A new genealogy group for genealogy research is now available. It is available thru yahoo groups. The address of the group's home page is http://au.groups.yahoo.com/group/Gene_Aus/ . You will need to join yahoo first, to then join this group. The group was started less that 1 month ago and currently has 61 members. 100 messages have been posted to the group in less then 1 month.There are over 39 surnames recorded in the groups surname database. A group like yahoo groups, or MSM groups, has some advantages over mailing lists like this one. The advantages are as follows: *There is a no-mail facility. You can read emails from the group online on the main group page so that your email inbox is not clogged up. From this same main page, you can access all the features of the group, which is something you can not do from emails that are downloaded into your inbox. Of course you can also get digest and single mode emails from the group, if you wish. One of the benefits of having a no-mail facility and reading the emails through the group's main page is that you do not spend time and money downloading emails that are not of interest to you, and the risk of receiving a computer virus is minimised. * Groups have a chat facility within them where members can chat with other online members. This saves emailing back and forward when you have made contact with someone. Just arrange to chat with them at a set time and its real-time. It is hoped that this group will also have regular set chat topics where members can contribute and gain information from others. Real-time ! * Databases can be created within the group's main page. This group has a surname database for surname interests, where members can permanently log their surname interests for others to see. This saves you having to periodically send emails with your surname interests just to 'catch' new members. Any member can add a database within the group. * Groups have a bookmarks facility, whereby members can add links to websites that they have found interesting. How many times do you see people sending emails to a ,ailing list saying ".....I have lost the link to Australian and New Zealand passengers list page when my computer crashed - Does any one know the link?....." When you lose your own personal bookmarks, or just can't remember then, you can access the groups ones. * Groups allow you to upload files and photos, so you could upload a copy of your gedcom file (or any file) if you wanted to, for others to download. On one list I subscribe to some person had transcribed parts of a BDM register and posted it to the list for all to use if they wanted. It was posted in sections over 3 weeks. This meant that for 3 weeks the list had huge emails to download and view. It also meant that the person who had supplied the information had to physically send the various sections each day for 3 weeks. By using the files facility within the group, she could have uploaded the entire file in one hit and sent one email to group advising them that is was there. Those that were interested could access the file. A much better solution all 'round, I feel. Regards, MF