I've just read several messages in response to the CNET articles on "internet genealogy". Here are my 2 cents worth.... 1) These topics often turn into black and white discussions - an either/or approach to internet or traditional research methods. Who said it had to be a choice? I use "both" - and for different reasons. 2) There are advantages and disadvantages of using "all" research methods. 3) Personally, I "like" having options. (and we can all use all the options we can get - especially for some of our more "hidden" ancesters!!) Guess the best I can share with you all is this. I love genealogy. (now, "that's" profound, isn't it?) The hunt. The stories. The people I meet. The history I learn. And more.... The problem with the CNET articles is not the online resources they described. It was that it was not "balanced" with some common sense - to let especially "new" family researchers know that it takes "checking, checking and more checking" to get sometimes just "one, tiny detail" right! It didn't point out the "buyer beware" part of "online trees" and what-have-you. So while it might get some people excited to see all the things available - it did so with no "safety net" of common sense..... Online access, however is a "big topic". Are we talking about access to the IGI? A person's website and posted family tree? CDs? Tombstone transcriptions? Census indices? Passenger lists? Surname discussions? Mailing lists? Message boards? Lists of history links on the web? Library or archive catalogs? Again, it is not the "content" that is the issue... Much like "what you find at the library or town hall or funeral home" is not the issue. The issue is "what methods" - and "what sources" we researchers use - for what reasons - and how we balance the tools at our disposal. (and how we "judge" what weight to put on what bit of information we find...) Shall I even go so far as to say "what we do about the inconsistencies" we find? <g> I will say that online access to "people" yields things like this very list. It allows a forum for fellow researchers to meet each other and collaborate. There are volunteers all over the country - putting time into getting databases of information online for all of us to access. I applaud their efforts. I can share with others what I've found so far - what book or film or archive I'm going to try next - and brainstorm with peers on "ideas" to try out. This is wonderful!! Electronic exchanges of any type have also "sped up" our world. Thus, just as "good things" happen and spread more quickly - so also do the haphazard things! Thus, common sense. Plus, I tend to have a "cup is half full" mentality, anyway - so prefer to "use the good parts" of any new tool I find - and cut the wheat from the shaft as the saying goes... Know I rambled a bit here - but in the midst of wanting to see a balance of old and new methods - understanding the good/bad sides of each - I'd also like to see (in addition to the CNET articles of the world) - the message conveyed to "folks out there" that "searching for your roots" can be a wonderful & fun experience. Even - as in my case - a lifetime obsession!! <g> And the "getting there" is as fun and meaningful as the results!!!! debbie (telling myself to stop talking now... thanks for listening...) CAhobbies@aol.com