Dear list subscribers, Since 1996, I have striven to make Catawba County, NC genealogy freely available on the Internet. I have tried to expand these resources and make them available to anyone with access to a computer, at home or at a public library. Since then, I have adopted Burke County, NC and have applied the same principle. Surname and family pages have put many researchers in touch with one another and have supplied the sought-for answers. The original purpose of the Internet was to allow communication between individuals with common interests. I have exploited this resource with SURNAME pages, both on the Burke http://www.rootsweb.com/~ncburke/surname-reg.htm and Catawba County http://www.rootsweb.com/~nccatawb/surnames.htm NCGenWeb pages. These pages have allowed researchers to contact one another. Thus far, it has proven to be an unqualified success. While I must maintain the surname pages manually, I continue to urge researchers to list their surnames and to contact others with common interests. I have recently modified the pages to include a common subject line. When you submit e-mail messages, your surname interest will be displayed on the subject line. If you have any corrections or suggestions regarding the Burke or Catawba County pages, please let me know how I might improve these resources. Derick S. Hartshorn Catawba/Burke County, NCGenWeb http://www.rootsweb.com/~nccatawb/ http://www.rootsweb.com/~ncburke/