed and was evolving. It has always been, and always will be a work in progress, attempting to bridge the gaps and stay state of the art, but also to judge whether state of the art really means purchasing the newest version of Microsoft Windows, or Family Treemaker's newest most expensive Version 99.99999. My research methodology combines principles of both history and genealogy in terms of computers and the internet. I don't believe history and genealogy can be separated. There are several reasons. If one only copies the work and gedcoms of others and calls it genealogical research, then nothing new is ever uncovered. The work is stifled. Nothing is developed. Similarly, if the same ground is merely being covered one more time by a different researcher nothing new is ever uncovered either. The internet has given us a means of linking with others who have covered valuable new ground for us, if we but examine it in new ways. I am trying to walk a thin line, promoting the effective, scholarly ways and means of the historian to genealogists who are principally amateurs either in genealogy, or computer usage, or both. I have found people have become quickly adept at computer usage but it takes a long time to master scholarly, logical approaches to genealogy. It also takes time to learn how to use internet sources effectively. Through the List and Website, I am trying to be an effective guide for this vast community of searchers. I do this without charge, or remuneration in any way. I try to be specific, yet general! I try to be subjective, yet objective! I write to many people outside the List as well as to many individual List Cousins about specific problems and interests. I want to continue to do this and to treat the List subscribers as an extended community. I believe we are a great family and I want to continue to treat the List subscribers like that. Whether we disagree or not is irrelevant to me. What I am apologizing about is not disagreement, but about allowing us to get into a meaningless argument. Still, I would not unsubscribe anyone from the list for arguing. I believe families can disagree, but for this family, I think the disagreements should be of the nature of disputing sources, or disagreeing over methodology, or goals. I welcome your comments always. I don't pretend to have ALL the answers, only that I try very hard to pursue new pathways toward common objectives, and want to do that within a framework that I feel is effective and productive. Obviously I can't fulfill every individual's need all the time. Our next explorations will continue with the theme of Rivers and watercourse research, of George Washington and Christopher Gist on the Monongahela, of Gists's explorations and surveys for the Ohio Land Company, of others surveyors and Land Companies, and the next move into the Borden Grant in the Valley of Virginia. And Beej, I still haven't forgotten you! Now in keeping with my landlord settlement, I have to be out of here by the end of the month. I have to displace two cats and move five rooms of belongings. AND, I have a book club celebration of my mother's 90th birthday, and Thanksgiving! Then Christmas! AND, I have a new grandbaby arriving in mid-January in Maryland, and I have a GENTECH 2002 speech to give in Boston the end of January! It's going to be a fun time. I need all the help I can get! If anyone wishes to unsubscribe, the instruction is included here. Love, Your Cousin, Carolyn Carolyn McDaniel cmacdee@teleport.com ========================================= To unsubscribe to the American Crossroads Discussion List: Send a message to: AMXROADS-L-request@rootsweb.com with the single word unsubscribe in the body of the message --- Visit American Crossroads --- http://freepages.history.rootsweb.com/~amxroads Carolyn McDaniel cmacdee@teleport.com ========================================= --- Visit American Crossroads --- http://freepages.history.rootsweb.com/~amxroads