I share your concerns and frustrations. Here are my thoughts: <<(1) Why are researchers so reluctant to share their data?>>There has been a lot of discussion on lists about copyright. I am afraid that many researchers want to write that book some day and fear that by sharing information they will give away data they have researched. The fear might be that someone else may take it the information and use it in a publication, claiming ownership. Many don't realize that all they have to do to is present the information and include the word "copyright" or a (c) at the end of the information to be protected. <<(2) Why is it when you think you have a connection, you never hear from them again?>> It could be that life becomes hectic at the time the connection is established and they forget. This has happened to me, but I save e-mails I want to respond to, and may get back to someone weeks after the original message. Some may not save messages. I wish I had a better answer. I have contacted people for whom I could extend their ancestry back two documented generations and another two undocumented generations and never received a response to my offer of information. <<(3) Why do they say they will cooperate and then don't ?>> Same answer as question 2. <<How fruitful has genealogy on the net been for you and how can we improve it?>> I think genealogy on the net is very fruitful as long as one takes the information at face value. I have "met" many wonderful people, distant cousins among them, through genealogy on the web. But, many, especially those new to genealogy, probably tend to get frustrated when one site gives a birthdate for John Jones as 1751 with a wife Mary, and another source gives his birth as 1757 with wife Polly. We have to keep reminding researchers to take the information as a starting point, that unless one has the information from the original record or a verified source it cannot be taken as fact. And even official records can be wrong. My grandmother was born in 1889, yet she was listed as age 27 on my father's birth certificate (1921) and as age 60 on her death certificate. And we wonder why information on the web is inaccurate!!!!!!!!!!! In conclusion, we should all just keep sharing. Everything we give comes back to us three fold---someday. Mary