Betty, I've been working in Genealogy of my family since the mid-70s. I found out the truth about how easy it was to find all the information you needed on your family. NOT.... You start out with what you hope is a barrel of truths, and find half or more are fables, cover-ups or out-and-out BS After years of cleaning out the chaff, you check the libraries, hoping there is something there to help. You look for an LDS library need you and hunt there. Your relatives seem to be fighting you all the way WHY?. After filling in HALF the information you need, you come to a HUGH BRICK-WALL! Where do you go to knock the BRICK-WALL? The libraries only have the information that a few people have been nice enough to publish. What if your family isn't among those lucky few? Go to a National Archive? Try working through ALL those MEGATONS of information. Your question is: "Do We NEED A " Message Board"? " The answer is YES!!! If you have only a few names to find info on, if you only have a few Lists to keep track of, if you have been working on your Family Tree(s) for a long time, then a list may be all you need. IF, you are just starting, you need all the help you can get. THAT is where the Message Boards come in. They help the newbies catch up with those who have been doing it for a long time and don't mind helping others. The Message Boards are an archive of those questions being asked every day again and again. They are a record of the answers given over and over again. NEWBIES---- check the Message Boards and keep checking them from time to time. BUT, check the lists too. I'm on roughly 150 to 200 lists, BUT also check the lists to. Betty, my vote is YES! We also need Message Boards! Your cousin in Genealogy! Charles aka MajCowboy@aol.com