Retransmitted for your information from a list manager in Texas > Dear List Members, I expected to hear from each of you by now, complaining > about our GenConnect boards. A year ago Ancestry bought out Roots web, with > the assurance that things would only be better or the same. Recently they > announced that they were doing away with GenConnect for a "new" "improved" > single board. I'm still in a state of shock, perhaps it will get better, but > for right now I am at a loss. I can't even get into my Board to administer > or edit it. The following is a newspaper column in the Houston paper by > Lynna Kay Shuffield and she covers it very well. > > "New Development with GenConnect Boards" > > On June 14th, GenConnect, RootsWeb and Ancestry.com announced they would be > pulling down all of the query and data boards for every county, state, > country and surname. We were promised a "new and improved system" to post > our queries and data! Instead, on June 21st we were served, in my opinion, a > homogenous bowl of slop! > > In reality, all of the query and data boards (i.e., Obituaries, Pensions, > Wills, Biographies, Bibles, & Deeds) from GenConnect, RootsWeb, Ancestry.com > and FamilyHistory.com were rolled into one massive board without any context > to its original structure or format. In the "new message board" system, you > cannot tell a query for an obituary from a Bible record from a deed. > > The previous system allowed for the orderly organization of data into > groupings. You knew if you went onto the Obituary Board for Milam County you > would find obituaries and not Wills. Now when you go to the Milam County > Message Board, you don't know what you have in the way of data or queries! > And this is the same for every county, state, country and surname message > board! > > The biggest complaint about the new system is many folks feel they were > mislead because there was nothing in the announcement that informed anyone > that the structure of their data boards was going to be destroyed! No one > had the opportunity to copy their information off for safekeeping before > they were pulled-down. For example, on the Milam County Obituary Board, we > had over 1,500 obituaries posted. Now, they are all co-mingled with other > data entries and queries on one board containing almost 4,000 entries! What > a mess! > > The search engine and instructions are not very clear. For example if you > are searching for San Saba County, it will never appear because the search > engine only recognizes SanSaba, without a space between the words. The same > goes for any two-named counties, i.e., SanJacinto, TomGreen, etc. And of > course, there is nothing telling you about this little quirk! > > Additionally, the new system no longer allows the Message Board > Administrators to manage or edit queries. In the past, administrators could > edit postings to insure they were appropriate and met the requirements. Now > anyone can post anything without any controls or supervision. The only > option now available to board administrators is to totally delete a posting! > Administrators are not being given any instructions or "how to" for the new > system and the URL addresses for the message board change without any > notice! > > Ancestry.com took a perfectly good system and solely, in my opinion, made it > into a vehicle to increase the number of hits on their website, to increase > their advertising rates and increase the exposure of the products it sells > to those who visit the new message boards. > > Another failure of the new system is that it no longer sends you a direct > e-mail to alert you to new postings on the boards you are interested in > researching. Now, you have to go directly to the board to determine what new > postings have been made as the notification system only notifies you when > you log-in the system. Gee, another opportunity to increase the number of > hits on the website by forcing you to have to visit them to see what's new! > > Therefore, in my opinion, the new system does not have its roots in > establishing a better research system for genealogists but instead is just > another commercial vehicle to make money off folks who are interested in > family history research. > > We can only hope another group will step forward and fill the vacuum that > Ancestry.com has made with its "new and improved system." > > "Genealogy.com Now Charging for Support" > > Genealogy.com has announced that it will now begin charging $2 PER MINUTE > for technical support for the genealogy software, Family Tree Maker they own > as well as other genealogy software that it markets. This means you will pay > Genealogy.com $120 PER HOUR for help and technical support. They require > payment in advance by credit card only. > > Family Origins users can still obtain FREE software support by contacting > the software owner directly at < http://www.formalsoft.com >. Family Origins > also has an e-mail list where other users can help with information, > comments and suggestions. Additionally, Family Origins now has started its > own Message Board Forum at < http://formalsoft.com/forums/ > for users who > have questions and need help! > > "Social Security FOIA Fees to Increase" > > Effective July 1, 2001, the Social Security Adm. will increase its fees for > requesting a copy of a Social Security Application for anyone found on the > Social Security Death Index (SSDI). The new fees: $27 if the Social Security > Number is provided; $29 if the Social Security Number is NOT provided; $16 > search for death information Social Security Number provided; and, $18 > search for death information Social Security Number NOT provided. For > additional information regarding new fees for Freedom of Information Act > (FOIA) requests for the Social Security Adm., visit < > http://www.ssa.gov/foia/foia_guide.htm#_Toc517745425 >. > > To read a past article in this column related to the importance of using the > SSDI in genealogy research, visit: < > http://www.geocities.com/lks_friday/COLUMN-003.htm >.