Fellow listers -- First, my best wishes to you all for 2001. I hope it is not only a contented and prosperous year for you but also a fruitful one in terms of your research. Second, I must tell you that, in the last few days, we have finally achieved the 300 mark in terms of number of subscribers. We had been hovering around 275 members for quite a long time but new subscribers had been joining us, a few at a time, over the last couple of months until, just as the New Year arrived, here we are 300 strong!! Nice to have everyone here! I hope our numbers continue to grow over the next year and beyond. Third -- and again -- my apologies for slowness in responding to messages. I appear to have finished off the year 2000 in very low gear, if not at a complete standstill <g>. I've just been enjoying not doing much of anything for a few days, after non-stop activity for most of December. Finally -- but most importantly -- I'd like to respond to Jan's post of a few days ago (30 Dec), suggesting that we put together a list of all resource materials held by subscribers so information in these sources can more easily shared among our group. Jan, thank you for bringing up this topic -- I think it's a great project to begin the New Millennium! And responses from other listers (Kaye, Lesley, Roy) seem to indicate that others agree. Some of you might recall that such a pooling of resources was also proposed by Roy over two months ago (21 Oct) so when I designed the website format, I kept this idea in mind and made provision for it. It's in the Beyond the Basics section under the heading Subscribers' Resources & Look-ups -- yes, it's one of those links that's not-yet functioning so this is a perfect time to start working on it! I am willing to put together a central list of all resources held by subscribers who are willing to look up selected names for others. I thought that this could be posted on the website (under the Subscribers' Resources & Look-ups heading) and, as also mentioned by Roy, posted regularly on the list (say once a month) as a reminder that these resources are available. My difficulty comes in figuring out the actual mechanics of sharing this information. For one thing, I think Roy is correct when he says that requesting/sharing the info is best done on the list. The more we share on the list, the more we all learn and the more is archived for future reference by ourselves and by others. I am also concerned that others not become burdened by requests, particularly those of a "blanket" nature. In other words, requests for info should be specific and should be made after some personal research has already been done. Please, everyone, let's hear your ideas on this topic. How should we organize this idea? How to set it up so it benefits all and doesn't become cumbersome/burdensome? I hope you will post your comments so we can come to some consensus on this. Also, if you have resources which you would be willing to share in this way, please post them to the list. Kaye, Roy, Lesley and Jan have already mentioned what they have. What about others? I will put everything together into one listing and post it when it is complete so we can all have a look at it. Hope I've expressed my thoughts clearly here. My brain is a bit fuzzy after too much holidaying <g>. Hope you'll bear with me. Andrea