All, I hope you can endure all this to the end. If in doubt print it and read it in bed you could doze off very quickly but I hope not. Further to my earlier email of today I would like to get an agreed definition and scope for this project. IT WILL ALSO BE NECESSARY TO HAVE AT LEAST 2 OTHER VOLUNTEERS TO BE PREPARED TO ASSIST AS DEFINED LATER BUT ANY OFFERS OF HELP WILL BE GREATLY APPRECIATED Now I do not want this to sound too technical and I am sure many of you will say "Hey! let's just get on with it!" but before launching OUR database I do believe it is important to agree on the format and to be clear on our aims and objectives even if they appear obvious. I would therefore like to start this off but would INVITE Group members ideas and input. Please do not be backward in suggesting anything you feel you would like to see included but I would ask that all suggestions apply to the Group as a whole and not just to individual members. Remember these are only my ideas. I STRONGLY URGE ALL TO HAVE A LOOK AT THE SITES AT www.Genweb.net ,where we will be based, before reading on to see some fine examples of Family History Sites. There is one there with 2 Chase family,father and daughter.(Sams Page) 1) OBJECTIVES. a) To ensure that the necessary facilities to carry out the Project are available and to agree how this facility should be maintained c) To coordinate all current and future research on the CHASE family name to avoid repetition. c) To make all relavent information so gained available to all, whether members of our group or not, by means of a Common Database(s) and any other medium(Wills,Articles,potted histories of Chase family members etc.) 2) SCOPE Initially I was thinking that the Dbase should only include those with CHASE/CHACE blood and their spouses as the inclusion of families of Spouses could create an enormous Dbase. However with the amount of WWW space available it is possible to include spouse families as well but INITIALLY would suggest that this be confined to direct ancestors of spouses, ie parents,grandparents, gg grandparents etc. We could link to Members own WWW pages to access their full family data. I WILL STRESS THAT IT IS NOW POSSIBLE TO INCLUDE EVERY CHASE MEMBER'S FULL FAMILY BUT WOULD LIKE TO SEE THE INITIAL DBASE PREDOMINANTLY CHASE REMEMBERING OUR OBJECTIVES. It would be possible to have seperate pages for the families of Chase Spouses on the site and to this end all those with the expertise should be prepares to help others with writing their own WWW pages 2) MAINTENANCE a) The maintenace and updating of the Site will be the responsibility of One member of the Group. However to ensure continuity there will be 2 other appointed Members,(or such number agreed by the Group) who will have access to the Database and other items on the site. All 3 will have to have the knowledge required to carry out updating and any necessary alterations/additions and be able to convert Members Gedcom files to HTML, suitable for the WWW This will be achieved by having the appropriate Username and Password. b) Initialy it may be necessary to update the site every few days but as the project settles down once a week should be sufficient. if the group agrees that I manage the project the week-ends are best as there may be considerable uploading. At present any additional data into the dbase means that the whole datbase has to be re-compiled. While this is no problem uploading times to the site could be considerable and weekday use in the UK is not free but cheaper at week-ends 3) CONTENT a) Database(s) b) Members Interests ( It is hoped all members will contribute and give means of contact,email address preferable) c) Links to Members own WWW sites d) List of members prepared to do "Look-ups" or provide other general or specific assistance. This would also include books on CHASE or related history and a description of their contents but only where the owners were prepared to carry out such "Looks-up" e) A page devoted to the origins of Names of Group members f) Early Chase Histories ( 500/1000 words) g) Links to i) Sites and News groups of specific interest ii) Sites that members have found useful h) YOUR SUGGESTIONS PLEASE 4) CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE SITE a) Database i)All contributions to the Database should be made by means of gedcom files uless there are less than 10 lines of information in which case text files will be acceptable. ii) Should any member require help with how to do this the Manager will assist. iii) All contributors should try to ensure that where connections to persons already in the database are made those names should not be repeated but a message should be included to state to whom the link should be made when the data is merged into the main database. There is no problem including CHASE family whose connections to the database are not known. iv) It is not essential to include sources if these are unknown but in such cases, and where possible, the source for an individual should be entered as the contributor. 5) SUPPLY OF INFORMATION FROM THE DATABASE The database can be set up so that it can be down loaded. However from experience I know that many database owners are reluctant to "give away" the fruits of many years hard work and this will be a composite of databases I have no problem with giving away my data but I do know that there are bound to be those who will not wish to do this. Unless the Group is united on this matter then the usual convention of retaining the base data but supplying information on request will prevail. It should be remembered that individual www pages can be copied at the click of the mouse button. 6) WWW SITE LAYOUT I am prepared to do this and can handle most of the basic html code ONCE AGAIN I INVITE SUGGESTIONS and would willingly pass this job on to a more experienced member of the Group. Having looked at the Genweb layouts I have a few ideas but would suggest the project get underway as soon as possible and additions/alterations made as developments require. THERE YOU GO! I have no doubt I have not covered everything here but hope it is enough to set you all thinking and look forward to some positive responses. Remember the "impossible" is only achievable by those who did not know "it could not be done" Keith There is probably a lot more that need to be discussed but I cannot stress too strongly that this is YOUR Project. Keith Hume, email khume@netcomuk.co.uk http://www.netcomuk.co.uk/~khume/home.html Kent,England Researching:- HULME,DAWSON,(In Lancs.) HUME,McKAY, (In New Brunswick & Nova Scotia SHERMAN,SIMMONS,HATHAWAY AND CHASE,(In USA & Canada) SHERRING & BLUNDEN (Hampshire,England) FALL,(Ireland & Australia)