In a message dated 5/31/2006 7:01:01 A.M. Pacific Standard Time, IRL-SLIGO-D-request@rootsweb.com writes: Content-Type: text/plain IRL-SLIGO-D Digest Volume 06 : Issue 144 Today's Topics: #1 Re: [Sligo] Rip-offs, Good people, [Linda Battaglia Mosena <lmosena@sb] Administrivia: To unsubscribe from IRL-SLIGO-D, send a message to IRL-SLIGO-D-request@rootsweb.com that contains in the body of the message the command unsubscribe and no other text. No subject line is necessary, but if your software requires one, just use unsubscribe in the subject, too. ______________________________ X-Message: #1 Date: Tue, 30 May 2006 18:39:14 -0700 (PDT) From: Linda Battaglia Mosena <lmosena@sbcglobal.net> To: IRL-SLIGO-L@rootsweb.com Message-ID: <20060531013914.38135.qmail@web81710.mail.mud.yahoo.com> Subject: Re: [Sligo] Rip-offs, Good people, Basics Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit This is the best thing I have read on this site for days. Thank You for writing so well Murph <cyberlaw6024@yahoo.com> wrote: Dear Friends, It seems this one issue has prompted more email on the SLIGO mailing list than any other subject in some time, and I feel compeled to respond to several of the posts as I often volunteer to help others because I too was taken advantage of when I started (and most people are the same, it takes time to learn the "ropes" and only those who keep at it learn enough to pass on). FIRST for those we were sent names and "information" from any Center, particularly Sligo's Heritage ---- the ONLY question would be how do you know it is a relative of YOURS? Is their some confirming basis or just woshful thinking? UNLESS you know where your ancestors were from or lived, any name may be useless as most names have hundreds, if not thousands of unrelated members? The rule of thumb in geneology is, generally, until something is firmly established with documented proof --- doubt it and keep searching (if it was good information you will soon confirm it if you keep searching). As for Birth, Marriage, and Death records --- commonly known as "BMD" ---- for those who were given someone's birth, marriage, or death information/dates/ or records, I am so sorry to tell you..... but most BMDs for Ireland are online FREE FOR SEARCHING. So, I hate to pass on such info., but you MAY have been charged for what you could have gotten for free online. Please peruse these: http://freebmd.rootsweb.com/ OR http://www.ukbmd.org.uk/index.php?form_action=misc OR FINALLY http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/ Lastly, basics for searching are hard to learn because when one starts looking for family info. one needs either a place (townland) or some other area smaller than the four provinces otherwise it is generally hopeless --- And, SURNAMES have changed and it was not until recently that they did not, so checking different spellings and variations of your family surname is essential and should be check AS MUCH if not more that the current or "your" current spelling. The reasons for this a several --- Most people in the 1800s and into the late 1900s were illiterate and schools were not too common and children worked in the fields until recently --- commonly in Ireland, many spoke Irish, NOT English and this was forced on them (and given the "love" for the English back then, well, you geuss that most did not want anything to do with English language) so trans;lations and other such errors and errors in commmon variations, happen. The best rule is to check all such variations in the area you are researching. Ancestry discussion boards are GREAT for posting messages and requesting "lookups" and many will do lookups for you for free in a surname --- if you know some area, information, or anything you need help on --- asking nicely for a lookup or some help will get many responses as many are more than willing to help --- Many in the family researching "family" know how tough it is and that many companies and "researchers" are ripoffs and commonly prey on "newbies" as they can make a quick buck givingh you what is availablle free if you only know where to look !! The people involved in searching family histories, and in particular Ireland's disporia, are GREAT and will bend over backwards to help. They are some of the nicest, kind, and helpful people you will find anywhere --- and this is in contrast to many of the sites you will find with Google searches --- they simply do a cursory search and give some info -- if its any good is the question as you do NOT take any one piece of info. as anything needs confirmation or a good amount of "confidence" it is the right person(s) you are looking for --- Finally I found out when I started that much of what I paid to find was available online and free, like the 1901 and 1911 Irish Census (not all are complete and are work in progress, but hey, for free thats fine. Try: http://www.leitrim-roscommon.com/1901census/census.shtml Now dispite the web pages name, much Sligo infomation is on it and it is one of the best resources for Sligo researchers ---- and you can search multiple fields or variations or surnames --- and this is just one site!! Searching Google for targeted information and you will see many more databases and information out there. The final bad news is very much records remain in Ireland due to a fire (details are available all over the place) and are simply not available from around before the 1860s. The Mormon Family History Centers (FHC) in Salt Lake have most of what is available and can, again, be searched free -- try: http://www.familysearch.org/ Finally, once you have enough information on someone, the only way to know for sure is to contact the GRO -- English "vital records" essentially, where you can order copies of Birth cert., Death cert., Marriage certs., which will also provide you more information --- http://www.gro.gov.uk/gro/content/ BUT you want to be sure you know it exists as they cost between seven pounds and up (look for any currency exchange sites or search that term for web sites where you can figure it out yourself). Posting questions you have not searched several web sites for the answer is somewhat like panhandling --- do the work yourself and the rewards are all that much better. Like currency exchange to find out what 7 pounds is in US Dollars: http://www.exchange-currency.co.uk/currency.htm So the foregoing is things it took me years to learn, sometimes at the cost of a more than a few bucks --- but this is the community you enter, which is full of people that will help --- any many that will gladly take your money for what is readily available free --- geuss it all boils down to how much work you want to do yourself. If you want to hire someone, hire a PRO http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&rls=GGLD,GGLD:2004-46 ,GGLD:en&q=professional+Ireland+genealogy+research (search professional Ireland genealogy research) Anyway, hope this helps so, like the movie says.........pass it forward! Murph