Hello everyone, This is a news story concerning formation of a new internet genealogical socierty for the purpose of making thousands of .raw data and record available, FREE, on the internet. Dana list owner By JOAN ROSE As one-stop shopping at the Mall has simplified buying habits, founders of a new national genealogical organization are hoping to do likewise with integrated research sites on the internet for American root tracers. Traditionally, American genealogists have had to rely on a paper trail in often distant libraries, musty courthouse basements and weed grown cemeteries to lead to their elusive ancestors. Only recently, in the last five years, have they turned to the Internet to find information that others have written into cyberspace for them. Internet resources have been multiplying rapidly in the past two years, but available information is often sketchy, always scattered and frequently without the documentation so dear to the earnest researcher�s heart. The United States Internet Genealogical Society in May was incorporated as a non-profit corporation under the laws of California with four major goals and lots of little ones. USIGS, as it will be known on the Net, not only will seek out, index and point to all kinds of research data for free public access online, but it will seek out funding grants and contributions to help defray the costs of puting it there. "The Internet will be the Genealogical Research Library of the 21st Century," believes James Streeter, USIGS president and a descendant of the Mayflower, who has been working on his family history for 35 years to include 6500 individuals in 50 generations. "USIGS brings a new concept to the genealogy community," he explained, inasmuch as "it is dedicated to provide FREE online access to records of interest to the entire genealogy community." To this end, USIGS will encourage volunteers, both individuals and groups, to transcribe their records to websites, it will correlate all such information now online and that which is to come, and it will raise funds to pay for costs incurred in such mammoth projects as eventually putting online U.S. Census records, a long-time dream of many internetters. USIGS is not unlike an international organization, IIGS, which came into being at the same time about two months ago, and with some overlapping founders. The two will not compete, but will complement each other and work together in some fields for the benefit of genealogists. USIGS, however, will concern itself with American records, primarily of the United States, while IIGS will be open for world-wide research. Unlike IIGS, USIGS has a tightly structured executive branch, including a 12-member board of directors, a staff of officers who will oversee all projects and fund-raising activities and appointed committees with definitely-delineated duties and missions. Besides Streeter, of Buena Park, Calif., newly-elected officers include: Tom Ward of Columbus, Kans., vice president; Linda Lewis of Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., secretary; and Jerry E. Dill of Emmett, Idaho, treasurer. Board members are Don E. Dale of Kansas, David M. Leininger of Mahomet, Ill., and Billie McNamara of Knoxville, Tenn. , who are now holding one year terms; Donald L. Spidell of Safford, Ariz., Ken Hollingsworth of Redlands, Calif., John Rigdon of South Carolina, and Larry V. Stephens of Bloomington, Ind. , now holding two year terms; and Nancy Trice of Hopkins County, KY, Pat Smith of Prince of Wales Island, Alaska, and John G. West of Evansville, Ind., who are now holding three year terms. Vacancies are now being filled by appointment as worthy Web Genealogists volunteer for membership. USIGS has set up a web site at: http://www.dsenter.com/usigs/ and is providing ongoing membership information to those who subscribe to its members list. Committees already formed and chairmen are listed. ?volunteers are needed to assist in all of them and in the various projects that are in process of getting started. At this time membership is free, and all interested are encouraged to sign on at the USIGS home page. Members will be asked to volunteer time, talents, expertise and ideas as needed and to spread the word to their local organizations and other online sites to assist USIGS in getting up and running. One of its main functions is to solicit grants from corporate sponsorship and other sources and through tax-deductible contributions. Streeter has indicated that "announcement of a major source of funding may be expected soon." Any funds received will be distributed to individuals or organizations for specific projects. No priority list has been set up to receive first funds available, but one major project identified by organizers has been the Census Project, beginning perhaps with that of 1850, to put the entire census data, state by state and county by county, on line. Streeter emphasized that all records funded by USIGS will be available on line free to anyone with internet access. USIGS was not set up to make money, he stressed, but to find money to further transcription and preservation of genealogical data at internet sites. USIGS does not plan to duplicate work already in progress by other online groups, such as the USGenWeb project, he noted, but to coordinate that work to make such data readily accessible. Streeter and other officers and directors are associated with one or more of these other organizations in top management and/or working positions. Work will depend largely on local volunteers who will be able to access various physical locations, transcribe or scan records and create a site online to store and maintain it. As envisioned, this is a program that will take many years to bring to fruition, and probably never will be completed. But as more and more research sources are transferred to the internet, more and more family tree tracers will be able to pursue their hobby at home.