Hi Joy I agree with you re not doing any researching any longer - some just want to find a name and that is it.......that is the fun of research, finding out who was who.....the CRO is very grateful to us though as we have saved them hours and hours of searching through various records, as you know CFHS donated 2 computers to Carmarthen archives and a vast amount of indexes, 1851 included 1841 to be added when finished.......with indexes as stated you should still always check the original, we also supply the census CD sets so one can view the index and double check with the digitalised image, or if one is in the relevant record office check the film.... Not only Carms and Pembs do not have many mailings anymore, its the same with all the 'List' pages.....its because there is so much on line that people do not have to ask volunteers anymore ....I don't subscribe to any other lists as I just do not have the time........I am lucky enough to ask on our 2 lists and another person will try to help me if they can.....so I do not know what is happening on them. The people who have been indexing Carms1841 for us have thoroughly enjoyed it, seeing how the people lived, who was rich and who was poor,.......one transcriber thought that one of the best ones she did was where they all appeared to be monied people.....sorry Barbara, forgot which parish now!!! It is the thrill of going through them all. I am currently indexing Carmarthen St Peters baptisms which are fascinating, different surnames occupation and so many spurious births. I have completed all the burials that took place in St Peters so concentrating on the baptisms now, the CRO requested this, although I am no longer in Carmarthen, I still index for them........'from a distance'..... Indexing is needed to locate some people as it is the way forward, but always view the actual entry too as transcription errors do occur..........1841 was a difficult index to transcribe mainly because the images are faint because for that one they used pencil..... thanks for your comments Joy......oh and yes......Pat Powell....... yes she is a treasure...and a person who I regard as a 'friend'!! Pauline ----- Original Message ----- From: <Joycozens@aol.com> To: <CARMARTHENSHIRE-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Sunday, October 02, 2005 4:54 PM Subject: Re: [Cmn-L] testing > > Dear Richard > > Maybe the reason why the Dyfed Mailing List does not appear to get as many > enquiries as the Carmarthenshire ones is that most research enquirers > find > their way to the Lookup Exchange which is accessed via the link on > Gareth's Help > Page > > _http://home.clara.net/tirbach/hicks.html_ > (http://home.clara.net/tirbach/hicks.html) > There, under the various Hundreds, you will find the name of people > prepared > to do lookups in the Hundreds in which they specialise. Using various > indexes they are in one to one contact with the enquirer and do not come > through > the Mailing List. Pembrokeshire does not have the vast range of indexes > that > you and Pauline have worked on over the past 20 years or so but the > volunteers do provide as much information as they can backed by local > knowledge. > However, of late, more and more enquiries seem to come on the the Mailing > List > and I do not know what percentage are dealt with direct. > I believe that Pat Powell is one of the volunteers - a very > knowledgeable, > busy and involved lady! > As regards Ancestry being able to provide all the answers I think it will > be > a sad day when researchers no longer look at the original documents. > Admittedly it will save wear and tear on a valuable source but often the > contents > there can tell us so much more than a mere index. As a researcher for > over 35 > years I find it sad that people can look at a census index, order and > order > a copy of the entry online without any of the thrill of finding a person > after hours of trawling that did give you some feeling of the area in > which they > lived and the people who would have been their friends and neighbours. > Just > amassing a collection of dates and places is not my idea of family > history > but then I'm one of the old fashioned kind! > Bye for now > Joy > Bye for now > Joy > > > > ==== CARMARTHENSHIRE Mailing List ==== > Wales Genealogy CD's for Wales research > http://www.Wales-Genealogy.co.uk >