In going back to read the postings on this subject, I decided to jump in. As a fairly recent "newbie" (1 year last Jan) I find using the lists & net quite helpful, frustrating & fascinating. When I first found Rootsweb & popped in my mother's maiden name I found a cousin quite near to my home! What a thrill that was. As a result, my elderly aunt has been in touch with her aunts (through my cousin), has discovered she has a half-brother whom my cousin met & informed us about, & we are planning to bring these wonderful people together! The feelings I get when I think about what my cousin & I have accomplished, not about names & dates, but about the human aspect of it, is overwhelming. I realize some are not that fortunate, but it certainly made me believe that someday, I WILL find the rest of our family. So to start on the net is good; then do the other research. A second success story is another cousin on my mother's side, but just a bit more removed. Delightful person! Has sent me much info & I filled in a spot for him with my very limited data. Which brings me to a point I hadn't yet seen about reciprocating. Some of us have VERY limited data at the time someone sends us a piece of information. How I would love to "give back", but I haven't yet proved most of what I have & then, as I said, it is limited. However, I do let them know what small amount is in my files. The way I feel is that if someone has taken the time out to read my request & been courteous enough to respond, it's the least I can do, even if I have to tell them, "I'm sorry, I don't think there's a connection." How much better to say that then let them hang onto a possibility. That way, they can move on. Recently, I did send to every NY list because I didn't know which way to go. As a result, I have received at least 10 answers, some of which lead me into a new direction to check at the FHC. How many hours did I spend originally checking in one county where I had a snippet of info, & then it didn't turn up anything. This particular line is VERY important to our family, as we are siblings in a broken family with no one left who can tell us about who we are or where we came from. That also brings up another point. We're in our mid-50s to late 60s (I'm the youngest) so my siblings feel the urgency to learn what they can. They have been thrilled with the little I've been able to discover about this line so far. It means a connection to something that has been missing in our lives. I couldn't have done it without searching the net & from the kind help of others. So in summation, yes, I feel it has been very helpful. But there is still a long road to travel. I just hope that in the process of receiving help from others I don't forget to say "Thank you from the bottom of my heart". Beth