WELDING LINKS: "SHIP ME ALL THOSE PASSENGERS . . ." by Myra Vanderpool Gormley, CG <[email protected]> <http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~gormleym/> It's been another exciting week in the past lane on the Internet, but I don't think I can take many more like this. For years I have enjoyed helping online genealogists, sharing knowledge and experience I have acquired through the years as well as using my vast library of reference material to find answers or clues. I have always tried to be patient and remember that I once was a "newbie." I do not know if we can blame technology, but I think people are ruder online, or perhaps I am turning into a curmudgeon. However, I can not imagine a novice genealogist walking up to me and yelling: "HOW DO I RESEARCH MY LAST NAME. I DO NOT UNDERSTAND!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! PLEASE E-MAIL ME AND EXPLAIN IT!!" Typing in all caps (unless you have a visual problem) is considered yelling in e-mail -- and it is rude. Throwing in 20 bangers (exclamation points) tells me the inquirer is not only rude, but also impatient and probably would be ungrateful for genealogical material I have. Making demands of me when asking for a favor doesn't set too well either. I'm not sure how to respond to the request claiming that I put something on the Internet about the ships that brought people to the States and asking me to e-mail these to him. First, I didn't post anything anywhere about this subject and second, even if I had a clue to what he was talking about, does he want me to e-mail him the ships, the passengers, or the "something"? As co-editor of two popular e-zines (MISSING LINKS and ROOTSWEB REVIEW) that go to a total of about 300,000 subscribers, I can assure you that I receive many strange, and often interesting, requests. However, more and more of these requests require psychic powers. I've been searching for a mind-reading course at Virtual U. Perhaps that will do the trick. "Send me all you have on the VANDERPOOL line," a newfound cousin requested recently. I don't think so. I can't afford the freight to ship it to her, and she didn't offer to pay for it C.O.D. Besides my three private secretaries are on vacation and I don't have time to find everything in my files. In a quarter-of-a- century, a person can collect a lot of information on a family that has been in America 345 years. I don't mind sharing, but unreasonable requests turn me off. I saw a few more that I don't think I will respond to either. They include: -- "I have been working for two months on my ancestors and have them back to Noah. When will the Flood records be online?" -- "Would you send me the JPGs of our family crest -- the one scratched on the walls in that cave in southern France?" -- "I have a 125,786-word 9th-century manuscript about my Viking ancestors. However, it is in Norse. Where can I get it translated -- instantly and for free?" -- "Send me everything you have on that line -- I want to include it on my Web site." If you are not getting answers to your demands for genealogical information, try making reasonable, well-thought-out requests. Take a little time to educate yourself in methodology. You will be surprised at the difference it will make. Some of us curmudgeons have virtual trunks of treasures to share -- if you know the magic words. * * * * * Previously published by Julia M. Case and Myra Vanderpool Gormley, CG, Missing Links: A Weekly Newsletter for Genealogists, Vol. 4, No. 15, 9 April 1999. Please visit the MISSING LINKS Web page at <http://www.rootsweb.com/~mlnews/index.htm>.